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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
February 27, 2019
Posted on Tue, Feb 26th, 2019 by Jason Easley
Rachel Maddow Dominates Fox News With Huge February Ratings
Rachel Maddow’s domination of Fox News continued in February as she bested Sean Hannity as was the #1 show on cable news.
According to Neilson ratings provided to PoliticusUSA by MSNBC, “MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” was the #1 primetime cable news program in A25-54 for the 3rd straight month in February (including all specials), according to Nielsen. “Maddow” at 9pm averaged 549,000 viewers A25-54 (vs. FOX News’ 526,000 at 9pm and 538,000 at 8pm, and CNN’s 363,000). In total viewers, “Maddow” was #1 at 9pm (including all specials).
In other MSNBC ratings news, “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams was #1 in A25-54 and total viewers at 11pm, topping FOX News and CNN in both demographics for the 3rd month in a row. “The 11th Hour” averaged 327,000 viewers A25-54 (vs. FOX News’ 289,000 and CNN’s 269,000), up +1% over February 2018 (vs. FOX News’ -23% and CNN’s -11%). “The 11th Hour” averaged 1.8M total viewers (vs. FOX News’ 1.4M and CNN’s 828,000), up +22% over February 2018 (vs. FOX News’ -9% and CNN’s +5%). For the 3rd month in a row, “Deadline: White House” at 4pm was #1 in total viewers. “Deadline: White House” averaged 1.7M total viewers (vs. FOX News’ 1.55M and CNN’s 946,000).”
Rachel Maddow Has Pulled Ahead of Fox News
Fox News moved Sean Hannity to 9 PM to be their Maddow momentum killer because the entire Fox News brand is centered around being number one. While Hannity does run close to Maddow, he has not been able to give Fox News the number one show on cable news.
Rachel Maddow has built her audience with her tireless and dogged coverage of the Russia investigation. The first twenty plus minutes of Maddow’s show is the closest thing that cable news has to nightly long-form storytelling.
Maddow delivers a compelling and informative show. Her program also serves as the antidote for the lies and poison that Trump injects into the nation’s discourse.
As Fox News sinks under the weight of Trump failure, The Rachel Maddow Show is soaring by giving the public the knowledge and information that they need.
Rachel Maddow Dominates Fox News With Huge February Ratings
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/02/26/rachel-maddow-rating-february.htmlPosted on Tue, Feb 26th, 2019 by Jason Easley
Rachel Maddow Dominates Fox News With Huge February Ratings
Rachel Maddow’s domination of Fox News continued in February as she bested Sean Hannity as was the #1 show on cable news.
According to Neilson ratings provided to PoliticusUSA by MSNBC, “MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” was the #1 primetime cable news program in A25-54 for the 3rd straight month in February (including all specials), according to Nielsen. “Maddow” at 9pm averaged 549,000 viewers A25-54 (vs. FOX News’ 526,000 at 9pm and 538,000 at 8pm, and CNN’s 363,000). In total viewers, “Maddow” was #1 at 9pm (including all specials).
In other MSNBC ratings news, “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams was #1 in A25-54 and total viewers at 11pm, topping FOX News and CNN in both demographics for the 3rd month in a row. “The 11th Hour” averaged 327,000 viewers A25-54 (vs. FOX News’ 289,000 and CNN’s 269,000), up +1% over February 2018 (vs. FOX News’ -23% and CNN’s -11%). “The 11th Hour” averaged 1.8M total viewers (vs. FOX News’ 1.4M and CNN’s 828,000), up +22% over February 2018 (vs. FOX News’ -9% and CNN’s +5%). For the 3rd month in a row, “Deadline: White House” at 4pm was #1 in total viewers. “Deadline: White House” averaged 1.7M total viewers (vs. FOX News’ 1.55M and CNN’s 946,000).”
Rachel Maddow Has Pulled Ahead of Fox News
Fox News moved Sean Hannity to 9 PM to be their Maddow momentum killer because the entire Fox News brand is centered around being number one. While Hannity does run close to Maddow, he has not been able to give Fox News the number one show on cable news.
Rachel Maddow has built her audience with her tireless and dogged coverage of the Russia investigation. The first twenty plus minutes of Maddow’s show is the closest thing that cable news has to nightly long-form storytelling.
Maddow delivers a compelling and informative show. Her program also serves as the antidote for the lies and poison that Trump injects into the nation’s discourse.
As Fox News sinks under the weight of Trump failure, The Rachel Maddow Show is soaring by giving the public the knowledge and information that they need.
February 26, 2019
Activists Blast DNC for Even Considering a Fox News Debate
The party is divided among those who want to directly engage the opposition and those who think that’s totally insane.
Gideon Resnick,
Maxwell Tani
02.26.19 4:43 AM ET
Months before the first of a dozen Democratic primary debates is set to air, some activists within the party have begun raising concerns about one possible host: Fox News.
The right-leaning network with deep ties to the Trump administration hasn’t hosted a Democratic primary debate in over a decade. But that may change this year.
During a brief interview in late January, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez spoke with Fox anchor Bret Baier about the upcoming 2020 presidential election. In response to a question posed by Baier about whether Fox News could possibly host one of the many debates set to take place between 2019 and 2020, Perez said, “Absolutely, we’re having discussions with Fox and others.”
The comment was not universally well received. Democratic groups and politicians have long taken issue with the rightward bend of Fox News’ coverage, particularly in its primetime hours. And DNC staffers have not forgotten the role the network played in spreading a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 murder of former DNC staffer Seth Rich, who police say was killed in a botched robbery. In early 2018, Rich’s parents sued Fox News for a retracted story that said investigators had evidence showing Rich was tied to the leaking of DNC emails to WikiLeaks.
Over a week ago, the founder of the progressive website Daily Kos, Markos Moulitsas, delivered a petition to the DNC with over 100,000 signatures, calling on the committee to reject Fox News as a possible host for a Democratic debate. And he reserved blame for one person in particular.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/activists-blast-dnc-for-even-considering-a-fox-news-debate?ref=home
Activists Blast DNC for Even Considering a Fox News Debate
Activists Blast DNC for Even Considering a Fox News Debate
The party is divided among those who want to directly engage the opposition and those who think that’s totally insane.
Gideon Resnick,
Maxwell Tani
02.26.19 4:43 AM ET
Months before the first of a dozen Democratic primary debates is set to air, some activists within the party have begun raising concerns about one possible host: Fox News.
The right-leaning network with deep ties to the Trump administration hasn’t hosted a Democratic primary debate in over a decade. But that may change this year.
During a brief interview in late January, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez spoke with Fox anchor Bret Baier about the upcoming 2020 presidential election. In response to a question posed by Baier about whether Fox News could possibly host one of the many debates set to take place between 2019 and 2020, Perez said, “Absolutely, we’re having discussions with Fox and others.”
The comment was not universally well received. Democratic groups and politicians have long taken issue with the rightward bend of Fox News’ coverage, particularly in its primetime hours. And DNC staffers have not forgotten the role the network played in spreading a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 murder of former DNC staffer Seth Rich, who police say was killed in a botched robbery. In early 2018, Rich’s parents sued Fox News for a retracted story that said investigators had evidence showing Rich was tied to the leaking of DNC emails to WikiLeaks.
Over a week ago, the founder of the progressive website Daily Kos, Markos Moulitsas, delivered a petition to the DNC with over 100,000 signatures, calling on the committee to reject Fox News as a possible host for a Democratic debate. And he reserved blame for one person in particular.
“The DNC is giving Fox News and the conservative movement a giant credibility boost by even considering granting them a debate,” he told The Daily Beast. “At a time when activists have worked so hard to convince advertisers to abandon that den of racism, bigotry and misogyny, here comes Tom Perez like a jackass undermining all that work.”
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/activists-blast-dnc-for-even-considering-a-fox-news-debate?ref=home
February 26, 2019
White House press corps evicted from hotel ahead of North Korea summit
The forced move was highly unusual because the White House had approved of and supported the use of the space by media who cover the president.
Feb. 25, 2019, 11:54 PM EST / Updated Feb. 26, 2019, 4:15 AM EST
By Jonathan Allen
HANOI, Vietnam — The White House press corps was evicted from its workspace here Tuesday as a red carpet was rolled out at the same hotel to welcome North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for his nuclear summit with President Donald Trump.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted Tuesday morning that the reporters who cover Trump would be relocated from their planned staging ground at the Melia Hotel — including a 200-seat ballroom and stand-up spots for broadcast reporters — to an international media center.
“You must go now! This way,” a Vietnamese security officer barked at members of the press corps in the hotel lobby Tuesday morning.
The forced move was highly unusual because the White House had approved of and supported the use of the space by media who cover the president.
It was not immediately clear who made the decision to boot the White House reporters: North Korea, Vietnam, the U.S. or a combination of those governments.
Kim and Trump are meeting this week for the second time in a year to discuss a possible denuclearization of North Korea.
White House press corps evicted from hotel ahead of North Korea summit
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/white-house-press-corps-abruptly-ordered-out-hotel-ahead-north-n975986?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR1HCxRGdb5Z7t-NkZ2CKX-LqxiYFBRBJ6D9mvhdZ1GV3du736KttIwIj2sWhite House press corps evicted from hotel ahead of North Korea summit
The forced move was highly unusual because the White House had approved of and supported the use of the space by media who cover the president.
Feb. 25, 2019, 11:54 PM EST / Updated Feb. 26, 2019, 4:15 AM EST
By Jonathan Allen
HANOI, Vietnam — The White House press corps was evicted from its workspace here Tuesday as a red carpet was rolled out at the same hotel to welcome North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for his nuclear summit with President Donald Trump.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted Tuesday morning that the reporters who cover Trump would be relocated from their planned staging ground at the Melia Hotel — including a 200-seat ballroom and stand-up spots for broadcast reporters — to an international media center.
“You must go now! This way,” a Vietnamese security officer barked at members of the press corps in the hotel lobby Tuesday morning.
The forced move was highly unusual because the White House had approved of and supported the use of the space by media who cover the president.
It was not immediately clear who made the decision to boot the White House reporters: North Korea, Vietnam, the U.S. or a combination of those governments.
Kim and Trump are meeting this week for the second time in a year to discuss a possible denuclearization of North Korea.
February 26, 2019
Healthcare industry gears back up to keep system as crappy, and profitable for itself, as it can
Joan McCarter
Daily Kos Staff
Monday February 25, 2019 · 1:29 PM EST
The powerful healthcare lobby is cranking itself back up, ready to fight every aspect of Medicare expansion Democrats might consider. That's just one of many reasons Democrats should be taking a maximalist approach on Medicare for all—in for a penny, in for a pound when you're fighting the likes of the Federation of American Hospitals, representing investor-owned hospitals, and America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
They're organizing under the innocuous-sounding umbrella of Partnership for America's Health Care Future, and are using the same arguments they've been using against substantive healthcare reform since the first Medicare bill in the middle of the last century: It's going to cost too much and it will give bureaucrats control over health care. To which the entire nation of people who have health insurance says: It already costs too much, and insurance company bureaucrats are already in control.
Headed up by executive director Lauren Crawford Shaver, who worked on swing states for Hillary Clinton in 2016 (and look how that turned out), the organization has already attacked Sen. Bernie Sanders and his Medicare-for-all plan, of course, saying he's advocating for "upending our nation's health care system in favor of starting from scratch with Medicare for all." Never mind that when the proposed system is based on an existing system, you're not really starting from scratch. But it's not just the maximalist Medicare for all they're going after.
The group is also fighting the "pragmatic," incremental approach other Democrats are proposing, Medicare buy-in for people over 50. Their argument is the usual, as expressed by David Merritt, an executive vice president of AHIP: "This is a slippery slope to government-run health care for every American." It's rejected by the coalition, "whether you call it Medicare for all, Medicare buy-in, single payer or a public option." They point to their support for Medicaid expansion in the remaining states as evidence of their good faith on reform. They also want to increase federal subsidies for people buying insurance under the Affordable Care Act and get more states to set up reinsurance programs (with state and federal funding) to try to stabilize premium costs. Meaning, they want to use public money to get them more customers, essentially.
Public-opinion polls are finding that the status quo, even for people with employer-based health insurance, isn't working so great that they fear change. Everyone sees their out-of-pocket costs rising, because they have to pay more in premiums, in deductibles, and for prescriptions. The harder providers and drug companies and insurance companies work to ignore that, the more they make themselves a salient enemy for Democrats to use in the reform debate.
At this point, fighting for the minimum—Medicare buy-in at 55 or 50—isn't enough. The public debate has moved past that, and voters are ready to hear more. Now's the time to have that bigger conversation.
Healthcare industry gears back up to keep system as crappy, and profitable for itself, as it can
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/25/1837590/-Healthcare-industry-gears-back-up-to-keep-system-as-crappy-and-profitable-for-them-as-they-canHealthcare industry gears back up to keep system as crappy, and profitable for itself, as it can
Joan McCarter
Daily Kos Staff
Monday February 25, 2019 · 1:29 PM EST
The powerful healthcare lobby is cranking itself back up, ready to fight every aspect of Medicare expansion Democrats might consider. That's just one of many reasons Democrats should be taking a maximalist approach on Medicare for all—in for a penny, in for a pound when you're fighting the likes of the Federation of American Hospitals, representing investor-owned hospitals, and America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
They're organizing under the innocuous-sounding umbrella of Partnership for America's Health Care Future, and are using the same arguments they've been using against substantive healthcare reform since the first Medicare bill in the middle of the last century: It's going to cost too much and it will give bureaucrats control over health care. To which the entire nation of people who have health insurance says: It already costs too much, and insurance company bureaucrats are already in control.
Headed up by executive director Lauren Crawford Shaver, who worked on swing states for Hillary Clinton in 2016 (and look how that turned out), the organization has already attacked Sen. Bernie Sanders and his Medicare-for-all plan, of course, saying he's advocating for "upending our nation's health care system in favor of starting from scratch with Medicare for all." Never mind that when the proposed system is based on an existing system, you're not really starting from scratch. But it's not just the maximalist Medicare for all they're going after.
The group is also fighting the "pragmatic," incremental approach other Democrats are proposing, Medicare buy-in for people over 50. Their argument is the usual, as expressed by David Merritt, an executive vice president of AHIP: "This is a slippery slope to government-run health care for every American." It's rejected by the coalition, "whether you call it Medicare for all, Medicare buy-in, single payer or a public option." They point to their support for Medicaid expansion in the remaining states as evidence of their good faith on reform. They also want to increase federal subsidies for people buying insurance under the Affordable Care Act and get more states to set up reinsurance programs (with state and federal funding) to try to stabilize premium costs. Meaning, they want to use public money to get them more customers, essentially.
Public-opinion polls are finding that the status quo, even for people with employer-based health insurance, isn't working so great that they fear change. Everyone sees their out-of-pocket costs rising, because they have to pay more in premiums, in deductibles, and for prescriptions. The harder providers and drug companies and insurance companies work to ignore that, the more they make themselves a salient enemy for Democrats to use in the reform debate.
At this point, fighting for the minimum—Medicare buy-in at 55 or 50—isn't enough. The public debate has moved past that, and voters are ready to hear more. Now's the time to have that bigger conversation.
February 26, 2019
Other things that keep Yellen up at night include Trump’s apparent lack of understanding about the Federal Reserve being an independent organization, and how crucial it is for the economy that Americans have confidence in the central bank. (Since appointing Jerome Powell, the president has blamed the Fed for market sell-offs; complained that he should be given “help” in the form of low interest rates; told reporters “the Fed is going loco,”; insisted his “gut” knows more about economics than Powell’s brain; and declared, “The only problem our economy has is the Fed. . . . The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch—he can’t putt!”). “President Trump’s comments about Chair Powell and about the Fed . . . concern me,” Yellen told Ryssdal, “because if that becomes concerted, I think it does have the impact, especially if conditions in the U.S. for any reason were to deteriorate, it could undermine confidence in the Fed. And I think that that would be a bad thing.”
more...
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/02/janet-yellen-donald-trump-interview?utm_social-type=owned&mbid=social_facebook&utm_source=facebook&utm_brand=vf&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2rwF5qlp7LwXbeZNCEe5iKGgBRu8gREtPvzmZgfik37bxl4Kv7CM2XUFM
Janet Yellen: Trump Is an Even Bigger Idiot Than He Looks
Janet Yellen: Trump Is an Even Bigger Idiot Than He Looks
The former Federal Reserve chair cannot adequately express how dumb our president is.
by Bess Levin
February 25, 2019 5:56 pm
When you’re actively working for the president of the United States, you can’t just come out and publicly say, “This guy is a complete and total moron,” however accurate or obvious the statement may be. Oh sure, you can say it in private, or in an anonymous op-ed, but attaching your name to such comments is generally considered inadvisable if you want to stay employed. That’s why, during the period in which Janet Yellen served as the chair of the Federal Reserve under Donald Trump, we never heard her telling reporters things like, “He makes the cast of Bachelor in Paradise look smart,” or “I honestly and truly believe my Schnauzer could do a better job.” But as of last February, Yellen no longer works for Trump—because he literally thought she was too short for the gig—and thus is feeling a bit freer in her choice of words.
In an interview with Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal, Yellen was asked, point blank: “Do you think the president has a grasp of macroeconomic policy?” And instead of dancing around the issue or offering some kind of “I don’t know what’s in his heart” answer, she responded, “No, I do not.” That most of us had a hunch this was the case does not change the fact that it’s shocking Yellen would just come out and say it! And, apparently, macroeconomics is just one of several things she thinks President Buy and Sell knows nothing about, the others being international trade, business, and the entire purpose of the Federal Reserve.
Ryssdal: Tell me more.
Yellen:: Well, I doubt that he would even be able to say that the Fed’s goals are maximum employment and price stability, which is the goals that Congress have assigned to the Fed. He’s made comments about the Fed having an exchange-rate objective in order to support his trade plans, or possibly targeting the U.S. balance of trade. And, you know, I think comments like that shows a lack of understanding of the impact of the Fed on the economy, and appropriate policy goals. . . . I think [his lack of understanding about the effect of his trade tariffs] is . . . creating a lot of uncertainty for businesses, and I think my own view is that those shifts are likely to be adverse for the U.S. economy. . . . And when I continually hear focus by the president and some of his advisers on remedying bilateral trade deficits with other trade partners, I think almost any economist would tell you that there’s no real meaning to bilateral trade deficits, and it’s not an appropriate objective of policy.
Yellen:: Well, I doubt that he would even be able to say that the Fed’s goals are maximum employment and price stability, which is the goals that Congress have assigned to the Fed. He’s made comments about the Fed having an exchange-rate objective in order to support his trade plans, or possibly targeting the U.S. balance of trade. And, you know, I think comments like that shows a lack of understanding of the impact of the Fed on the economy, and appropriate policy goals. . . . I think [his lack of understanding about the effect of his trade tariffs] is . . . creating a lot of uncertainty for businesses, and I think my own view is that those shifts are likely to be adverse for the U.S. economy. . . . And when I continually hear focus by the president and some of his advisers on remedying bilateral trade deficits with other trade partners, I think almost any economist would tell you that there’s no real meaning to bilateral trade deficits, and it’s not an appropriate objective of policy.
Other things that keep Yellen up at night include Trump’s apparent lack of understanding about the Federal Reserve being an independent organization, and how crucial it is for the economy that Americans have confidence in the central bank. (Since appointing Jerome Powell, the president has blamed the Fed for market sell-offs; complained that he should be given “help” in the form of low interest rates; told reporters “the Fed is going loco,”; insisted his “gut” knows more about economics than Powell’s brain; and declared, “The only problem our economy has is the Fed. . . . The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch—he can’t putt!”). “President Trump’s comments about Chair Powell and about the Fed . . . concern me,” Yellen told Ryssdal, “because if that becomes concerted, I think it does have the impact, especially if conditions in the U.S. for any reason were to deteriorate, it could undermine confidence in the Fed. And I think that that would be a bad thing.”
more...
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/02/janet-yellen-donald-trump-interview?utm_social-type=owned&mbid=social_facebook&utm_source=facebook&utm_brand=vf&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2rwF5qlp7LwXbeZNCEe5iKGgBRu8gREtPvzmZgfik37bxl4Kv7CM2XUFM
February 26, 2019
Pete Buttigieg May Have Just Found a Way to Get Noticed in the Crowded Democratic Primary
Pete Buttigieg May Have Just Found a Way to Get Noticed in the Crowded Democratic Primary
By Josh Voorhees
Feb 22, 20196:51 PM
Pete Buttigieg is having a hard time getting noticed. One month after launching his presidential campaign, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, remains little more than a hard-to-pronounce afterthought in a field that is getting deeper by the week. According to the most recent polling from Morning Consult, 62 percent of Democrats say they’ve never heard of Buttigieg, while nearly half of those who do know his name say they haven’t heard enough to form an opinion. The top-line numbers are more daunting still: Buttigieg polls at 0 percent—as in zero, nada, nothing—among Democrats, both nationally and in the early nominating states.
snip//
Buttigieg, though, may have found the tiniest of openings this week—perhaps by accident.
During an event Tuesday in Philadelphia, an audience member asked him whether, if elected, he would be willing to pack the Supreme Court with liberal justices in response to the high court’s recent shift rightward. “I have not reached a considered position on the question of court-packing,” Buttigieg said over a few nervous-sounding laughs in the crowd. “Although I don’t think we should be laughing at it. Because in some ways it’s no more a shattering of norms than what’s already been done to get the judiciary to where it is today.”
It was an off-the-cuff, noncommittal answer, and yet it generated small but noticeable excitement in some corners of the internet. The 1/20/21 Project, a court-packing campaign with the backing of people like Harvard law professors Laurence Tribe and Mark Tushnet, celebrated the answer, as did NARAL president Ilyse Hogue. Progressive outlets like Common Dreams and Daily Kos likewise reacted positively, and ThinkProgress even went as far as to declare that Buttigieg had proved himself the only Democrat in the race who “seems serious about governing.”
https://twitter.com/Project12021/status/1098064359895564288
A few tweets and effusive blog posts won’t turn Buttigieg into a national figure, but they do suggest that, even in a field that is proposing bold policies on everything from day care to climate change, there’s still room for a candidate to go big in other, less obvious areas. Buttigieg’s full answer, which didn’t make it into the clip originally shared online, points to a few such directions he might consider:
more...
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/02/pete-buttigieg-court-packing-electoral-college.html
February 25, 2019
Posted on Mon, Feb 25th, 2019 by Jason Easley
Nicolle Wallace Bombshell: Trump Only Running For Re-Election To Avoid Indictment
https://twitter.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1100161460108488707
Avoiding Prison Is The Only Reason For Trump To Stay In The White House
Donald Trump has made it clear that he hates being president. In 2017, Trump was chatting with some friends after a round of golf when he said, “That White House is a real dump.” Donald Trump tantrumed through the government shutdown that he caused because it kept him from going to his private club in Florida. Trump is spending most of his time as president sitting around watching Fox News, tweeting, and talking on the phone.
Trump hates being president, but his motivation for wanting to keep the job is that the moment the next president is sworn into office, former president Trump could face a criminal indictment on a wide variety of charges.
This president is only interested in saving himself, and his one clear path to avoiding prison involves winning another four years in the White House.
Nicolle Wallace Bombshell: Trump Only Running For Re-Election To Avoid Indictment
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/02/25/wallace-trump-indictment.htmlPosted on Mon, Feb 25th, 2019 by Jason Easley
Nicolle Wallace Bombshell: Trump Only Running For Re-Election To Avoid Indictment
Wallace said on her show Deadline: White House, “The impending end of Robert Mueller’s investigation may be just the beginning of the legal battle between Democratic lawmakers and the Trump administration over what potentially incriminating evidence should be made public in the Russia probe. That looming showdown combined with the possibility that Mueller will spin off untold federal investigations that could threaten the president and his family, make up a new legal and political reality not locked on Donald Trump. And according to a fresh report from the daily beast, quote, Donald Trump signaled to his inner circle even he knows special counsel Robert Mueller finishing his investigation will be a new beginning, not a dramatic end for trump world’s eclectic legal health scape. It includes Rudy Giuliani, he didn’t want his lawyers going anywhere, even after the Mueller probe ends. The conversation served as a private admission that federal investigations bedeviling his first term in office will be haunting him for possibly years to come. The table is back. Betsy, I understand his chief motivation for running for re-election is to avoid possible indictment and legal jeopardy.”
https://twitter.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1100161460108488707
Avoiding Prison Is The Only Reason For Trump To Stay In The White House
Donald Trump has made it clear that he hates being president. In 2017, Trump was chatting with some friends after a round of golf when he said, “That White House is a real dump.” Donald Trump tantrumed through the government shutdown that he caused because it kept him from going to his private club in Florida. Trump is spending most of his time as president sitting around watching Fox News, tweeting, and talking on the phone.
Trump hates being president, but his motivation for wanting to keep the job is that the moment the next president is sworn into office, former president Trump could face a criminal indictment on a wide variety of charges.
This president is only interested in saving himself, and his one clear path to avoiding prison involves winning another four years in the White House.
February 25, 2019
Posted on Mon, Feb 25th, 2019 by Leo Vidal
GOP Donors Worry That Trump Has ‘No Plan and No Strategy’ for 2020
snip//
According to POLITICO, a dozen sources connected to Trump’s re-election campaign, and to donors who attended the retreat, said they are very nervous about the plans laid out by Parscale, who served as the president’s digital media director in 2016. Parscale has never run a large political campaign before.
One outside adviser who’s close to the campaign said:
“Donors are asking for the plan and they have no plan. There’s not a strategy.”
Donors expressed confusion about why America First Action, the president’s main 2020 super PAC, spent $3 million of its $34 million in last year’s elections to back Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), who lost.
Republican donors are concerned that Trump’s re-election campaign officials have reached incorrect conclusions from November’s midterm shellacking that saw an historic Blue Wave and Democrats taking control of the House.
One donor friend of Trump said:
“There’s a lot of anxiety. There isn’t a lot of confidence.”
more...
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/02/25/gop-donors-worry-that-trump-has-no-plan-and-no-strategy-for-2020.html
GOP Donors Worry That Trump Has 'No Plan and No Strategy' for 2020
Posted on Mon, Feb 25th, 2019 by Leo Vidal
GOP Donors Worry That Trump Has ‘No Plan and No Strategy’ for 2020
snip//
According to POLITICO, a dozen sources connected to Trump’s re-election campaign, and to donors who attended the retreat, said they are very nervous about the plans laid out by Parscale, who served as the president’s digital media director in 2016. Parscale has never run a large political campaign before.
One outside adviser who’s close to the campaign said:
“Donors are asking for the plan and they have no plan. There’s not a strategy.”
Donors expressed confusion about why America First Action, the president’s main 2020 super PAC, spent $3 million of its $34 million in last year’s elections to back Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), who lost.
“There is true reluctance to give because there’s no plan or coherent structure to give to,” said one anonymous Republican fundraiser. “The campaign is doing really well with small-dollar donations, but it’s the high-end contributions the PAC is failing on.”
Republican donors are concerned that Trump’s re-election campaign officials have reached incorrect conclusions from November’s midterm shellacking that saw an historic Blue Wave and Democrats taking control of the House.
One donor friend of Trump said:
“There’s a lot of anxiety. There isn’t a lot of confidence.”
more...
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/02/25/gop-donors-worry-that-trump-has-no-plan-and-no-strategy-for-2020.html
February 25, 2019
Posted on Mon, Feb 25th, 2019 by Leo Vidal
Analyst: Cohen Will Provide ‘Sordid and Chilling’ Evidence Against Trump
snip//
“He’s expected to address, first of all, his lies to those congressional committees on the timing of the Trump Tower and Moscow deal, the fact that it was going on much longer than he admitted in public and much longer than Donald Trump acknowledged,” Dilanian told the Morning Joe panel.
Cohen’s plea agreement details the president’s lies about his dealings with Russia during the 2016 campaign, but he’s not allowed to address those issues before the committees because special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is still pending.
The committee is also planning to question Cohen about a myriad of other explosive topics, such as Trump’s violation of campaign finance and tax laws, potential conflicts of interest, and criminal business practices of his family business, the Trump Organization.
“I’m told Cohen has been prepping with this for a long time, and he knows he’s got credibility issues, so he’s coming with documents,” Dilanian said. And then he added:
When Michael Cohen provides to Congress ‘detailed, sordid and chilling’ evidence against Donald Trump, including documents, the whole world will be watching. The coming week could be the worst week yet in the presidency of Donald Trump.
Analyst: Cohen Will Provide 'Sordid and Chilling' Evidence Against Trump
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/02/25/analyst-cohen-will-provide-sordid-and-chilling-evidence-against-trump.htmlPosted on Mon, Feb 25th, 2019 by Leo Vidal
Analyst: Cohen Will Provide ‘Sordid and Chilling’ Evidence Against Trump
snip//
“He’s expected to address, first of all, his lies to those congressional committees on the timing of the Trump Tower and Moscow deal, the fact that it was going on much longer than he admitted in public and much longer than Donald Trump acknowledged,” Dilanian told the Morning Joe panel.
Cohen’s plea agreement details the president’s lies about his dealings with Russia during the 2016 campaign, but he’s not allowed to address those issues before the committees because special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is still pending.
“We could have an absolutely dramatic and riveting performance by Michael Cohen,” Dilanian continued. “While he’s not allowed to talk about the Russia investigation when he appears before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, he’s going to talk about sensitive subjects, such as those hush money payments to women.”
The committee is also planning to question Cohen about a myriad of other explosive topics, such as Trump’s violation of campaign finance and tax laws, potential conflicts of interest, and criminal business practices of his family business, the Trump Organization.
“I’m told Cohen has been prepping with this for a long time, and he knows he’s got credibility issues, so he’s coming with documents,” Dilanian said. And then he added:
“He’s got very detailed, sordid and chilling stories of how the president conducts himself behind closed doors.”
“We were told that he has new information that he has given the prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. He has provided those prosecutors documents relating to the Trump Organization that will help those prosecutors in their criminal investigations of the president, his children and his business.”
“And we shouldn’t underestimate how powerful seeing a Trump insider who has been with Donald Trump for more than 10 years telling these stories before the glare of the television lights,” Dilanian added.
“We were told that he has new information that he has given the prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. He has provided those prosecutors documents relating to the Trump Organization that will help those prosecutors in their criminal investigations of the president, his children and his business.”
“And we shouldn’t underestimate how powerful seeing a Trump insider who has been with Donald Trump for more than 10 years telling these stories before the glare of the television lights,” Dilanian added.
When Michael Cohen provides to Congress ‘detailed, sordid and chilling’ evidence against Donald Trump, including documents, the whole world will be watching. The coming week could be the worst week yet in the presidency of Donald Trump.
February 24, 2019
February 24, 2019 3:53PM ET
Bernie Sanders Politely Asks Supporters Not to Harass His Opponents
“Let us do our very best to engage respectfully with our Democratic opponents,” the candidate said in an email
By Peter Wade
During the 2016 elections, many Hillary Clinton supporters felt harassed by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sanders is trying to get in front of that before the 2020 race heats up by sending an email urging his fans to “engage respectfully” with his Democratic opponents.
“As we engage with our opponents in the Democratic primary, we will forcefully present our views and defend ourselves against misrepresentations,” Sanders wrote. “But, let us do our very best to engage respectfully with our Democratic opponents―talking about the issues we are fighting for, not about personalities or past grievances. I want to be clear that I condemn bullying and harassment of any kind and in any space.”
Sanders emphasized that he plans to take the opposite tact to President Donald Trump, who revels in name-calling and specious attacks. “The president we are running against is a pathological liar, a racist, a xenophobe, a sexist, a bully and a religious bigot. His goal is to win political points by dividing up the American people. That is why we need to do exactly the opposite―brings our people together. Men and women, black and white, Latino, Native American, Asian American, gay and straight, young and old, native-born and immigrant,” Sanders said in the email.
Sanders sent a similar message to his delegates ahead of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, urging them not to protest on the convention floor. But his supporters did not heed his calls and the convention was interrupted numerous times by followers of Sanders, at times booing at Clinton delegates and chanting “Bernie.”
In his email about 2020, Sanders emphasized that only a united front will have a chance to beat Trump. “Our number one priority is defeating Donald Trump. To do so, we will ultimately have to unite with those who today are our opponents for the Democratic nomination. We won’t always agree with them, but I expect those who speak on behalf of my campaign to always engage respectfully. I am committed to making this nominating process a fair, issues-focused campaign and am asking you for the same,” he concluded.
Bernie Sanders Politely Asks Supporters Not to Harass His Opponents
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/bernie-sanders-email-supporters-799468/?fbclid=IwAR3015-BApPTBGb1IXVi9hgJzVtE_zhmT0BZCDU3rJ8BmRPUPxTbwpEM1-gFebruary 24, 2019 3:53PM ET
Bernie Sanders Politely Asks Supporters Not to Harass His Opponents
“Let us do our very best to engage respectfully with our Democratic opponents,” the candidate said in an email
By Peter Wade
During the 2016 elections, many Hillary Clinton supporters felt harassed by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sanders is trying to get in front of that before the 2020 race heats up by sending an email urging his fans to “engage respectfully” with his Democratic opponents.
“As we engage with our opponents in the Democratic primary, we will forcefully present our views and defend ourselves against misrepresentations,” Sanders wrote. “But, let us do our very best to engage respectfully with our Democratic opponents―talking about the issues we are fighting for, not about personalities or past grievances. I want to be clear that I condemn bullying and harassment of any kind and in any space.”
Sanders emphasized that he plans to take the opposite tact to President Donald Trump, who revels in name-calling and specious attacks. “The president we are running against is a pathological liar, a racist, a xenophobe, a sexist, a bully and a religious bigot. His goal is to win political points by dividing up the American people. That is why we need to do exactly the opposite―brings our people together. Men and women, black and white, Latino, Native American, Asian American, gay and straight, young and old, native-born and immigrant,” Sanders said in the email.
Sanders sent a similar message to his delegates ahead of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, urging them not to protest on the convention floor. But his supporters did not heed his calls and the convention was interrupted numerous times by followers of Sanders, at times booing at Clinton delegates and chanting “Bernie.”
In his email about 2020, Sanders emphasized that only a united front will have a chance to beat Trump. “Our number one priority is defeating Donald Trump. To do so, we will ultimately have to unite with those who today are our opponents for the Democratic nomination. We won’t always agree with them, but I expect those who speak on behalf of my campaign to always engage respectfully. I am committed to making this nominating process a fair, issues-focused campaign and am asking you for the same,” he concluded.
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