The great election-eve middle-class tax cut began not as a factual proposal, but as a false promise.

When President Trump abruptly told reporters over the weekend that middle-income Americans would receive a 10 percent tax cut before the midterm elections, neither officials on Capitol Hill nor in his administration knew anything about such a tax cut. The White House released no substantive information. And although cutting taxes requires legislation, Congress is not scheduled to be back in session until after the Nov. 6 elections.

Yet Washington’s bureaucratic machinery whirred into action nonetheless — working to produce a policy that could be seen as supporting Trump’s whim.

One such option now under discussion by administration officials is a symbolic nonbinding “resolution” designed to signal to voters ahead of the elections that if Republicans hold their congressional majorities they might pass a future 10 percent tax cut for the middle class. And House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) said Tuesday he would work with the White House and the Treasury Department to develop a plan “over the coming weeks.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/in-the-service-of-whim-officials-scramble-to-make-trumps-false-assertions-real/2018/10/23/0c271586-d6de-11e8-83a2-d1c3da28d6b6_story.html?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.4ec35e10e934&__twitter_impression=true

CREW


TRUMP ORGANIZATION BUSINESS PARTNER SIGNED A DEAL WITH SAUDI-BACKED FUND WEEKS BEFORE JOURNALIST DISAPPEARED
By Walker Davis
October 19, 2018
Three weeks before journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi general consul in Istanbul, the Trump Organization’s business partner in Indonesia inked an agreement with a construction firm in which the Saudi government owns a large stake. The agreement advances plans for the two firms to work together on an Indonesian development that will include Trump-branded elements.

Unlike other presidents, President Trump did not divest himself of his business holdings before entering the White House, nor has he since. As a result, he stands to benefit personally from the Indonesia project, whose construction now appears to rely on a formal agreement with a firm of which the Saudi Arabian government owns more than a third.

An official with the Saudi-tied firm also said they expect to be involved in the development of a different Trump-branded project in the future.

The agreement is the most recent example of conflicts of interest President Trump has with Saudi Arabia through the Trump Organization. Many have questioned whether there is a connection between these conflicts and the president’s reluctance to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for Khashoggi’s disappearance.

https://www.citizensforethics.org/trump-organization-business-partner-signed-a-deal-with-saudi-backed-fund-weeks-before-journalist-disappeared/

on Democratic campaign office.

Yesterday, Miami GOP Chairman Nelson Diaz told me he never even heard of the Proud Boys, but the hate group’s own video proves otherwise.

The Miami-Dade Republican Party’s County Chairman led an angry mob of partisans, alongside the local leader of national hate group the Proud Boys, in an attack on a Democratic campaign office this week.

Miami GOP Chairman Nelson Diaz planned the event (image below) and local Congressman Carlos Curbelo publicized the protest heavily, before and after.

https://thesternfacts.com/miami-gop-chairman-just-caught-leading-proud-boys-in-attack-on-democratic-campaign-office-319216540f79

For the first time, women in the United States who want abortions but are unable either to get to a clinic or afford clinic care can log on to a website, find evidence-based information about the procedure, and get abortion-inducing medication shipped directly to their homes. The website, called Aid Access, is run by Rebecca Gomperts, a doctor and activist in Denmark who has for years worked to increase access to safer, self-induced abortion in countries around the world where abortion is illegal.

Her decision to start sending abortion drugs to women in the United States reflects a recognition of the increasing limits of clinic access, the existing prevalence of self-induced abortion, and the looming threat to the legal right to abortion in the country.

“As a doctor I have the moral obligation to respond to health needs, and that’s why I decided to start Aid Access,” Gomperts told Mother Jones. “It’s humanitarian aid—it’s protecting women’s health and their lives.”

<snip>

In 1999, Gomperts founded Women on Waves, an organization that uses a Dutch ship anchored in international waters to provide medication abortion to women in countries where it is illegal. The “ship campaigns,” which have drawn significant media attention over the years, have helped women in Ireland, Poland, and Latin American end their pregnancies. In Ireland, and some countries in Latin America, Women on Waves’ work with activists on the ground has helped push for referenda and legislation to legalize abortion. In 2005, in response to a growing number of emails from women from around the world seeking her help, Gomperts launched Women on Web, an online service that ships the medication abortion pills, misoprostol and mifepristone, by mail. But Women on Web has never offered that service to the United States, because abortion is legal in the country.

https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2018/10/american-woman-self-induced-abortion-diy-pills-mail/

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday there is nothing she would trade for President Donald Trump’s border wall, setting a hard negotiating stance in advance of an expected December showdown over the issue.

“It happens to be like a manhood issue for the president, building a wall, and I’m not interested in that,” the California Democrat said during a discussion at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics.

Pelosi emphasized Democrats do support border security but they would prefer to look at strengthening existing security measures as part of a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws.

https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/pelosi-not-willing-to-trade-over-border-wall-calls-it-manhood-issue-for-trump

FBI agents raided the main municipal offices in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Tuesday, seizing documents and digital records as part of an investigation into fraud allegations related to the city government.

Special agent in charge Douglas Leff said federal investigators are also looking into potential obstruction of the investigation. According to Leff, agents believe documents tied to the reported irregularities in the city's purchasing procedures might have taken from the building or falsified.

At least 20, mostly unarmed, agents entered the building carrying briefcases, cameras, electronic equipment and coffee, the Puerto Rican news agency El Nuevo Día reported. The raid was focused on the offices of San Juan's Purchasing Division.

When asked if San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz was implicated in the investigation, Leff said, "We have no information about that, but we are going to follow the investigation where it leads us."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/17/san-juan-municipal-government-fbi-raid/1668745002/

Ecuador has ordered Julian Assange to stick to a new set of house rules, including avoiding contentious political issues, cleaning his bathroom and looking after his cat if he wants the internet reconnected.

In a nine-page memo, published by Ecuadorean website Codigo Vidrio, the WikiLeaks founder is prohibited from "interfering in the internal affairs of other states" or from activities "that could prejudice Ecuador's good relations with other states".

Mr Assange, who was granted asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2012, was also told in the memo his pet cat would be confiscated and taken to an animal shelter if he did not look after it.

On Sunday, WikiLeaks said Mr Assange would be reconnected to the internet, but it was not clear whether the move was contingent on him agreeing to Ecuador's conditions.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-16/ecuador-asks-julian-assange-to-curb-speech-look-after-cat/10382992?pfmredir=sm