Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Whiny Democrat Taught Kid Cartoons





Trump reportedly mulling major overhaul to White House staff




President Trump is reportedly considering a major shakeup to his White House staff and bringing back top campaign strategists over his frustrations by what he sees as his team’s inability to contain the crisis involving alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Lawyers and public relations experts are being recruited, the Associated Press reported Sunday, as new revelations surface about Moscow’s interference and possible improper dealings with the Trump campaign and associates. The disclosures dogged Trump during his first trip abroad since taking office and threaten to overwhelm and stall the agenda for his young presidency.
The latest reports have taken aim at Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner. Kushner is alleged to have spoken with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. about setting up a back-channel communications network with Moscow during the presidential transition.
Trump did not come out directly and defend Kushner, but decried what he called the “fake news media” in a series of tweets earlier Sunday. He focused heavily on leaks — both those coming out of the White House and an intelligence leak blamed on Americans about this week's deadly bombing at a concert in England.
The back channel was meant to connect Michael Flynn, who later became Trump's first national security adviser, with Russian military leaders, the AP reported. Flynn was fired in February, officials saying he misled Vice President Mike Pence about whether he and the ambassador had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia in a phone call.
While overseas, Trump's longtime lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, joined a still-forming legal team to help the president shoulder the intensifying investigations into alleged Russian interference in the election and his associates' potential involvement. More attorneys with deep experience in Washington investigations are expected to be added, along with crisis communication experts, to help the White House in the weeks ahead.
"They need to quarantine this stuff and put the investigations in a separate communications operation," said Jack Quinn, who served as White House counsel for President Bill Clinton.
Trump believed he was facing more of a communications problem than a legal one, despite the intensifying inquiries, one person familiar with his thinking told the AP.
As he mulls changes, Trump has entertained bringing his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and former deputy campaign manager, David Bossie, formally back into the fold. Both Lewandowski and Bossie discussed the prospect with the president before his trip, according to one person told of the conversations.
As a possible shakeup looms, Trump has other issues to deal with on the home front. Aside from the Russia investigation, the president still has to make an official decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement all the while defend his budget plan and hope his health care bill garners support in the Senate.
Trump also has to decide soon on a Pentagon recommendation to add more U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, as well as boosting reinforcement for the beleaguered Afghan military.
While taxes have taken a back seat in recent weeks, Trump tweeted Sunday: "The massive TAX CUTS/REFORM that I have submitted is moving along in the process very well, actually ahead of schedule. Big benefits to all!"

Paul Ryan shunned by dozens of middle schoolers during photo op


A group of New Jersey eighth-grade students schooled House Speaker Paul Ryan over his unwillingness to critique President Trump.
About half ​of the more than 200​ students from South Orange Middle School refused to pose for a photo with Ryan during a school trip to Washington, D.C., last Thursday.
Matthew Malespina, 13, who waited ​across the street ​with other classmates​ declining to be in the picture with the Wisconsin Republican​, said the school informed them the night before of the photo op on the Capitol steps.
“I was like, ‘Oh God, I’m not taking a picture with this man.’ I first texted my mom because my mom hates Paul Ryan as well,” Matthew told the Post​ on Sunday.​ “And I was saying to her, Oh ​G​od, I can’t do this. I can’t take a picture with him.’ She said that was completely fine, just be respectful.”
Being in the photo wasn’t mandatory, Matthew said, ​so he was surprised by the number of students who agreed to turn out because of the lack of support among ​the ​students for Trump.
“Our school is pretty liberal. I only know three Trump supporters in our grade and there’s a lot people in our grade. So it’s fairly liberal. [Teachers] knew that a lot of people didn’t like Paul Ryan,” he said. “But they gave us the option. I was shocked by the number of people who wanted to join me and my friends to not take a picture of him. It was like half the grade.”
His mom, Elissa Malespina, said she’s proud of her son for standing up for his ​principles.
“I proud of him that he chose to not do that and I proud he did so in a respectful manner​,” she told the Post. “​Yes, he [Ryan] is the third most powerful person in the nation, technically, but I don’t agree with his stance on a lot of things and neither does my child.”

University of California to end lavish spending on dinners


The University of California has announced it will no longer pay for the meals of its governing board after a newspaper reported lavish spending on dinners.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday that UC President Janet Napolitano 's office reimbursed regents for more than $225,000 in dinner parties since 2012, including $17,600 for a banquet held the night before the board voted to raise tuition.
UC Board of Regents Chair Monica Lozano and Napolitano said in a statement that regents will "absorb their costs for board dinners" to avoid questions over how money is spent.
The newspaper reports Monday the reversal was the idea of regent Richard Blum.
Dinner costs are paid out of a private endowment designated for university business costs not covered by state or tuition funds.
Earlier this month, California Gov. Jerry Brown announced that he is withholding $50 million from the University of California in light of an audit last month that claimed to have found a stash of $175 million in secret funds while officials requested more money from the state.
A state audit found that under university system President Janet Napolitano, former Department of Homeland Security chief, UC administrators hid $175 million from the public while increasing tuition and asking the state for more money.
The UC Board of Regents in January voted to increase in-state tuition and fees by $336 next academic year. Some lawmakers called for a reversal of the tuition hike in the wake of the audit.

'Sanctuary Cities' protests interrupt Texas House session


Texas becomes first state to ban sanctuary cities
Protests erupted in the Texas capitol building on Monday over Gov. Greg Abbott’s new law cracking down on ‘sanctuary cities,’ interrupting the final day in this year’s regular session of the Texas Legislature.
Hundreds of protesters chanted in opposition to the new law, forcing House leadership to stop the session and send state troopers to clear the gallery.
Activists wearing red T-shirts reading "Lucha," or "Fight," quietly filled hundreds of gallery seats as proceedings began. After about 40 minutes, they began to cheer, drowning out the lawmakers below.
Some protesters held banners that said, “See you in court” and “See you at the polls,” while others chanted “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. SB-4 has got to go.”
The demonstration continued for about 20 minutes as officers led people out of the chamber peacefully in small groups. There were no reports of arrests.
Abbott signed SB-4 into law earlier this month in an effort to remain consistent with federal immigration law. The law effectively bans sanctuary city policies in Texas and gives law enforcement officers the ability to ask the immigration status of anyone they stop. Under the law, officers who fail to comply, or cooperate, with federal immigration agents could face jail time and fines reaching $25,000 per day.
“What it means is that no county, no city, no governmental body in the state of Texas can adopt any policy that provides sanctuary, and second, what it means, is that law enforcement officials, such as sheriffs, are going to be required to comply with ICE detainer requests,” Abbott said on “Fox & Friends” the day after signing the bill into law.
He added, “Isn’t it quasi-insane that we have to pass a law to force law enforcement officers to comply with the law?”
Texas is the first state to officially ban sanctuary cities under President Trump. Colorado passed a law in 2006 outlawing sanctuary cities, but the measure was repealed in 2013. So far, only Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee have officially passed bills into law banning ‘sanctuary policies.’ Virginia attempted two measures in the Republican-led legislature, but both were suspended after Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe threatened to veto.
The Texas law is set to take effect on Sept. 1, and opponents have vowed to challenge it in court, after slamming it as the nation’s toughest on immigrants since Arizona’s crackdown in 2010. But Abbott said key provisions of Texas’ law had been tested at the U.S. Supreme Court, which struck down several components of Arizona’s law.
Mayors throughout the Lone Star State were in opposition to the bill’s passage, claiming it would weaken the relationship between law enforcement officials and the public, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton already filed suit against local jurisdictions that had been accused of not cooperating with federal immigration agents.
Paxton filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, just days after Abbott signed SB-4 into law.
“Unfortunately, some municipalities and law enforcement agencies are unwilling to cooperate with the federal government and claim that SB-4 is unconstitutional,” Paxton said.
But opposition groups are pushing back.
Just last week, the Texas Civil Right Project filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Texas Organizing Project Education Fund, alleging SB-4 is a “discriminatory, unconstitutionally vague” bill that encourages “racial profiling.”

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