Democrats’ post-election playbook: Stay big in California

After painful November 2016 losses, Washington Democrats still appear committed to devoting resources to strongholds like California, instead of responding to party pleas to put time and money into Middle America to reconnect with disaffected voters.
The contrast came into full view when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee earlier this month started moving senior staffers to deep-blue California, then provided essentially no help to its candidate in the Kansas special election, who on Tuesday nearly pulled off a huge upset.
Washington Democrats hailed candidate James Thompson’s narrow loss as a moral victory, considering Republicans have held the seat since 1995.
But Thompson made clear that the DCCC and the Democrat National Committee could have done more, considering Washington Republicans including President Trump, Vice President Pence and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz invested time and money to save the seat.
“The DCCC and the DNC need to be doing a 50-state strategy,” said Thompson, after coming within 6 percentage points of winning Kansas GOP Rep. Mike Pompeo’s open House seat. (Pompeo won reelection there last year with roughly 60 percent of the vote before becoming the CIA director in January.)
GOPS WIN IN CLOSE SPECIAL ELECTION IN KANSAS
Thompson also pointed out that his campaign was largely financed by individual, small-dollar donations, saying 99 percent of the money came through average-$20 contributions.
The state Democrat party disputes a report that it gave Thompson just $3,000 late in the race but has failed to provide documentation showing the group in fact backed the first-time candidate’s campaign from the start.
The DNC contributed no last-minute money to counter the GOP infusion, with newly-installed Chairmen Tom Perez telling The Washington Post: “There are thousands of elections every year, though. Can we invest in all of them? That would require a major increase in funds.”
DNC Communications Director Xochtil Hinojosa told Fox News on Wednesday that the outcome of the Kansas race -- in a district Trump won in November by 27 percentage points -- proves voters’ “resounding frustration” with the president’s agenda and that Washington Democrats are “committed to organizing in every zip code.”
Meanwhile, the DCCC, which declined to comment for this story, is already sending staffers to Southern California to establish a base camp for 2018 House races in the state and in Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
“Moving out West is one of the improvements that we’re making at the DCCC in order to maximize gains in the midterms,” says group Chairman Rep. Ben Ray Luján.
The New Mexico congressman also vowed that he and fellow Democrats are “on offense across the map -- including in districts that have not seen a serious challenge in a long time.”
To be sure, the DCCC has sent dozens of paid staffers and hundreds of volunteers to Georgia for the special election Tuesday for the open seat of former GOP Rep. Tom Price, in a district Trump barely defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. (Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff has raised more than $8 million in that race.)
But whether the plan is enough to satisfy rank-and-file Democrats after November 2016 remains to be seen.
Before last year, Republicans had already controlled both chambers of Congress as well as the majority of state houses and governors’ offices.
And losses in Democratic strongholds like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida in 2016 that led to Trump’s upset victory over Clinton -- and nixed the party’s chances to retake the Senate -- only reinforced the notion that the Midwestern, blue collar vote has been neglected.
“We have to talk to those people who take a shower after work, not those who just take a shower before work,” Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan said after the losses and amid his subsequent, failed effort to replace California Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi as House minority leader.
He also joined fellow party members in saying Democratic leaders had become too focus on liberal bastions like California, New York and neighbor East Coast states.
Despite Democrats last year winning a handful of House seats, Republicans will still have a daunting, roughly 44-seat majority going into the midterms and a 52-48 seat edge in the Senate.
In California, Democrats are targeting seven incumbent House Republicans -- including high-profile Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Darrell Issa and three others in Southern California.
Ben Tulchin, a San Francisco-based Democratic pollster and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ pollster in the 2016 Democratic primaries -- supports the party’s California strategy.
He says such grassroots efforts in places like Los Angeles and Orange counties make sense because voter-registration drives can reach a large number of unregistered Latinos, Asian-Americans and others who frequently vote Democrat.
“There’s an untapped pool of Democratic voters that just doesn’t exist in place like Iowa,” he said.
Tulchin also argued that reaching voters by TV in the greater-Los Angeles market is too expensive and that voters in largely-conservative Orange County, particularly along the coast, are becoming more socially liberal or at least more moderate.
“They’re almost all pro-environment,” Tulchin said.

Democrats throw millions, Hollywood punch into Georgia House race

Another generation of dumb democrats.

Democrats are pumping millions into the Georgia congressional election set for Tuesday, hoping a 30-year-old political upstart who's attracting star power can deliver a rebuke to President Trump and help the party reclaim lost momentum.
Hollywood has even come out for the off-cycle vote, with actor Samuel L. Jackson cutting a radio ad urging voters to flip the seat once held by Republican Tom Price, who is now Trump's health secretary.
“Vote for the Democratic Party. Stop Donald Trump, a man who encourages racial and religious discrimination and sexism,” Jackson says in the ad, casting the race as a chance to undermine the Republican president and throwing in "Pulp Fiction" references for good measure. “We have to channel the great vengeance and fury we have for this administration into votes at the ballot box.”
Democrats tried a similar tactic last week in their failed bid for the open seat of Kansas' Mike Pompeo, arguing a win in that conservative district would prove just how eager Americans are to end Trump and fellow Republicans’ control of Washington.
Washington Democrats, however, put essentially no resources into the race. By contrast, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee staffers are on the ground in Georgia, and supporters have given top Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff  $8 million-plus, with 80 percent of the money coming from outside the state. 
Republicans have held the suburban Atlanta seat for nearly four decades. However, Democrats saw an opening for an upset after Trump last year narrowly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in that district, while Price won with 61 percent of the vote.
Democrats also see a win as a catalyst for them in the 2018 midterm elections, though Republicans would still have a roughly 44-seat majority in the House and a four-seat advantage in the Senate.
The race Tuesday features 18 candidates -- 11 Republicans, five Democrats and two independents. To outright take the so-called “jungle primary,” the winner must get more than 50 percent of the vote. If not, the leader would face the second-place finisher in a runoff.
Ossoff is expected to get the most votes but not the majority, likely sending him and one of the Republican candidates to the June 20 runoff.
Trump and other Washington Republicans have gotten into the act -- a clear indication of their desire to keep the seat and blunt any momentum toward a possible 2018 Democratic comeback.
“The super Liberal Democrat in the Georgia Congressioal (sic) race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes!,” Trump tweeted Monday.
He also tweeted Sunday: “The recent Kansas election (Congress) was a really big media event, until the Republicans won. Now they play the same game with Georgia-BAD!”
Republican field staffers also have been dispatched to Georgia. A GOP political action committee backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has spent more than $2 million attacking Ossoff.
In addition, the amount of money going to Ossoff is also a liability.
"I don't care what party you're from," said Marty Aftewicz, a 66-year-old Republican voter from Marietta. "If the money's coming from outside the district, it's dirty. … Anyone raising that much outside money can't represent me."
Republicans have also run a barrage of campaign ads trying to tie the 30-year-old Ossoff to House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, and portray him as too sophomoric and inexperienced to govern.
The Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC, for instance, is running ads showing him pretending to be “Star Wars” character Han Solo while attending Georgetown University.
"Jon is being bankrolled by the most extreme liberals,” said Karen Handel, a former secretary of state and one of Ossoff's Republican challengers. “No one is naive enough to think that he will not be beholden to those who are bankrolling him."
Ossoff, nevertheless, pledges to be an "independent voice" in Congress. And he defends his campaign as a grassroots success powered by small and medium donors.
Ossoff is a former staffer to Rep. Hank Johnson and intern for civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, Georgia Democrats now supporting Ossoff in the race.
Though he could get the most votes Tuesday, national Republicans think he would lose in June to Handel or fellow GOP candidates Bob Gray, a technology executive, or Dan Moody or Judson Hill, former state senators.
Handel vows to work with Trump on common-ground issues but says her job is to “be a voice for people of the 6th District."
Gray says he would be a "willing partner" in the effort to fulfill Trump’s legislative agenda.

Tax Day Cartoons

Trump blasts Tax Day protests, says 'election is over!'

President Trump on Sunday criticized the weekend protests against his presidency and those demanding the release of his tax returns, suggesting deep-pocked opponents “paid” for them and saying the 2016 presidential “election is over.”

At least 20 people were arrested Saturday at a park in Berkley, Calif., when attendees of a pro-Trump and an anti-Trump rally clashed.
Police in riot gear confiscated sticks, knives and fireworks that were being hurled in the melee, after failed efforts to separate the events with makeshift fencing.
“Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over!” Trump tweeted Sunday.
The anti-Trump rally was one of about 150 across the country on Saturday to criticize the president’s policies and demand that he release his full IRS returns.

• Police arrest at least 20 as protesters clash at pro-Trump rally in Berkeley

• Tax March turns into demand for Trump's IRS filings; 20 reported arrests

• Tax Day protests: Anti-Trump marches planned nationwide to demand tax returns

Other events took place without major incidents in such U.S. cities as Chicago, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C., and outside of Trump’s south Florida resort home, Mar-a-Lago.
Many of the events, on Tax Day, the deadline for hundreds of millions of Americans to file their IRS returns, were organized by the group TaxMarch.org, whose executive committee includes a former Occupy Wall Street protester.
Others helping organize the events Saturday included labor unions and activist groups such as MoveOn.org and Common Cause.
“I did what was an almost an impossible thing to do for a Republican-easily won the Electoral College! Now Tax Returns are brought up again?” Trump also tweeted Sunday.
That Trump will cave to the pressure and release his full tax returns appears unlikely, considering the president has said he won’t amid an ongoing IRS audit and the White House saying in January that he will not.

DHS' Kelly defends more ICE, border hires; says illegal immigrants must be 'dealt with'

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly made clear Sunday that President Trump is unwavering in his commitments to close U.S. borders to illegal immigrants and remove those already in the county illegally but refuted the idea that the administration is assembling a so-called deportation force.
Kelly acknowledged the possibility of hiring as many as 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and thousands more border patrol agents but said the bolstered effort is a “law enforcement force.”
“There are a huge number, as you know, of illegal aliens or undocumented individuals that have to be dealt with in one way or another,” Kelly told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Most estimates show the country’s illegal immigrant population at about 11 million.
From the first day of his successful White House campaign, Trump has vowed to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the country, particularly criminals crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. In addition, Trump vowed to build a security wall along that border and has remained steadfast on the point amid criticism that he’s flip-flopping on other key campaign issues such as supporting NATO and whether removing Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime is a top priority.
Kelly’s comments followed Attorney General Jeff Sessions' visit to the southern border last week. Sessions told Fox News again Saturday that the border is closed to illegal immigrants.
“This border is not open,” he said on Fox’s “Justice with Jeanine” show. “If you come to America, come lawfully. Don’t come unlawfully.”
Like Kelly, Sessions also made clear that stopping illegal immigration is only part of the solution and that removing people here unlawfully -- including those protected from deportation by so-called sanctuary cities -- is also a priority.
Sessions said he’s hiring 125 new immigration judges, which could improve delays in the legal process for deportation.
The former Alabama senator also said removing immigrants connected to gangs such as MS-13 remain a priority.
“We are going after them,” said Sessions, who also attributed record lows in illegal border crossings to Trump’s election victory and his stern commitment to keeping campaign promises on immigration.
Kelly on Sunday also argued the country’s illegal immigration problem goes beyond enforcement and called on Congress for legislative solutions.
“We have to straighten this out,” he said. “And I place that squarely on the United States Congress. It's a hugely complex series of laws, and I engage the Hill quite a bit and get an earful about what I should do and what I shouldn't do. But it all comes down to the law. … I would hope that the Congress fixes a lot of these problems.”

Will Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch recuse himself on his first day on the job?

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s first day on the high court’s bench is likely to be a T.S. Eliot special: All whimper, no bang.
Gorsuch’s first time sitting with the Supreme Court as the newly-installed Associate Justice on Monday morning is set to include hearing a trio of cases, none of which are likely to grab any major headlines. However, that’s not to say there won’t be anything worth watching for (or, rather, listening for – as the Supreme Court famously does not allow cameras in the courtroom).
Perhaps the case featuring the most intrigue is “Town of Chester, New York v. Laroe Estates” – but not due to the facts of the case; instead all eyes will be on Gorsuch to see if he recuses himself due to the presence of Neal Katyal. Katyal, a former Obama administration acting solicitor general who is set to argue for Chester, wrote the New York Times op-ed “Why Liberals Should Back Neil Gorsuch” after President Trump nominated Gorsuch, and helped introduce Gorsuch during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. At one point, Gorsuch referred to Katyal as “my friend.”
There are no rules on when or if a justice must recuse himself, however, The National Law Journal writes the standard procedure for doing so is simple: the judge will get up and leave. Gorsuch recused himself in more than 1,000 cases as a judge on the Tenth Circuit Court, so there would certainly be a precedent if he holds himself to a high standard.
The crux of “Chester v. Laroe” itself revolves around a dispute involving the interpretation of Article III of the Constitution as it relates to participating in a lawsuit.
Gorsuch and his eight fellow justices are also scheduled to hear two other cases Monday.
“Perry v. Merit Systems Protection Board” asks whether a Protection Board decision decided on jurisdictional grounds in a case involving both local and federal claims must be reviewed in the U.S. Court of Appeals or can be heard in district court on appeal.
“California Public Employees’ Retirement System v. ANZ Securities, Inc.” asks a question about the timeliness of filing an individual lawsuit if the suit had been previously litigated as a class action.

Pence, speaking near the DMZ, delivers strong message to North Korea

Vice President Pence warned North Korea Monday the “era of strategic patience is over,” expressing impatience with the speed and willingness of the regime to ending its nuclear weapons program.
Pence, speaking near the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, said President Trump is hopeful that China will use its “extraordinary levers” to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its weapons.
"But the era of strategic patience is over," Pence said. "President Trump has made it clear that the patience of the United States and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change. We want to see North Korea abandon its reckless path of the development of nuclear weapons, and also its continual use and testing of ballistic missiles is unacceptable."
Pence called North Korea’s failed missile launch “a provocation.” He said the U.S. and its allies will achieve its objectives through “peaceable means or ultimately by whatever means are necessary” to protect Seoul and stabilize the region.
Pence’s remarks come amid heightened tensions and heated rhetoric on the Korean Peninsula. While, the North did not conduct a nuclear test, the chance that they were going to escalated the U.S. response ahead of Pence’s 10-day tour of Asia. Pence also visited U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
"This morning's provocation from the North is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face every day in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world," Pence said. "Your willingness to step forward, to serve, to stand firm without fear, inspires the nation and inspires the world."
Deputy national security adviser K.T. MacFarland told Fox News’ Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” that North Korea was a problem for everybody in the region, including China – the North’s strongest ally.
"North Korea is a liability to everybody and it's a threat not just to the United States, not just to South Korea, not just to Japan, not just to Russia, but it's actually a threat to China as well.”
H.R. McMaster, Trump’s top national security adviser, told ABC’s “This Week” the U.S. would rely on its allies as well as Chinese leadership to solve the issues with North Korea.
McMaster cited Trump's recent decision to order missile strikes in Syria after a chemical attack blamed on the Assad government as a sign that the president "is clearly comfortable making tough decisions." But at the same time, McMaster said, "it's time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully."
A North Korean missile exploded during launch on Sunday, U.S. and South Korean officials said. The high-profile failure came as the North tried to showcase its nuclear and missile capabilities around the birth anniversary of the North's late founder and as a U.S. aircraft carrier neared the Korean Peninsula.

Funny Easter Bunny Cartoons 2017

Pope Francis on Easter: Cling to faith amid wars and hatred

Pope Francis on Sunday encouraged people to hold fast in their "fearful hearts" to faith despite all the wars, sickness and hatred in the world, acknowledging on Easter Sunday that many wonder where God is amid so much evil and suffering.
In his impromptu homily during Mass in St. Peter's Square and later in his formal "Urbi et Orbi" Easter message delivered from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Francis reflected on a litany of suffering in the world, including wars, oppressive regimes, human trafficking, corruption, famine and domestic violence.

–– ADVERTISEMENT ––

He encouraged people to hold fast in their "fearful hearts" to faith, acknowledging that many people wonder where God is amid so much evil and suffering in the world.
Some 60,000 people, including multi-national throngs of pilgrims and tourists, endured tight anti-terrorism security checks — and, later, a brief downpour — to hear Francis and receive his blessing.

Related coverage...

• Jesus and Easter: Why the resurrection is the most important truth in the world

• Newt and Callista Gingrich: Easter 2017: 'Be Not Afraid'

• What you didn't know about Easter traditions

The crowd size, cited by the Vatican security forces, was smaller in comparison to some other Easters, when about 100,000 turned out for the occasion.
After Mass, Francis toured the square in his open-topped, white popemobile and waved back to well-wishers.
In his balcony address, Francis prayed that God would sustain those working to comfort and help the civilian population in Syria, "prey to a war that continues to sow horror and death."
He cited the explosion Saturday that ripped through a bus depot in the Aleppo area where evacuees were awaiting transfer, killing at least 100 people.
"Yesterday saw the latest vile attack on fleeing refugees," the pope said, also praying for peace in the Holy Land, Iraq and Yemen.
Separately, in a letter he sent to the bishop of Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis, whose name he chose for his papacy, the pope decried the "scandalous reality of a world still marked by the divide between the endless number of indigent" and the "tiny portion of those who possess the majority of riches and presume to decide the fates of humanity."
Francis has repeatedly championed the dignity of migrants fleeing war, persecution or poverty. On Sunday he recalled "all those forced to leave their homelands as a result of armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, famine and oppressive regimes."
The church's first pontiff from Latin America voiced concern over the "political and social tensions" in the world as well as the "scourge of corruption" on his home continent. Francis also mentioned hostilities and famine plaguing parts of Africa.
Speaking of Europe's problems, Francis cited the continued conflict and bloodshed in Ukraine and prayed for hope for those struggling with high unemployment, especially young people.
Traditionally, the pope gives no homily during the late-morning Easter Mass, saving his reflections for the "Urbi et Orbi" message at noon.
But Francis broke with that tradition, giving an off-the-cuff homily during Mass about what he described as a nagging question for many faithful: Why are there so many tragedies and wars if Jesus has risen from the dead, a belief that Christians celebrate each Easter?
"The Church never ceases to say, faced with our defeats, our closed and fearful hearts, 'stop, the Lord is risen.' But if the Lord is risen, how come these things happen?" Francis asked.
He gestured toward the potted hyacinths, tulips and daffodils, which came from the Netherlands, and which were arranged in neat rows on the steps leading to the imposing church.
Easter "isn't a party with lots of flowers. This is pretty, but it's not this, it's more than this," Francis said.
He said having faith on Easter gives sense in the middle of "so many calamities: the sense of looking beyond, the sense of saying, look, there isn't a wall, there's a horizon, there's life, there's joy."

Police arrest at least 20 as protesters clash at pro-Trump rally in Berkeley

At least 20 arrests were reported in California after violence broke out during a rally on Saturday demanding President Donald Trump release his full IRS returns.
About 200 people were at a park in Berkeley when several fights broke out. Dozens of police officers in riot gear standing nearby quickly arrested one man. Others were arrested after several skirmishes.
Trump supporters announced earlier in the week that they were holding a "Patriot Day" at the Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park at noon that would feature speeches by members of the alt-right. Counter-demonstrators then said they would hold a rally at the same place at 10 a.m.
Officials put up a makeshift barrier of plastic orange poles and orange fence mesh to separate the sides, but that came down after demonstrators began punching and kicking each other, while pepper spray and firecrackers were thrown into the crowd.
Demonstrators shouted at each other from a distance after the barrier was put back, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The groups then left the park and walked on Berkeley streets with police closely following them.
Officers on Saturday confiscated sticks, knives, flagpoles and helmets and sticks with signs on them.
The charges for the 20 arrested “include arrests for assault with a deadly weapon and several other felony assaults,” the Berkeley police said in a statement.
Police also said in a statement that “more arrests will be pursued” after officials investigate social media and video footage.
The rally followed March 4 demonstrations at the same park planned by some of the same groups and that ended in violent clashes. Several people were injured and police arrested 10 demonstrators.
In February, protesters threw rocks, broke windows and set fires outside the University of California, Berkeley's student union building, where then-Breitbart News editor and provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was set to speak. His presentation was cancelled.

Trump gives generals more freedom to make decisions in ISIS fight

U.S. military commanders are stepping up their fight against Islamist extremism as President Donald Trump’s administration urges them to make more battlefield decisions on their own.
As the White House works on a broad strategy, America’s top military commanders are implementing the vision articulated by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis: Decimate Islamic State’s Middle East strongholds and ensure that the militants don’t establish new beachheads in places such as Afghanistan.
“There’s nothing formal, but it is beginning to take shape,” a senior U.S. defense official said Friday. “There is a sense among these commanders that they are able to do a bit more—and so they are.”
While military commanders complained about White House micromanagement under former President Barack Obama, they are now being told they have more freedom to make decisions without consulting Mr. Trump. Military commanders around the world are being encouraged to stretch the limits of their existing authorities when needed, but to think seriously about the consequences of their decisions.
The more muscular military approach is expanding as the Trump administration debates a comprehensive new strategy to defeat Islamic State. Mr. Mattis has sketched out such a global plan, but the administration has yet to agree on it. While the political debate continues, the military is being encouraged to take more aggressive steps against Islamic extremists around the world.
The firmer military stance has fueled growing concerns among State Department officials working on Middle East policy that the Trump administration is giving short shrift to the diplomatic tools the Obama administration favored. Removing the carrot from the traditional carrot-and-stick approach, some State Department officials warn, could hamper the pursuit of long-term strategies needed to prevent volatile conflicts from reigniting once the shooting stops.
The new approach was on display this week in Afghanistan, where Gen. John Nicholson, head of the U.S.-led coalition there, decided to use one of the military’s biggest nonnuclear bombs—a Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, or MOAB—to hit a remote Islamic State underground network of tunnels and caves.
A senior administration official said Mr. Trump didn’t know about the weapon’s use until it had been dropped.
Mr. Mattis “is telling them, ‘It’s not the same as it was, you don’t have to ask us before you drop a MOAB,’” the senior defense official said. “Technically there’s no piece of paper that says you have to ask the president to drop a MOAB. But last year this time, the way [things were] meant, ‘I’m going to drop a MOAB, better let the White House know.’”
The more aggressive military approach comes as the long slog against Islamic State is bearing fruit. The group is on the back foot in its Iraqi stronghold, Mosul, and is facing a hard battle to defend its de facto Syrian capital, Raqqa.

Pence lands in South Korea amid rising tensions in North Korea

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence arrived in South Korea on Sunday to begin his 10-day Asia trip that comes amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's threats to advance its nuclear and defense capabilities.
The vice president arrived in the region a day after North Korea celebrated the birth anniversary of the country's late founder with a military parade showing off missiles and military hardware.
A North Korean missile exploded during its launch on Sunday, U.S. and South Korean officials said. The failed missile launch comes as a powerful U.S. aircraft supercarrier approaches the Korean Peninsula in a show of force.
In a statement, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Trump and his military team "are aware of North Korea's most recent unsuccessful missile launch. The president has no further comment."
Pence said North Korea's "provocation" was another reminder of the risks that U.S. and South Korean service members face every day "in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world."
The vice president said at a fellowship dinner at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul that the willingness of military members "to stand firm without fear inspires the nation and inspires the world."
Trump has suggested that the U.S. will take a tougher stance against the North Korean threat. “North Korea is a problem. The problem will be taken care of," Trump told reporters last week.
Along with the deployment of the Naval aircraft carrier and other vessels into waters off the Korean Peninsula, thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops, tanks and other weaponry were also deployed last month in their biggest-ever joint military exercises.
Despite North Korea's provocations, U.S. officials have said that the U.S. doesn't intend to use military force against North Korea in response to either a nuclear test or a missile launch.
After a two-month policy review, officials settled on a policy dubbed "maximum pressure and engagement," U.S. officials said Friday.  The administration's immediate emphasis, the officials said, will be on increasing pressure on Pyongyang with the help of Beijing.
The vice president was joined by his wife and two adult daughters and was laying a wreath at the Seoul National Cemetery at the start of his trip.
Pence will be tasked with explaining the policy in meetings with leaders in South Korea and Japan at the start of his trip, which will also include stops in Indonesia and Australia. He will also aim to reassure allies in South Korea and Japan that the U.S. will take appropriate steps to defend them against North Korean aggression.

Cheap Obamacare Cartoons

Bannon bashing: Why the press is targeting the Trump aide as barely hanging on

Kurtz: The bullseye on Steve Bannon

I don’t know whether Steve Bannon has a long-term future in the White House, but I do know this:
The press wants him out.
There has been an almost obsessive focus with the fate of President Trump’s chief strategist, and the tone of the stories about the internal battles is unmistakable.
Bannon is the wild man, the extremist, the nationalist who is pulling the president in the wrong direction. He is fighting the moderates, the realists, the gang led by Jared Kushner that is nudging the president in a more reasonable direction.

And the Kushner faction, which includes a couple of Wall Street veterans, happens to favor the kind of compromises that most journalists want.
As an added bonus, Bannon has made no secret of his loathing for the press. So there’s an element of payback here as well.
I’m not minimizing the importance of these battles. Since Trump is not a fiercely ideological leader, the voices he listens to may well shape the future of his administration.
But there is a tendency in some media quarters to depict the combative Bannon as a Svengali who is pulling the president’s strings. The reality is that Trump was sounding nationalist themes, especially on trade and economic issues, decades ago. The reality is that Bannon joined the campaign for the final 2-1/2 months.
That is not to minimize his importance as a force in the White House. Trump respects Bannon as a former Goldman Sachs executive and Hollywood entrepreneur who made his own fortune. But Trump is at heart a dealmaker who prides himself on flexibility.
It’s also true that the president wants to be the star of his own show. Bannon hasn’t exactly sought a high profile, passing up every television interview request since he joined the campaign. But the Time magazine cover on him—“The Great Manipulator”—didn’t please the boss.
The infighting, waged through constant leaks to the press, is all too real and goes well beyond Bannon. But the friction between Bannon and Kushner reached the point where Trump told them to work things out, or he would do it for them. And a son-in-law tends not to lose that kind of battle.
A couple of presidential interviews this week have fueled the notion that Bannon is on thin ice. Trump told the Wall Street Journal that Bannon is “a guy who works for me.”
And the president said this to New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin: “I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late. I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didn’t know Steve. I’m my own strategist.”
To me, that’s a bit of a brushback pitch to remind Bannon that hey, he’s staff, and that it was Trump that got Trump elected.
But the Washington Post says Bannon has been “publicly humiliated by his boss.”
The paper called him “a marked man,” and then used this medical metaphor:
“The president’s comments were described by White House officials as a dressing-down and warning shot, though one Bannon friend, reflecting on them Wednesday, likened Bannon to a terminally ill family member who had been moved into hospice care.”

There were also leaked and damaging assessments in the New York Times, which said Bannon is keeping a low profile due to his “isolation inside the White House,” with aides describing Trump’s “growing irritation” with all the credit he is getting.
And this zinger, quoting a source as saying Trump has described Bannon as “not a team player.”

But for all the journalistic drama, both papers get around to acknowledging that nothing may change.
The Post: “For now, at least, Bannon may survive the turmoil.”
The Times: “One person with firsthand knowledge of internal White House dynamics…insisted that no immediate changes were likely.”
Ah. Never mind.
Bannon is a symbol. To many Trump supporters, he represents the defiant, revolutionary conservatism they want from the president. To many Trump detractors, and many media types, he represents an undisciplined, extremist ideology--a pirate, in Newt Gingrich's word. It's still unclear whether he'll ultimately have to walk the plank.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. 

Trump plays hardball with Dems on ObamaCare payments

Crying :--(

Smiling :-)

President Trump has riled congressional Democrats by threatening earlier this week to hold back payments to health insurers in an apparent bid to get them to negotiate over a new ObamaCare replacement package.
The president needled the minority party – which he’s suggested he could work with in the wake of House Republicans’ failure to pass an earlier repeal/replace bill – in a wide-ranging interview this week with The Wall Street Journal.
While his comments to the newspaper on foreign threats and White House palace intrigue drew more attention, Trump pointedly threatened not to pay what are known as "cost-sharing" subsidies to insurers meant to bring down the cost of deductibles and copayments for consumers. They're separate from the better-known premium subsidies that customers receive. But without them, experts say the government marketplaces that provide subsidized private insurance could face turmoil.
“I don’t want people to get hurt,” Trump said in the Journal interview. “What I think should happen—and will happen—is the Democrats will start calling me and negotiating.”
So far, Democrats are taking the opposite approach – lashing out at Trump and instead demanding that the payments be included in an upcoming spending bill.
“Refusing to make the Cost Sharing Reduction payments has no purpose but to hurt millions of people, and manufacture a crisis,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. “If President Trump followed through on his appalling threat, millions of Americans would see their out-of-pocket costs skyrocket and premiums would immediately be driven up by at least 15 percent.”
The new administration has continued to make cost-sharing payments to insurers as it weighs options.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced limited fixes Thursday for shaky health insurance markets, while reaffirming its goal of dismantling the Obama-era law.
Many of the changes announced Thursday follow recommendations from insurers, who wanted the government to address shortcomings with HealthCare.gov markets, including complaints that some people are gaming the system by signing up only when they get sick, and then dropping out after being treated.
The changes announced Thursday include:
-- A shortened sign-up window of 45 days, starting with coverage for 2018.
-- Curbs on "special enrollment periods" that allow consumers to sign up outside the normal open enrollment window.
-- Allowing an insurer to collect past debt for unpaid premiums from the prior 12 months before applying a consumer's payments to a new policy.
-- Giving insurers more flexibility to design low-premium plans that can be tailored to young adults.
"While these steps will help stabilize the individual and small group markets, they are not a long-term cure for the problems that the Affordable Care Act has created in our health care system," Seema Verma, the Trump administration official responsible for the markets, said in a statement.
The changes come as insurers are figuring out their plans for 2018.
This year saw premium increases averaging 25 percent for a standard plan in states served by HealthCare.gov. Some insurers say they've lost hundreds of millions of dollars, and many have pulled back or are considering it.
Most communities will have competing insurers on the public marketplace next year, but a growing number will be down to one, and some areas may face having none.

Pro-Trump blogger Cernovich getting big scoops, mainstream attention

A year ago, Mike Cernovich was a fringe blogger posting a blend of pro-Trump memes and self-help tips from his home base in Southern California. Today, he's beating the mainstream media to some of the Trump era's biggest news stories.
While still far from a household name, Cernovich was first to ID Susan Rice as the key official in the "unmasking" controversy -- and accurately predicted President Trump's strikes in Syria last week, shortly before they were launched.
The scoops don't mean he's gone mainstream. Cernovich remains a divisive figure, derided by some media outlets as a cog of the alt-right and a white nationalist, labels he rejects. But his recent reporting is attracting growing attention, including from Trump's inner circle.
“I view myself as having an adversarial approach to the media,” he told Fox News. “I want to do journalism on journalists. I want to do the stories on stories that aren’t being told.”
Cernovich describes himself as a “lawyer, author, free speech activist, and documentary filmmaker.” Before he was on the Trump train, he started out as a self-help guru for men, via his blog Danger & Play which offered style and fitness tips, and encouraged men to adopt a style of alpha masculinity.
“I didn’t take the traditional journalist route,” he said. “It started as a Men’s Health kind of thing with a bit of an edge.”
That is an understatement. Some of his posts were inflammatory, including one on "How to choke a woman during sex" and another dismissing the concept of “date rape."
“No one says you were 'date murdered' if killed by boyfriend or a date. It's just ‘murder,’” he had said in a tweet. His views have led The Guardian to label him "a professional misogynist and date rape apologist."
Last year, Cernovich became known for promoting more outlandish stories about Hillary Clinton – he pushed the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory that she was connected to a child sex ring in a D.C. pizzeria, and promoted a number of theories about Clinton’s allegedly failing health, once making #HillarysHealth a trending hashtag on Twitter.
But Cernovich rejects claims by some that he's a white nationalist, saying that indicates a focus on a white ethno state -- something he says he has no interest in -- and notes his daughter is half-Persian.
“I call it the new right,” he said, when asked how he'd describe his affiliation. “The new right-wing movement is a wide group of people committed to free speech, anti-war, trade, it’s sympathetic to whistleblowers. It’s coalescing on a number of issues.”
While #HillarysHealth was dismissed by many as a fringe conspiracy theory, other media eventually focused closely on her health after she collapsed at a 9/11 remembrance service and was filmed being dragged into a van by aides.
"60 Minutes" profiled Cernovich recently after the pizzeria – Comet Ping Pong -- at the center of the D.C. conspiracy theory was raided by a gunman. However, Cernovich adamantly says he never named the restaurant. His connection to "Pizzagate" led "60 Minutes" to brand him as a spreader of fake news.
But two recent scoops have been anything but fake.
On April 2, Cernovich named Rice as the high-level Obama administration official behind the “unmasking” of names of Trump campaign officials caught up in surveillance. He posted the scoop on Twitter and on Medium, and the news quickly zipped around right-wing Twitter users and Reddit groups.
Bloomberg News and Fox News then reported that Rice sought to unmask the names, leading other outlets to focus on the story and forcing a response from Rice herself, who maintains she acted appropriately.
But those who monitor Cernovich already were well aware of the claim. The scoop was noticed in particular by Donald Trump Jr., who said Cernovich deserved a Pulitzer.
But Cernovich wasn’t done. On April 6, at 4:01 p.m. ET, after the Assad regime was accused of launching a chemical weapons attack in northern Syria, Cernovich tweeted a breaking news alert that imminent U.S. strikes were possible:
According to Fox News’ reporting, this was less than 30 minutes before Trump OK’d the airstrikes on Syria. Again, Cernovich’s reporting initially was ignored by mainstream reporters, until the strikes began.
Cernovich has been noticed by top Trump officials, though it's unclear how close his own sources may be to them. In addition to Trump Jr.’s tweet, Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway promoted his appearance on "60 Minutes."
Cernovich, noting how controversial he is, said, “It takes a great deal of courage to give me a public shout out, that’s for sure.”
Indeed, some conservatives in outlets like National Review have expressed dismay at members of Trump's inner circle praising Cernovich.
But Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said he's not surprised.
"Birds of a feather flock together," Bannon told Fox News. "Cernovich deals in the same kind of innuendo that the president does, so it's a marriage made in heaven -- or hell."
Bannon added that Trump has "made no secret of his distaste for the media and so this is another attempt to get around what he considers the enemy."
For his part, Cernovich says he has a number of sources, some anonymous and some not, and he learned of the Rice scoop from sources telling him outlets such as The New York Times and Bloomberg were sitting on the story.
Cernovich’s break is eerily reminiscent of the 1998 scoop that brought Drudge Report’s Matt Drudge to prominence. Drudge broke the news of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, after Newsweek decided to sit on reporter Michael Isikoff’s scoop. Drudge ran with it and it turned the then-fringe news aggregator into one of the biggest names in news.
Cernovich says he is a big admirer of Drudge, and says he counts being added to Drudge’s blog roll as one of the biggest moments of his professional life. He also shares Drudge’s combative approach to the mainstream media.
Cernovich's notoriety is definitely on the rise; he has been profiled recently by The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Washington Post.
As for what’s next, Cernovich says he has about five more “high-impact” stories to drop, stories he says the legacy media would love to get their hands on.
“I have a lot of big stories,” he said. “I’m just waiting to drop them at exactly the right time.”

Tax Day protests: Anti-Trump marches planned nationwide to demand tax returns

I'm suppose to pay taxes, duh I didn't know that :-)

Democratic lawmakers and liberal activists plan to ring in Tax Day with nationwide protests this weekend meant to pressure President Trump to release his tax returns -- with organizers hoping for the biggest anti-Trump showing since January's Women's March.
On Saturday, thousands are expected to attend 'Tax Marches' in approximately 150 cities, including several affiliated events overseas.
“Whether people support him or not, [releasing his tax returns] is something that people think he should do. I think there is a chance something like this could move him,” said Lisa Gilbert, vice president of legislative affairs at Public Citizen, one of the groups organizing the marches.
The president's supporters, however, see the marches -- and the persistent tax return focus -- as a waste of time.
In Colorado Springs, Trump backers plan to hold a counter-protest on Saturday. For them, what is in Trump's tax returns pales in comparison to what could be in his tax plan.
"Their whole message is they want to see the president's tax returns. I care far more about his policy than his tax returns," Trevor Dierdorff, El Paso County Republican Party chairman, told the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, said during a recent House Ways and Means Committee hearing that the pressure on Trump to release his returns is a "political mission," arguing the kind of bombshells Democrats are seeking wouldn't even be in such documents.
The protests, if nothing else, could make for a rowdy scene in cities across the country, reminiscent of the Women's March on inauguration weekend.
As many as 25,000 are expected to attend the rally in Washington, D.C. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., will be among the speakers.
Two of the largest events are expected in Seattle, site of the World Trade Organization protests of the 1990s. In addition to the expected 25,000 marching in “Tax March Seattle,” as many as 7,000 Black Lives Matter activists plan to come out for their own rally focusing on Trump's tax returns.
There also is a protest planned in front of Trump Plaza in West Palm Beach, Fla. The protest will move to Bingham Island, directly adjacent to the Mar-a-Lago resort where Trump is staying for the weekend. According to their Facebook page, about 1,000 are expected to attend.
While organic in nature, the marches are being organized under the umbrella of several liberal activists. The partnering labor unions and activist groups range from the well-known -- MoveOn.org and Common Cause -- to more obscure players like the Endangered Species Coalition.
Gilbert contends the events could build support for an agenda beyond Trump’s taxes, such as tax fairness and economic justice.
She said Saturday’s events are focused on transparency and accountability, issues that unite Americans -- and noted that bills have been introduced in numerous states that would require presidential candidates to disclose their taxes.
The idea for the march has its roots in the response to a January appearance by White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway. Asked her thoughts on an online petition demanding Trump release his tax returns, Conway replied that the White House would not release his tax returns and the issue was of little concern to Americans.
“We litigated this all through the election. People didn't care. They voted for him,” she said on ABC News’ “This Week.”
The comments lit up social media and grassroots organizers began circulating plans for this weekend’s events.
According to the Facebook post by organizers of a rally in London, the goal is to be “in solidarity with the struggle of our American brothers and sisters and in protest of the xenophobia, isolationism, destruction to our planet, economy and future, and rising tides of division in Europe” and to offer “hope for a more inclusive, peaceful tomorrow.”
Voters may be split on the tax return issue. An April Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll found 53 percent of voters want Trump to release his tax returns, and 51 percent believe his returns are either very or somewhat important to them.
Whether it resonates beyond Tax Day -- which is typically April 15, though the IRS is pushing the deadline to Tuesday -- is unclear. But Democrats in Congress continue to use tax returns as a wedge issue.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said not releasing the returns would make getting bipartisan agreement on tax reform “much harder.”
House Democrats attempted to give the issue legs before leaving on recess by filing a discharge petition, intended to force a vote on the matter on the House floor.
“Only with the release of President Trump’s tax returns can we be sure the American people are the president’s top priority,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in a statement after the petition was filed.
House Democrats also are pushing for a vote on a bill sponsored by California Democrat Anna Eshoo that would require Trump, as well as major-party nominees, to submit their previous three years of tax returns to the Office of Government Ethics or the Federal Election Commission.
In a much-hyped segment, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow also recently aired a leaked copy of part of an old Trump tax return.
But it wasn't exactly damning. The files showed Trump paid $38 million in federal income tax in 2005 on more than $150 million. The effective rate of 25 percent was higher than the rate paid by former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Made in China Cartoons

US Air Force sends message to North Korea with display of air power

U.S. Air Force officials made it clear to North Korea they were not messing around, launching a surprise military exercise with full combat air power in Japan Wednesday.
The jets in the arsenal of the 18th Wing, which conducted the exercise, include HH-60 Pave Hawks, F-15 Eagles, E-3 Sentries and KC-135 Stratotankers. Military officials call it the Air Force's largest combat-ready wing.

Expand / Contract

U.S. Air Force 44th and 67th Fighter Squadron F-15 Eagles and 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron E-3 Sentries taxi down the runway. (U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman John Linzmeier)

IS USA REALLY IN NORTH KOREA'S 'NUCLEAR SIGHT'?
Photos showed a large group of the jets on a runway at Kadena Air Base in Japan.
Meanwhile, China has urged North Korea's opponents not to do anything rash, Reuters reported, despite signs the rogue nation soon may conduct a sixth nuclear test.
GREG PALKOT: DEFIANCE ON DISPLAY IN PYONGYANG
"Military force cannot resolve the issue," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Beijing. "Amid challenge there is opportunity. Amid tensions we will also find a kind of opportunity to return to talks."
Satellite imagery showed activity at North Korea's Punggye-ri testing site, a sign the secretive regime could be preparing for another nuclear test, analysts from the U.S. research institute 38 North wrote.
On Wednesday, President Trump voiced confidence Chinese President Xi Jinping would help him control North Korea's mounting threat.
"I think he wants to help us with North Korea," Trump said of Xi, crediting China in a White House news conference with taking a "big step" by turning back boats of coal that North Korea sells to its northern neighbor. North Korea conducts some 90 percent of its trade with China.
Trump also repeated that trade concessions could be on the table for more cooperation on North Korea. He said he told Xi last week: "The way you're going to make a good trade deal is to help us with North Korea, otherwise we're just going to go it alone. That will be all right, too. But going it alone means going it with lots of other nations."'
The United States has been urging Beijing to use its economic leverage with North Korea, which conducted two underground nuclear explosions and two dozen missile tests last year. It is moving closer to developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could threaten the U.S. mainland, analysts have said.

North Korea nuclear threat: Defiance on display in Pyongyang

Amid new reports the North might be preparing for another nuclear test or missile launch to mark the anniversary Saturday of the birth of the country’s founder Kim il Sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, the regime organized a mass turn-out of residents and soldiers to mark the opening of a new government-backed building complex in the capital.
North Korean Prime Minister Pak Pong Ju said the project was a sign North Korea would not be cowed by America and international sanctions adding the achievement had the symbolic impact of a 100 thermonuclear bombs
Kim Jong Un, in fact, happily officiated at the ribbon-cutting for the new complex, but he no doubt has other things on his mind. Like President Trump and his talk about ally China helping in the dispute, as well as that still-possible U.S. military option, and reports of the Trump administration planning more sanctions.
One resident angrily rejected those.
“We really don’t care,” one man told me. “We’ve lived under the sanctions of the U.S. since the very first day. We don’t give a damn.”
As for that new building complex? Despite the fact that no one lives or works there yet, and the shops looked decidedly “un-shopped,” this addition to the showcase capital seemed to please at least one person:
“Our future looks bright,” a woman told me, “thanks to Kim Jong Un.”
And what do the officials think about all the tough talk coming from the Trump administration? To sum up the reaction of one?  Bring it on.