Sunday, July 30, 2017
Conway, other Trump supporters laud decision to replace Priebus with Kelly
Top White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and other
President Trump supporters on Saturday backed the president’s decision
to make retired Gen. Mike Kelly his new chief of staff.
“I think General Secretary Kelly
will bring some strength and discipline, and put out, without even
saying to others, that loose lips sink ships,” Conway, counselor to the
president, told Fox News' “Fox & Friends.”
She spoke one day after Trump replaced White House
Chief of Staff Reince Priebus with Kelly, amid widespread leaks from
inside the West Wing and apparently across the administration that have
slowed the president’s agenda.“I think people will think thrice before they try to hurt each other … by using the press,” said Conway, Trump’s campaign manager in the final stretch of his successful 2016 White House bid.
Kelly, a retired Marine general, was the Homeland Security secretary before the announced change Friday.
“I think what the president wants to do is to make a fresh start,” Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s first campaign manager, also said Saturday on “Fox & Friends.”
“And I think he and General Kelly are going to make a great combination. It's time -- and I think the general is going to do this -- to make sure that everybody who’s working in the administration is working for the president’s agenda.”
Lewandowski didn’t accuse Priebus of leaking damaging information but suggested there was “no recourse” against those who did under his watch.
Priebus’ departure follows the ousting last week of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who helped Priebus lead the Republican National Committee before they joined the Trump White House.
As part of the larger White House shakeup, Trump has hired fellow New Yorker Antony Scaramucci as his communications director and has publicly suggested Attorney General Jeff Session also could be fired.
Kelly is considered a battle-hardened commander who would bring a background of military discipline and order to the unsettled White House.
Kelly's experience as Homeland Security secretary and a veteran of three tours in Iraq -- along with a sobering family tragedy -- suggests he'll be a loyal manager for Trump when he officially starts the job Monday.
"He has been a true star of my administration," tweeted Trump in announcing the move. The president also called Kelly a "great leader" and "great American." He called Priebus, ousted after a tumultuous six months, a "good man."
As Homeland Security secretary, Kelly has taken the lead on some of Trump's most controversial policies, including his executive orders suspending the admission of refugees and temporarily barring visitors from several Muslim-majority nations. Those orders have been stripped down by courts pending a Supreme Court review this fall.
And he has stood up to Congress.
In April, Kelly bluntly challenged members of Congress critical of the Trump administration's aggressive approach to immigration enforcement to either change the laws or "shut up."
But Kelly has won bipartisan respect from lawmakers as a result of his distinguished military career. He joined the Marine Corps in 1970, carving out a reputation as a highly respected but often outspoken commander who could roil debate and issue unpopular directives on issues ranging from women in combat to the treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center.
Kelly also holds a somber distinction. He was the highest-ranking officer to lose a child in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. Kelly's son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed in November 2010 in Afghanistan.
The general retired from the military last year, wrapping up a three-year post as head of U.S. Southern Command, which spanned some of the more fractious debate over the Obama administration's ultimately failed attempt to close the detainee facility at Guantanamo.
US, allies prepared to use 'overwhelming force' in North Korea, general says
The U.S. and its allies are
prepared to use “rapid, lethal and overwhelming force,” if necessary,
against North Korea, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces warned
Saturday night.
The statement from Gen. Terrence J.
O’Shaughnessy, U.S. Pacific Air Forces commander, came after the
militaries of the U.S., South Korea and Japan spent 10 hours conducting
bomber-jet drills over the Korean Peninsula.
The training mission was a response to North Korea’s
recent ballistic missile launches and nuclear program, and part of the
U.S. regular commitment to defending its allies in the Asia-Pacific
region, the general’s statement said.“North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability,” O’Shaughnessy said.
“Diplomacy remains the lead,” he said. “However, we have a responsibility to our allies and our nation to showcase our unwavering commitment while planning for the worst-case scenario.
“If called upon,” he added, “we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing.”
North Korea conducted test launches of ICBMs on July 3 and July 28, and has claimed that its weapons can now reach the U.S. mainland.
The country’s recent actions have drawn condemnation from President Trump, and prompted U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to confer with counterparts from South Korea and Japan to develop a response, Fox News has reported.
Both Trump and Tillerson have criticized China, saying the Beijing government has failed to use its influence to discourage North Korea from developing its nuclear program, Fox News reported.
On Saturday, two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, under the command of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, joined counterparts from the South Korean and Japanese air forces in sequenced bilateral missions.
According to the Pentagon, the U.S. bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, then flew to Japanese airspace, where they were joined by two Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self Defense Force) F-2 fighter jets.
The B-1s then flew over the Korean Peninsula, where they were joined by four F-15 fighter jets from the South Korean air force.
The B-1s then performed a low-pass over Osan Air Base, South Korea, before leaving South Korean airspace and returning to Guam.
Throughout the approximately 10-hour mission, the air crews practiced intercept and formation functions, enabling them to improve their combined capabilities and strengthening the long-standing military-to-military relationships in the region, the Pentagon said.
U.S. Pacific Command maintains flexible bomber and fighter capabilities in the Indo-Asia-Pacific theater, retaining the ability to quickly respond to any regional threat in order to defend the U.S. and its allies, the statement said.
President Trump Tweets About Russia, ‘Outdated’ Filibuster Rule
In this photo taken July 26, 2017, President Donald Trump pauses while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. |
In a tweet Saturday, the President said republicans in the Senate will never win if they don’t go to a 51-vote majority, adding they are just wasting time.
The 60 votes required for many major legislative efforts is said to be a key reason for the failure of the health care reform in the Senate.
President Trump went on to call the rule very outdated.
Earlier Saturday, President Trump also put the alleged Russia meddling theory to rest, after it was revealed the firm Fusion GPS, which was behind the infamous Steele Dossier, also did work for Russia.
The President said on Twitter that Russia was working against him during the 2016 election because he campaigned on cheaper oil prices and a strong military.
He previously claimed Russian officials wanted Hillary Clinton to win because she would have weakened our nation’s defenses.
Earlier this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned a victim of the firm and he revealed the company was hired by Russia to run a smear campaign against the President in an effort to lift Russian sanctions.
Iran: U.S. Navy was Unprofessional During Confrontation in Persian Gulf
The incident happened on Friday in the Persian Gulf and involved the USS Nimitz and an accompanying ship.
The U.S. Navy says one of its helicopters was on a routine patrol in international airspace when several Iranian vessels approached at high speed.
The Navy tried to establish communications, but didn’t get an answer.
They, then, sent out flares, which prompted the boats to halt.
U.S. officials say the encounter was safe and professional.
The incident comes days after a U.S. Navy patrol boat fired warning shots near an Iranian vessel that reportedly came dangerously close to them during a tense encounter.
Saturday, July 29, 2017
John McCain saving Obamacare is proof that the system is broken
In the dead of night, Republican senators unveiled and voted on the Health Care Freedom Act, the so-called “skinny repeal” bill that was anything but skinny. On Thursday night, the CBO released a score of the HCFA based on details of the bill that had been held in secret by garbage rat king Mitch McConnell until mere hours before the vote. The CBO’s estimate showed that 15 million people would have been thrown off their insurance next year, and 16 million by 2026. Premiums in the individual marketplace would have gone up by 20 percent.
Ultimately, early Friday morning, John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins voted the bill down, which crashed and burned in a 49-to-51 vote. The suspense all came from McCain, who wouldn’t tell reporters what he had decided, telling them instead to “watch the show.” If any one of those senators had changed their mind, repeal would have gone through, with Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote.
While HCFA was ultimately defeated, it’s hard to overstate how broken this entire process has become. Republicans were voting on a bill that they explicitly stated was so terrible that they did not want to see it actually go into effect. Paul Ryan had to promise that the bill would go to conference committee and that the House would negotiate with the Senate to reach a compromise to improve the bill. But Ryan’s commitments were ambiguous, and it sure looked like the House was gearing up to pass a straight-up “skinny” repeal. If McCain had caved, Republican leaders would have been able to present the “skinny” bill as a fait accompli.
From the beginning, McConnell did everything he could to make the process as opaque and undemocratic as possible—to the public, to Democrats, even to his own caucus. He knew that secrecy was the only way he would have even the slightest chance of getting his monster through the system. In an incredible moment on the floor last night that illustrated just how fast McConnell was trying to jam this bill through, Senator Patty Murray tried to interrupt Senator Mike Enzi to ask more questions about the bill, which had only been made public an hour earlier. Enzi replied that her time would probably be better spent in reading the bill.
Democrat pile-on: Hundreds of challengers already filing to take on Republicans
Democrats are entering the 2018 congressional races
in record numbers, largely motivated by the Trump “resistance” movement
they hope will extend into next year.
An analysis
of the Federal Election Commission’s six-month report for midterm
candidates shows 209 Democratic challengers with at least $5,000 raised
-- by far the biggest batch of challengers for any year dating back to
2003, according to statistics kept by the Campaign Finance Institute.
The July 15 FEC summary also shows 105 of 241 House
Republican incumbents so far have a Democratic challenger with such a
war chest.Out-of-power Democrats have crowed for months about the prospect of voter dissatisfaction with President Trump and congressional Republicans spawning a 2018 wave election in their favor.
“I think a lot of it is inspiration meets opportunity,” Mac Zilber, a California-based Democratic political consultant, said of the large Democratic field.
“It’s Donald Trump first and foremost. But they’re also being driven by a lot of donors and activists out there. And frankly, some people were a little more complacent under Obama. They’re finally taking that step.”
New York Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley recently said the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has more than 350 candidates lined up for next year’s races, in which his party would need to win 24 more House seats to take control of the chamber.
“No district is off the table,” said DCCC Chairman Rep. Ben Ray Lujan.
To be sure, historical trends for the party that doesn’t control the White House suggest an opportunity for Democrats to make big gains in next year’s midterms. Beyond Trump’s record-low approval rating, pulled down by the Russia meddling-collusion probes, Capitol Hill Republicans continue to struggle to pass an ObamaCare overhaul bill as promised during the 2016 campaign.
However, Democrats face several big challenges – old and new.
The party still appears split between establishment voters like those who voted for Hillary Clinton in last year’s presidential race and the progressive wing that backed democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders. In addition, Republicans continue to out-fundraise Democrats. And Democrats’ massive candidate field raises questions about whether the party’s political infrastructure might be over-extended – and whether overcrowded primary races could leave the winners bruised going into November 2018.
The anti-Trump campaign platform also has failed so far to help Democrats pick off Republican-held seats in four special House elections this year.
REPUBLICANS DISMISS DEMS' 'BETTER DEAL'
Eyeing a reset, Washington Democrats on Monday officially rebranded their party and message -- promising “a better deal” for voters with better-paying jobs and other economic opportunities.
“They don’t have a message, and that became clear this week when they took tips from Papa John’s,” said Jesse Hunt, press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, referring to criticism that the “better deal” slogan mimics that of the pizza chain.
Zilber, a partner in J&Z Strategies, downplayed the notion that Democratic candidates will uniformly attack Trump.
“One of the great things about primaries is that they are natural experiments to see which message wins out,” he said.
Zilber also argued that different messages will appeal to different voters, including those in Orange County, Calif., a historically conservative area with an increasingly diversified population that in 2016 voted for Clinton, marking the first time they picked a Democrat.
Among the party’s biggest GOP targets are California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, elected to Congress nearly three decades ago and whose 48th Congressional District has four Democratic candidates, and Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock. Her 10th district has eight Democratic candidates, according to the most recent FEC records.
Hunt argued Wednesday that Democrats’ preferred candidate to deny Comstock a second term is Jennifer Wexton, who trails three other Democrats in the race in fundraising and who had her picture taken with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., when Democrats announced their “better deal” plan in Comstock’s district.
“You’ll see that photo again,” Hunt said.
Michael Malbin, of the Washington-based Campaign Finance Institute and who analyzed the FEC data, says Democrats are putting themselves in a strong position to take advantage of a wave, if there is one.
“But winning the first inning is not the same as winning the ninth," he recently wrote in a blog for the nonpartisan Brookings Institution.
The average cost of winning a 2016 House race was $1.3 million, according to OpenSecrets.org.
The special House election this year for the open seat of former GOP Rep. Tom Price cost an estimated total $55 million, a record amount.
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