Month: September 2017

Taxes and the NFL Dominate

The media warmed up to the tax proposal and the MSM seemed to focus on whether or not Donald Trump would save money under this proposal. On ABC George Stephanopoulos nearly lost it going after the administration on GMA. He and his counterparts were angry and convinced that Trump was going to save dollars. Interesting since he has no idea how much Trump paid, and has been yelling about that for eighteen months. But now he is convinced the President is proposing this so he could lower his rate from 39.5 to 35%. Wait George (and all MSM), I thought he paid zero. Maybe they think he is going to get a rebate on zero now.
Watching George and others lose it made us want to contact him. We remember how scared and concerned his wife said their two daughters were when Trump won. (One was sleeping in their bed?). Watching him lose it like that gave us an idea why the kids might have been afraid.

Other than Trump is going to save, the other issue was the one we have long mentioned, the lost deduction for local and state taxes. Whoa, this set off the liberals in California and NY. I say this again. The people who are all about “being fair”, have no problem with low tax states paying more so the high tax states pay less. Someone tell me again how that is fair?

How much is this worth? The LA Times said it was $101 billion in California. In New York it is estimated to be $68 billion. Illinois is $16 billion. Think about those numbers across the high tax (Mostly blue) states.. It will help pay the lower rates and impact the deficit.

They are mad in California and New York. I was wondering what they would do if this passed. Would they vote against Trump next time — oh wait ……

Much to go on this tax issue, stay tuned.

Now on the NFL, as we saw last night the protests will continue by the players. The new heroes of the MSM, the players, are the same ones they mocked before for going to school for sports only. You see the MSM has its own agenda.

I see a slight turning of opinion now toward the thought that this is enough and let’s get to the games. Maybe. But the action is here to stay for this season.
With fan pushback getting some coverage and now some establishments saying they will not cover the games, we can begin to see some real implications. One sponsor today said they are out. Tennessee native Allan Jones announced that he is pulling all commercials for Check Into Cash, Buy Here Pay Here USA, and U.S. Money Shops during NFL games for the rest of the season.

Other sponsors like Ford took a different stand. Ford put out a statement “voicing support for NFL players exercising their right to free speech and peaceful protest ……”. In my opinion they would have been better off not saying anything. I know this will cost them one customer. This writer has long bought Fords to support American Cars, going back 25 years. Our lease is up in 30 days. We told Ford today that we no longer felt the same loyalty and would exercise our right to take a deal elsewhere. They should consider my right to “free speech and peaceful protest”.

Short Takes:

Tom Price and others taking government planes for personal use should be made to pay back in full all charges (as he is) and warned one more ride is the last one. Unacceptable and just plain dumb.

The US Economy output grew 3.1 percent in the second quarter. A really good number and if the hurricanes didn’t effect the third the economy could be in a good place. Add tax cuts and we might see something big.

The Ratings:

Hannity with O’Reilly on his show Tuesday truly dominated. He won again Wednesday. Notice too how The Five is dominating at that slot again.

Total Viewers: TUESDAY. HANNITY HITS 3.9 MILLION VIEWERS

• Total day: FNC: 1.786 | CNN: 841 | MSNBC: 1.252 | HLN: 215
• Primetime: FNC: 2.975 | CNN: 1065 | MSNBC: 2.232 | HLN: 227

Total Viewers (Live +SD) WEDNESDAY. HANNITY AND FOX WIN AGAIN.

• Total day: FNC: 1.686 | CNN: 840 | MSNBC: 1.200 | HLN: 227
• Primetime: FNC: 2.517 | CNN: 1.169 | MSNBC: 2.169 | HLN: 260

Taxes:

Trump lays out his plan. Democrats react. Here we go again. And the details aren’t even out yet!
We need more information to present any true evaluation.  What are the brackets for the 12, 25 and 35% brackets?  What deductions go away? The one we know of is a doozy and will be a fight.
It’s the state and local tax deduction from your federal taxes. Buckle up for this one. The question we’ve asked is should the big tax states like California and NY get credit off their federal taxes causing people in low tax states to pay more? If it passes — whoa! The big Democratic controlled states with high taxes will have real election fights.
Otherwise there’s lots to like. No 10% bracket so people with income up to $24K pay no tax. An increased child credit tax. A care for the elderly tax credit. A reduction in the business tax and a one time bring back your money from overseas low tax offer.
the estate tax elimination will be a major issue with Democrats.
All good but where does the lost revenue get recovered? The devil is in the details. More to follow.

Thoughts on the NFL Controversy:

So we’ve given a lot of thought to the whole NFL controversy and have some suggestions and thoughts. First, readers are aware that we feel the President went overboard and created an unnecessary tempest. That said.

We’ve come to the point though, that we think taking a knee when the national anthem is played is hurtful to many. They see the flag as one that their families, friends and fellow citizens have suffered for, lost limbs defending and given their lives for. Why can’t they pick a different manner to protest something they say has nothing to do with the anthem. It just seems like common courtesy for many who have suffered to defend it. Care about your fellow citizens, their feelings and the price they have paid.

Next, the large majority of Americans in every poll say they are against kneeling for the anthem. Why is it then when you watch the MSM they are biased in favor of the kneelers? What happened to real news reporters and stories? The coverage is opposite what our citizens feel. Incredible.

It is sad to see long time loyal football team fans burning their tickets and team gear. Here are hard working, loyal citizens, many who served, giving up their passion and fun because of the actions of some players. That bothers us. We suggest conservative leaders do the following:

Announce out loud that it is a shame and wrong for these hard working citizens to have to give up their life long fan passion and enjoyment  because of some anti players. Thus, they are asking them not to stop watching. Instead, boycott the advertisers of the games. Immediately stop buying any products of NFL game advertisers. Cause the value of the ads to drop. Cause some pain back to the teams, league and eventually the players. Don’t cause pain to yourself, cause pain to them.
I promise Coke, Pepsi, Budweiser and all the others will not want to pay the millions to see the fans stop buying their product. The value of ads will drop. The teams will lose funds and the players will see the salary implications coming.
Then stop buying any NFL identified items. No more shirts, mugs, or anything where the teams and players get paid.
Do both those things and you’ll see action.
Why should the loyal fans pay a price for the players action? Let them, the teams, players and league pay the price and you keep the enjoyment of watching.
It’s time to fight back and show that we have values too. Let money talk, as it always does.

Next, they say the reason for kneeling is about police brutality. We get it, there are some cases for sure. However, there are many false charges too. Michael Brown was not “hands up don’t shoot”, it was a lie. The Boston Police did not act “stupidly” as President Obama said. His friend did.
Policing is tough, and working the streets is tough, especially in the dark of night.
So if you feel the police are bad, we suggest this. Have each community meet with their local police, all across the country. If the citizens of that community want less police and less aggressiveness, that should be granted. Others, like where we write this, a low crime area, would still take more. Let’s listen to the community. Baltimore, as an example, after blaming the police for Freddie Gray wanted the police to back off. They have. Let the community decide, let’s listen to them.
My bet is most will want more, and those who say less will see a Baltimore like spike. But go ahead, make that call.

And that’s our thoughts on the issue today.

Short Takes:

Did you see that Roger Stone testified before congress yesterday on the Russian probe? He wanted an open session, congress said no. He said you accuse me out loud, you are wrong. Now let the people hear the truth.
It does seem hypocritical that he can be attacked and then not be heard.

So down goes Luther Strange and the establishment takes a hit. We said watch the Republican primaries to come. Well, Bob Corker of Tenn. announced yesterday he was not running for reelection.
Now before you get too excited about beating the establishment, think of Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. They are so idealogical that even if their vote makes a difference they are not budging. Think healthcare. Roy Moore will be that strong minded.

One of those major changes with Trump winning is the refugee numbers. He has upended the policy, cutting by more than half the 110,000 refugee number that the Obama administration had given him and dramatically shifting the demographics of who is accepted.
President Obama’s overwhelming focus was on Muslims, and particularly on Syrians fleeing a civil war that his administration facilitated. Under Trump the Syrian refugees have been cut by more than 80 percent, and Christians have overtaken Muslims in total refugees resettled.

The Ratings:

From Adweek:

In the BT era (before Trump) the cable news channels did okay, with Fox News almost always a top 5 cable channel. Back then, CNN and MSNBC were usually found in the upper teens or twenties. But with non-stop news from Washington, all three channels have consistently been in the top 10.

Just Thinking Today

Why did Donald Trump go to Alabama to campaign in a primary? He backed the wrong horse and oh what a can of worms he opened there.

The Republican Senate pulled the plug on Graham/Cassidy, so no repeal on Obamacare. What a failure. Mitch McConnell needs to be replaced. Get ready for intense Republican primary battles — ala Alabama next year.

Susan Collins (Me.) voted or was against Obamacare, the Republican bill and now Graham/Cassidy. Exactly what is she for? Certainly not the single payer system. She claims to be a Republican.

Maybe, just maybe you can’t give 30 million free insurance, improve coverage and lower premiums.

You know those Democrats that Trump has touted come from states he won big and are up next year? They may say “I voted with Trump 70% of the time”. BUT, never when it mattered. Never when it was a close vote. You want change, you need supporters in place.

Really? 68% of Democrats in a Rasmussen poll say Donald Trump is a bigger threat than N.Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Can you believe that?

If you haven’t noticed, many in the MSM are saying that, too. They are talking about Trump’s tough words. Yea, appeasement worked, didn’t it?

If you didn’t see what Otto Warmblier’s parents had to say about his condition when N.Korea sent him home to die, find it. A healthy 21 year old, he was blind, deaf, beaten and had his teeth removed by pliers.
(And 68% of Democrats think Trump is more dangerous).

Oh yea, the Mayor of London likened Trump to ISIS. After all that has occurred in London can you imagine that?

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) took to the House floor to kneel in solidarity with NFL players. “I kneel in honor of them. I kneel in front of the flag and on this floor,” she said. Today’s Democratic party.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture finally added an exhibit on a black conservative. Clarence Thomas is featured (with Thurgood Marshall) one year after it’s opening.

The Ratings

On night one Sean Hannity won the 9:00 slot by 610,000 over Rachel Maddow. Let’s see how the rest of the week plays out.

Fox won Monday night and won the quarter, but Maddow was the number one quarterly show.

Total Viewers (Live +SD) MONDAY 

• Total day: FNC: 1.759 | CNN: 947 | MSNBC: 1.263 | HLN: 207
• Primetime: FNC: 2.645 | CNN: 1.302 | MSNBC: 2.220 | HLN: 165

Ad Week story on quarterly rankings:

With its internally calamitous year behind them, Fox News is now closing in on 16 years as the No. 1 cable news network. The streak is now 63 consecutive quarters as the highest-rated cable news channel. FNC also marked five consecutive quarters as the top-rated basic cable network in both total viewers and the demo.

But with a strong Q3 2016 performance, dominated by presidential politics, the network was actually down year-over-year in total viewers, down -3 percent in total day and down -12 percent in total viewers.

The ratings for Q3, 2017 (Nielsen Live + Same Day data):

• Prime time (Mon-Sun): 2,154,000 total viewers / 436,000 A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 1,365,000 total viewers /298,000 A25-54

During a quarter which saw a new prime time lineup continue to take shape (with changes ahead) FNC did see demo growth for total day viewing, up +8 percent. All daytime FNC programs (6AM-5PM/ET) posted double-digit gains in the demo compared to the same quarter last year.

FNC can claim 13 of the top 20 cable news programs in total viewers and 11 out of the top 20 in the demo. While MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow was the No. 1 cable news show overall for the quarter, Tucker Carlson was No. 2 in total viewers and Hannity was No. 2 in the demo.

Among other highlights, Fox & Friends (Pres. Trump’s favorite morning show) is on pace to have its highest-rated year in history, delivering 1.5 million total viewers and 343,000 in the demo. America’s Newsroom at 9 a.m. is up +3 percent in total viewers and up +18 percent in the demo. Outnumbered is up +13 percent in the demo and Shepard Smith Reporting is up +19 percent.

Oh the fallout for Trump after shooting from the lip again. We will repeat what we said Sunday, he was off base with his words, demeanor and presentation. He took an issue that was helping him and gave it a new negative life.  Add that he never backs down, (yesterday he simply doubled down) and you can guarantee this goes on for a long time.

So to be clear, he gave the opposition an issue and opportunity, he was wrong as we see it.

Now that said, a few thoughts and questions we have:

The first thought is kneeling for the national anthem. We have trouble with that. You can do it, because we are a free country. You’re not breaking any laws. However, too many have paid too high a price to do it. Honor them. You can protest your issue some other way. Especially since the protest is about policing and not the military. Wrong tactic as we see it.

Kneeling for the national anthem because you think police are racists is inciting to others. It’s like naming a group Black Lives Matter. You are giving people the impression that all other lives are unimportant.
Maybe some think you need to go to an extreme to make a point. Maybe. But you can also go so far that it turns others against you. Watch if they take this so far that instead of working for them it goes the other way. Sort of like Trump did Friday night. It could happen.

The MSM has grabbed this issue and happily reporting on it. They are of course, for the kneelers and against the the administration. Okay, so why then did they treat Tim Tebow as they did? He kneeled in prayer insulting no one and they certainly didn’t support him. Why is that? When did kneeling for religion go out of style?

For the NFL, we get your concern and anger. However, why is it when the Dallas Cowboys wanted to wear a patch to honor the slain police officers you said no? Why is it okay to kneel for the anthem because police are racist and not honor those who were killed because they were officers?

NFL be careful. The Pittsburg team stayed in the clubhouse rather than to come out for the anthem. But one player, a former Army Ranger who was awarded a Bronze Star, came out and stood. Yet he is taking heat for this. Be careful. I’m sure you noticed that yesterday his jersey became the number one seller. He beat out Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers and Dak Prescott. Better know who your customer is and not confuse them with what the media is saying or the President tweeting.

And Weiner Gets Time

So sad to see Anthony Weiner crying in court as he was sentenced to 21 months in jail. Remember how arrogant he was as a congressman? His snarky comments and attitude. Poor Anthony now. Yea right, couldn’t happen to a more deserving person.
To think his actions got involved with the 2016 campaign. Has Hillary blamed him and Huma Abedin yet?
Oh yea, she called others deplorable. Hillary, I found one for you. He had access to your emails too.

Get Ready for The Tax Noise

Tomorrow the Presidents Tax Plan is to be unveiled. Can you believe Republican leaders in the house and senate are only seeing it today for the first time? This should be another well organized administration rollout.

We’re interested to see:
How deductions are proposed and if the local and state tax one remains.
What the rates are for all taxpayers. Plus what will corporate rates be?

Merkel Wins in Germany But

As the Weekly Standard wrote, she won, but the story was “the rise of the anti-immigrant and anti-Islam nationalists of the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party, some of whose antecedents, attitudes, and followers evoke Germany’s historic alternatives to democracy”.
There’s a lot happening in Europe and you have to wonder about the long term viability of their open doors. People are beginning to vote against it, but they are still criticizing Trump’s tough stance.

Did you see this?

A report that, Jared Kushner (Trump’s son in law) has used a personal email account to correspond with colleagues in the White House? The revelation quickly drew comparisons from Democrats to the criticism from Mr. Trump and his fellow Republicans of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
If true — Can you believe that?

That, according to CNN, Melania is not only more popular than her husband, she has experienced a major surge in popularity over the last several months.
Yet only forty four percent of respondents say they had a favorable opinion of Melania, while 35% had an unfavorable view. Why only 44%?
President Donald Trump, by contrast, had a 41% favorable/57% unfavorable rating.
By the way, Ivanka Trump is at 41% favorable/41% unfavorable, while her husband, Jared Kushner, is far less well-regarded — 20% favorable as compared to 39% unfavorable.

The Ratings

Going to be an interesting week for ratings as Megyn Kelly’s new show debuts as well as Fox’s new line up.

North Korea

The words keep escalating. No one has a handle on Kim Jong un and how he will react. Remember Saddam Hussein was denying entry of UN inspectors and it led to war and his death, while no weapons of mass destruction were found. He miscalculated how far to go. Kim just may do the same.

The President Rallies

A few weeks back we mentioned there were early signs that President Trump was finding his footing and we should watch his ratings. The results are now coming in and he is picking up approval points. Every poll now shows him up to the 42-44 range (even those that had him in the 30’s). So he is making some progress and do you notice the uncontrolled tweeting is down?

Before any supporters get too excited let’s remember he is just getting back to where he was, and the place he has peaked, the mid 40’s. As events unfold let’s see if he can gain some new support and get closer to the 50% level.

What has driven his numbers are the positive leadership with the storms, his strong stance with North Korea, and under control comments. This upcoming week offers more. The storm in Puerto Rico where he will no doubt visit, the continued ranting of Kim Jung Un and the President’s steady tightening of the noose, and the healthcare vote upcoming. Let’s see.

On North Korea, the President has earned high marks getting S.Korea and Japan to fall in line with him. He is truly leading. Then when China’s bank announced its plan to freeze transactions with N.Korea it was a major coup. We don’t know the outcome but the President is leading, and even the MSM will have trouble attacking. Though they are saying the President’s rhetoric is loud. Yea, well the quiet diplomacy of Obama, Bush and Clinton surely worked, didn’t it?

Then the Afghan President thanked Trump so profusely for his leadership yesterday at the UN. Did you see that? He said Trump’s leadership was “a difference between day and night”.  Wonder if Obama saw that as “aggravating” (more on this below).

Short Takes

That vote on healthcare for the Cassidy/Graham bill is getting really interesting. There seems to be a quiet confidence that this bill will pass. Here’s what to watch. We know Rand Paul and Susan Collins are against it. The other two Republicans are John McCain and Lisa Murkowski. They would have to vote along with every other Republican to get to fifty votes. We don’t think they will. There’s a better chance that McCain will because of his friend Graham. But no guarantee. So why the confidence? There may be a few Democrats whose states will benefit from this change and are in Republican states that may surprise.

You see, the bill changes the funding and while states like California and New York lose funding, many others gain big. What does a Democrat in a state that gains with a Republican leaning do? Watch that as the week unfolds. One or two votes could make the difference.

On this topic, did you see former President Barack Obama said in a speech that it is “aggravating” to see lawmakers try to unravel Obamacare?
Wonder if he knows how aggravating it was to some the way he passed it to start?
By the way, Sen. Lindsey Graham fired back at Obama in a statement arguing that the former president would not recognize that his signature issue continues to fail.

The President is heading to Alabama to support Luther Strange in the Republican primary against Roy Moore. We ask again, why? Moore is likely to win and he is a strong Trump supporter. Presidents generally don’t get involved in primaries. The President says Strange (who replaced Sessions) has supported him.
A lead radio talk host in the state,Matt Murphy said this:
“What I would say to Mr. President, and if I get the opportunity, I’m going to say this, Alabama loves you, and Alabama supports you, but Alabama does not need you telling us who to vote for, for the United States Senate”.

Isn’t it funny how the MSM has not caught up yet to the Obama Administration exposing of names scandal yet? Samantha Powers as UN rep did how many un-maskings? For what reason?

The NYT reports today that battle over confederate monuments has moved to cemeteries. The argument is whether a cemetery is public property and are they on display.
This is a little too far for us.

The Ratings

As Fox readies it’s new line up beginning Monday night here’s the update for this week and below that the full week last week.

The President spoke clearly and with force yesterday at the UN. As we watched it we could see the left lining up to condemn his words and the right applauding.

From our side we think after years of appeasement and apologizing we need to take a harder and strong leadership position. We loved hearing the Iran representative saying he thought he was he “listening to Reagan”.

The one thing we would have not done is call him “Rocketman” in a formal setting like that. I guess that’s Trumpian, but I wondered if Kim Jung Un actually liked that.

The left MSM was ready to condemn, as expected, and jumped on his threat to destroy N. Korea. They were all wet. What Trump said was this,“The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.” Isn’t that clear that if N Korea acts first we would take strong action? It is to me. If we can’t say we will defend ourselves then the left is really lost.

Bottom line, we think as long as he sticks to script the world will appreciate his strength and clarity. Repeat, sticks to script.

Oh yea, Hillary called it “dark and dangerous”.  No,  Mrs. Clinton you helped create the dangerous, we are trying to prevent the dark and fix the mess.

Speaking of Hillary, did you see her comment she might still challenge the election result if there was Russian involvement? The woman has no shame and clue of the country outside her world.
Hillary, accept it, you will never be President.

Short Briefs:

Is the left dividing itself? You saw the Pelosi press conference and the DACA protestors. Here’s a story in the WSJ today:
“For ‘antifascist’, the group is a loose affiliation of far-left groups and individuals who unite around a willingness to confront, sometimes violently, anyone they perceive to be an agent of racism, anti-Semitism or fascism. Its emergence is splitting the left.”

Is the ACA going down? The Cassidy/Graham bill is gaining strength but we don’t see how they get to 50 votes. The Dems are 100% against it. Rand Paul has come out against. That leaves room for one more defection and it appears Collins (Maine) will be one. McCain and Murkowski are questions.

The NYT today has this story on Obamacare:
While Premiums Soar Under Obamacare, Costs of Employer-Based Plan
A new survey of employers shows moderate price hikes in health benefits in spite of turmoil in the individual insurance market.

Do you think the private sector is better at running this than the government?

The Ratings:

Total Viewers (Live +SD)  FRIDAY. FOX WINS DAY AND NIGHT.

• Total day: FNC: 1.614 | CNN: 798 | MSNBC: 1.011 | HLN: 222
• Primetime: FNC: 2.159 | CNN: 1.028 | MSNBC: 1.858 | HLN: 253

Total Viewers (Live +SD). FOX WINS SUNDAY.  

• Total day: FNC: 939 | CNN: 543 |  MSNBC: 441 | HLN: 256
• Prime time: FNC: 1.090 | CNN: 415 | MSNBC: 310 | HLN: 410

EVENING NEWS  Numbers for the week of September 11, 2017:

We’re all ready for President Trump to visit the UN tomorrow and deliver his speech. Did you notice how the Russian and China leaders skipped this year? Let’s hope the President sticks to his scripted words and doesn’t ad lib any additions. We think his words on North Korea will be interesting.

The President has stayed close to the vest in recent weeks as we reported, but just to prove he is still capable of adding drama he did tweet that GIF on his golf ball and Hillary. Bad move. What other President can you think of who would have done that? Add to the mix that Hillary is doing an incredible job of destroying herself on this book tour, why would he make her a sympathy figure?
Do you think he did it to shore up his base who are getting uneasy over his Democratic meetings, backing off the wall somewhat, and rumors he is caving on the Paris accord?

Just some toplines:

The Emmy’s were a disgrace. The early ratings show dissatisfaction as they are tracking below last year’s all time low. Good, let Hollywood entertain itself.

St. Louis riots again. Another decision freeing an officer in a shooting and protests hit the streets. We are fine with that; but what do hard working small business owners have to do with it? What gives you the right to break their windows and loot their stores? It actually hurts their cause.

North Korea is truly pushing the envelope. Listen carefully to the President’s speech and words tomorrow. Military actions are hard and limited in the area. If North Korea has time and can react it could result in a tragedy beyond thought. Will China get tougher? Hard for them to do it because N.Korea is such a large part of their economy, and they are so close geographically. Will we play the China card and cut trade instead? The ramifications are huge all around.
The words in the speech tomorrow will tell a lot. If the President says we will take action, he won’t back down.
Did you notice that South Korea has changed its stance and talking and acting more militaristic? Until late last week they wanted talks. Now they’re flying missions right up to the border and preparing for more.

The ACA is back before the Senate. This movement to replace Obamacare with block grants to the states is gaining perspective. The sponsors say they are up to 49 votes. If true, that means they need one more. Now Lindsey Graham is a sponsor and his best friend is John McCain. Does that turn McCain’s vote? We think it does, but who will be number 50?
Then if it passes the senate it has to pass the house. Can it? Doubtful, but the Republicans are desperate to do something.
Watch this over the next few days. It will be big news.

Why is President Trump so involved in Alabama’s special senatorial run off for Republicans? He is backing Senator Luther Strange so hard, and yet his opponent is viable (actually ahead) and a strong Trump supporter. We don’t get it.

The Ratings:

We expect the announcement this week that we told you about over a week ago. Laura Ingraham will join FoxNews and take the ten o’clock slot. Hannity moves to nine and goes head to head with Rachel Maddow. The Five moves back to where it belongs — at five.

Last Thursday Hillary was on Rachel Maddow, she won the top watched show, but Fox won the day and night:

Total Viewers (Live +SD) THURSDAY 

• Total day: FNC: 1.687 | CNN: 770 | MSNBC: 1.171 | HLN: 224
• Primetime: FNC: 2.412 | CNN: 1.033 | MSNBC: 2.297 | HLN: 283

The President’s new best friends (Schumer and Pelosi) leave the dinner last night and announce a deal. What they announced sounded like the President caved on everything from DACA to the wall.  Nice friends.

The President had to tweet that no deal was reached, and then when he landed in Florida for a hurricane visit he answered lots of questions. No he said no deal on DACA yet, no he did not give up the wall. In fact he said no wall deal means no deal at all. Wait Schumer and Pelosi said there was a deal. Then he was asked about taxes, and he said he wasn’t worried about the wealthy, he wanted tax cuts for the middle class and businesses. Why businesses? So they could be more competitive and create more jobs.

Where are we?
We have an angry Republican party and a Trump base that is getting a little uneasy. Is the President so angry with McConnell and Ryan that he refuses to let them sit at the table as he tries to make deals with the Democrats? The danger here is that he builds the Democrats and truly costs the Republicans the House and Senate.
This could get very nasty.

Some thoughts.
1. The President’s political past was not the conservative firebrand he appeared to be in the election period. In fact he supported Democrats more than Republicans back in NYC. Keep a watch on where this goes.

2. The President has no intention of deporting DACA individuals. He took the stand he did based upon the campaign and to try and reach an agreement. If no deal in six months he will back down.

3. The Presidents insists the wall must be part of any deal. What he means by that is funding for the wall. What happened to his promise over and over that Mexico would pay for it? This will come back to bite.

4. The President is saying clearly no tax break for the wealthy. We are fine with that, but please define wealthy. The Democrats say that is income above $250,000. We disagree with that. The President needs to define what wealthy means. Is it income over $1M? $2M? $5M? What is it?

5. Mitch McConnell, you said the President didn’t know the ways of Washington and was too impatient. Hope you are learning a lesson from all this. There’s a reason your approval number is where it is. Try leading for a change.

Trump To Denounce White Supremacist Groups:

The story is the President agreed in his dinner with Schumer and Pelosi to issue a denunciation of white supremacist groups. Good. I hope he negotiated a Democrat denunciation of the Antifa group too.
If we are going to come together we need both sides, the far right and intolerable left to denounce extremism on their sides.

The Healthcare Debate is Growing:

We urge the Republicans again to let Bernie and his fellow Democratic Senators run with their single payer proposal. Be smart for once. Here’s a WSJ story this AM that supports our position:

“While single-payer health care, or as Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) calls it, “Medicare for all,” is becoming a rallying cry for many Democrats in Congress, polling from the summer shows it could be a tough sell to the public. A June poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that support for single payer is “malleable” when Americans are given opposing arguments.”

Hillary Selling Books:

Is it just us, or does it seem with each interview she does, Hillary goes down further in the eyes of many? That shrill, blame everyone except herself is as bad an approach as she could have taken.
This week she said if the election were held today it was fifty/fifty she would win. Now consider that. The most unpopular President, at this stage in our time, who never got above 45% approval at any point, and she still doesn’t think she would win.
She made Trump possible and just doesn’t get it.

The Ratings:

Ratings reports from Nielsen have been slower since Hurricane Irma because their data center is located in Tampa Florida.

Total Viewers (Live +SD) MONDAY. Hurricane drives viewership. 

• Total day: FNC: 1.865 | CNN: 1.263 | MSNBC: 1.152 | HLN: 218
• Primetime: FNC: 2.381 | CNN: 1.535 | MSNBC: 2.076 | HLN: 295

As the news begins easing back to normal you can see the media beginning to attack the president again. Not on the government’s performance in Houston and Florida, but on everything else. By Monday they will be back to the summer performance we shared yesterday — 91% negative coverage on him. Those numbers tell you all you need to know!

How About This?

The President is having dinner tonight in the White House with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.  Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are not invited.
He is clearly sending a message to the Republicans –  you guys have majorities but can’t get anything done, so I am going around you. This could divide the Republican party even more and set them up for a truly disastrous mid term election in 2018.
Last night he had dinner with three Republicans and three Democrats. The three Dems are from states he won big and are up for reelection next year. They hold three seats that Republicans thought they could win. If the President raises their status that could be a goner too.

Keep a close watch here, the fallout is coming.

Will It Work And Result In A Tax Cut?

The focus is all for the President’s hope to pass a tax cut bill. He will try and find a solution with Schumer, but they are so far apart in philosophies  we don’t see how it could be anything the President really wants.
The other thing he hopes is this new openness can improve his public perception and approval.
The polls once widely divergent have come together. Today both the Economist and Rasmussen agree. The President is at 42% approval and 55% disapproval.
Congress? According to the Economist has a 10% approval. Worse for Republicans when asked who they would vote for in congress today the Democrats win 40-31.

Here’s the WSJ on taxes today with a focus on estate taxes (Republican’s want none) and the Democratic response.
“Democrats Come Out Swinging on Repeal of the Estate Tax. Democrats and Republicans often don’t see eye-to-eye on the nation’s tax code, but they have perhaps the most fundamental disagreement over the estate tax. So any proposal to drastically alter the estate tax stands to obliterate the already-slim chances of a bipartisan overhaul effort, and the issue has become the first major disagreement Democrats and the White House have had on tax reform since Congress returned from recess. A large majority of the Senate Democratic caucus — 45 of the 48 members — is opposed to any tax cut for the wealthy. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said yesterday that this is how his colleagues would categorize President Donald Trump’s call in recent days to repeal the tax: a duty on the transfer of wealth as it passes to heirs after death.”

One big issue, we mentioned a while back is the Republican desire to cut deductions for state and local taxes. The WSJ mentions that today too:

“One potential negotiating point to watch for, is if Republicans look to do away with the estate tax but keep the federal deduction for state and local taxes, which lets individuals subtract their home-state levies from their federal taxable income. It’s a big tax break skewed toward Democratic-controlled, high-tax blue states. “Because [Mr. Schumer] is from New York, he has many constituents who would like to keep that deduction,” he said. “So he might be willing to keep the estate tax in exchange.”

This is a big dividing issue. States with no or low income tax rates pay a higher rate because states with high rates get to deduct that from their federal return. Think of the impact on areas like California and New York if that deduction goes away. Wow!
We don’t think this has a chance, but every time Democrats talk fairness, this never comes up. Why is that? Why should Florida or Texas citizens pay higher rates because California wants to spend more?

Did You See?

Did you see that the federal government said no charges will be brought against the six police officers in Baltimore in the Freddie Gray case?
That ends the case. The city of Baltimore lost three decisions and had one hung jury. They decided to stop any additional charges.
Now think back to the rhetoric when this occurred. The Mayor and how she inflamed the crowd. The prosecutor and the damning comments on the officers.
Where do these six go now to get their reputations back? Oh yea don’t forget the backing down that has gone on in Baltimore by the police, and the soaring murder rate. Who owns that? Hello MSM, can we have a non biased report now?

The NYT is reporting that the administration wants to cut refugee quotas  to 50,000. Big debate inside and if approved you will hear a lot about it.

One day after Bernie pushed a single payer system for healthcare Democrats considering a 2020 run for president jumped on board. Among them were Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory A. Booker of New Jersey.
They all see the merits, as do we, but we see the price tag they don’t. I say again let them run with this.
Remember in 2011 Bernie’s home state of Vermont passed a single payer system. They abandoned it in 2014 citing taxes.

Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez

How dare you call General Kelly a “disgrace to the uniform”.  Then you  added that Kelly “has no honor and should be drummed out of the White House along with the white supremacists and those enabling the President’s actions by ‘just following orders.’”

Congressman, you who never wore a uniform have no business insulting a hero and one who lost a son in battle. He and his son fought so you could come here, and you may disagree on a policy, but you have no right to use those words. NONE.

Congressman you are a disgrace and owe General Kelly an apology. 

The news has been dominated by hurricanes and the annual 9/11 remembrances. Both sobering events that make us remember we are one nation. The MSM laid off the administration until this AM when the Trump/Russia stories came back. Let’s see if the president can maintain his above the fray positioning of recent vintage.

Let’s catch up on a few stories you have missed:

Administration coverage: The broadcast network evening newscasts remain as hostile as ever towards President Trump and his agenda. In the June 1 to August 31 period the Media Research Group measured the evening news coverage and found 39 per cent of their combined broadcasts were on the Trump administration.
Compare that to the Obama administration for 2015 and 2016 and it was ten percent.
In fact, they report “Trump has already received more coverage in his first 224 days in office than Obama in his final two years as President”.
Now add this. “In June, July and August, broadcast evening news coverage of Trump was 91 percent negative”.

There are all the numbers you need to know what you are seeing is real.
Here’s a link to the story if you want more:
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/rich-noyes/2017/09/12/liberal-medias-summer-pummeling-trump    

The Travel ban restored by Supreme Court:
Somehow the media didn’t seem to have time to cover the fact that the Supreme Court temporarily restored part of the President’s travel ban. This reverses the infamous 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the President had drawn too tight a circle in deciding who was exempt from the travel ban.
The ruling could potentially block up to 24,000 refugees from being able to enter the U.S.

Hillary’s book is out:
Hillary has been on her book tour and have you noticed the list of people she is blaming for her loss is ever growing?
On TV she has blamed James Comey, Russia, Wikileaks, Facebook, fake news, voter ID laws, or America’s “endemic” sexism and misogyny. That was after blaming Bernie and media coverage.
Amazing. Never the erased emails. Her calling people deplorables. Bill, the Clinton Foundation, destroying phones and iPads, and bleach wiping. With the Clintons it is never them.

Speaking of the Clintons:
You probably didn’t hear this on the MSM. A Maryland judge ordered the state bar to open an investigation Monday into the three lawyers who helped former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to delete her private emails.
A Circuit Judge said the complaints lodged against David E. Kendall, Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson were “egregious” and said the state bar couldn’t brush them aside by calling them “frivolous.”
“There are allegations of destroying evidence,” Judge Harris said at a hearing Monday morning.

Again people around the Clintons get burned while they skirt by. And she thinks she is mistreated.

One more on Hillary: 
Did you see her answer on a TV interview with Jane Pauley referring to Putin as being white? What?
PAULEY: “Are you surprised, though, that many of your countrymen actually might share Donald Trump’s admiration for Vladimir Putin?” CLINTON: “I’m surprised and I am deeply disappointed because what they’re looking at is a white, authoritarian leader……….”

Speaking of Bernie:
Tomorrow he is scheduled to introduce a “Medicare for all” health bill. The Democratic Party leaders are now falling in line with Mr. Sanders. When the former 2016 Democratic presidential candidate touted a universal health-care plan during the campaign, Democrats got behind Clinton’s  prescription for tweaks to Obamacare instead.

This should be interesting. A single payer system sounds good until you run the numbers and it will bankrupt the country. Trump and Republicans should let the Dems run this out and be quiet and then present the facts to the American people.

Did you see that Mitt Romney said he might run for Senator if Orin Hatch retires? We don’t see it happening, but Hatch and Romney both commented on it.

How interesting is this on the Democratic Party?
An extensive new Pew Research Center analysis released Friday finds that 48 percent of Democratic voters overall now identify as liberals. A decade ago, that number was 32 percent, and it was even less in previous years — down to 28 percent in 2000.
There is an interesting ethnic dynamic at work within the party, however. Currently, 55 percent of white Democratic voters say they are liberal — compared to 28 percent of black Democrats — the lowest percentage of all — and 41 percent of Hispanic Democrats.
While 8 percent of white Democrats now identify as conservative, that number is 30 percent among black Democrats and 22 percent among Hispanic Democrats.
Interesting isn’t it?

How come you didn’t hear Al Sharpton’s daughter was arrested?
His youngest daughter capped off her 30th-birthday celebration in handcuffs Saturday after she allegedly attacked a cabby, stole his keys and left him in tears. The driver said Ashley Sharpton “swung at my face and ended up punching me in the chest”.
She was arrested and charged with petty larceny after the tussle on the West Side of Manhattan early Saturday.

This is the second Sharpton daughter in trouble. Dominique Sharpton, the eldest daughter, has been fighting the city in a 2-year-old, $5 million trip-and-fall lawsuit. The 31-year-old Dominique sued the city in 2015, claiming she injured her ankle a year earlier when she tripped on uneven pavement on Broome Street in lower Manhattan.
But her claims of severe injury were called into question when it was revealed that she later posted photos on social media of herself dancing and climbing a mountain in Bali.

Reported Fox News schedule changes:
As we have been calling for, we hear Fox News is moving The Five back to five o’clock. Great move and it will dominate the slot.
To replace it at nine, and go against Rachel Maddow they will move Sean Hannity up an hour. He dominates now at ten.
To replace him they are adding (as we hoped) Laura Ingraham to the ten o’clock slot.
A great move all around. We would have out Ingraham at 9 and let her go head with Maddow; or at 7 and move McCallum to 9.
In either case this will help Fox.

The Ratings:

Total Viewers THURSDAY.
STORM NEWS = BIG NUMBERS FOR ALL THREE. 

• Total day: FNC: 1.755 | CNN: 1.272 | MSNBC: 1.260 | HLN: 235
• Primetime: FNC: 2.409 | CNN: 1.818 | MSNBC: 2.179 | HLN: 245

Total Viewers. FRIDAY.
FOX WINS, CNN IS SECOND. IRMA COVERAGE DRIVES NUMBERS.

• Total day: FNC: 1.753 | CNN: 1.357 | MSNBC: 1.114 | HLN: 233
• Primetime: FNC: 2.717 | CNN: 2.061 | MSNBC: 1.949 | HLN: 219

Editors note: Thanks for your notes and messages on the storm. We decided not to chase it. Trip postponed to a later date!

Are We Seeing?

Are we seeing the making of a president? The growth and maturation in the job of Donald Trump? It’s way too early but since his second visit to Houston we have seen a difference.

On that trip he was with the people, and seemed to interact with more ease. Since then he has been limited, measured and careful in his tweets. He hasn’t provided the media fodder to attack him. He provided clear leadership in the hurricane situations in Texas and Florida. He has been more careful in his words on N. Korea and other volatile situations. He diffused the DACA decision with his comments. Did you notice how the protests eased up after a day? Then he showed the Republican leadership team he was going to make deals and left them hanging as he dealt with the Democrats.

Did you notice that the MSM had trouble attacking him the past week? Now they had the storms to cover, but that hadn’t stopped them the first seven months of his presidency. Let’s monitor this, but it just might be a change and it would be so welcome.

Did the public notice? Too soon to tell, but we see a lessening as the days passed on the anti Trump stuff in social media too. Now that will never go away, as some will never see any good and others are not bright enough until someone tells them. Remember his popularity as reported in the MSM was in the 30’s. Let’s track that if he continues down this path.

Some News:

Remember the voter fraud issue that Donald Trump raised? Well not to the numbers he said, but an interesting development yesterday in NH that you probably didn’t hear.
The Speaker of the New Hampshire House announced Thursday that 6,540 people voted using out-of-state licenses in New Hampshire on Election Day.
Since then the vast majority have neither obtained an in-state license nor registered a motor vehicle.
Here are the numbers:
As of Aug. 30, 2014, about 15 percent had been issued N.H. license.
Of the remaining 5,526, only 3.3 percent had registered a motor vehicle.
Over 80 percent, 5,313, who used non-N.H. driver’s license to vote, had neither a state licenses nor had registered a motor vehicle.

Now consider this:
Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in News Hampshire by 2,736 votes.
Sen. Maggie Hassan defeated Republican Kelly Ayotte by 1,017 votes.

Consider that in light of Obamacare losing repeal by one vote.

When Life Is Not Life:

One of the liberal arguments against the death penalty is that life in prison is a harsher penalty. Except that a life sentence is not a penalty that they uphold. The latest example is Leslie Van Houten, the youngest of Charles Manson’s murderous followers. She was granted parole by a California state board this week. (The Gov. can step in and not approve).

Van Houten, was 19 when she killed for Manson in two especially savage Los Angeles crimes in 1969 including a husband and wife and a pregnant Sharon Tate.

So Van Houten may get out, but Tate and the other victims are still dead, and the baby denied a chance at life.

The Ratings:

Here’s Tuesday and Wednesday numbers as a cable recap for the week of Aug 28.

Total Viewers TUESDAY  — FOX WINS DAY (BY 450K) AND NIGHT (225K)

• Total day: FNC: 1.737 | CNN: 917 | MSNBC: 1.282 | HLN: 229
• Primetime: FNC: 2.536 | CNN: 1.115 | MSNBC: 2.333 | HLN: 259

Total Viewers WEDNESDAY. FOX WINS DAY (+550K) AND NIGHT (+420K)

• Total day: FNC: 1.832 | CNN: 1125 | MSNBC: 1.286 | HLN: 235
• Primetime: FNC: 2.868 | CNN: 1.818 | MSNBC: 2.440 | HLN: 271

THE WEEK OF AUGUST 28TH RECAP:

Per Nielsen data, Fox News finished the week of August 28th as the most-watched basic cable network in total day for the 35th consecutive week, posting +12 percent year-over-year total audience growth in the process.

FNC was also the No. 1 basic cable network in total prime time viewers for the 15th straight week, though it posted -1 percent audience loss versus the same week last year (Aug. 29, 2016).

Editors Note:  This blog will be published periodically over the next ten days as issues arise. We are heading south, (almost like storm chasers) to the Carolina beaches as Irma heads north to meet us.

The President Makes A Deal  — With Schumer and Pelosi

What you say? You read that right. He made a deal to get funding for a three month continuous resolution, Harvey funding and a debt ceiling raise. His leaders (Ryan and McConnell) wanted an 18 month timeframe. It was clear the President decided to side with the Democrats.
Let there be no doubt this was a shot at Ryan and McConnell. He was saying you can’t get anything done, I will make my own deals. From the outset the relationship between Trump and the Republican establishment has been non existent.
Remember this deal in December when it has to be done again. Let’s see where everyone falls then.

Did you know this?

The Washington Examiner reports, that a key House committee investigating an opposition-research dossier containing salacious details on Donald Trump has reportedly subpoenaed personally the heads of both the FBI and the Justice Department over their agencies’ noncooperation with the panel’s previous efforts.
The panel wants to know what relationship the FBI and Justice had with Christopher Steele, the document’s compiler, and whether it was used to justify spying on Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign.
The House panel had subpoenaed the FBI and Justice both for documents related to those matters, to be provided by Sept. 1. “We got nothing,” Rep. Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Republican and an Intelligence panel member said. “The witnesses have not been produced and the documents have not been produced.”
Doesn’t it seem this failure to provide an adequate investigation into the Clinton’s and anything helpful to Trump can’t get off the ground?

A message to the Conn. Newspaper that had this headline:

THE RATINGS

Let’s take a look at DACA and what it means amid all the noise in the media.

For background, this was another issue that failed leadership the past three administrations have failed to address. They papered over it and passed it on. Just like North Korea and Iran.

What’s the issue? People come into the country illegally, establish lives, and then decide it’s a crime to ask them to leave. So they break the U.S. laws to come in, and decide we are cruel if we say leave and come here legally. Now with DACA that goes one step further. It involves the children of those who came illegally, but were not born here. They say the U.S. is all we know. The DACA individuals can be up to 36 years old.

Here is the definition of DACA:
To qualify for DACA, applicants must meet the following major requirements: Came to the United States before their 16th birthday. Have lived continuously in the United States since 15 June 2007. Were under age 31 on 15 June 2012 (i.e., born on 16 June 1981 or after).

Now the Dream Act was proposed in 2001 in Congress and didn’t pass. It was brought up a few additional times, including a big push in 2010 and failed again. In 2014 after years of saying he didn’t have the power to do it alone, President Obama, by Executive Order authorized this:
He would defer the deportation of the parents of children who are either U.S. citizens or legal residents, and that he also would expand that protection to more “DREAMers,” or children who entered the country illegally with their parents. He said it was not amnesty, because it did not provide a path to legalization.

So the issue passed to President Trump, who campaigned on stopping illegal immigration.

What he did yesterday was tell Congress they had six months to solve the issue. An issue that since 2001 congress has not agreed upon. Trump was portrayed by the media, and in the streets, as anti dreamers. He was presented as heartless and wanting to deport people. He actually didn’t say that and in our opinion does not intend to do that. He said congress must solve this once and for all. He took a tough stand, we think, to force a decision on an issue we have failed to address.

We think he did that to negotiate an agreement. In his mind he would allow dreamers to stay if congress would provide the funds to crack down on illegal immigration and begin building the wall.

When the protests began and the media went after him, he actually gave up his bargaining position as we see it. Late in the night he said, if congress fails to decide this in six months “I will revisit” it. I think he is learning that “dealing” in government is far different than business. The coverage and media coverage change how you take a stand.

So what happens now? Congress will hem and haw as always and the battle lines will be drawn. Those on the left will call conservatives heartless, mean, and say they want to separate families. Those on the right will say we need to get control of our borders or we will cease to be a country. The media will choose its side and the left will be all over the streets protesting. You already see big city mayors saying they will protect the dreamers. Even the Catholic Church took that position. They make Trump look mean, and again we think he was simply trying to take a position to negotiate.

Will they reach a solution? We think they will be forced to, but not before each side gets all they can from the issue.

Our solution is the one we provided at the outset of the 2016 Presidential Campaign.
1. Dreamers who have not committed a crime and are assets to society must register and go on the list to become citizens. They can stay here and on that list as long as they do not commit a crime.
2. They go on the bottom of the list. You cannot be rewarded with priority citizenship over people who have done it right. You go on the list as you register.
3. As part of this we must build a means to protect our borders and control who comes in. Not stop immigration, but control our nations borders and influx.

If you think the President got some decent coverage toward the end of the week with his visit to the hurricane zone just stay tuned. Later today he will announce his DACA decision, and he will be berated in the MSM for days.
A really tough issue and no matter what he decided he was going to take heat. Not providing direct leniency means the MSM will be all over him.
Comment: Our recommendation would have been twofold:
First, that he announce that those here (who came as children by others) can apply to stay if they have no criminal record and are contributing to society. However, from this moment forward you are on notice if you come illegally, no matter what age, you are being sent back.
Second, the stay is contingent on Congress passing border security now. We have this problem because we have border protection.
So solve the past issue and avoid a future one.

News over the weekend:

North Korea moved one step closer to a conflict. Lim Jung Un is unhinged.

Ex Presidential Budgets were released. Are you surprised to hear that President Obama will be highest? His request for $1,153,000 next year is easily the highest.

Not much coverage of President Trump’s one million dollar (personal) donation to hurricane relief, was there?

Remember when Diane Feinstein refused to back the impeachment and instead called for “patience” over Trump’s presidency? It created a firestorm of liberal protest and potential primary challengers are emerging. Another example of the intolerant left.

Did you see that Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke resigned? Rumor is he is going to take a position in the administration. Not much coverage.

What about the news on Comey? It was reported he decided not to charge Hillary Clinton months before the end of an investigation into her email server. We heard when the probe began the word was clear, no charges no matter what. Can that be?

Russia and U.S. relations continue to deteriorate. To retaliate on their closing U.S. offices in Russia, we closed three missions here. What happened to the Putin/Trump supposed partnership?

On the ACA did you see the administration plan to spend $10M to advertise during the enrollment period? Obama admin spent $100M last year. Dems will see this as Trump trying to kill healthcare. Stay tuned.

Four companies were chosen to build short sections of concrete wall as models for the U.S.’s border barrier with Mexico. The first significant step.

Did you see this Economist poll?  Congress looks really bad:
Only 8 percent of Americans approve of how Congress is handling its job, with a meager 3 percent saying they “strongly approve”.
Leaders faired even worse.
Paul Ryan — 26 percent view him positively.
Mitch McConnell — 18 percent of view him favorably.
Nancy Pelosi’s —  26 percent.
Chuck Schumer — 29 per cent