With sixteen days to go before Trump assumes the presidency and the new Congress is in place there is certainly interesting things going on.
The Congress began with a truly dumb move. An effort to curb the independence of a nonpartisan ethics board. After a fierce backlash and media coverage that eclipsed other news, plus a push from President elect Trump, they dropped the idea. Whoever thought it was a good idea should be banished to the corner for a rest.
To start day two, President Obama shows up in Congress to plan with Democrats on how to save Obamacare. At the same time VP elect Pence was arriving for a meeting with Republican leaders to plan its repeal. It’s too late for Obama, he passed it without discussion and he will not get courtesy now. As he definitively said at the time, “elections have consequences”.
All this and we haven’t begun the cabinet hearings yet. Sixteen of Trump’s choices have been on the hill in pre meetings with senators as this gets ready to kick off. The key to watch here is will Republicans hold as one and beat back Democratic challenges to some nominees?
Meanwhile, Trump continues to tweet, driving the media crazy as he goes around them, but even more he is getting results. Add Ford to his list of jobs he is keeping or bring back. The numbers with Ford, Carrier and others are not big, but symbolic and setting a trend. Add the cost reductions with Boeing, Lockheed and others and you wonder when a President Elect ever had this impact.
Did you know that some people were watching closely yesterday to see if Obama was going to use a loophole and appoint Merrick Gerland to the Supreme Court? You see Presidents can do recess appointments. Well, at 11:55 AM yesterday the old congress was gaveled over. There was a period of about 5 minutes before the new was gaveled in. He could have appointed Gerland in that time. Here’s the story of what some thought was going to happen.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/1/obama-could-still-force-merrick-garland-onto-supre/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWmpOaVpHRmxNamc1WXpaaCIsInQiOiJEZ0kzQ2NuRDZCeVdvMDB6Y3Z3VExYYUVJcU9vaFwvam55MXFVTFVNNVwvNE5kV0dRamdGMFwvczl0dm9aMzdaM2J6clBNT2Y2Qm1Bc28yV1NGalVhUmFIbFpUeUhmNWliR2Y5UXZNbTI3M1ZlRFMzcDZoYjFadlFOTElNV2hhNHRXQiJ9
Here’s another story you might have missed with the holidays. VP Biden said, “Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election because she never knew why she was running…..”. Nice to have friends.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/dec/22/joseph-r-biden-says-hillary-clinton-never-figured-/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTmpjeE4yUXdPVFZsTm1FeCIsInQiOiJIdjZkNlJMSFhlYWhGSG9SSk5nSjh3TWNMNktNY2xvNFpWeEJYdzY0aWRNVVFLTjVpRDdOc1JIczVQMFdaXC81UkhRbkVYVFdERFRSM3k4d0h2SExPMUM3VkJUMXQ0bzNzQjVXOXozKzUzcDdFbithUnA4QktwbjBvcmZrN0d0bVAifQ%3D%3D
Did you see that Hillary and Bill will be at the inauguration, on the platform when Trump is sworn in? The liberal press is saying “poor Hillary”. I wonder if they said that when she stood smiling next to Bill as he was sworn in and George HW Bush watched.
George W and Laura are also attending. So there will be three Presidents (Obama the other) on the platform with Trump. None like him.
So Megyn Kelly is leaving Fox to go to NBC. Interesting to watch if her views change or she changes those around her. NBC is far left. So far the reaction from Fox viewers has been “good bye”.
Speaking of NBC here’s a story that broke today. Nine MSNBC on air personalities have tax lien issues. What? Liberals not paying their fair share? The lead dodger is of course Al Sharpton who owes $1.5 million. Think about the preaching these people do and their failure to pay “their share”.
http://heatst.com/politics/the-place-for-tax-woes-nine-msnbc-personalities-had-tax-liens-filed-against-them/