Here’s a Quote From Kathy Griffin To Start The Day:
“I don’t have one single day of paid work ahead of me for the rest of my life and that scares the s - - t out of me.”
Let me know if you feel sorry for her?
Now For Another Laugh:
So Stormy Daniels has to pay Donald Trump almost $300,000 for fees in the defamation case she brought? Wait, she lost the case and must pay his fees?
Now isn’t it ironic the House Democrats are talking impeachment because of her?
Also, where is she going to get the funds to pay this? Her lawyer is bankrupt and facing his own issues. I know he started a new “go fund me” account. Are people going to donate to that?
Who knows maybe poor Stormy will resort to male club dancing. – oh wait….
A question for those Democratic legislators who want to impeach the President because of the payment to Stormy (and the Playboy Model). If that is a crime then how about releasing the names of where the congressional sexual harassment payments went. If the President’s $100K is a crime, then the $17 million of taxpayer dollars is one too. Can you tell me why that is secret and okay? Release the names and take action.
The news about Stormy will be front and center today as Michael Cohen is sentenced. He gets a chance to speak in court today. Watch this coverage.
More on the wall.
Our initial assessment yesterday on the open press session was the President made a mistake taking responsibility for any government shutdown. We remain strong in that. Any government shutdown has hurt the person that people perceive is responsible for it. Just check the record all the way back to Newt Gingrich.
If there is a shut down the MSM and Democrats will play the video of the President saying he “is proud” to do it. Can’t you see the comments and ads? “He is proud that people have no job for Christmas. He is proud that is this cold weather there are no services. He is proud that as people visit parks and areas for the holiday week he has closed them” You get the idea.
Outside of that he did fine and hanging Nancy Pelosi with trying to avoid “transparency” and Chuck with the last shut down was terrific. But none of that will matter when they play his “I own the shutdown” comments.
What he should have done is play their game. Have the House pass the border funding with him saying he would sign it. He especially could have done this when Nancy said “you don’t have the house votes”. Imagine if he said, “okay Nancy, we will let the house vote and then pass to the senate. Chuck I assume you’ll deliver the ten votes we need, deal”.
Then let the Senate with all the Democrats lining up with Schumer vote no. (You need 60 votes to pass a spending bill). At that point he could blame Schumer for the shutdown.
He may do this now, but that “proud” quote will be the one the media will be playing.
How can this play out?
There are 13 days between the funding deadline and when Democrats take over the House. PELOSI could begin the 116th Congress by passing a stopgap bill to end a partial shutdown. At that point, it would likely fly through the Senate and Trump would have to sign it. Would they do this for 13 days?
Some questions.
Why didn’t the President ask Chuck and Nancy when they changed their mind on the wall since they are both on record (and tape) as supporting it?
How come they didn’t ask him why they needed them to fund it since he told America over and over that Mexico was paying for it.
Some comments that tell you why a compromise is really hard:
Soon to be House Leader Pelosi flatly rejected the idea of approving funding for the President’s border wall in exchange for protections for illegal immigrant Dreamers. “They’re two different subjects,” she said.
And here I thought they were all worried about the Dreamers.
The President last week said he can now build the wall for $15 Billion. He said it was coming in under cost and doing it’s job where it was built. Schumer called him a liar and said the Washington Post had given “four Pinocchios” for lying.
News Not Well Reported:
There was major news yesterday on talks with China regarding the tariffs we have been hearing so much negative on in the MSM.
China is moving to address the U.S. economic concerns that the administration has been steadfast on. Their top trade negotiator told U.S. officials that China was planning to reduce auto tariffs (to 15% from 40) and boost purchases of soybeans and other crops in an effort to ease the trade tensions between the two nations.The car tariff drop is big.
This could be big for the economy and market if an agreement can be reached.
Remember that ruling by the 9th circuit to bar the President’s ban on asylum? Well the administration has filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court that seeks reinstatement of it. It bans asylum claims by those who cross the southern U.S. border illegally.
Some Democratic Party News:
The Democratic party may look united today as they prepare for the new congress, but next year may be another story.
It looks like at least 20 candidates will announce for President. Remember the Republican debate stages in 2016? Get ready for a Democratic version this year.
Now add this. Remember how the Reublicans had two debates? An A and B list because there were too many candiates? Well how will the political world react if the same happens in 2019 and 2020? What if the Democratic B-list panel has twice as many women on it as the A-list panel? You know that accusations of sexism and patriarchal dominion will fly fast and furious and come to control the national conversation for a time. The same will be true if African-American, Hispanic or LGBT ones get lumped into the B-list.
Stay tuned.
On that front An early straw poll of members of the progressive group MoveOn.org shows a wide-open competition for liberal voters in the 2020 Democratic presidential contest. The big news was that Rep. Beto O’Rourke was now in the lead.
The leaders were:
Beto O’Rourke: 15.6 percent, Joe Biden: 14.9 percent, Bernie Sanders: 13.1 percent, Kamala Harris: 10 percent, Elizabeth Warren: 6.4 percent, Sherrod Brown: 2.9 percent, Amy Klobuchar: 2.8 percent, Michael Bloomberg: 2.7 percent, Cory Booker: 2.6 percent with Someone else/DK/other: 28.8 percent.
Did you see what DNC head Tom Perez said last week?
He told a room of progressives this week that political momentum is undermined by religious leaders standing at “the pulpit” on Sunday. Yup, he said religion and its leaders are bad for Democrats.
I guess it goes back to the Senator from Hawaii who said they are “too smart” for the rest of us.
As for their policies take a look at this story:
First there was “Medicare for All” and “Abolish ICE.” Now, there’s a “Green New Deal.” The latest idea pushed by progressive activists to the forefront of the Democratic policy conversation, a “Green New Deal,” is a proposal to end U.S. reliance on fossil fuel energy sources and create millions of new jobs in the process. Republican critics of the proposal have said it would be expensive and would slow, rather than grow, the economy and cost jobs.
In the last few weeks, Democratic activists, led by incoming Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have been pushing for Nancy Pelosi, likely the next speaker of the House, to create a select committee dedicated to the idea. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said the committee will help the Democratic Party develop a detailed set of policy plans ahead of 2020, when they could win control of the Senate and White House and pass major climate change legislation.
“We as a party have a mandate to really have legislation ready by 2020,” she said at a press conference.
“Europe Is The Model”
Let’s see if the MSM calls upon those who were out there touting the U.S. should be more like Europe. Which country now?
France? Their hero Macron certainly has his issues. Monday when he spoke to the country he sounded like he was begging them to give him another chance. Add another terrorist attack yesterday and I’ll pass on this one.
England? I doubt Teresa May is going to survive the mess she has created with the Brexit exit. Today is going to bring more turmoil as she visits with the EU. She will begging them for a better deal, which she won’t get. I’ll pass here too.
Germany? Angela Merkel is leaving after the mess in the country.
So I ask the socialists, which model do you want us to follow? Or do you want to stick with the Venezuela one?
Put This Under Hmm:
So President Trump has nominated a former Fox News person (now state department spokesperson) to be our UN representative. The uproar from the MSM was loud and wide. A Fox News person they said! You heard it no doubt. But did you know that at least 26 reporters went into the Obama Administration? I guess that was fine with the press back then, only now it makes a difference.
On his appointments, how about the back and forth with his first Secretary of State this week? Neither Rex Tillerson nor the President held back.
Tillerson said the president acts on instincts, which was starkly different than his own style. He said the President “doesn’t like to read,” and is “pretty undisciplined”. He added, “So often, the president would say here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it, and I would have to say to him, Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law”.
The President, of course, fought back. He said Tillerson was “dumb as a rock”. And, if that wasn’t enough he added, “Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell.”
So much for loyalty. Would you want to work in this White House?
Finally A Story Not Getting MSM Coverage – But….
According to the The Hill’s John Soloman:
The CFO of the Clinton Foundation, admitted to investigators that the charity had widespread problems with governance, accounting and conflicts of interest, and that Bill Clinton has been commingling business and personal expenses for a long time.
“There is no controlling Bill Clinton. He does whatever he wants and runs up incredible expenses with foundation funds,” according to MDA’s account of the interview. “Bill Clinton mixes and matches his personal business with that of the foundation. Many people within the foundation have tried to caution him about this but he does not listen, and there really is no talking to him.”
MDA compiled Kessel’s statements, as well as over 6,000 pages of evidence from a whistleblower they had been working with separately, which they secretly filed with the FBI and IRS over a year ago. MDA has alleged that the Clinton Foundation engaged in illegal activities, and may owe millions in unpaid taxes and penalties.
Here’s a link to the full story if you want to see more.