How
Trump’s Grift Gave Government to the 0.01 Percent
It’s
not just their wealth that distinguishes Trump’s team from the vast majority of
Americans. It’s their class exclusivity. Trump has largely drawn from people
who, like him, were born into wealth and privilege. This insularity, combined
with the heartlessness of the policies they espouse, makes it even less likely
that they will empathize with — or even understand — the problems of ordinary
people.
New "SOCIAL SECURITY SPOTLIGHT" WEBSITE EXPLAINS PROGRAm's VALUE
Despite
Trump’s promises, we now have to defend Social Security (again). The new Social
Security Spotlight website (http://socialsecurityspotlight.org/)
from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Foundation
is a useful tool, providing compelling information that shows the ways Social
Security benefits us all, including the positive economic impact for each
state.
GOP HAS BIG PLANS ... AND OBSTACLES
Congressional
Republicans aim to work quickly come January. The Hill: “Senate Budget
Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) says he’s ready to move a budget … as soon
as the Senate comes back into session on Jan. 3 … The GOP plan is to pass the
budget, which can come directly to the floor, and then a short time later the
reconciliation vehicle repealing major parts of the healthcare law … it will
likely include a three-year phase in to give them time to work on replacement
legislation … Republican sources say the timeline for moving a major
infrastructure package … will depend on the new administration … The other major
focus of Republicans in the first few months of next year will be to use the
Congressional Review Act to repeal regulations promulgated by the Obama
administration since the end of May … Senate Republicans plan to pass a second
budget resolution by mid April with special instructions under the
reconciliation rule paving the way for a comprehensive tax reform package to
pass sometime later in the new Congress.”
But
debt limit may prompt entitlement fight. Politico: “In the past, fiscal
conservatives have insisted on cutting spending to match any increase of the
debt ceiling . If they hold fast on that this time around, they’ll have to go
after entitlements — which Trump has been cool to … There has been some
discussion about lifting the debt ceiling — which has to be done by late summer
— as part of a larger deal, but there are mixed feelings about going down that
path.”
Dems
will try to slow cabinet confirmations. Politico: “Senate Democrats can’t
block Trump’s appointments … But they can turn the confirmation process into a
slog … Democrats could conceivably force up to 30 hours of debate for each
Cabinet nominee, which would be highly disruptive for a GOP Senate that usually
works limited hours but has big ambitions for next year. The minority could also
stymie lower-level nominees and potentially keep the Senate focused on executive
confirmations for weeks…Democrats will force retired Marine Gen. James Mattis to
get 60 votes for a legislative waiver to become secretary of defense … Democrats
are likely to require roll call votes and possibly delay the nominations of
Betsy DeVos to be secretary of education and Tom Price to to be Health and Human
Services secretary, in addition to Mattis, Mnuchin and Sessions.”
TRUMP PLEDGES PENALTY FOR OFFSHORING
Trump
pledges tax penalty on offshorers. HuffPost: “President-elect Donald Trump
wrote a series of tweets early Sunday morning in which he threatened
‘retribution’ in the form of a 35 percent tariff on U.S. companies that move
abroad.”
Economist
on left and right criticize approach. NYT: “‘Blackmail is implicit in this
approach, and it’s dangerous,’ said Tyler Cowen, a conservative free
market-oriented economist … ‘Trump is negotiating with individual businesses
outside of the rule of law and bureaucratic procedure.’ … Mike Konczal, an
economist at the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute, said he also thought Mr.
Trump’s approach was doomed to failure … ‘Cutting taxes for shareholders will
destroy more factories than whatever he saves by jawboning companies from the
bully pulpit,’…”
PRICE READY TO UPEND HHS
Tom
Price plans deregulation at HHS. NYT: “Throughout his career, Mr. Price …
has argued that the government should get out of the way of doctors and give
patients more control over their health care … The health secretary has immense
discretion to impose, revoke and modify rules. A review of Mr. Price’s record in
Congress, including his speeches and legislative proposals, suggests that he
would try to reduce the burden of federal regulations on health care providers,
especially doctors.”
“Obamacare
was profitable for some insurers despite public comments” scoops USA Today:
“When Aetna announced in August that it was leaving the exchanges in 11 of the
15 states it sells in for 2017, it said it had a pretax loss of $200 million on
its individual insurance plans in the second quarter of this year and total
pretax losses of more than $430 million since January 2014 … But Aetna made
nearly $12 million on individual ACA plans in Texas and more than $8 million in
Pennsylvania … and is exiting the Healthcare.gov exchange in both states
anyway.”
Ben
Carson officially tapped for HUD. NYT: “With no experience in government or
running a large bureaucracy, Mr. Carson, 65, publicly waffled over whether to
join the administration … In an opinion article in 2015 for The Washington
Times, Mr. Carson compared an Obama administration housing regulation to ‘the
failure of school busing’ because it would place affordable housing ‘primarily
in wealthier neighborhoods with few current minority residents.’ The rule, known
as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, was years in the making and designed
to end decades-old segregation…”
PIPELINE BLOCKED
Army
Corps of Engineers block Dakota Access Pipeline. NYT: “the Department of the
Army announced that it would not allow the pipeline to be drilled under a dammed
section of the Missouri River. The Army said it would look for alternative
routes … Though the Army’s decision calls for an environmental study of
alternative routes, the Trump administration could ultimately decide to allow
the original, contested route … Mr. Trump owns stock in the company building the
pipeline … several campers said they were not going anywhere. They said that
there were too many uncertainties surrounding the Army’s decision …”
Speaker
Paul Ryan slams decision. The Hill: “In a Sunday evening tweet, Ryan called
the announcement ‘big-government decision-making at its worst .. I look forward
to putting this anti-energy presidency behind us.”
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