MORNING MESSAGE
Trump Offers “A Nation of Miracles.” Your Move, Democrats.
Tuesday’s
speech largely toed the Republican party line. Take infrastructure. On the
campaign trail, Trump promised major government investment. On Tuesday, he
promised a financial boon for corporations and bankers. He promised no American
would go without healthcare. But the ideas Trump floated on Tuesday could have
been written by the insurance executives he hosted on Monday – and probably were
... He has promised not to cut Social Security or Medicare ... But he pointedly
refused to repeat that promise on Tuesday night.
Tone Deaf
Tone
is meaningless, says Bloomberg’s Jonathan Bernstein: “Governing, the old saw
says, is choosing. To the joint session of Congress, Trump made no choices at
all. It was an hour plus of cotton candy. I suspect it’ll get excellent reviews;
a lot of pundits who have been brutal to Trump will welcome the chance to praise
him, and I suspect everyone is pleased to have the president toss aside his
clown act, at least for one night. But it’s a sugar high, and there won’t be
much if anything remaining of it after a few hours.”
OurFuture.org’s
Isaiah J. Poole slams Trump’s racism: “[Trump] flung an amount of cynical
racial exploitation and manipulation during his speech before a joint session of
Congress Tuesday night that was unprecedented in recent memory … Without
addressing the deep concerns communities of color have about police abuse of
deadly force, Trump reprised a version of the law-and-order themes that
dominated his campaign for the presidency … Even more pernicious was his use of
African-American crime victims as poster images for his efforts to deport
millions of black and brown immigrants who are living peaceably in our
communities.”
Details, Details
Few
immigration details. HuffPost: “Hours before his speech to a joint session
of Congress, the president reportedly told news anchors he was open to a legal
status for some undocumented immigrants … Trump’s speech, however, gave no such
indication, even though it mentioned immigration reform … The president only
addressed one aspect of immigration legislation: the need to reform legal
immigration to a ‘merit-based immigration system.’ … He discussed immigrants
almost exclusively in the context of crime, terrorism and lowering Americans’
wages.”
Few
health care details. HuffPost: “…outside of some general platitudes that
Trump has long endorsed, the president offered no new guidelines for a
replacement to former President Barack Obama’s 2010 law … for the lawmakers
actually familiar with the complexity of ‘replacing’ the Affordable Care Act, it
was revealing that the president put the onus on Congress to resolve this issue.
Compare that vague, lead-from-behind approach to Trump’s section on a tax
overhaul, where he said, ‘My economic team is developing historic tax
reform.'”
Few
tax details. Bloomberg: “President Donald Trump offered no new details of
his plan to overhaul corporate and individual taxes — renewing questions about
whether he supports a controversial proposal to tax U.S. companies’ imports
while excluding their exports … Trump’s tax plans for individuals also remain to
be clarified…”
“Donald
Trump Goes All In for the Military-Industrial Complex” writes The Nation’s John
Nichols: “…the president imagined that the United States could cut taxes for
wealthy Americans and corporations, rip tens of billions of dollars out of
domestic programs (and diplomacy), hand that money over to the
military-industrial complex, and somehow remain a functional and genuinely
strong nation.”
Former
Gov. Steve Beshear slams Trump in Democratic response. Politico: “[He
delivered] a direct shot at Trump’s support among working-class Americans, many
of whom have benefited from the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansion … ‘So
far, every Republican idea to “replace” the Affordable Care Act would reduce the
number of Americans covered, despite promises to the contrary,’ he said. ‘Mr.
President, folks here in Kentucky expect you to keep your word. Because this
isn’t a game — it’s life and death for people.'”
Back to (Not) Governing
“Republicans
near make-or-break moment on Obamacare repeal” reports Politico: “… Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called a special all-members caucus meeting
Wednesday to try and get his rowdy caucus in line … GOP leaders are facing
pressure from both moderates and conservatives as they try to craft a bill …
[They] are coming to grips with the growing possibility they’ll have to just put
a repeal bill on the floor — and dare GOP lawmakers to vote no.”
Trump
delays new travel ban. CNN: “Signing the executive order Wednesday, as
originally indicated by the White House, would have undercut the favorable
coverage [from Trump’s address to Congress … ‘We want the (executive order) to
have its own “moment,”‘ [a senior administration] official said.”
Trump’s
trade representative on slow track to Senate confirmation. Canadian Press:
“…Robert Lighthizer’s approval as U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) could be
delayed for months, amid partisan stalling and because past legal work for
foreign governments means he needs a special waiver from Congress … Does that
mean [NAFTA] talks might be held up for months? [Rep. Chris] Collins replied:
‘Yup.'”
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