US Politics in Trump era
Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance
Polls: Coronavirus Pulls Down Trump and GOP Senators Suffer
President Trump’s mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic has imperiled both his own re-election and his party’s majority in the Senate, and Republican lawmakers in crucial states like Arizona, North Carolina and Maine have fallen behind their Democratic challengers amid broad disapproval of the president, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College.
Barr Told Prosecutors to Consider Sedition Charges for Protest Violence
Wisconsin polling: Biden has narrow edge over Trump in latest Post-ABC News poll
Trump officials seek greater control over CDC reports on coronavirus
Political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services have sought to change, delay and prevent the release of reports about the coronavirus by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because they were viewed as undermining President Trump’s message that the pandemic is under control.
DHS official Brian Murphy alleges he was told to stand down on reporting about Russian interference threat
Trump acknowledges he intentionally downplayed deadly coronavirus, says effort was to reduce panic
President Trump acknowledged Wednesday that he intentionally played down the deadly nature of the rapidly spreading coronavirus last winter as an attempt to avoid a “frenzy,” part of an escalating damage-control effort by his top advisers to contain the fallout from a forthcoming book by The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward.
Israel is cited often in Senate report as link to Russian interference (but our media ignore connection)
Quick show of hands. How many of you have heard of Guccifer 2.0? Guccifer was of course the on-line identity of the hackers allegedly connected to Russian intelligence who shared emails from the Democratic National Committee with Wikileaks during the 2016 presidential campaign. Now, how many of you know that Guccifer 2.0’s phone was registered in Israel?
Poll shows military vote leaning away from Trump, toward Biden
The conventional wisdom tends to be that Americans in uniform are more conservative than the civilian population at large. But in this case, the results of the Military Times survey suggest that political attitudes between the two groups aren't that different: roughly half of active-duty troops, for example, have an unfavorable opinion of Trump.
Postal Crisis Hits Rural America Hard
SEC Brought Fewest Insider Trading Enforcement Cases In Decades In 2019
The coronavirus recession is over for the rich, but the working class is far from recovered
The Post Office Is Deactivating Mail Sorting Machines Ahead of the Election
Trump Declares USPS Can’t Handle Mail-In Voting Because He’s Blocking Funding
President Donald Trump proclaimed Wednesday that the U.S. Postal Service doesn’t have the capacity to handle an unprecedented increase in mail-in ballots because it lacks funds that his administration is blocking, remarks that were immediately viewed as an open admission of election sabotage by a president who has previously called USPS “a joke.”
White House clarifies limits of jobless aid plan as talks with Congress dim
Our ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran failed – unless the goal was to help China
THE TRUMP administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran has manifestly failed to achieve either its stated or unstated aims: It has not forced Iran to renegotiate the nuclear accord from which President Trump unwisely withdrew; nor has it ended Iranian aggression in the Middle East or caused the regime of Ali Khamenei to collapse. Now it may result in a powerful new blow to U.S. interests, in the form of an Iranian partnership with China that could rescue Iran’s economy while giving Beijing a powerful new place in the region.
Trump demands payroll tax cut while GOP eyes benefit cuts for unemployed
Lawmakers press SBA, Treasury officials on Cares Act transparency and loan forgiveness
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested Friday that the government should consider forgiving all taxpayer-backed small loans under the federal Paycheck Protection Program without verifying how the funds were used, a decision that could wipe away debt for millions of small businesses but would also substantially increase the risk of fraud.
Pompeo Says Human Rights Policy Must Prioritize Property Rights and Religion
Small-business borrowers and bankers say Trump administration’s job data is riddled with inaccuracies
Fauci sidelined by Trump as he talks bluntly about pandemic
For months, Anthony S. Fauci has played a lead role in America’s coronavirus pandemic, as a diminutive, Brooklyn-accented narrator who has assessed the risk and issued increasingly blunt warnings as the nation’s response has gone badly awry. But as the Trump administration has strayed from the advice of many of its scientists and public health experts, the White House has moved to sideline Fauci
Trump commutes Stone sentence
The Cost of the Evangelical Betrayal
Religious Organizations Receive $7.3 Billion in PPP Loans, Megachurches Amass Millions
At Mt. Rushmore and the White House, Trump Updates ‘American Carnage’ Message for 2020
The Lincoln Project is trolling Trump. But can it sway voters?
This Firm Settled a Federal Fraud Suit—Then Got a $45 Million Bailout
On April 15, the Department of Justice announced that it had reached a $41 million settlement with two Florida healthcare providers— and two of its former executives over fraudulent billing claims. This quartet, the government alleged, had for half a decade asked patients to undergo unnecessary urine drug tests solely for the purpose of getting reimbursements under Medicare and Medicaid.
Barr Tries to Fire Berman, S.D.N.Y. U.S. Attorney, but He Won’t Go
U.S. attorney who was investigating people close to Trump now says he will step down, ending standoff with attorney general
Barr informed Berman of the president’s move in a sharply worded letter, explaining that Berman’s deputy, Audrey Strauss, will serve as the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan until the Senate can confirm a permanent replacement. Under Berman, the office managed a number of sensitive investigations involving people close to Trump, including his personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Bolton’s Book Says Trump Impeachment Inquiry Missed Other Troubling Actions
Facebook Removes Trump Ads Displaying Symbol Used by Nazis
John Bolton urged to elaborate on Trump-Erdoğan claims
The former US national security adviser John Bolton is facing calls to elaborate on a claim in his new book that Donald Trump agreed to help Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by intervening in a federal investigation into a Turkish state-owned bank. The Turkish leader and his son-in-law and finance minister, Berat Albayrak, have both been linked to the Halkbank scandal by Turkish investigators.
Top State Department official Mary Elizabeth Taylor resigns in protest of Trump’s response to racial tensions in the country
Trump administration won’t say who got $511 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus loans
Unsanitized: The Case of the Missing Bailout Oversight Panel Chair
So if we’re going to get much oversight, particularly of the bailout aspects of the CARES Act it’s probably going to come from the Congressional Oversight Commission, which specifically was charged with monitoring the Federal Reserve’s $4.5 trillion money cannon. There are supposed to be five members on the commission; one chosen by each leader in the House and Senate, and a fifth, the chair, chosen by mutual agreement between Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell.
Barr personally ordered removal of protesters near White House, leading to use of force against largely peaceful crowd
Attorney General William P. Barr personally ordered law enforcement officials to clear the streets around Lafayette Square just before President Trump spoke Monday, a Justice Department official said, a directive that prompted a show of aggression against a crowd of largely peaceful protesters, drawing widespread condemnation.
Episcopal bishop Mariann Budde blasts Trump visit to St. John’s Church
The Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, was seething. President Trump had just visited St. John’s Episcopal Church, which sits across from the White House. It was a day after a fire was set in the basement of the historic building amid protests over the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police.
George Floyd protests live updates: Peaceful protesters gassed so Trump can pose for photos
President Trump on Monday threatened to deploy federal troops if state and city leaders don’t act to quell acts of violence and looting amid the protests over the killing of George Floyd. Moments earlier, just outside the White House, federal authorities used rubber bullets, flash bangs and gas to clear peaceful protesters from the area.
As cities burned, Trump stayed silent — other than tweeting fuel on the fire
In cities across America on Sunday, people awoke to see shattered glass, charred vehicles, bruised bodies and graffiti-tagged buildings. Demonstrators gathered again in peaceful daytime protest of racial injustice. By evening, thousands had converged again in front of the White House, where people had rioted and set fires the night before. President Trump stayed safely ensconced inside and had nothing to say, besides tweeting fuel on the fire.
Why far-right protesters are wearing Hawaiian print
Emerging from a hack joke trope and in far-right memes in racist and homophobic corners of the Internet, armed extremists wearing Hawaiian or "Aloha" print shirts at protests across the US are signalling support for a "second Civil War" over stay-at-home orders and perceived threats to the Second Amendment.
Trump Wants to Declare Antifa a Terrorist Organization, Even Though Right-Wing Extremists Have Been More Violent
Top HHS watchdog being replaced by Trump says inspectors general must work free from political intrusion
Trump fired watchdog who was probing Saudi arms sales, Democrats say
President Donald Trump may have fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick because he was investigating U.S. military sales to Saudi Arabia, Democratic lawmakers said on Monday, although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he sought Linick’s removal because his work was undermining the department.
How House Progressives’ #PutPeopleFirst Plan Fell Short
Hydroxychloroquine drug promoted by Trump as coronavirus ‘game changer’ increasingly linked to deaths
Trump Removes State Dept. Inspector General
President Trump continued his purge of inspectors general late Friday, moving to oust Steve A. Linick, who had served in that post at the State Department since 2013, and replacing him with an ambassador with close ties to Vice President Mike Pence. The decision to remove Mr. Linick, first reported Friday night by Politico, is the latest in a purge of inspectors general whom Mr. Trump has deemed insufficiently loyal to his administration, upending the traditional independence of the internal watchdog agencies whose missions are to conduct oversight of the nation’s sprawling bureaucracy.
Lancet editorial blasts Trump administration’s coronavirus response
Joe Biden teams with Bernie Sanders on new, policy-focused task forces
Watchdog Demands Probe After Energy Secretary Admits WH Pressed Fed to Give Oil Companies Access to Covid-19 Funds
A watchdog on the congressional committee tasked with overseeing the Trump administration's handling of Covid-19 bailout funds demanded an investigation Tuesday after Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette openly admitted in a television appearance that the White House pressed the Federal Reserve to alter one of its lending programs for the benefit of fossil fuel companies.
As deaths mount, Trump tries to convince Americans it’s safe to inch back to normal
In a week when the novel coronavirus ravaged new communities across the country and the number of dead soared past 78,000, President Trump and his advisers shifted from hour-by-hour crisis management to what they characterize as a long-term strategy aimed at reviving the decimated economy and preparing for additional outbreaks this fall.
Pentagon Releases a Rosy Report on Civilian Casualties in Foreign Wars
The United States’s wars continue to rage in the Middle East and Africa against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. Even in normal times, these conflicts got little public scrutiny. But with attention more occupied than usual, some U.S. military operations have been escalating even further. In recent years, these conflicts have become even deadlier for innocent people
‘Heads we win, tails you lose’: how America’s rich have turned pandemic into profit
Some of the richest people in the US have been at the front of the queue as the government has handed out trillions of dollars to prop up an economy it shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, the billionaire class has added $308bn to its wealth in four weeks - even as a record 26 million people lost their jobs.
As States Loosen Pandemic Restrictions, Dr. Leana Wen Warns “We Are Not Ready for a Safe Reopening”
Top Republican fundraiser and Trump ally named postmaster general, giving president new influence over Postal Service
A top donor to President Trump and the Republican National Committee will be named the new head of the Postal Service, putting a top ally of the president in charge of an agency where Trump has long pressed for major changes in how it handles its business. Trump’s Treasury Department and the Postal Service are in the midst of a negotiation over a $10 billion line of credit approved as part of coronavirus legislation in March.
Using Coronavirus, GOP Wins Long-Desired Bank Deregulation
Republican lawmakers and finance industry lobbyists are using the coronavirus pandemic to press regulators into rapidly waiving financial safeguards for community banks. And so far, banking regulators have obliged, lifting rules imposed after the 2008 crisis that limit risk-taking and require banks to undergo more strenuous audits.
What did China do about coronavirus? A timeline.
Justice Dept. moves to drop charges against Michael Flynn’s conviction in Mueller’s Russia probe
The move marks a stunning reversal in the case of the former Army general who was convicted in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It also will likely intensify concerns within and outside the Justice Department that Barr and its politically appointed leadership is intervening in sensitive cases to help the president’s friends and political allies.
HHS official Rick Bright alleges he was demoted for resisting push for hydroxychloroquine
A former top vaccine official removed from his post last month alleged in a whistleblower complaint on Tuesday that he was reassigned to a less prestigious role because he tried to “prioritize science and safety over political expediency” and raised health concerns over a drug repeatedly pushed by President Trump as a possible cure for coronavirus.
Big companies are paying shareholders dividends and laying off thousands of workers
Since the coronavirus pandemic was declared, Caterpillar has suspended operations at two plants and a foundry, Levi Strauss has closed stores, and toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker is planning layoffs and furlough. While thousands of their workers are filing for unemployment benefits, these companies rewarded their shareholders with more than $700 million in cash dividends
Kushner coronavirus effort said to be hampered by inexperienced volunteers
The coronavirus response being spearheaded by President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has relied in part on volunteers from consulting and private equity firms with little expertise in the tasks to which they were assigned, exacerbating chronic problems in obtaining supplies for hospitals and other needs, according to numerous government officials and a volunteer involved in the effort.
Mitch McConnell could yet pay price for ‘tone deaf’ coronavirus response
Strategic National Stockpile chief Robert Kadlec focused on biodefense — and a former client, Emergent BioSolutions, benefited
After Robert Kadlec was confirmed as President Trump’s top official for public health preparedness in 2017, he began pressing to increase government stocks of a smallpox vaccine. His office ultimately made a deal to buy up to $2.8 billion of the vaccine from a company that once paid Kadlec as a consultant, a connection he did not disclose on a Senate questionnaire when he was nominated.
Trump uses White House coronavirus events to project return to normalcy while relying on testing that public lacks
As Trump aides have signaled that he could soon begin regular travel, the reality is that the White House has created a picture of security that is propped up by special access to the kind of wide-scale testing for covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, that most of the nation remains without.
Small Business Administration funds to public companies top $1 billion
Trump administration launches major effort to force China to pay over coronavirus
Senior U.S. officials are beginning to explore proposals for punishing or demanding financial compensation from China for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to four senior administration officials with knowledge of internal planning. The move could splinter already strained relations between the two superpowers at a perilous moment for the global economy.
Trump Officials Are Said to Press Spies to Link Virus and Wuhan Labs
Senior Trump administration officials have pushed American spy agencies to hunt for evidence to support an unsubstantiated theory that a government laboratory in Wuhan, China, was the origin of the coronavirus outbreak, according to current and former American officials. The effort comes as President Trump escalates a public campaign to blame China for the pandemic.
President’s intelligence briefing book repeatedly cited virus threat
Small Business Rescue Money Flows to Major Trump Donors
Psychologist John Gartner: Trump is a “sexual sadist” who is “actively engaging in sabotage”
Trump rebuked by doctors, Lysol after asking if disinfectants can be injected to kill coronavirus in people
After a presentation Thursday that touched on the disinfectants that can kill the novel coronavirus on surfaces and in the air, President Trump pondered whether those chemicals could be used to fight the virus inside the human body.“I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute,” Trump said during Thursday’s coronavirus press briefing. “And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?
Large public companies are taking small businesses payroll loans
Hundreds of millions of dollars of Paycheck Protection Program emergency funding has been claimed by large, publicly traded companies, new research published by Morgan Stanley shows.In fact, the U.S. government has allocated at least $243.4 million of the total $349 billion to publicly traded companies, the firm said.
McConnell takes flak after suggesting bankruptcy for states rather than bailouts
32 millionaire CEOs who scooped up taxpayer money meant for struggling small businesses
With the pandemic severely restricting economic activity, thousands of small businesses across the country are on the brink of collapse. Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program as a lifeline. The $350 billion fund was intended to rescue small businesses with forgivable loans to cover their payrolls for two months.
Trump Urges Doctors to Lie, as One Blows the Whistle on Him
Donald Trump tried and failed on Wednesday to coerce two of the government’s top medical experts to endorse his claim that a second wave of Covid-19 infections in the fall is unlikely, hours after a federal whistleblower said he was fired by the administration for limiting the use of an unproven drug treatment touted by the president.
The Quiet Hand of Conservative Groups in the Anti-Lockdown Protests
Trump says he will issue order to suspend immigration during, closing off the United States to a new extreme
‘Democrats Cave’: Senate Interim Funding Bill for Coronavirus Relief Spurns Progressive Priorities
Progressives exploded in frustration Tuesday as the Senate prepared to pass an interim funding bill for coronavirus relief that once again included no funding for the Post Office, food banks, or election security, and provided no bailout oversight and no funding for states and cities—leading critics to wonder why Democratic lawmakers refused to use their leverage and hold up the bill.
Americans at WHO transmitted real-time information about coronavirus to Trump administration
More than a dozen U.S. researchers, physicians and public health experts, many of them from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were working full time at the Geneva headquarters of the World Health Organization as the novel coronavirus emerged late last year and transmitted real-time information about its discovery and spread in China to the Trump administration, according to U.S. and international officials.
Trump says government will step up coronavirus testing efforts, after governors blast federal inaction
President Trump said on Sunday that the federal government is stepping up efforts to obtain vital supplies for coronavirus testing, hours after several governors from both parties faulted his administration for not doing enough to help states. Public health experts say testing on a larger scale is a crucial step before resuming normal social and economic activity in the country. But Trump defended the administration’s approach of leaving testing largely to states.
Record government and corporate debt risks ‘tipping point’ after pandemic passes
Trump’s ‘liberate’ tweets supporting lockdown protesters spur social media frenzy
Nothing But a Taxpayer ‘Subsidy to Insurers’: Democrats Float Plan to Backstop For-Profit Healthcare Industry During Covid-19 Pandemic
House Democratic leadership came under fire Tuesday after it was reported a proposal is now under consideration to backstop for-profit healthcare insurance companies with taxpayer dollars instead of simply opening public programs like Medicare and Medicaid to those laid off or uninsured amidst the coronavirus outbreak ravaging the country.
Trump announces cutoff of new funding for the World Health Organization over pandemic response
President Trump announced Tuesday that he will suspend payments to the World Health Organization in response to the United Nations agency’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as the organization is in the midst of combating a global outbreak that has killed thousands and crippled world economies. Trump’s announcement was expected, as he seeks to deflect blame for his early dismissal of the virus as a threat to Americans and the U.S. economy.
Vast majority of tax provision in coronavirus law goes to millionaires, JCT finds
Covid-19 means people are losing health insurance just when they may get sick.
More than 17 million people have filed for unemployment in the past four weeks as the novel coronavirus continues to drive the U.S. economy into recession. That means that millions are or soon will be without health insurance, and millions more will struggle to pay premiums and co-pays on insurance they do have. This puts even more pressure on hospital systems — already under enormous financial strain — because they are required to treat all patients with emergency conditions, including the uninsured.