The
Drumpfster Fire
chronicles Week
9
The
Drumpfster Fire
chronicles Week
9
A Talbot‑‑Heindl Experience LLC Zine By: Chris Talbot‑‑Heindl
March
18 2017
rumpf spent another weekend at a Drumpf property (every weekend other than the very first), traveling to his Mar-a-Lago resort (excuse me…Winter White House…excuse me…Southern White House), at the cost of $3 million to taxpayers. He claimed to do so because everyone who wanted to meet to discuss the Department of Veteran Affairs wanted to do so at the “Southern White House.” The guy who couldn’t make it: the new VA Secretary, David Shulkin.
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uring Drumpf’s weekly address, Drumpf tweeted his own horn and Andrew Jackson’s. “Jackson was an American hero…as the seventh President of the United States – when he fought to defend the forgotten men and women from the arrogant elite of his day. Does it sound familiar?”
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epresentative Theodore Deutch from Florida is pushing for federal appropriators to address the growing costs of Drumpf visiting Florida every weekend – one that is brewing a budgetary crisis for Palm Beach County securing the president’s estate. “I’m not sure that anyone understood that when the president referred to Mar-a-Lago as the ‘Southern White House,’ he really indeed to visit almost every week. There are a lot of people who come to Palm Beach County over the entire winter to enjoy the weather and enjoy the golfing. When the president choses to the same thing, it raises a whole host of other issues.”
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ounty Commissioner David Kerner stated, “I would never consider a proposal that says we’re not going to use our county resources when the president’s here. It’s our patriotic duty. It’s just unfair that burden should be borne alone.” He then suggested levying a “special benefit” fee on Mar-a-Lago to recoup some of the costs. The other options are raising taxes for everyone or making cuts to his budget.
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rumpf decided to respond to the press of how awkward the meeting with Chancellor Merkel was with a tweet: “Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes… vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!” Prior to the visit, Drumpf had frequently accused the Chancellor of “ruining” Germany for allowing refugees into the country and chiding Hillary Clinton as “America’s Angela Merkel.”
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18 2017
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istorically, Germany has kept its military small with a “never again” policy after World War II, but it is on its way to meet its NATO commitment by 2024, as required. Drumpf’s tweets and criticism may actually make it harder for Chancellor Merkel to increase defense spending, since it is unpopular in Germany, and appearing to kowtow to Drumpf could be disastrous for Merkel.
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ecretary of State Rex Tillerson allowed exactly one reporter on his airplane during his trip to Asia – and not a pool reporter that provided updates, but one who got an exclusive sit-down interview. He told that one reporter that he would be breaking away from the usual transparency involved in his position, “I’m not a big media press access person. I personally don’t need it… And when I have something important or useful to say, I know where everybody is, and I know how to go out there and say it.” For reference, when President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt barred the State Department press pool last year, the State Department itself lodged an objection.
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illerson also insulted his South Korean hosts and called them liars during his one interview with the one reporter. “They never invited us for dinner, then at the last minute they realized that optically it wasn’t playing very well in public for them, so they put out a statement that we didn’t’ have dinner because I was tired.”
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March
19 2017
epresentative Adam Schiff went on NBC and said that the House Intelligence Committee investigation into Russian election hacking has seen “circumstantial evidence of collusion, there is direct evidence, I think of deception. And that’s where we begin the investigation…There is certainly enough for us to conduct an investigation.”
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epresentative Schiff also commented on Drumpf’s wiretapping claims, stating, “Once again, no evidence to support the president’s claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor...I hope that we can put an end to this wild goose chase because what the president said was just patently false, and the wrecking ball it created now has banged into our British allies and our German allies. It’s continuing to grow in terms of damage and he needs to put an end to this.”
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hairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes contradicted Schiff’s statement about the Russian election hacking on Fox News saying he hasn’t seen any evidence of collusion. “I’ll give you the very simple answer: ‘No.’…Up to speed on everything I have up to this morning, there’s no evidence of collusion.”
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ecretary of State Rex Tillerson met with President Xi Jingping of China to smooth relations after Drumpf tweeted that China had “done little to help” on North Korea. Secretary Tillerson instead thanking President Xi and stating that the way forward is cooperation. Unfortunately, Tillerson used Chinese catchphrases he didn’t fully understand. He used “mutual respect,” which in Beijing is taken to mean that each side should respect the other’s “core interests.”
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March
19 2017
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he core interests Tillerson implied the US was on board with would include staying away from issues of Taiwan, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. The Global Times reported, “China welcomes the endorsement of its model, which the previous administration of Barack Obama refused to do. Tillerson was not speaking personally, but after a serious decision make by the US, because Trump wants to start a relationship with China different from his predecessor’s.”
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March
20 2017
rior to the House Intelligence Committee hearing on Russian influence in the election, Drumpf took to twitter to post, “James Clapper and others stated that there is no evidence Potus colluded with Russia. This story is FAKE NEWS and everyone knows it!” and “The Democrats made up and pushed the Russian story as an excuse for running a terrible campaign. Big advantage in Electoral College & lost!”
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uring a 5.5-hour public hearing before the House Intelligence Committee, FBI Director James B. Comey acknowledged that the FBI is looking into the Russian election hack and that he has found “no information” that supports Drumpf’s claim that Obama “wiretapped” (Mind the quotes – that indicates any form of surveillance now.) him. “I have no information that supports those tweets, and we have looked carefully inside the FBI…The Department of Justice has asked me to share with you the answer is the same for the Department of Justice and all its components. The department has no information that supports those tweets.” He added that no president could even order any kind of surveillance like that.
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hairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes , the guy who didn’t think that a Russian investigation should even take place, urged Comey to reveal when the FBI cleared people as quickly as possible, “There’s a big gray cloud that you’ve now put over people who have very important work to do to lead this country, and so the faster that you can get to the bottom of this, it’s going to be better for all Americans.”
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irector Comey and National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers stated that Russia would likely continue to hack American elections in the future as they were “successful, introducing chaos and discord,” according to Comey.
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March
20 2017
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epresentative Adam Schiff enumerated some of the connections that Drumpf campaign staff had with Russia during the election. And stated, “Is it possible that all of these events and reports are completely unrelated and nothing more than an entirely unhappy coincidence? Yes, it is possible. But it is also possible may be more than possible, that they are not coincidental, but disconnected and not unrelated…We simply don’t know, not yet, and we owe it to the country to find out.”
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irector of the National Security Agency, Admiral Rogers, said that the idea that British officials were behind the “wiretapping” of Drumpf is “nonsense and utterly ridiculous.”
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hile the hearing was going on, Drumpf was tweeting #altfacts about what was going on. He tweeted that “FBI Director Comey refuses to deny he briefed President Obama on calls made by Michael Flynn to Russia,” when Comey said he would not comment on his conversations with Obama or Drumpf. Comey’s reaction when it was read out to him, “No. It was not our intention to say that today.”
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rumpf then tweeted: “The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence electoral process,” which was a flat out lie. Pretty much, all of Drumpf’s tweets during the hearing were misleading, inaccurate, or flat-out lies.
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epresentative Peter King, , a Republican sitting on the House Intelligence Committee stated that Drumpf’s tweets were making it hard to help him. “The tweets make it much more difficult for us as we try to build a case against these leakers. We always have to be answering questions about the tweets – it puts us on defense all the time when we could be building a case for the president.”
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uring the Press Briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer was scolded by a reporter, “You made a point of saying that Comey refused to say whether he had briefed Obama about the investigation. And also, the President, on his official account, tweeted the same thing today. Comey made a point today of saying, please do not draw any conclusions from my ability to confirm or deny anything, but are drawing a conclusion from that.”
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ress Secretary Spicer answered that no one has found collusion yet, therefore, none exists in the case of the Russian tampering of the election. To which a reporter pointed out, “You said in the case of the President’s tweets…that more things will come out that may justify that…why, in one case, is that sufficient to say that there is no – you could rule out collusion now, versus in the other case you’d say, oh, there is going to be more information coming out that will prove these tweets?”
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March
20 2017
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ress Secretary Spicer was asked how Drumpf justifies all his travel and golf trips when he criticized Obama for golfing. Spicer answered as you might expect him to: he used golf to “foster deeper relationships” with Prime Minister Abe, and he had a mini Cabinet meeting at his club.
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reporter asked Press Secretary why when talking about priorities with tax dollars, programs like Meals on Wheels are getting the axe, but Drumpf continues to make trips to Mar-aLago at the cost ost $3 million. “Is he planning to cut those back at all given his feelings about the priorities for the Americans’ tax dollars?” Spicer retorted, framing it as trips that were necessary: “I mean Presidents always travel…The President will continue to go and travel around the country and have meetings to solve the nation’s problems.”
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ress Secretary Spicer got in a bit of a heated debate with New York Times about downplaying Paul Manafort’s responsibilities in the Drumpf campaign and what it would mean if he did communicate with Russian operatives; negating the Russian connection claim because so far no collusion has been found, but claiming that Drumpf’s tweets could still be proven; as well as Spicer’s past dismissal of anonymous sources and how he now is downplaying legitimate sources in a hearing. Spicer joked, “Well, first, I think your headlines are bad. I’m glad to rewrite…I’d be glad to if you guys are looking for some help.” He then continued with the same diatribe he’s been saying without any new insight.
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reporter followed up saying, “But can I just ask, does the President need to take no for an answer in the same way that you’re urging the new media to on this?” Spicer responded, “No, because one is a bunch of people who have been briefed who are saying, we haven’t seen anything. And one is an ongoing…”
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nother reporter asked Press Secretary Spicer, in connection with the British GCHQ accusation article that Spicer read, if “in the future, when you, from that podium, read from news articles or cite news articles, can we assume that you’re vouching for the accuracy of those articles?” Spicer basically said that he could read anything just for funsies from the official White House press briefing podium and it shouldn’t be taken as anything.
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t was announced that Ivanka Trump would be moving in with Drumpf with her own office in the West Wing. She will not be on government payroll, but she said she would “voluntarily” follow ethics rules in order to “continue to offer my father my candid advice and counsel, as I have for my entire life.” There have already been numerous ethics violations – wearing her label’s dress to the Republican National Convention and then tweeting where to buy it; wearing a bracelet during a 60-Minutes interview and then advertising it to fashion reporters; Kellyanne Conway’s ad on Fox News for Ivanka’s brand that spiked sales, etc.
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March
20 2017
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he House Republicans unveiled some changes to Drumpfcare to make it more draconian and Republican in nature. Changes included accelerating the expiration of Obamacare’s taxes and restricting the Medicaid program. It also upped the support for those aged 50-65 – the typical Republican base age.
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nother change to Drumpfcare would allow states to make Medicaid recipients prove they are looking for work. Under Obamacare, Medicaid was available for those with low incomes whether they were employed or not. Several Republican governors wanted to give the states to right to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients who don’t have young children or are not old or disabled. Because being a homemaker should only be a right for the wealthy.
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epublicans also moved the date that Obamacare taxes phase out to this year. The Republican plan would eliminate taxes on health insurance, prescription drugs, tanning salons, and investment income.
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rumpf held a campaign rally in Louisville, Kentucky, where he said spouted a bunch of nonsense that means nothing – the kind of crap his base loves so much, “Somebody from the fake media the other day asked me a question. They said, how are the Republicans going to finally get together? I said, wait a minute, we won the presidency, we won the House, we won the Senate. I mean, what?”
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e went on to slam immigration, “Uncontrolled immigration – you see what’s going on there; that’s happening quickly. Little problem with the courts not wanting to give us the decisions that should be given – but we’re going to win it…These entrenched interests will do anything they can to keep the broken system in place, but they will fail, and we will win. Because we are fighting on the side of our great American heritage.”
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ven though it has already become public knowledge that the Keystone Pipeline will not use American-made steel, Drumpf decided to lie and say it would. “We’ve also cleared the way for the Keystone and the Dakota Access pipelines. And as I was signing it, I said where are they getting the steel? Where? And I said, you know what, if people want to build pipelines in the United States, they should use American steel, and they should build it and create it right here. That pipe is going to be manufactured right here.”
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rumpf then continued his #altfact about hordes of people being “viciously killed by illegal immigrants.” He claimed, “These amazing American lives were stolen because our government refused to enforce our already-existing laws. These American victims and their families were ignored by the media…one by one, they are being tracked down and thrown the hell out of our country, and we will not let them back in.”
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e then told one whopper after another about Obamacare – about how it was 2,700 unreadable, indecipherable pages; it was “a disaster”; that the architect of Obamacare said the law was passed because of the stupidity of the American voter”; the exaggeration of triple digit increases; the #altfact that tons of medical professionals are leaving the job because of Obamacare.
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rumpf then claimed that Kaapernick can’t get a job because NFL owners “don’t want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump.” Because that’s very presidential and important.
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March
21 2017
17-year-old student was issued a cease and desist by Drumpf’s lawyers for coding a game where kitten paws swipe at Drumpf’s head. She created it to put on her resume before she starts applying for jobs after graduation. It took umbrage with the name of the site, TrumpScratch.com, so she changed it to KittenFeed.com, but that didn’t appease thin-skinned Drumpf. Lucy, the student put out a statement, “I was going to just let this go, but I think it’s, pardon my French, fucking outrageous that the president of the United States has his team scouring the internet for sites like mine to send out cease and desists and legal action claims if we don’t shut down…HOW ABOUT BEING THE PRESIDENT?”
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enate Republicans voted to abolish a rule restricting trapping, baiting, aerial shooting, and hunting in denning areas on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.
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olorado prosecutors accused former Colorado Republican Party chairman, Steve Curtis, of voter fraud for filling out and mailing his ex-wife’s 2016 ballot for president. This is the same Steve Curtis who said, during his conservative radio show, “It seems to me that virtually every case of voter fraud I can remember in my lifetime was committed by Democrats…Voter fraud is not an easy crime to commit. It needs a certain cadre of devoted criminal Democrats to carry it out.”
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ocuments released by a Ukranian lawmakers shows that former Drumpf campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, laundered payments from the party of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych who’s been in hiding in Russia since being overthrown. Manafort has denied receiving the payments, totaling $12.7 million, but Serhiy Leshchenko released a copy of an invoice on letterhead from Manafort’s company. Manafort was involved in bringing Yanukovych into power, and Yanukovych’s party has been accused of ties to President Putin.
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uring the Press Briefing, Press Secretary Spicer was asked to speak to the matter that the stock market has been “off as much as 200 points on the Dow…Members of this administration have talked about the stock market as a real-time barometer for how the administration is performing…Does the President believe that today’s dip in the Dow is the result of his performance as President?” Spicer basically answered that there are different indicators, so while the stock market meant that the President had done an amazing job previously, now it means nothing.
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reporter brought up Drumpf’s threat to Congressman Mark Meadows, asking, “has the President decided in his own mind yet whether he thinks it would be appropriate potentially to mount primary opposition, to campaign for primary opposition in Republican congressional midterms?” Spicer’s answer: “He had some fun at his expense this morning,” passing it off as a joke.
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March
21 2017
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ress Secretary Spicer was asked to justify Ivanka Trump’s clearance and office in the West Wing, and if the White House Counsel approved it. Spicer answered that the counsel doesn’t need to approve it and she’ll voluntarily follow ethical conduct restrictions, so all’s good.
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reporter asked about Drumpf’s credibility since Director Comey had to correct his lying tweets in real time during the hearing. Spicer’s response: “Well, I mean, let’s just be clear. I mean, he was answering questions. I mean, it’s not like he was out there – he was responding to a question…” he then proceeded to mention all the times during the hearing when specific individuals stated that there was no evidence of collusion. “That’s not my question,” the reporter responded. He then rambled a ridiculous response that amounted to Melissa McCarthy’s “Those are your words! He’s quoting you!”
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hen asked about the conversation with the Congressional Black Caucus and what topics might be covered, Spicer brought up Drumpf’s conversation with Elijah Cummings a month ago – the conversation was about prescription drugs and had nothing to do with the CBC, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or African-American communities.
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rumpf met with House members to try and sell Drumpfcare to those still opposed to its passing – including two dozen Republicans who would be more than enough to block the bill up for vote on Thursday. Addressing Republican Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, saying, “I’m gonna come after you, but I know I won’t have to, because I know you’ll vote ‘yes.’…Honestly, a loss is not acceptable, folks.”
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ours after Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch said that he was “disheartened” by Drumpf’s unrestrained twitter and verbal attacks of judges, Drumpf did it again – this time at a fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “Somebody said I could not criticize judges. O.K. I’ll criticize judges.”
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rumpf repeated a lot of his #altfacts for the National Republican Congressional Committee – Obamacare’s a disaster, eliminating “job-killing” regulations, Dakota and Keystone pipelines will be American made, how many jobs he kept from going overseas, etc.
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rumpf ended his speech talking about somewhere in America, a child born into poverty is making big dreams. But the choices that Republicans make today will make those dreams come true. “By putting our faith in people, and by putting our trust in God, we will rise to this occasion like no one has ever risen before.” Too bad that child won’t live long enough to realize his dream considering he won’t get school lunch or healthcare.
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March
22 2017
report from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center shows that Drumpfcare provides massive tax cuts to the wealthy while increasing taxes for lower income families, which will widen the wealth gap. The biggest tax cut would eliminate a 3.8% tax on investment income for high-income families; another would repeal a 0.9% Medicare tax on wages above $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples. The average tax cut is more than $51k for families making more than $1 million a year.
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hairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes suggested that American intelligence agencies monitoring foreign officials may have “incidentally” picked up Drumpf’s campaign team members. Drumpf (and Press Secretary Sean Spicer) jumped on it. Incidentally picking up Drumpf’s team members is not the same as Drumpf being under surveillance, and Nunes charge has not been proven and he has refused to disclosed how he obtained the documents, which he withheld from the rest of the House Intelligence Committee members.
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hairman Nunes also refused to share information or consult with the House Intelligence Committee’s ranking Democrat, Representative Adam Schiff, which is not normal. Schiff commented, “I have expressed my grave concerns with the Chairman that a credible investigation cannot be conducted this way.”
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n his introductory speech during the press briefing, Press Secretary Spicer challenged the legitimacy of questioning a man who will sit for life on the Supreme Court, stating, “It’s not surprising that Senate Democrats are failing to gain traction for any of their potshots and opposition to Judge Gorsuch. There’s simply not enough politicizing the Senate Democrats can do to hide the fact that Judge Gorsuch is an immensely qualified and thoughtful jurist with a lifelong dedication to our Constitution.
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ress Secretary Spicer was asked to comment on whether or not he would still consider Paul Manfort having a “limited role” on Drumpf’s campaign. Spicer went into a lengthy diatribe about Tony Podesta, a Clinton campaign fundraiser who lobbied for a Russian bank one time, and the complete #altfact that Clinton “gave Russia one-fifth of America’s uranium reserves,” etc.
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reporter asked, “On Monday, the President accused former President Obama and Democrats of rushing through the healthcare law – jamming it through – when, in fact, they actually debated it for about a year. This healthcare law was rolled out about 15 days ago. So don’t you run the risk of rushing this through, of not giving it enough time for public debate?” Spicer answered that Republicans have been talking about repealing and replacing it since 2010. “The principles that are in a lot of these have been very public for a long time.”
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March
22 2017
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ress Secretary Spicer kept saying “There’s no plan B, “ “Only train leaving the station,” etc. A reporter asked, if the bill fails if Obamacare would remain. Spicer answered that it would pass (despite the dozens of votes they don’t yet have secured). “We continue to see the enthusiasm and momentum coming to our direction. So I’m not looking – as I mentioned, we’re not looking at a plan B. We have a plan A; it’s going to pass; and we’re going to go from there.”
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reporter asked Press Secretary about how if Drumpf was not aware of other government hires connections to foreign governments, are they sure now that no one else is “presently working in the interest of a foreign government.” Spicer’s verbatim answer: “I can tell you that every form has been filled out.”
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rumpf’s opening remarks with the Congressional Black Caucus was very telling about how he views black people. The meeting was supposed to discuss the specific needs of African American communities, but Drumpf veered off topic, dedicating half of his speech to a discussion of a meeting he had with Representative Elijah Cummings about prescription drugs. I guess he thought it was relevant being that Representative Cummings is black and sits on the CBC.
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rumpf was interviewed with Time Magazine on his #altfacts, and it was rife with #altfacts. He claimed that his comment about terrorist refugees in Sweden was correct, “A day later they had a horrible, horrible riot in Sweden, and you saw that happened.” Drumpf had watched a Fox News program concerning immigration in Sweden, made a comment at a rally that was patently false, and two days later riots broke out in an immigrant neighborhood, but no one died. It was not a “massive terrorist attack.”
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rumpf repeated his claim that NATO was obsolete and didn’t cover terrorism and that certain allies weren’t paying their bills. “Nobody knew that they weren’t paying. I did. I figured it…What I said about NATO was true, people aren’t paying their bills.” NATO has been doing counterterrorism since 1980 and NATO financing is way above Drumpf’s head. NATO determined that defense expenditures for all countries should eventually be 2% of the country’s gross domestic product by 2024.
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rumpf repeated his claim that since wiretapping was in quotes, it covers all surveillance. He then stated that it was The New York Times that made him think he’d been wiretapped and then claimed they changed the title. “Wiretapped data use din inquiry. Then changed after that, they probably didn’t like it. And they changed the title…Now in their second editions, they took it all down under the internet. They took that out. Okay?” The New York Times article had a different title for the print and Internet editions, they weren’t changed to mess with Drumpf. The actual article (not the title) did not support any of the claims Drumpf made about Obama. He just didn’t read it.
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uring the interview, Drumpf repeated the claim that there were thousands of people who voted illegally. “I mean, mostly they register wrong, in other words, for the votes, they register incorrectly and/or illegally. And they then vote. You have tremendous numbers of people.” Illegal voting is extremely rare. The National Association of Secretaries of State said there was no evidence of Drumpf’s claims.
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22 2017
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rumpf then claimed that House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said he was wiretapped by Obama. “Nunes said, so that means I’m right. Nunes said the surveillance appears to have been…. incidental collection, that does not appear to have been related to concerns over Russia.” Nunes cited one anonymous source and didn’t provide details. And Nunes debunked the idea that Obama wiretapped Drumpf Tower phones, so no, that doesn’t mean Drumpf’s right.
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rumpf continued with his #altfacts with his personal favorite, “I inherited a mess with jobs, despite the statistics, you know, my statistics are even better, but they are not the real statistics because you have millions of people that can’t get a job, okay.” The economy and unemployment were not a mess when Drumpf became president. The unemployment rate was below 5%. Drumpf’s claim that 94 million Americans can’t get a job includes children, students, retirees, homemakers, and the disabled.
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rumpf ended the interview ignoring all of the questions about his credibility with the following: “I can’t be doing so badly, because I’m President, and you’re not.”
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March
23 2017
rumpf delivered an ultimatum to House Republicans – approve Drumpfcare on Friday, shove it through quickly as they claim Obamacare was shoved – or he’ll move on with other legislation and let Obamacare stand. He then tweeted “Disastrous #Obamacare has led to higher costs & fewer options. It will only continue to get worse! We must #RepealANDReplace. #PassTheBill.”
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omments House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes made to Sean Hannity on Fox News betrayed the fact that he should have no authority in any investigation against Drumpf. “I felt a duty and obligation to tell him [about the incidental collection] because as you know he’s been taking a lot of heat in the news media.” The fact that he felt a “duty and obligation” to someone he’s meant to investigate doesn’t bode well for the process. He also doesn’t seem to understand that incidental collection is no where near the same as “wiretapping,” so it does not validate Drumpf’s ridiculous claim and the heat should remain on.
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rumpf’s budget proposes killing the Energy Star program – which is super popular and completely voluntary. It’s not mandatory, so the “job killer” rhetoric doesn’t apply. The program is part of the Environmental Protection Agency, and sets energy efficiency standards for appliances, electronics, houses, and buildings. Businesses get to decide if they want to participate. If they do, an Energy Star rating is given and consumers are encouraged to buy those Energy Star products. It’s basically a free market system – the same type of thing that Republicans are supposed to love.
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23 2017
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he Pentagon stated that the Defense Department was looking into the issue of Lt. General Michael Flynn working for Turkish interests as a paid interest due to the fact that he did not seek permission from the US government to do so, but instead registered retroactively. The Pentagon could dock his retirement.
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epublican Senators voted to dismantle the Internet privacy protections for consumers. It passed mostly on party lines. If it passes the Senate, which it is expected to, that would mean that Internet providers can track and share people’s browsing and app activity without permission.
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uring the press briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer used his intro speech to speak about how great Drumpfcare is: about how the “bill has truly been a collaborative effort from the beginning,” about how Drumpf was calling people to support it until 11 pm the night before, how removing the “essential health benefit” removed a “costly” insurance regulation. “As I’ve noted before, today is actually the 7th - and we hope, the last – anniversary of the day that President Obama signed Obamacare. He then went on and on about how Obamacare was a disaster.
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ress Secretary Spicer complained about how Democrats treated Gorsuch during the hearing and about the upcoming filibuster against his nomination. Calling out Democrats and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer specifically, he accused them of representing the “type of partisanship that Americans have grown tired of,” displaying for children nationwide the definition of irony.
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reporter asked Press Secretary Spicer, “You said that there’s only plan A. At this point, is there an acknowledgement that perhaps there does need to be a plan B if this vote doesn’t happen tonight?” Spicey’s answer: “No. Plan A.” Later he was asked, “Is there any sort of plan if the bill does not pass tonight?” Spicey’s answer: “No, it’s going to pass. So that’s it.”
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nother reporter asked, “I was going to offer you the opportunity to respond to what Leader Pelosi said today. She said that it’s a ‘rookie mistake’ to set a date for a bill before there’s consensus from the Republican caucus. What’s your response to that?” Spicer disagreed. “I think we have a pretty strong record on the Republican side of getting bills passed, getting things done.” Then he decided to slam Democrats again, “I know that they have a pretty strong record of passing things and telling people that they can read the bill afterwards.”
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March
23 2017
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reporter challenged Press Secretary Spicer’s logic - “If you’re an older man, you generally say that you’re not going to need maternity care,” - for eliminating the essential benefits package. The reporter came back, “You don’t buy your insurance and say, I really need that back-up coverage because I think I’m going to get addicted to painkillers or opioid drugs... Is the President confident that the kind of choice he has ambitions for would be offered by insurance companies on their own volition?”
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nother reporter asked, “Sean, you keep saying that there’s not a plan B for healthcare. President Trump has repeatedly said that Republicans should just allow Obamacare to collapse because Democrats will own that…but it’s not fair to the American people to do that. Is the reason there’s not a plan B is because the President’s plan to allow Obamacare to collapse?” Spicey’s answer: “No. The President’s plan is to pass the bill tonight.”
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epublicans postponed a vote on Drumpfcare since they couldn’t get enough votes to pass the bill. They attempted to win over some Republicans by repealing the “essential benefits package,” which requires that all insurance to cover ambulatory patient services; emergency services; hospitalization; maternity and newborn care; mental health and substance abuse treatment; prescriptions; rehabilitative services and devices; laboratory services; preventative and wellness services and chronic disease management; pediatric services, including oral and vision care.
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meeting, which was exclusively men – not the people who would be affected by their decisions – decided to drop pregnancy, maternity, and newborn coverage in health care plans. Senator Amy Klobuchar had this to say, “During the health care debate, Debbie Stabenow’s sitting at a table during a somewhat boring negotiation on the Finance Committee. And one of the male senators said, ‘Well, I don’t know why we would need maternity benefits in here. I’ve never used them. Why would they be mandatory?’ And she says, ‘I bet your mother did.’”
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n order to get more Republicans on board, late in the night, they discussed removing the protections for those with pre-existing conditions. If Drumpfcare is passed like this, insurers could charge you more if you have a pre-existing condition, or price you out, as the case usually is.
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urveys released by the Pew Research Center finds that most people say that workers should get paid leave to take care of a baby, a sick family member, or themselves, but they disagree on who should pay – the government or the employer. 94% of those polled said that paid leave would help families and 65% said it would help the economy. Currently, workers can get 12 weeks of unpaid leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act but only 60% of workers are eligible for it. 33% of Republicans and 69% of Democrats supported a government mandate over letting employers decide whether or not they wanted to offer it. 81% of Democrats and 62% of Republicans said a paid leave policy should be available to both sexes. 82% of adults under 30 said new fathers should get paternity leave, showing a huge difference in generational thoughts on the subject, as only 55% of those over 65 said new fathers should get it.
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March
24 2017
ouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes held another press conference to apologize for his Wednesday press conference, admitted that he didn’t actually examine the materials that he claimed vindicated Drumpf, and apologized for doing so without consulting the committee. He still would not see who had given him the documents but he did say, “I’ve been very clear…there was no wiretapping of Trump Tower. That didn’t happen.”
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he State Department granted TransCanada a permit to begin Keystone XL pipeline construction reversing yet another Obama policy. The Keystone XL pipeline will (if approved by local governments) transport up to 830k barrels of oil a day from Canada to Steele City, Nebraska where it would connect with two pipelines to deliver oil to refineries in Texas and Louisiana for processing.
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ost of the refined oil from the Keystone XL pipeline would be exported, but that didn’t stop Drumpf from taking the opportunity to promote the drill, baby, drill line that Republicans love so much in his remarks, “it’s a great day for American jobs and an historic moment for North American and energy independence. This announcement is part of a new era of American energy policy that will lower costs for American families – and very significantly – reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”
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rumpf doesn’t understand state’s rights, so he asked Russ Girling, the President of TransCanada when construction would begin. Girling had to inform him that Nebraska had to approve it first and issue permits. “I’ll call Nebraska. You know why? Nebraska has a great governor. They have a great governor,” Drumpf said.
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uring the press briefing, a reporter brought up, “If this fails today, is the President done with healthcare? That’s what we’re hearing.” Spicer’s response, “So negative. That’s what you’re hearing? Well, I haven’t heard that yet, so why don’t we continue with a very positive, optimistic Friday. The sun is coming out. I feel really good.”
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ress Secretary Spicer was asked about House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ comments and why Drumpf believed he was vindicated. “Given the fact that Devin Nunes doesn’t actually know if the President was monitored or whether he was even mentioned, what is he vindicated by?...They [those with incidental collection] could have exclusively been foreigners, Devin Nunes concedes.” Spicer answered, “The President said he felt somewhat vindicated because I think that there is an acknowledgement that he’s – that as we proceed down this discussion, it continues to show that there was something there, and that despite the constant discussion about the process…Let’s wait and let that process evolve.”
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rumpf once again embarrassed the hell out of everyone in the US with his opening remarks for the Greek Independence Day Celebration, “I love the Greeks. Oh, do I love the Greeks. Don’t forget, I come from New York. That’s all I see, is Greeks. They are all over the place.” He then started giving accolades to the GreekAmericans he knows personally as he does with all celebrations of any national heritage, “Reince was the most successful leader the RNC…has ever had…and I guess you’d have to say, he’s one of the top Greeks in the country…And the list also includes, as you know, George Gigicos…And George Sifakis…”
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March
24 2017
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ouse Republican leaders pulled Drumpfcare off the table when it became clear that it would not pass on the accelerated timetable as written. Drumpf declared in his official remarks, “The best thing that could happen is exactly what happened – watch. Obamacare unfortunately will explode. It’s going to have a very bad year... Democrats will come to us and say, ‘Look, let’s get together and get a great health care bill or plan that’s really great for the people of our country.’”
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rumpf set his sights specifically on Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, “I think the losers are Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, because now they own Obamacare. They own it – 100 percent own it…And just remember this is not our bill, this is their bill.”
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reporter asked Drumpf, “Sir, is it fair to Americans to let Obamacare explode?” Drumpf answered, “Well, it’s going to happen. There’s not much you can do about it…I’ve been saying that for a year and a half.”
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rumpf then claimed that “And I never said – I guess I’m here, what, 64 days? I never said repeal and replace Obamacare – you’ve all heard my speeches – I never said repeal it and replace it within 64 days.” Drumpf actually said repeatedly he would repeal and replace Obamacare on day 1.
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ouse Republicans disagreed with Drumpf’s assessment. “Seven years after enactment of Obamacare, I wanted to support legislation that made positive changes to rescue health care in America,” said Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen. “Unfortunately, the legislation before the House today is currently unacceptable as it would place significant new costs and barriers to care on my constituents in New Jersey.
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epresentative Jim McGovern, a Democrat had this to say about the last minute changes – including killing requirements for services such as emergency services, maternity care, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, pediatric services, prescription drugs, and more: “This provision is so cartoonishly malicious that I can picture someone twirling their mustache as they drafted it in their secret Capitol lair last night.�
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