“Washington is deadlocked ahead of a series of fiscal deadlines, time is growing scarce and it’s only going to get harder to avoid a debacle,” Politico reports.
“Congressional leaders and the Trump administration have so far tried in vain to reach a deal that would avoid stiff budget cuts, a government shutdown and debt default in September. And now ugly splits in both parties are threatening to complicate the talks.”
Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) told CNN that high-level party Republican party officials have thanked him behind closed doors for his stance on impeachment proceedings against Trump.
Said Amash: “I get people sending me text messages, people calling me, saying ‘thank you for what you’re doing. They’re not saying it publicly. And I think that’s a problem for our country, it’s a problem for the Republican Party, it’s a problem for the Democratic Party when people aren’t allowed to speak out.”
“Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), a conservative critic of President Trump who recently left the Republican Party, would not rule out a 2020 presidential bid on Sunday, potentially complicating Trump’s path to reelection,” the Washington Post reports.
“The prospect of an Amash insurgency, which would face significant hurdles, has nonetheless unnerved some GOP strategists because it could pull libertarian and conservative support away from Trump, who won the 2016 election with razor-thin margins in six states, including Michigan.”
Said Amash: “I still wouldn’t rule anything like that out. I have to use my skills, my public influence, where it serves the country best.”
A crowd in a sports bar in France chanted “Fuck Trump” as Fox Newsreported the news of the U.S. Women’s national team winning their fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup on Sunday.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “faced sharp criticism Sunday from some liberal lawmakers and activists over her latest comments about a group of House Democratic women who opposed last month’s emergency border aid bill that was supported by the leadership,” the Washington Postreports.
“While Pelosi maintains that she is aggressively confronting Trump on immigration and other fronts, there is widespread anger among liberals about the president and growing calls for Pelosi to resist working with the administration and begin impeachment proceedings.”
The Guardian: “The progressive-moderate split is becoming more evident and bitter.”
“Just when it looked like the threat of widespread primary challenges to House Democrats had quieted down, the activist left is agitating again to go after many of the party’s longtime incumbents,” Politico reports.
“Tensions inside the House Democratic Caucus are running high after an ugly debate last month over legislation to provide emergency aid for the humanitarian crisis at the border. Progressives lambasted leadership and some centrists who backed the measure as “child abusers” because it lacked money to improve hygiene and nutrition standards for detained children migrants.”
President Trump compared Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Eva Perón in a new book, American Carnage, saying that though he first saw the New York congresswoman “ranting and raving like a lunatic on a street corner” and thinks “she knows nothing”, she has “a certain talent,” The Guardianreports.
Said Trump: “That’s Evita.”
“Perón, known popularly as Evita, was an actor married to Argentinian president Juan Perón who rose to fame as a champion of working-class and female voters before dying of cancer in 1952, aged 33.”
The White House has not extended invitations to Facebook and Twitter to attend its social media summit on Thursday, CNN reports.
“The people, who spoke to CNN Business on the condition of anonymity, suggested it was not surprising. They said they believe the summit would amount to a right-wing grievance session and was not aimed at seriously discussing some of the issues facing large technology companies.”
Washington Examiner: “Legal experts said that over his first term, Trump is expected to name some 250 judges to the Supreme Court, district courts, courts of appeals, and the U.S. Court of International Trade. Overall, there are 870 federal judges.”
USA Today: “Pop quiz: The Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012 and 2015, and has survived dozens of repeal efforts in Congress. So is it finally safe?”
“Answer: Not yet.”
“The latest threat looms in New Orleans, where a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will hear 90 minutes of oral argument Tuesday in a challenge that threatens the law’s key features – and possibly the entire 974-page statute.”
“Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have turned state driver’s license databases into a facial-recognition gold mine, scanning through hundreds of millions of Americans’ photos without their knowledge or consent, newly released documents show,” the Washington Post reports.
“Neither Congress nor state legislatures have authorized the development of such a system, and growing numbers of Democratic and Republican lawmakers are criticizing the technology as a dangerous, pervasive and error-prone surveillance tool.”
“The Trump administration on Sunday vowed to continue ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran after the nation announced that it would start enriching uranium beyond limits set under a 2015 deal, but the U.S. has few options when it comes to trying to curb Iran from producing a nuclear weapon,” Politico reports.
“After withdrawing from the international nuclear agreement in 2018, President Trump repeatedly said he wanted to negotiate a new deal with Iran, but he has continued to impose harsh sanctions and move troops to the region for possible military options.”
“Iran’s brazen move on Sunday threatens to put the U.S. and its allies back where they were before the deal — with no comprehensive restrictions on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
Ken Cuccinelli, the Trump administration’s top official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told CBS News that immigration authorities “are ready to identify, detain and eventually deport approximately one million undocumented immigrants with pending removal orders.
Said Cuccinelli: “They’re ready to just perform their mission, which is to go and find and detain and then deport the approximately one million people who have final removal orders.”
I don’t understand why Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden are actively nay-saying AOC and her political allies. The latter are the only ones speaking truth to power about wealth inequality, and propsing ways to remedy the issue. Do moderate Dems really believe they don’t have a stake in economic justice? Wealth hoarding tends to be corrosive to everyone, not just the poor or the wealthy. And let’s not forget, one big goal in 2020 is regime change. We must stand united to accomplish our goals. Stop the sniping, it’s wasting valuable time and resources.
We are in a Presidential primary season. We are *supposed* to be debating ideas and vision. So let’s stop with asking people to be lockstep and just join in the convo. I just read Pelosi’s whole (recent) quote on the Progressive 4:
“All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” she said. “But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”
They got a few more than 4 votes, but the bit that gets dropped off of what folks are dissing her for is KEY. You have to get votes for your position, otherwise you’ve gotten nowhere.
Of course, it is ok to say that “the latter are the only ones speaking truth to power…” and that is not sniping?
You just underscored the real problem- people believe that ” you don’t do it my way, you are obviously wrong”
I believe most all Democrats have the same goals. They just believe in different paths towards reaching those goals. They may not be right, but attacking each other only helps the opposition.
Mitch, AOC stands out because of her willingness to speak truth to power. She does not always go along to get along, but I am confident she will play better in the sandbox as she gains experience. For myself, I meant not to “snipe” at moderates when I am asking for a truce between the moderate and left wings of the party. For example, I have thrilled to listen to Joe Biden speak truth to power as well. So let’s focus on the real goal: a Democratic federal government.
Eric Swalwell drops out of the race, Tom Steyer gets in.
He should just burns his millions and be done, just another very rich man who thinks he’ll buy high office.
Steyer? He’s been using his money to bang the drum for impeachment of Trump since pretty much after the man took his oath of office. I wish he was spending his money on plumping for M4A or at least a buy in. Or flooding the zone to take back the Senate.