National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has resigned, it was reported Monday.
Thank you, Mr President: I’ve been waiting eagerly to use that headline.
Source: Michael Flynn reportedly resigns from White House security role – NY Daily News
The biggest issue when State of Washington & State of Minnesota v. Trump gets to the Supreme Court is to balance your traditional deference to Executive authority with the need to affirm judicial authority. Deferring to the Executive is perfectly reasonable in a country of some 300 million people, But the President’s many recent attacks on the judiciary make it necessary for you to assert your authority at this time.
I propose that you strike down the ban and uphold your authority.
Thank you.
Several House Judiciary Committee aides helped craft the controversial Muslim ban without telling Republican leaders.
And House staffers had to sign NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) in advance. Just like Trump’s campaign volunteers had to.
Source: Hill staffers secretly worked on Trump’s immigration order – POLITICO
President Donald Trump added his top adviser and strategist Steve Bannon to the National Security Council while removing the Director of National Intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as he signed a trio of executive measures on Saturday.
Actually, having Bannon in charge is something of an improvement, as otherwise it would have seemed that no one was in charge.
The first thing Bannon did was issue an executive order halting Muslims at the border, so they could undergo some extreme vetting. It took quite a few hours to implement, since Bannon forgot to notify any of the agencies that were supposed to actually do the vetting. In the aftermath, Bannon said he had “told everyone who actually needed to know” which apparently didn’t include the TSA, border patrol, ICE, and so forth.
Next, Bannon hit the Sunday news programs claiming that it was all Obama’s fault. When that didn’t get any traction (i.e., no one believed him), he told Trump that the airport chaos was due to a systems problem with Delta’s computers. Next, Bannon claimed that the “corrupt media” was to blame. Nice try. Our Boston correspondent has inside information that, in reality, the Muslim ban and ensuing chaos is actually the fault of Obamacare.
President Trump, who is no longer permitted to attend national security briefings, decided to put a brave face on and announce that the Muslim ban is a “brilliant success.”
Source: Bannon gets seat at table as Trump reshuffles National Security Council
Why do we have to fill out a 1040 form? The IRS knows what most people owe. Why don’t they just send us a bill or a refund?
According to Cecil Adams, there are two reasons:
Source: The Straight Dope: Why doesn’t the IRS just send us a tax bill?
Last year, it was all they would talk about.
If Congress is broken, as some critics and lawmakers believe, a major problem is that lawmakers no longer pass regular appropriations bills.
Instead, Republicans and Democrats fiddle around with a few spending bills until the process breaks down enough so that they can wash their hands of it and give up on putting controversial measures on the floor. This way, they can duck tough votes on issues like abortion and eventually negotiate a year-end deal that essentially continues current funding for everything.
Steven Mnuchin, Steve Bannon and Donald Trump’s youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump, all registered to vote in two states, records show.
The news comes after the President said on Twitter Wednesday morning that he will ask for an investigation into voter fraud. “I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedure,” the President tweeted.
Source: Steven Mnuchin, Steve Bannon and Tiffany Trump All Registered to Vote in Two States
Gov. John Bel Edwards on May 5 in Baton Rouge. (Melinda Deslatte/AP)
Last May, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (Dem.) signed HB 953 into law, making it a hate crime to kill, assault, etc., a law enforcement officer or firefighter.
The bill, popularly known as the “Blue Lives Matter Law” is now being used by Police Chief Calder Hebert of St. Martinville LA, against anyone who resists arrest.
And that’s what I call a “hate crimes enhancement.”
Customs and Border Protection agents have been invasively questioning Muslim-Americans at U.S. border crossings about their political and religious beliefs, asking for their social media information, and demanding passwords to open mobile phones, according to a set of complaints filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Source: The Intercept
US employment under Presidents since Eisenhower (Source: Wall Street Journal 1/7/2017)
Looks to me like the employment situation gets better under Democrats, but not by a whole lot.