Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Sen. Jeff Flake says he doesn't think President Trump will fire special counsel Mueller; "What I've been concerned about is the casual undermining of Bob Mueller and the FBI"


I'm speaking on the Senate floor right now about the future of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. WATCH


This Mike Pence "prayer" of thanks to Trump is excruciatingly, stomach-churningly uncomfortable to watch. The ritual submission and exaltation is nearly pornographic. This is not America.


JUST IN: Maryland GOP governor to offer bill protecting state from GOP tax bill


Mark Warner: "Firing Mr. Mueller, or any other of the top brass involved in this investigation... has the potential to provoke a constitutional crisis."


Cruz: Only rich people in Manhattan and San Francisco will see higher taxes under GOP plan


Capitol Hill Republicans have every reason to feel euphoric about their victory on the tax bill. But on the periphery is palpable angst, particularly in the House.


Trump hints at cutting foreign aid over U.N. vote on Jerusalem. WOW!


Schumer: "To pass a bill of tax cuts and have it be so unpopular with the American people is an amazing achievement for the Republicans... Great accomplishment, Mitch."


Trey Gowdy, who led the Benghazi show trial, is now probing FBI's alleged pro-Hillary Clinton bias. Gowdy is targeting FBI Dep Dir Andrew McCabe & FBI counsel Lisa Page, who are both deeply experienced in Eastern European organized crime


Trump, pointing to pool reporters: “You need the prayer more than I do. You may be the only ones. Maybe with a good solid prayer, you’ll be honest.”


Schumer: "Corporations are flush with cash right now. The stock market is booming. Job creation isn't... Tax breaks do not lead to job creation. They lead to big CEO salaries and money for the very, very wealthy."


Trump says Obamacare is repealed

Trump says Obamacare is repealed

Jerry Nadler, who has been fighting Trump for literally 40 years and whom Trump in the 1980s identified as one of his most hated politicians in the whole country, now top Dem on the committee that could oversee impeachment


.@JerryNadler wins the top Democratic post on the Judiciary Committee, the panel that would potentially initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump if Democrats win back the House


WARNER, vice chair of Senate Intel, will deliver a speech today at 4:30 about the future of Mueller's investigation


Caring for older loved ones often falls to women, causing many to exit the workforce. We need to support these family caregivers, which is why I helped introduce a bill to provide modest retirement compensation for those who care for a loved one.


This #taxbill has now passed both the House and the Senate.


#BREAKING: House GOP votes to open Alaska refuge to oil drilling


Trump has given us a profound crisis that is undermining the nation’s democratic system, and it is so pervasive and encompassing that it is not being fully acknowledged.


McConnell: “If we can’t sell this to the American people then we should be in another line of work.”


AARP comes out against the tax bill. They are "deeply concerned" this bill won't leave US with enough $$ for Medicare and Medicaid. They also say the bill will "likely increase taxes" for many older Americans.


Maddow: GOP says they can't find the money to fund children's health insurance — but they wrote a real estate loophole for Pres. Trump that will cost $414 billion.


Analysis: "How the Grinch Stole Middle Class Tax Cuts," Democrat’s Xmas story warms few hearts on House floor


It is indeed bribery. And tragically, the Koch network & the CNP has been bribing GOP politicians for decades now. Apparently, bribery is now considered A-OK if funneled through PACs.


Rubio says Puerto Rico needs more help from Congress - Yet he voted for the #GOPTaxScamBill which will stop the aid!


NEW POLL: Just 18 percent of voters say they will "definitely" vote for Trump in 2020


I've been getting some mail from people insisting that a corporate tax cut helps ordinary families, because half the population owns stock. And it's true that many people own stock indirectly via their retirement accounts. But how much? Here's the distribution of ownership


WATCH: Fox Business host rips GOP tax bill: It’s a gift for "private equity fat cats"


New York is going to subsidize people sending their kids to private school to the tune of $3 BILLION A YEAR thanks to this tax bill


An anti-gerrymandering group has turned in more than 425,000 petition signatures to the Michigan Secretary of State to qualify for a ballot initiative next year that would let an independent commission draw legislative and congressional district


"What you are seeing ... with this tax legislation ... is the ugliest display of pigs at the trough that I have ever seen in Congress." —Lawrence O'Donnell


This bill rewards people for inheriting wealth and for already having money, and punishes people still trying to climb the mountain. That’s why people are so angry. Lots of members are Congress are actually too out of touch to understand the rage. But they will next year.


NBC’s @SavannahGuthrie asks Speaker Ryan: “Are you living in a fantasy world?”


Speaker Ryan: "Nobody knows the answer to that question."


Federal agency reports show continuum of harm from workplace sexual misconduct


Gowdy walks back comments that FBI deputy director could be on his way out


Trump’s people are talking about a coup, and we need to take that seriously. Trump could use the military to launch his own coup, warns former White House ethics lawyer

You're gonna love martial law under Trump.

One of the world's largest mining companies said it accepted "that the warming of the climate is unequivocal, the human influence is clear and physical impacts are unavoidable"


I voted no on this bill because, simply put, it overwhelmingly benefits large corporations and families with large incomes and estates, while doing little for most families, especially those in California


Time to re-read this article, given Trump attacks on Mueller, FBI, the press, intelligence agencies, the judiciary: "Trump is attacking any institution that challenges him"


'These women deserve to be heard': Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan says Congress should investigate sexual misconduct allegations against Trump


The same attorney general who took a bribe from Trump to shut down Florida’s investigation of fraudulent Trump University is calling someone untouchable who is investigating Trump “corrupt”? That’s rich. She should be next.


Replying to @SenBobCorker


Confusion and chaos ahead as new tax rules take immediate effect


The most generous charitable deduction in the federal tax code is being manipulated to make big profits. There’s no sign that Congress has any intention of fixing the problem.


Some day it will be a crime, I hope, to deliberately lie about the contents of a bill, to deliberately mislead people as to what the bill is doing and for whom and how


Sen. Bob Corker Failed to Properly Disclose Millions of Dollars in Income

ICYMI

As GOP hands them billions, Wells Fargo CEO admits he won’t help workers


First, the Susan Rice "unmasking scandal". Then, "Uranium One". Next, the Steele Dossier/Fusion GPS & Clinton campaign-- soon after, Mueller/Peter Strzok corruption & bias. ...and now we come full circle, back with "The Deep State""


Sinclair Broadcast Group sued by ex-employees for sexual harassment, discrimination


House Speaker Paul Ryan joins @CBSThisMorning from Washington to discuss the GOP tax bill


Here are the names of each and every Senator who is "cashing out" to make as much money as possible before they flee Congress, who voted yes for the #GOPTaxScam. You might want to contact them today to let them know you see them. (202) 224-3121.


How McConnell succeeded on tax cuts after failing on health care


'How the Grinch Stole Middle Class Tax Cuts,' Democrat's Xmas story warms few hearts on House floor. GOP Believes in Government OF THE RICH, BY THE RICH and FOR THE RICH... and the Rest of you can just EAT SHIT


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the bill's overnight passage an important moment in the country's history


“Let’s call this out for what it is: Government for sale.”


The GOP’s Tax Bill Kicks Puerto Rico When It’s Down


A Nobel Prize-winning economist says Trump should tread carefully with his trade policy


Federal judge to hear arguments over Trump administration's decision to end program protecting some young immigrants from deportation.


Fight over abortion threatens passage of government spending bill


U.S. President Trump to visit Britain in February: Daily Mail


GOP's tax bill will make Obamacare "unworkable," says No. 2 Senate Republican John Cornyn


In Protests of Net Neutrality Repeal, Teenage Voices Stood Out


Trump's Supreme Court appointee Gorsuch plots rightward course


In an economy dependent on consumer spending, a middle class tax hike won't help. You can’t spend what you don’t have.


The European Commission will trigger Article 7 against Poland today. Here's our story from the archives explaining the EU's "nuclear option"


The GOP tax bill cuts taxes by $1.5 trillion over the next decade and will accelerate growth of the federal debt under any forecast.


Ex-federal prosecutor Harry Litman on @TheLastWord tonight says that Mueller's team, when they meet with W.H. lawyers this week, will likely "begin to negotiate the terms of Trump's interview, which hasn't happened yet and has to before things can wrap up."


After tax cuts, watch Americas trade deficit surge


The 12 House Republicans who voted against the tax bill


Israel's Elbit Systems wins U.S. contract worth up to $176 million


Give taxpayers some credit: they were promised deficit-neutral, middle-class tax relief you could file on a postcard, and they’re getting a massive giveaway for big business and the wealthiest Americans instea



Trump chief WH counsel Don McGahn, a former FEC commissioner, was Trump campaign lawyer, knew all about the secret superPAC they lied about, drafted it's papers and stayed silent as Trump and Lewandowski lied to voters claiming they had o superPAC. He should be disbarred


Ex-NSA analyst explains why Americans should be terrified by Clapper’s claims about Trump


ICYMI: Foreigners who own U.S. corporate stock get a bigger tax break under this bill than the entire working- and middle class in every state that voted for Donald Trump, *combined.*


This counter-terrorism expert shows the Trump campaign and Russian propaganda were synchronized


White House takes down "We the People" petitions site without responding to a single one


Don’t get distracted by the bumbling showmanship; Trump is an aspiring despot. The Founding Fathers anticipated a demagogue president but not a complicit Congress. With Trump in the White House, democracy is at risk.


"Donald Trump is a lawless president. It’s obvious to anyone who’s watching and isn’t in a state of contemptible denial that he feels constrained by no law. He cares nothing about the Constitution and he’ll lie about anything to anyone at anytime"


FULL STORY: Senate passes sweeping GOP tax bill, but House to vote again


House and Senate Republicans are feuding over whether to prop up the health law in a bill to avoid a government shutdown


#BREAKING: Connecticut to end health program for low-income children after Congress fails to pass funding


U.S. warns allies Trump will take Jerusalem vote "personally"


WATCH: Schumer blasts GOP for talking during tax speech: "We believe you’re messing up America - you could pay attention"


McConnell blames Democrats, media for unpopularity of GOP tax bill


Turkey's foreign minister to attend UN meeting on U.S. Jerusalem decision


THE TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT, AS REPORTED BY CONFERENCE COMMITTEE (12/15/17): STATIC AND DYNAMIC EFFECTS ON THE BUDGET AND THE ECONOMY


Germany revives Putin’s pipeline dream


A U.S. jury must decide if a Turkish banker was a pawn or a criminal


Uber should be regulated like a taxi company not tech firm, European court rules


Growth rates among the world’s major economies are synchronizing at levels not seen in years, yet the missing link to the boom is inflation


Rick Perry’s fake grid crisis just got undermined by more grid experts


Russian Twitter trolls exploited key election moments


"(Jared Kushner) deserves the scrutiny .. He was involved in the transition and involved in meetings that call into question his role" - Chris Christie


The US government has lifted a ban on making lethal viruses, saying the research is necessary to develop strategies against "rapidly evolving pathogens that pose a threat to public health"


We @Patribotics announced that Speaker Paul Ryan was on tape admitting he knew Russian money was washed into the GOP - six days before @WashingtonPost produced the transcript of that very thing


Kushners’ China Deal Flop Was Part of Much Bigger Hunt for Cash


Garrett's failure to win Ex-Im confirmation stings Pence, too


We’re witnessing the wholesale looting of America


Obama spread some holiday cheer at this Boys & Girls Club — and it will melt your heart


House Speaker Paul Ryan says he has "no concerns whatsoever" about public opposition to the GOP tax bill


I oppose this conference report with every bone in my body. This tax bill is a $2.3 trillion holiday gift for Wall Street, the rich, and the wealthy. Conceived in darkness and birthed with the help of donors and funders. This bill is not for the people. It is not tax reform


Indicted Trump aide Gates holds meager fundraiser for legal fees

Rachel Maddow reports on an odd, sparsely attended fundraiser held for former Donald Trump aide Rick Gates, who was indicted by the Robert Mueller team along with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, a sign of the pressure of mounting legal fees.


Virginia Democrats achieve a tie in legislature despite landslide

Rachel Maddow points out that with the one-vote victory margin in a recount today, Virginia Democrats have achieved a tie in the House of Delegates even though they won by a significant margin -a consequence of the Republican gerrymandering advantage.


Activists unrelenting in pressuring Senator Collins on tax bill

Marie Follayttar Smith, an activist with Mainers for Accountable Leadership, talks with Rachel Maddow about the protests and events Mainers have held to encourage Senator Susan Collins to vote against the Republican tax bill.


Sen Murphy: GOP tax bill a gift to a few wealthy donor families

Senator Chris Murphy talks with Rachel Maddow about the Republican tax bill that rewards the very rich and the intention of Democrats to overturn the bill if they take control of Congress in 2018.


GOP tax bill set to make rich richer at everyone else's expense

Rachel Maddow reports on the extent of income inequality in the U.S. as the largess of the American economy has not trickled down, and shows how the Republican tax bill further enriches the already wealthy at the expense of everyone else.


Pence clings to tax vote excuse to avoid Middle East debacle

Rachel Maddow reports on how Donald Trump's statements about moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem has ruined the administration's chances of brokering a Middle East peace deal, so Mike Pence is pretending he needs to postpone his Israel trip to be around for the tax vote.