November 30, 2016

Its always hard to win as the heir of a popular president. Clinton is in very good company.

By Donald Zinman November 30 at 6:00 AM

It’s never easy to be second. Hillary Clinton has met the same fate as many men who ran as heirs apparent to an outgoing administration, and failed to be elected.

Al Gore, Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon (in his first presidential candidacy) were the vice presidents and apparently the heirs to outgoing presidents of their own party. They were closely tied to their respective predecessors, proudly advocated their administration’s record of achievement, and promised continuity. All three men boasted impressive résumés, with experience and party loyalty.

At the same time, each of the three were tainted with all the problems that had built up over a two-term administration. In addition, they lacked the winning characteristics of their predecessors: Nixon lacked Eisenhower’s heroic reputation, while Humphrey and Gore lacked the campaign skills of Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton, respectively. For his own part, Al Gore in 2000 awkwardly tried to distance himself from Clinton personally while politically promising to continue his policies.

Hillary Clinton faced many of the same challenges.

Despite a long résumé, many achievements and an opponent with many flaws, Clinton could not translate her predecessor’s surging popularity into an electoral victory.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/11/30/its-always-hard-to-win-as-the-heir-of-a-popular-president-clinton-is-in-very-good-company/?utm_term=.8d9e63b0781c&wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1

November 29, 2016

NC Gov. McCrory dealt blow as Board of Elections orders complaints over voter eligibility tossed...

NC Gov. McCrory dealt blow as Board of Elections orders complaints over voter eligibility tossed: report

ELIZABETH PREZA
28 NOV 2016 AT 21:06 ET

The North Carolina State Board of Elections Monday issued an order dismissing keys election protests from Gov. Pat McCrory’s campaign, dealing a harsh blow to the incumbent governor’s hope for reelection.

ABC 11 reports the decision affects 52 counties where Republicans filed protests alleging people were ineligible to vote. The board of elections instructed those counties to dismiss any protest that “merely disputes the eligibility of a voter.”

McCrory’s challenger Roy Cooper called the decision a “devastating blow” to the incumbent governor’s campaign. Cooper currently leads McCrory by over 9,000 votes.

Roy Cooper
15 hours ago

BREAKING: Tonight the State Board of Elections, controlled by Republicans appointed by the McCrory campaign, issued an order requiring that the county boards dismiss election protests filed by the McCrory campaign in 52 counties.

"This is a devastating blow to the McCrory campaign and further evidence that there is no path to victory for Governor McCrory. Roy Cooper’s lead has grown to over 9,000 votes as Republican claims of voter fraud have been routinely rejected by members of their own party. It's time for Governor McCrory to respect the will of the voters," said Cooper for NC Campaign Manager Trey Nix.

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http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/nc-gov-mccrory-dealt-blow-as-board-of-elections-orders-complaints-over-voter-eligibility-tossed-report/

November 29, 2016

Michael Steele: Petraeus' conviction for passing secrets to his mistress was a just minor 'hiccup'

November 29, 2016

Trump HHS Pick Said Medicare Phaseout Would Pass Next Summer

Source: Talking Points Memo

By JOSH MARSHALL Published NOVEMBER 29, 2016, 1:44 AM EDT

According to multiple reports Monday evening, President-Elect Donald Trump has settled on Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) as his nominee to become Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Price, an orthopedic surgeon and Budget Committee Chair in the outgoing Congress, is an arch-critic of 'Obamacare' and a top supporter of Speaker Paul Ryan's plan to phase out Medicare and replace it with private insurance and vouchers.

On November 17th, when TPM asked Price about his timeline for moving Medicare phaseout legislation in the next Congress, Price said he did not believe it would be in the first legislation Trump and the Republican Congress would tackle in the Spring. He said he expected it would come mid-year in the second phase of the budget reconciliation process. "I think that is probably in the second phase of reconciliation, which would have to be in the FY 18 budget resolution in the first 6-8 months," Price told TPM.

Democrats have promised to oppose any effort to phase out or privatize Medicare in the next Congress.

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-hhs-pick-said-medicare-phaseout-would-pass-next-summer

November 29, 2016

Schumer: Price Leading HHS Like Asking 'Fox To Guard The Hen House'

Source: Talking Points Memo

By CAITLIN MACNEAL Published NOVEMBER 29, 2016, 8:33 AM EDT

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the incoming Senate minority leader, on Tuesday morning slammed Donald Trump's decision to nominate Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), citing Price's support for privatizing Medicare and opposition to Obamacare.

"Congressman Price has proven to be far out of the mainstream of what Americans want when it comes to Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and Planned Parenthood. Thanks to those three programs, millions of American seniors, families, people with disabilities and women have access to quality, affordable health care. Nominating Congressman Price to be the HHS secretary is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house," Schumer said in a statement.

Schumer has signaled that he will put up a fight against Republicans if they pursue plans to repeal Obamacare and privatize Medicare. He told the Associated Press earlier this month that Republicans will "rue the day" they try to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

"It's a political nightmare for them. They'll be like the dog that caught the bus," he said. Last week, Schumer warned Republicans against privatizing Medicare.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/schumer-tom-price-hhs-obamacare

November 29, 2016

Top GOPers: Sorry Trump, Flag Burning's Protected By The First Amendment

Source: Talking Points Memo

By MATT SHUHAM Published NOVEMBER 29, 2016, 10:00 AM EDT

Elected Republicans early Tuesday swatted down Donald Trump's notion that people who burn the American flag should "perhaps" lose their citizenship or spend a year in jail.

“Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!” Trump tweeted. The response from some Republican congressional leaders was swift.

"People like that pose little harm to our country. But tinkering with our First Amendment might,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said, according to CNN’s Phil Mattingly. Mattingly noted that McConnell was one of three Senate Republicans to vote against a constitutional amendment to ban desecrating the flag in 2006.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), asked about the tweet on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” had a more tepid response but affirmed that Americans’ right to burn the flag was “what the court upheld.”

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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/republican-leaders-disagree-trump-flag-burning

November 29, 2016

Trump leaning on TV analysts as he staffs the government

Note: Emphasis in this OP exists in the original article - Don

By James Hohmann November 29 at 8:11 AM

THE BIG IDEA: The Trump revolution won’t just be televised. It will be led by television talking heads.

In August 2015, Chuck Todd asked Donald Trump on “Meet the Press” who he talks with for military advice. “Well, I watch the shows,” said the former star of “The Apprentice,” another NBC franchise. “I mean, I really see a lot of great— you know, when you watch your show and all of the other shows, you have the generals and you have certain people that you like.” So it should come as no surprise that the president-elect is now stocking the federal government with these generals and other people that he’s seen on TV and likes.

Trump and Mike Pence have now met with 70 individuals about potential positions within the administration. The visitors to Trump Tower, Mar a Lago and the Bedminster golf club in New Jersey can almost all be grouped into just a handful of food groups: Current or former members of Congress. CEOs/rich tycoons. Pillars of the Republican establishment. And, last but not least, cable pundits.

Yesterday, Trump sat down with CBS News analyst Frances Townsend, a former counterterrorism adviser to George W. Bush.

Today, he will meet with Fox News contributor Pete Hegseth. After serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hegseth tried to run for U.S. Senate in Minnesota against Amy Klobuchar. His campaign went so poorly that he lost the GOP nomination to a random Ron Paul supporter, who went on to lose by 35 points. Afterward, Hegseth was hired to lead a Koch-funded group focused on veterans’ issues and then picked up by Fox in 2014. Now, at just 36, he’s being considered as a potential secretary of veterans affairs.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/11/29/daily-202-trump-leaning-on-tv-analysts-as-he-staffs-the-government/583ca4b4e9b69b7e58e45f21/?wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1

November 29, 2016

In Trump's economy, mammas should make sure their babies grow up to be con men

By Catherine Rampell Opinion writer November 28 at 7:32 PM

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One of the many underappreciated legacies of the Obama administration has been its widespread implementation of pro-consumer policies. Under the outgoing president’s leadership, multiple executive branch departments and independent agencies have enacted laws, rules and regulations designed to protect regular Americans from, well, the Donald Trumps of the world.

By which I mean big companies and moneyed interests eager to fleece unsophisticated or shallow-pocketed borrowers, investors, consumers, workers and small-potatoes entrepreneurs. To the untrained ear, Trump’s campaign rhetoric suggested he might be on board with Obama’s mission.

Trump spoke frequently of how the system was “rigged” against the little guy, and how — because no one knows the system better than Trump — he alone could un-rig it. But now that he’s heading into office, Trump has flanked himself with a fleet of anti-regulation, anti-consumer subordinates who appear hellbent on dismantling the Obama administration’s hard-won pro-little-guy protections.

With a Cabinet likely worth tens of billions of dollars, Trump is assembling a government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. And the policies his team wants to enact won’t line only their leader’s pockets — to the contrary, if they succeed, they’ll enrich enterprising " target="_blank">mugs, pugs and thugs throughout the land, too.

Almost immediately after the election, a Trump transition team member declared the president-elect’s intention to scrap the Obama administration’s new “fiduciary duty” rule. This rule, set to take effect in April, would require retirement investment advisers to act in the best interests of their clients. The finance industry hates the rule and would rather preserve its ability to sell products that are, by definition, not in the best interest of little-old-lady clients.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-trumps-economy-mammas-should-make-sure-their-babies-grow-up-to-be-con-men/2016/11/28/43ace7c6-b5af-11e6-959c-172c82123976_story.html?utm_term=.bfe1f0067571&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

November 29, 2016

Fidel Castro is dead, but Donald Trump could give Cuba's dictatorship new life

By Eugene Robinson Opinion writer November 28 at 7:33 PM

At long last, Fidel Castro is dead. Now the oppressive system he installed in Cuba can wither and die, too — unless Donald Trump reverts to Cold War policies and gives Cuba’s failing dictatorship new life.

It is tempting to see Castro’s death as little more than a formality. After all, his brother Raúl has been running the country for nearly a decade, ever since ill health forced Fidel to step aside and kept him from reassuming command. But the very fact that Fidel still drew breath served as a limiting factor in the program of economic reform Raúl has been trying to enact.

According to The Post, Raúl Castro gave a speech in April in which he joked that “we have two parties here, just like in the United States — Fidel’s and mine.” Fidel’s is the Communist one, he added, “and you can call mine whatever you want.”

There is considerable truth in those words. Raúl has been trying to move his country toward the Chinese model of authoritarian one-party rule combined with some degree of free-market economic development. Fidel, a true believer in the brutal communist experiment, has consistently tried to slow, derail or reverse any meaningful economic change.

Fidel was reportedly appalled at the way Mao Zedong’s China was transformed by Deng Xiaoping’s reforms. He saw the society dividing into haves and have-nots. Worse, in his mind, he saw the Chinese Communist Party potentially sowing the seeds of its own demise by allowing the accumulation of private wealth and the development of civil society. He was determined that the Communist Party of Cuba would not make the same mistake.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fidel-castro-is-dead-but-donald-trump-could-give-cubas-dictatorship-new-life/2016/11/28/9ee6be00-b5a5-11e6-b8df-600bd9d38a02_story.html?utm_term=.2f3668271f1e&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

November 29, 2016

Jimmy Carter: America Must Recognize Palestine

By JIMMY CARTER NOV. 28, 2016

ATLANTA — We do not yet know the policy of the next administration toward Israel and Palestine, but we do know the policy of this administration. It has been President Obama’s aim to support a negotiated end to the conflict based on two states, living side by side in peace.

That prospect is now in grave doubt. I am convinced that the United States can still shape the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before a change in presidents, but time is very short. The simple but vital step this administration must take before its term expires on Jan. 20 is to grant American diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine, as 137 countries have already done, and help it achieve full United Nations membership.

Back in 1978, during my administration, Israel’s prime minister, Menachem Begin, and Egypt’s president, Anwar Sadat, signed the Camp David Accords. That agreement was based on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which was passed in the aftermath of the 1967 war. The key words of that resolution were “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East in which every state in the area can live in security,” and the “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.”

The agreement was ratified overwhelmingly by the Parliaments of Egypt and Israel. And those two foundational concepts have been the basis for the policy of the United States government and the international community ever since.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/opinion/jimmy-carter-america-must-recognize-palestine.html?emc=edit_th_20161129&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=57435284&_r=0