herding cats
herding cats's JournalGOP bill would eliminate Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Source: The Hill
Two Republican lawmakers introduced Tuesday a bill to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the controversial watchdog agency long targeted by the GOP.
The bill from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) would repeal Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act, which established the CFPB.
Republicans have long sought to eliminate or drastically reform the CFPB, but Cruz and Ratcliffes approach goes further than current GOP proposals to reshape the bureau.
Cruz said in a statement his bill gives Congress the opportunity to free consumers and small businesses from the CFPBs regulatory blockades and financial activism, which stunt economic growth.
While theres much more to do to scale back the harmful regulatory impositions of Dodd-Frank, this legislation takes a critical step in the right direction, said Cruz.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/319517-gop-bill-would-eliminate-consumer-financial-protection-bureau
Kellyanne Conway Claims She Doesnt Know Who Retweeted A White Nationalist From Her Twitter Account
Kellyanne Conway wasnt really feeling the love Tuesday morning, after Today host Matt Lauer told her her responses made no sense when she appeared to dodge his repeated questions about Gen. Mike Flynns resignation as the National Security Adviser.
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Conway not only retweeted Lib Hypocrisys tweet, but also told the Twitter user, Love you back and wished her Hapless Haters a happy Valentines Day.
Conway told BuzzFeed News on Tuesday, I dont know who had access to my account."
More here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/tasneemnashrulla/kellyanne-conway-said-love-you-to-a-white-nationalist-twitte?utm_term=.timwwPZJwM#.sywBBrmEBK
Roger Stone: Priebus's 'purge' of Flynn is 'Pearl Harbor' for Trump loyalists
President Trump adviser Roger Stone tweeted Tuesday that the "purge" of former national security advisor Michael Flynn is "Pearl Harbor" for Trump loyalists.
Stone blamed White House chief of staff Reince Priebus for Flynn's resignation after just 24 days on the job.
"Reince's purge of Flynn a 'Pearl Harbor' for Trump loyalists. Hope the midget is ready to rumble," wrote Stone.
Stone's tweet comes as Breitbart News, the populist right-wing website once led by President Trumps chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, published a scathing report on Tuesday stating that Priebus was responsible for the administration's rocky start while speculating that his future in the administration may also be short.
http://thehill.com/media/319491-roger-stone-priebuss-purge-of-flynn-is-pearl-harbor-for-trump-loyalists
Trump signs repeal of transparency rule for oil companies
Source: the Hill
President Trump signed legislation Tuesday to repeal a controversial regulation that would have required energy companies to disclose their payments to foreign governments.
The legislation is the first time in 16 years that the Congressional Review Act (CRA) has been used to repeal a regulation, and only the second time in the two decades that act has been law.
It is the start of one front in an aggressive deregulatory effort that the Trump administration and the GOP Congress are undertaking to roll back Obama-era rules on fossil fuel companies, financial institutions and other businesses that they say have suffered for the last eight years.
The resolution repeals a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule written under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
It was meant to fight corruption in resource-rich countries by mandating that companies on United States stock exchanges disclose the royalties and other payments that oil, natural gas, coal and mineral companies make to governments.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/319488-trump-signs-repeal-of-transparency-rule-for-oil-companies
Russian lawmakers rush to the defense of Trumps ex-national security adviser
The heads of the foreign affairs committees in Russias upper and lower houses of parliament chalked up Michael Flynns resignation to a dark campaign of Russophobia in Washington and said it would undermine relations between the White House and the Kremlin.
Flynn was accused of holding discussions over the U.S. sanctions regime against Russia with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump was sworn in as president last month.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russian-lawmakers-rush-to-the-defense-of-trumps-ex-national-security-advisor/2017/02/14/547fc410-f28b-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html?utm_term=.d97034116a70
Kurt Eichenwald? @kurteichenwald
Russian lawmakers are outraged that Flynn is out. That in itself is troubling.
https://mobile.twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/831565115921203201
With Michael Flynns Resignation, a New Focus on the Logan Act
The Logan Act is a 1799 statute that bars private citizens from interfering with diplomatic relations between the United States and foreign governments. It makes it a felony, punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to three years, if an American citizen, without government authorization, interacts with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States.
Does the act apply to a president-elect and his transition team?
As a preliminary matter, it remains unclear whether then-President-elect Trump as opposed to Mr. Pence knew about Mr. Flynns conversations with the Russian ambassador. (After the announcement by the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, that he would not expel American officials in response to new sanctions because there would soon be a different president, Mr. Trump responded with a Twitter post that said, Great move on delay (by V. Putin) I always knew he was very smart!)
But even if Mr. Trump sanctioned the conversation, on its face the Logan Act appears to apply to a president-elect and his top aides, said Laurence Tribe, a Harvard Law School constitutional law professor.
A president-elect is not an official of the United States, Mr. Tribe said. There is no reason why the Logan Act would not apply to the president-elect since it applies to all private citizens, and the people working on the transition are all working in a private-citizen capacity. They have not taken the oath, so they are covered by the act to the extent that matters.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/us/politics/logan-act-flynn.html?src=twr&smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
Sen Blunt: Exhaustive investigation into Trump-Russia connections needed following Flynn resignation
GOP Senate Intel Member: Exhaustive investigation into Trump-Russia connections needed following Flynn resignation
(CNN)Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Tuesday called for an exhaustive investigation into connections between President Donald Trump and Russia and said the Intelligence Committee should immediately speak with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Flynn resigned Monday evening amid revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had in December with Russia's ambassador to the US about sanctions placed on Russia. Pence had defended Flynn on television and denied he discussed sanctions after initial reports of the conversations.
"I think everybody needs that investigation to happen," Blunt said on KTRS radio. "And the Senate Intelligence Committee, again that I serve on, has been given the principle responsibility to look into this, and I think that we should look into it exhaustively so that at the end of this process, nobody wonders whether there was a stone left unturned, and shouldn't reach conclusions before you have the information that you need to have to make those conclusions."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/14/politics/kfile-roy-blunt-flynn-investigation/index.html
Warner wants Flynn to testify at investigations into Russian election meddling.
NEWS: Senate Intel Vice Chair @MarkWarner tells me he wants Flynn to testify for panel's investigation into Russian election meddling
https://mobile.twitter.com/Phil_Mattingly/status/831522013533569024
Mark Warner's statement.
https://mobile.twitter.com/MarkWarner/status/831518610753454080
Mexico ready to retaliate by hurting American corn farmers
Source: CNN
Mexico is one of the top buyers of American corn in the world today. And Mexican senator Armando Rios Piter, who leads a congressional committee on foreign relations, says he will introduce a bill this week where Mexico will buy corn from Brazil and Argentina instead of the United States.
It's one of the first signs of potential concrete action from Mexico in response to President Trump's threats against the country.
"I'm going to send a bill for the corn that we are buying in the Midwest and...change to Brazil or Argentina," Rios Piter, 43, told told CNN's Leyla Santiago on Sunday at an anti-Trump protest in Mexico City.
He added: It's a "good way to tell them that this hostile relationship has consequences, hope that it changes."
Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/13/news/economy/mexico-trump-us-corn/index.html
Flynn just resigned!! AP confirms.
Per CNN.
Breaking banner on CNN. They're reading his resignation letter live now. He's gone.
http://www.cnn.com/
AP Politics? @AP_Politics
BREAKING: National security adviser Michael Flynn has resigned.
10:06 PM · Feb 13, 2017
https://mobile.twitter.com/AP_Politics/status/831353809020526596
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2017/feb/14/flynn-resigns-donald-trump-national-security-adviser-russia-links-live
Keith Kellog acting NSA at the moment. Petraeus to "come in tomorrow" reason unclear.
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