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demmiblue's JournalTrump Spent $1.75 Million on Presidential Furniture, Redecorations
Source: Newsweek
WASHINGTON — The Donald Trump administration is spending $1.75 million on furniture for the executive office, according to government procurement records.
That includes $17,000 for custom rugs, $7,000 for "furniture pedestals," and $5,000 for wallpaper. There’s also $12,800 for a custom conference table from a company that made one for former President Richard Nixon in 1969 ("Nixon paid for the table himself," the company's website notes).
New presidents typically redecorate, and the West Wing underwent significant renovations this summer. Still, the sum, since the inauguration, is slightly larger than the roughly $1.5 million spent by former President Barack Obama over a similar period of his time in his administration.
Obama made a point of paying for some White House furnishings out-of-pocket. It's unclear if Trump has done the same.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-spent-1-75-million-presidential-furniture-redecorations-n814551
City Board of Elections Admits It Broke the Law, Accepts Reforms
Source: WNYC
That’s according to a draft consent decree announced Tuesday— nearly a year after the Board was sued in federal court for violating the National Voter Registration Act and state election law.
The Brooklyn voter purge was first reported by WNYC just days before last spring’s primary election.
As a part of the settlement, the Board agreed to a series of remedial measures that will be in place at least through the next presidential election, November 2020 — pending court approval. The deal restores the rights of improperly purged voters and establishes a comprehensive plan to prevent illegal voter purges in future elections.
Read more: http://www.wnyc.org/story/city-board-elections-admits-it-broke-law-accepts-reforms/
Trumps Small Business Chief Gave Speech at His Hotel, but Aides Tried to Keep Location Quiet
Source: Newsweek
About a month after media outlets stirred controvery by reporting that Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch would be speaking at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., the head of the Small Business Administration (SBA), Linda McMahon, spoke to an industry group there. Though the group did not keep secret the location of its event, McMahon’s aides tried to keep it quiet, newly obtained documents show.
The Trump Hotel, which opened in September 2016, has raised concerns among ethics watchdogs because guests who stay or host events there are in theory giving money to the family of the president of the United States. Analysts have also pointed out that the Trump Organization is leasing the property from the General Services Administration, a federal agency under President Donald Trump. The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI), a business lobbying group, chose the spot for its Federal Outreach Tour, an annual event during which board members meet with government insiders that took place in September. In July, LABI invited McMahon to speak at the event. In its earliest communications with the administrator and her team, LABI said the event, a breakfast with 30 or so board members, would take place at the Trump Hotel.
During the event, McMahon spoke for about 20 minutes at a podium with a “Trump Hotels” sign. The topics included hurricane relief, SBA initiatives in Louisiana and tax reform.
While LABI said publicly on its website it was holding the event at the Trump Hotel, the SBA seems to have worked to keep quiet about McMahon’s having appeared there, according to documents that the nonpartisan group American Oversight obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and provided exclusively to Newsweek.
Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/linda-mcmahon-small-business-trump-hotel-speech-labi-691231
Democrats introduce public option health care bill
Source: The Hill
Congressional Democrats are introducing legislation to allow states to set up a public option for health-care insurance.
The legislation, spearheaded by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M), is the latest idea from Democrats as the party tries to plot its next steps after blocking the GOP effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
"Our objective should be to have a competition of ideas. ... I think it's a golden age in terms of policy ideas when it comes to Democrats and health care," Schatz told reporters.
He added that "we want to make sure that people understand that we have a vision for the future."
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/357094-democrats-introduce-public-option-health-care-bill
Undocumented teen gets abortion before Trump can appeal
Source: The Hill
The undocumented teen in federal custody at the center of an abortion battle had the procedure Wednesday morning before the Trump administration could appeal a lower court's ruling to the Supreme Court.
The American Civil Liberties Union tweeted that the 17-year-old, known only in court documents as Jane Doe, had the abortion early this morning.
BREAKING: Justice prevailed today for Jane Doe. She was able to get an abortion early this morning. #JusticeforJane
— ACLU (@ACLU) October 25, 2017
“Make no mistake, the Trump administration's efforts to interfere in women's decisions won't stop with Jane Doe. We will not stop fighting until every woman has access to abortion care. #JusticeforJane,” the organization said in a subsequent tweet.
Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/357081-undocumented-teen-gets-abortion-before-trump-can-appeal
YouTube Trumpkin and Former Milo Intern Kills His Own Dad for Calling Him a Nazi
Lane Davis was a prolific poster on the Donald Trump subreddit, a former intern for Milo, and an editor for a prominent GamerGater’s conspiracy site. Then, one day, he snapped.Source: The Daily Beast
It was a clear summer afternoon on July 14, on Samish Island—a small, idyllic community off the northwest coast of Washington state—where Lane, a balding, bearded, Donald Trump-supporting conspiracy theorist and prolific YouTuber and Redditor, known online as Seattle4Truth, lived with his parents.
Lane had spent that Friday morning as he did most mornings, on the internet. This day, like the others, Lane read and retweeted posts celebrating the Second Amendment, bemoaning diversity, and spreading conspiracy theories that alleged Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta was involved in a child sex ring and DNC staffer Seth Rich had been murdered. It was the end of a busy week during which he contributed to the Donald Trump subreddit, and over on The Ralph Retort, a fringe blog where he worked as a political editor, (unpaid, according to the site’s owner), he had celebrated the idea of a Kid Rock Senate run, claimed America was under threat of Sharia law, and wondered whether CNN was “literally ISIS.”
Lane’s parents, Catherine and Charles Davis—Charles was known as Chuck to his friends— were used to their 33-year-old son’s outbursts. They had become so frequent that Charles had started recording the tirades on his phone. But that afternoon, they were tired of Lane’s screaming, wanted him to leave, and told him as much. Instead, Lane chased his parents around their home, spitting in his father’s face while screaming that he wasn’t threatening to kill them, but “pedophiles who were taking over the country.”
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/youtube-trumpkin-and-former-milo-intern-kills-his-own-dad-for-calling-him-a-nazi?via=twitter_page
Another one of those very fine people.
Under Trump, Made in America Is Losing Out to Russian Steel
An oligarch-owned steel company is winning pipeline contracts, and foreign steel imports are up 24 percent this year.Source: Bloomberg
Made-in-America Keystone was a stunt. Most of its pipes had already been manufactured, a fact the White House grudgingly admitted when it exempted the project from any new Buy American rules a few months later. While some of Keystone’s pipes were made in the U.S., at least a quarter of them came from a Russian steel company whose biggest shareholder is an oligarch and Trump family friend. The company, Evraz North America, supplied Keystone from its steel plants in Canada and for years has lobbied in Washington against Trump-style protectionism.
Ten months after his Keystone event, Trump has yet to deliver on his pledge to boost the fortunes of American steel. Two self-imposed deadlines for trade action, one in June and one in July, have come and gone. Meanwhile, the prospect of tariffs has led to a surge of cheap foreign steel into the U.S., with imports rising 24 percent in 2017, the fastest increase in years.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-25/under-trump-made-in-america-is-losing-out-to-russian-steel
Homecoming queen kicks dramatic game-winning field goal over rival
Source: NYT
Jeffress, who also plays soccer for her school, had kicked a game-winning extra point for the football team two weeks before. And after Friday night’s victory, Jeffress’ coach said that he’d had full confidence that she would give their team the win. “Claire never gets rattled,” the coach declared.
Watch video of Jeffress’ game-winning kick below.
https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/922803124770877440
https://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2017/10/24/homecoming-queen-kicks-dramatic-game-winning-field-goal-over-rival/
Dark Money Group Received Massive Donation In Fight Against Obamas Supreme Court Nominee
Source: MapLight
The Judicial Crisis Network (JCN), a Washington, D.C.-based conservative nonprofit, saw its revenues explode as it ran ads thanking Republican senators who successfully prevented Merrick Garland, Obama’s pick to replace Antonin Scalia, from receiving a confirmation hearing. It also sent millions of dollars to nonprofits that worked to elect conservative state judicial candidates and attorneys general. Earlier this year, JCN spent $10 million on ads to help secure Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation.
The organization’s most recent tax return, covering July 2015 to June 2016, shows JCN’s anti-Garland spending spree was fueled by three contributions. The $17.9 million donation accounted for 96.6 percent of its revenue. Before the donation, the organization had never reported more than $6 million in revenue since its 2005 creation.
Read more: https://maplight.org/story/dark-money-group-received-massive-donation-in-fight-against-obamas-supreme-court-nominee/
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