February 12, 2019

'Pro-family leaders' ask House GOP leader to reinstate Rep. Steve King's committee memberships

group of about 200 people calling themselves “pro-family leaders” is calling for Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) to be reinstated to the committee assignments he lost as part of the fallout last month for reportedly questioning whether the term “white nationalist” should be offensive.

A letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — which King shared Tuesday on Twitter — also asks for McCarthy to publicly apologize for the punishment, calling it a rush to judgment.

“Unlike North Korea, we in the United States are ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and hold to the principles of Western Civilization, as Rep. King so admirably does,” the letter says.

Its signatories include former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), evangelical author James Dobson and William Owens, founder and president of the Coalition of African American Pastors.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pro-family-leaders-ask-house-gop-leader-to-reinstate-rep-steve-kings-committee-memberships/2019/02/12/5bcc47ce-2ef3-11e9-86ab-5d02109aeb01_story.html

February 12, 2019

A record 7 million Americans are 3 months behind on their car payments, a red flag for the economy

A record 7 million Americans are 90 days or more behind on their auto loan payments, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Tuesday, even more than during the wake of the financial crisis.Economists warn that this is a red flag. Despite the strong economy and low unemployment rate, many Americans are struggling to pay their bills.

“The substantial and growing number of distressed borrowers suggests that not all Americans have benefited from the strong labor market,” economists at the New York Fed wrote in a blog post.

A car loan is typically the first payment people make because a vehicle is critical to getting to work, and someone can live in a car if all else fails. When car loan delinquencies rise, it is usually a sign of significant duress among low-income and working-class Americans.

The New York Fed said that there were over a million more “troubled borrowers” at the end of 2018 than there were in 2010, when unemployment hit 10 percent and the auto loan delinquency rate peaked. Today, unemployment is 4 percent and job openings are at an all-time high, yet a significant number of people cannot pay their car loan.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/02/12/record-million-americans-are-months-behind-their-car-payments-red-flag-economy/

February 12, 2019

Amy Klobuchar will be on Fox News tonight at 6ET with Brett Baier

https://twitter.com/kasie/status/1095395966713298944


TONIGHT, 6p ET: 2020 Presidential Candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar Joins 'Special Report’ with @BretBaier
Tune in at 6:00pm ET to see the must-see "Special Report" sit-down, which will be Klobuchar's first Fox News interview since announcing her candidacy.


Kasie Hunt @kasie Underscoring @amyklobuchar’s attempt to play to voters outside the base

February 12, 2019

Woot! Retired astronaut Mark Kelly running for Senate in Arizona

https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1095307554178191362

JUST IN: Retired astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, says he will run for US Senate in Arizona.


https://twitter.com/ShuttleCDRKelly/status/1095301632093433864

February 12, 2019

Trump Supporter attacked BBC cameraman at rally last night

https://twitter.com/EleanorMontague/status/1095194973602045952

Just attended my first ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ rally where my colleague BBC cameraman Rob Skeans was attacked by a Trump supporter. The crowd had been whipped up into a frenzy against the media by Trump and other speakers all night #TrumpElPaso

February 8, 2019

Bad news

https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs/status/1094004925699424256

In an initial memo, the doctor who did Trump's physical today says:

I am happy to announce the President of the United States in in very good health and i anticipate he will remain so for the duration of his Presidency and beyond


:large

February 8, 2019

No Thank you, Mr Pecker by Jeff Bezos

Something unusual happened to me yesterday. Actually, for me it wasn’t just unusual — it was a first. I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse. Or at least that’s what the top people at the National Enquirer thought. I’m glad they thought that, because it emboldened them to put it all in writing. Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I’ve decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten.

AMI, the owner of the National Enquirer, led by David Pecker, recently entered into an immunity deal with the Department of Justice related to their role in the so-called “Catch and Kill” process on behalf of President Trump and his election campaign. Mr. Pecker and his company have also been investigated for various actions they’ve taken on behalf of the Saudi Government.

I didn’t know much about most of that a few weeks ago when intimate texts messages from me were published in the National Enquirer. I engaged investigators to learn how those texts were obtained, and to determine the motives for the many unusual actions taken by the Enquirer. As it turns out, there are now several independent investigations looking into this matter.

Back to the story: Several days ago, an AMI leader advised us that Mr. Pecker is “apoplectic” about our investigation. For reasons still to be better understood, the Saudi angle seems to hit a particularly sensitive nerve.A few days after hearing about Mr. Pecker’s apoplexy, we were approached, verbally at first, with an offer. They said they had more of my text messages and photos that they would publish if we didn’t stop our investigation.

https://medium.com/jeffreypbezos/no-thank-you-mr-pecker-146e3922310f



Letters from the National Enquirer are included in Bezos' post.

February 6, 2019

Dr. Vanessa Tyson released a statement

February 6, 2019

Before Expected Call for Unity, Trump Laced Into Democrats at Lunch for TV Anchors

By Peter Baker and Michael M. Grynbaum
Feb. 5, 2019

WASHINGTON — For public consumption, President Trump planned to use his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to appeal for bipartisan unity. But at a private lunch for television anchors earlier in the day he offered searing assessments of a host of Democrats.

Mr. Trump dismissed former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as “dumb,” called Senator Chuck Schumer of New York a “nasty son of a bitch” and mocked Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia for “choking like a dog” at a news conference where he tried to explain a racist yearbook photo, according to multiple people in the room.

He said he hoped he would get to run against Mr. Biden. “I hope it’s Biden,” Mr. Trump said. “Biden was never very smart. He was a terrible student. His gaffes are unbelievable. When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose; it’s not a gaffe. When Biden says something dumb, it’s because he’s dumb.”

Not every target was a Democrat. He recounted again the story of what he considered Senator John McCain’s betrayal in voting against advancing a measure to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care program. Although Mr. McCain has since died, Mr. Trump remains upset.“By the way,” Mr. Trump said, “he wrote a book and the book bombed.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/us/politics/trump-lunch-news-anchors.html

February 5, 2019

Former KKK Leader David Duke Endorses Tulsi Gabbard 2020 Presidential Campaign

White supremacist and former GOP Louisiana state senator David Duke appeared to endorse Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's 2020 campaign for president as other Democrats are being blasted by pro-Israel lobbyists and publications.

Duke, who was head of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s, posted a set of tweets endorsing Gabbard's 2020 presidential run and changed the background of his Twitter account Monday, which boasts more than 50,000 followers. A "Tulsi Gabbard for President" banner features the banner tagline, "Finally a candidate who will actually put America First rather than Israel First!"

Duke also endorsed Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, although the then-Republican candidate Trump denied any knowledge of the former KKK Grand Wizard in a March 2016 interview with CNN's Jake Tapper. Duke again lauded Trump's presidency following the deadly Charlottesville, Virginia rally in which Trump claimed there were decent people on "both sides."


https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-david-duke-endorse-bds-israel-ilhan-omar-west-bank-boycott-1318365



Her campaign must be so thrilled.