A lot to talk about this week, so let’s get started. First, candidate Donald Trump famously promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington if elected. Well, as we all know, he did indeed get elected, much to the chagrin of Democrats, liberals (progressives), never-Trumpers, the mainstream press, the EU, the UN, and swamp creatures everywhere. He’s clearly been frustrated by the lack of progress in this effort thus far. And President Trump concluded that because Washington is “actually much worse than anyone ever thought…”, we should start referring to it as a “sewer” rather than a swamp. Not sure if that will help, but I’d guess that most Americans would agree with President Trump’s attitude towards Washington.
Next, you think Republicans are in disarray – take a look at the Democrats. Let’s face it, they still haven’t come to grips with the fact that their candidate, Hillary Clinton, lost to Donald Trump last November. They’re especially frustrated that the American people aren’t buying what they’re selling. So they’ve decided to give themselves a makeover.
First, they did a lot of expensive polling so they could find out what they were supposed to be for. Then Monday, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren and a bunch of other liberal D.C. swamp creatures escaped from the swamp and traveled to a place called Berryville, Virginia, to unveil their new agenda, which they called “A Better Deal.”
Whether intentionally or not, the title sounds a lot like Speaker Paul Ryan’s “A Better Way” agenda, which was unveiled about a year ago (you’d think they’d be a little more original). Chuck Schumer kicked off the shindig by saying “Too many Americans don’t know what we stand for.” Well, I disagree. I think most Americans know exactly what the Democrats stand for – they just don’t like it. They know Democrats favor big government; big spending; higher taxes to pay for that spending; less for defense, and more for handouts; weak enforcement of our immigration laws; abortion on demand for any reason, no matter how late in the pregnancy, and somebody else pays for it; and endless investigations of President Trump until we hound him out of office; among other things.
Interestingly, the Democrats’ hope to grab a lot of attention with their agenda rollout, was dashed when President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, walked up to the mics outside the White House, and announced that he’d just testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, and told them that he “did not collude with Russia.” Score: Kushner 1, Democrats 0.
Next, Mitch McConnell, God love him, actually DID pull a rabbit out of a hat, and got 50 out of the 52 Republican Senators to vote to PROCEED to debate repealing Obamacare. Since all 48 Democrat Senators, plus 2 Republican (sort of) Senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted against allowing the debate, the 50 to 50 tie vote was broken by Vice President Mike Pence.
So now the fun begins. The Senate will debate, for at least the next few days, how much of Obamacare will be repealed, and how much stays (at least for the time being). Then if the Senate can pass something, it will come back to the House (where I’m at), to see whether we adopt what the Senate did or make changes. Stay tuned.
And finally, are Jeff Sessions’ days as Attorney General numbered? It sure appears so. First, a quick history. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama was one of Donald Trump’s earliest and most loyal supporters. Then Trump named Sessions Attorney General. Then Sessions recused himself from any involvement in the Russian Inquiry, so Robert Mueller was named Special Counsel to pursue the investigation.
Trump seems to feel that Sessions was somehow disloyal in recusing himself, and has even acknowledged that he would never have appointed Sessions Attorney General in the first place, had he known Sessions would recuse himself. A couple days ago, President Trump referred to Sessions as “beleaguered.” And Trump tweeted out yesterday, “Attorney General Jeff Session has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are emails and DNC server) & Intel leakers!”
It sure looks to me like President Trump is laying the groundwork for Attorney General Sessions’ exit – either by resignation, or firing, whatever it takes. Only time will tell.