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February 2018

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 09, 2018 20 Comments
Perhaps the two aspects of Donald Trump's presidency that I admire the most are is ability to go around supposedly immovable blocks to his proposals and the way he stiffens the spines of his fellow Republicans. After the humiliating Obamacare repeal failure of 2017, many weaker men would have moved on to other matters. However, as Trump continues to take a giant eraser to Obama's legacy, he has obviously moved Congress to take a more piecemeal approach to ending the onerous health insurance regulations promulgated under his predecessor.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 09, 2018 27 Comments
On Thursday, Ed Henry at Fox News dropped a story about how Sen. Mark Warner (D-NV), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, exchanged texts with a Russian oligarch regarding a meeting with dossier author Christopher Steele. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) dismissed the report because he claimed that Warner made the texts known to the committee. So is this a big deal? Maybe, maybe not. It does raise a few questions like, as Kimberley Strassel points out, why did he want to avoid a paper trail? Why did Steele need to use this oligarch to reach Congress?

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 09, 2018 4 Comments
Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN) has announced he will retire at the end of the year, which means the GOP has an opportunity to take a House seat away from the Democrats. This puts a dent in the Democrats plan to retake the House as they have pounced on districts of GOP representatives who have decided to retire.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 09, 2018 31 Comments
Here's a hint: If you're going to help lead a movement against sexual harassment, don't sexually harass anyone. California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia gained fame after she led the #MeToo movement at the California Capitol. Time magazine even featured her in its the "Silence Breakers" issue at the end of 2017. Now a former staffer has accused her of sexual misconduct when he participated at a legislative softball game with her.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 09, 2018 37 Comments
Earlier this week we wrote about the possible involvement of Clinton operative Sidney Blumenthal in feeding information to Christoper Steele, author of the infamous Clinton/DNC funded dossier. That dossier formed a key part of the FBI's presentation to the FISA court to obtain a warrant to surveil Carter Page. One of the key links in the Blumenthal-Steele stories was former State Department employee Jonathan Winer:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 09, 2018 28 Comments
On Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul succeeded in blocking a vote on the so-called Budget Deal (which we discussed thusly Wednesday). In so doing, the federal government shut down at 12:01 AM. An hour and a half later, the Senate invoked cloture, voted on the huge spending deal reached by both parties Wednesday evening, passing the bill with a vote of 71-28 (without bothering to debate it). Just before dawn it passed the House and heads to Trump for signature.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 08, 2018 13 Comments
In late December I wrote about a lawsuit brought by an expelled Oberlin College male student Lawsuit: Oberlin College sexual assault hearing process rigged, 100% conviction rate:
A male student who was expelled from campus in October 2016 for alleged sexual assault has filed a federal lawsuit against Oberlin. Though the lawsuit was filed in June 2017, it has not received any publicity. Yet the lawsuit contains allegations which, if proven, reflect that Oberlin’s system for adjudicating sexual assault accusations was fundamentally biased against males, at least during the 2015-2016 academic year.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 08, 2018 22 Comments
We've cataloged the bizarre implosion of the once great Newsweek. Just a few years ago, Newsweek ceased printing but was resurrected when a religious cult leader purchased the publication. Since then, Newsweek has suffered embarrassment after embarrassment, publishing a steady stream of fake news, conspiracies, and inaccurate information. An office visit from the Manhattan DAs office, as well as allegations of ad fraud, were the icing on the cake. Or should have been.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on February 08, 2018 16 Comments
Chancellor Angela Merkel has finally reached a coalition deal with the Social Democrats (SPD) four months after her conservative bloc failed to win a majority in German elections. The deal forced Merkel to hand over key ministries and make painful concessions to her left-wing coalition partner. The details of the final agreement triggered criticism from both the media and the conservative bloc -- made up of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).
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