Tax update 3/27/19

More bad news on the Trump tax law that primarily helped rich people and corporations:

Trump said that tax reform would cause $4 trillion in offshore cash to be repatriated.

The numbers are out: Only $664.9 billion came back.https://t.co/hjEbhxZxmt
— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) March 27, 2019

Trump's own economists now agree: GOP tax cuts are failing to spark growth https://t.co/TTc0KTm8IQ
— Salon (@Salon) March 21, 2019

That's because it was a scam designed to overwhelmingly benefit wealthy people and corporations shipping jobs overseas. #GOPTaxScam https://t.co/gYepC3vD7F
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) March 21, 2019

I got a fever, and the only prescription is more tax cuts https://t.co/SRahdxhzJA
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) March 19, 2019

The goal of Trump and Republicans in Congress was never to actually grow the economy or boost wages. Trickle-down economics is nothing more than a cruel joke designed to enrich their wealthy campaign donors and corporations. https://t.co/Dr1bIWIE4U
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) March 19, 2019

It isn’t even a hypothetical: the GOP tax bill is failing to pay for itself NOW.

Deficits are exploding.

The “tax cuts for the rich will pay for themselves” line wasn’t true in 2017, it isn’t true never true now, and it will never be true. https://t.co/8LhMRSzYSD
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) March 14, 2019

So what? She voted against the fucking tax law. https://t.co/5JMWJiNHrr
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) March 27, 2019

The lie about the Trump Tower meeting

The statement dictated by Trump was a lie. What was Hope Hicks’s role? I don’t understand why there were so many lies if the Trump campaign didn’t do anything wrong.

Analysis: Ex-Trump aide details president’s alleged effort to cover up the Trump Tower meeting https://t.co/XkqER4bSD6
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 27, 2019

Former Trump legal team spokesman Mark Corallo says Hope Hicks lied about statement on Trump Tower meeting and grew angry he disagreed. When he said there were documents to prove she was lying, she responded: "Nobody's ever going to see those documents." https://t.co/zch66xWn7e
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 27, 2019

Former Trump legal spokesman Mark Corallo said Hope Hicks told him that "nobody's ever going to see" the documents about the drafting of a misleading statement on the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meetinghttps://t.co/oYVVKctNtj
— Axios (@axios) March 27, 2019

Hope Hicks….come on down https://t.co/GbnK50pp3n
— Chels (@ChelsIsRight) March 20, 2019

Barr letter has not persuaded the public that Trump is innocent

The majority does not think he has been exonerated. The more the administration does to hide the facts, the more people will be suspicious. Let’s see the report.

"A cloud that shows no sign of lifting….just days after Trump claimed total exoneration in the Mueller probe, a blow for the president in public opinion… A new poll shows that a majority of Americans – 56% – believe Trump is not exonerated of collusion” – @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/J9rWWMOb9O
— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) March 28, 2019

NEW CNN poll #'s:

56% think Trump has not been exonerated of collusion

43% think he has been exoneratedhttps://t.co/ffR8nuK2kv
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) March 27, 2019

CNN POLL CONDUCTED BY SSRS
March 25-26
Do You Think
The Report Exonerates
Trump of Collusion?

Yes 43%
No 56%

Do You Think The Report Exonerates
Trump of Collusion?

Yes No
Rs 77% 23%
Indies 41% 58%
Dems 19% 80%
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 27, 2019

A Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that few Americans are persuaded by Barr's summary of the Mueller report https://t.co/yOhGTYSckm pic.twitter.com/uCIZclH6Xg
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 27, 2019

Trump gets no bounce at all from Barr memo on the Mueller report and nearly half of Americans think he tried to obstruct justice. Via @POLITICO_Steve on new @politico/@MorningConsult poll. https://t.co/QeMgFo8oKf
— Ben White (@morningmoneyben) March 26, 2019

Lordy. https://t.co/8lL7lpVeZu
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 27, 2019

Actually a pretty decent amount of very recent Trump approval rating data—and so far it shows no real change post Mueller report/Barr memo. https://t.co/j7XEedEnAf
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 27, 2019

It doesn’t appear that it affects Trump’s overall approval ratings.

Every poll is the same poll https://t.co/Uwcikmzx2F
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) March 27, 2019

CNN POLL
March 25-26
Think Congress Should
Hold Hearings on Mueller Findings

Dems 88%
Indies 57%
Republicans 17%

How Will Findings
Affect Your 2020 Vote?

More likely to back Trump 7%
More likely to oppose Trump 6%
Make no difference 86%
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 27, 2019

Good news: A clear majority of Republicans want the Mueller report released,
Bad news: 40% of Republicans don’t, which is a startlingly high Trump cultist number. https://t.co/5URJqYBOHP
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 29, 2019

NPR/NewsHour/Marist Poll Is now the third national poll to show that only a distinct minority say the Barr summary cleared Trump. Withholding report has allowed admin to shape initial dialogue, but if the goal is to convince the unconvinced, it’s failing. https://t.co/vNiJ4oi9NC
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) March 29, 2019

DO YOU BELIEVE TRUMP ACTED ILLEGALLY?
64% Probably
32% Probably not

DO YOU BELIEVE TRUMP ACTED UNETHICALLY?
72% Probably
25% Probably not

Pew Research poll
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 29, 2019

ICYMI
How likely do think it is that senior Trump advisors had improper dealings with Russia before Donald Trump was sworn in as president?
Very/Somewhat likely 60%
Not very/Not at all likely 36%
(CBS News Poll, 3/25-26/19)
more: https://t.co/lDyc1rUmVi
— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) March 29, 2019

Tariff update 3/26/19

Trump tariffs costing Americans $1.4 billion a month, have "no impact" on foreign exporters https://t.co/O5AO6StAje
— Salon (@Salon) March 26, 2019

So it looks like Trump may have gotten his aluminum prices mixed up. According to metals ace @JoeDeaux Trump appears to have quoted global (LME) prices. The picture for US domestic buyers is, er, a little different… https://t.co/QS1czt379b
— Shawn Donnan (@sdonnan) March 8, 2019

‘A punch in the gut’: Farmers hit by tariffs see crops swept away by flood. Great to work w the insightful ⁦@anniegowen⁩ on this story. https://t.co/1hLGDQP4Wg
— FrancesSteadSellers (@FrancesSSellers) March 23, 2019

"To put a $1.2 billion loss into perspective, every person in the state of Nebraska would need to contribute $632 to cover that volume of lost dollars [from Trump's tariffs]."

– Jay Rempe, Nebraska Farm Bureau, senior economist.@highbrow_nobrow https://t.co/rEOOhn6gMg
— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) February 17, 2019

High % https://t.co/yeVWjK9rHN
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 23, 2019

China trade talks are pushed back as tariffs continue to bite https://t.co/bTBFyf1Ubv via ⁦@nytimes⁩
— Ana Swanson (@AnaSwanson) March 17, 2019

It's been a full year since President Donald Trump claimed his trade war would be "good and easy to win." Now, the data strongly suggest otherwise.https://t.co/zRlFeWzcvG
— Eric Boehm (@EricBoehm87) March 5, 2019

“The concern is that a deal could end up seeing only a short-term increase in Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural and energy products.” https://t.co/cBa6sf6MUK
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) February 24, 2019

See? Wasn't all that worth wrecking the rules-based trading system? https://t.co/l0WUJG0KCe
— Paul Blustein (@PaulBlustein) February 23, 2019

New #FactChecker –> Trump’s repeated claim that China is paying ‘billions’ in tariffs to the Treasury https://t.co/MwZD8dVPOO
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) February 22, 2019

McConnell’s hypocrisy on Russian election meddling

McConnell blames Obama for not doing enough when he blocked the release of a bipartisan statement on Russian election interference. Trump’s team met with the Russians but I guess that’s alright with Mitch.

McConnell, speaking on Senate floor, used Mueller report (or more specifically Barr's summary of it) to attack Obama admin for being too soft on Russia. That might remind some of you of this… https://t.co/if5PLSyUHX
— Bryan Lowry (@BryanLowry3) March 25, 2019

sometimes you see something so shameless you don’t actually have a response https://t.co/kEye7jpdK8
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) March 26, 2019

As Mitch McConnell blocks the release of the full Mueller report, remember that in Sept. 2016, US intel briefed him on Russia's interference in our election — but instead of warning voters, he threatened to portray the intelligence as a partisan attack if Obama made it public. https://t.co/XtrGE25ej7
— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) March 25, 2019

Every time McConnell opines about Russia's attack on our democracy in 2016, this is the key point to remember. https://t.co/AacN1BoE2h
— Ned Price (@nedprice) March 26, 2019

The Obama administration didn't miss the Russian meddling

Barack Obama tried to warn people

Mitch McConnell watered down that warning and refused to join a bipartisan statement condemning Russia's interference campaign https://t.co/hEdl01NZTd
— Edward Hardy (@EdwardTHardy) March 26, 2019

That’s funny because I remember this: https://t.co/nPORKtrHdC
— Stefanie, M.S. (@stanc1ss) March 26, 2019

Interior Nominee Intervened to Block Report on Endangered Species

Extraordinary moment in today's Senate confirmation hearing for Bernhardt as Secretary of Interior. Sen Wyden calls Bernhardt a liar. Then drills him re Bernhardt's role blocking release of Interior study re pesticide threat to 1,200 endangered species https://t.co/f9ZotaI0Z8
— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) March 28, 2019

Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt played a key role in an effort to block the release of a study by Fish and Wildlife scientists that found that 2 widely used pesticides threaten the existence of more than 1,000 endangered species, emails show https://t.co/aRZ5rVdCsj
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 26, 2019

Trump administration budget plan cuts funding for Special Olympics

While Trump and his enablers cut taxes on the wealthy and corporations, they're cutting funding for programs like the Special Olympics to pay for it.

They are literally taking from the most vulnerable in society to line the pockets of their donors. https://t.co/YSem8L5Xnk
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) March 26, 2019

Remember, executive branch budget proposals should be covered as saying the administration is *proposing to cut* something, not that it is cutting something — even if that means you won't get to do a viral tweet saying Betsy DeVos is"cut all funding for the Special Olympics"
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) March 26, 2019

Our Unified Champion Schools program is made possible thru @usedgov. Thank you Sec. @BetsyDeVos for coming to meet our athletes! #SOHillDay pic.twitter.com/FZkL91mUgO
— Tim Shriver (@TimShriver) February 15, 2017

Sater considered using the Trump Moscow project for money laundering

In a shocker, a Kazakh bank says in a court filing that Felix Sater, President Trump's longtime business partner and a career criminal, considered using POTUS and Michael Cohen's proposed Trump Tower Moscow project to launder money https://t.co/3JVh3rioGW
— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) March 25, 2019

Republicans are not the party of health care

Just another Trump lie. They want to get rid of the ACA (Obamacare) and leave millions uninsured. Sad!

I think this will help the Democrats like it did in the 2018 elections. Now that we have had the ACA for a while, the public understands the benefits of it.

Reporter: Your administration is making very clear that you think the ACA is invalid..What's your message to Americans?
Trump: Let me just tell you exactly what my message is: The Republican Party will soon be known as the "Party of Healthcare" https://t.co/dP8FFO5uAn pic.twitter.com/Vd1loglzqz
— POLITICO (@politico) March 26, 2019

No, seriously: The Trump administration pushing to eviscerate Obamacare is almost certainly a remarkably bad political move. https://t.co/S50NEMBAKE
— Philip Bump (@pbump) March 26, 2019

For those people who still insist Donald Trump is playing 3-dimensional chess, I give you:https://t.co/zVznxcNPvd
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) March 26, 2019

Here's my explanation for why the Trump administration would do something as substantively horrifying and politically bonkers as come out for the ACA to be struck down in its entirety: https://t.co/I15TRskKKx
— Paul Waldman (@paulwaldman1) March 26, 2019

The day after Trump had one of his biggest victories in the form of the Barr letter, the administration leaned into the issue Dems won on in the midterms > https://t.co/ijXo3nXEIX
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 26, 2019

Wait, you're talking about the same Republican Party that voted to repeal the ACA over 60 times? https://t.co/DoydAfiS1j
— Congressman Tim Ryan (@RepTimRyan) March 26, 2019

If you thought Trump was done trying to cancel coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, think again.

DOJ just asked a court to strike down the entire ACA, which would cost 30 million Americans their insurance — meaning fewer benefits and higher costs for almost everyone.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 26, 2019

It remains a marvel to me that he has basically never been tested on his knowledge of essential facts even after demonstrating he is unfamiliar with them — almost always is given a premise and asked to opine on it. https://t.co/fdYc0apwtS
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 26, 2019

“Every reputable commentator — on both the left and the right — thinks that Judge O'Connor's decision invalidating the entire ACA is a joke.” Yet Trump’s lawyers just announced the administration’s support for that position. Never mind the millions of people who’d be hurt badly https://t.co/P566kj3Zgv
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) March 26, 2019

Asked an administration official why the ACA suit would be filed now, on heels of Trump’s best two days in two years. Official deadpanned: “Too much positive news. We needed to change the subject.”
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 26, 2019

NEW: The Trump administration is now calling for the entire Affordable Care Act to be thrown out. https://t.co/pAEJvpfnsK Big shift in legal position from last year — with millions of lives in balance.
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) March 26, 2019

Wow. No career Civil Appellate lawyers on the letter. Just two political appointees and a detailee. https://t.co/RjyQIAOn1g
— Matthew Collette (@MattCollette14) March 26, 2019

This is a critical thread. Barr DOJ is gutting the time honored traditions of the Dept. Instead of pursuing their duty to defend the law, they are subverting it. Beyond the pale. Not only is anyone with preexisting conditions left w nothing, so too are those who believe in law. https://t.co/spr3dFa2Lr
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) March 26, 2019

BREAKING: The Trump administration now says the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down. It's a dramatic reversal from their earlier stance: https://t.co/NOvtRxW69W
— Kyle Feldscher (@Kyle_Feldscher) March 26, 2019