The summit is just a photo op and a distraction

Trump won’t get anything from Kim. It’s horrible that he is sucking up to a dictator. The only question is how much he will give away so he can have a photo op for a deal.

I just can't. This is the mirror image of the Cohen testimony. Everything Trump does is a fraudulent PR stunt. It is one thing when that's a TV show or corrupt building project. It is quite another when it involves nuclear weapons and selling out to a US adversary for a photo op. https://t.co/NvODTkri79
— Max Bergmann (@maxbergmann) February 27, 2019

1/ 🚨THREAD: the fact that Trump wants a deal so bad and is such a terrible negotiator should scare us all heading into the summit with Kim. So here’s a rundown of what Trump should be asking for from the North Koreans if we want a good deal.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 27, 2019

Dear @realDonaldTrump: I hope you do "it." But as of right now, here are the facts.

North Korea has NOT:
-Eliminated any nukes
-Eliminated any missiles

North Korea HAS:
-Increased nuclear fuel production
-Gotten you to stop US joint military readiness exercises#FactsMatter https://t.co/rg3KXybSX0
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 27, 2019

Who can come up with anything comparable to “my friend Kim Jong Un”?

-FDR allied w Stalin but didn’t truckle to him.
-US prez’s have allied w Marcos, Batista, Shah, a string of Saudi rulers, etc—but as a matter of national interest vs “friendship.”

-Dennis Rodman, OK. A prez? https://t.co/zQSlAiUzgF
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) February 27, 2019

Prepping with Putin? Putin doesn’t share the same goals as we do. Our IC is unbiased – Putin is not. Why does @POTUS believe him over the US IC?
Putin does have more first hand experience w NK but his biggest goal is to keep us down, even if that means more NO nukes https://t.co/yCVcGx7AuG
— Sam Vinograd (@sam_vinograd) February 26, 2019

The Trump administration softens its hard line on a North Korea deal https://t.co/YUCqByEGTa
— Post Politics (@postpolitics) February 26, 2019

Once again Russians speak for Trump, reminding him and the world that they own him. The pic of Lavrov in the Oval Office made me deeply sad, as does this. https://t.co/KbDm1eXi4k
— Ruth Ben-Ghiat (@ruthbenghiat) February 26, 2019

An important, under-appreciated point:

In normal circs, head-of-state summit happens only *after* the deal has been (nearly) worked out, not when there’s no deal in prospect.

And that’s w leaders both better informed on details, and less vain about claiming “wins,” than Trump. https://t.co/Az3P6dXXOc
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) February 26, 2019

Trump is the perfect “useful idiot” — utterly ignorant about adversary, gullible to the point of blindness and desperate to be seen as a dealmaker. The intelligence community knows it. The Senate knows it. Worst of all, Kim knows it. https://t.co/FOxpuwESYS
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) February 25, 2019

Trump has abandoned human rights in North Korea https://t.co/IFXSET5cIu
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) February 25, 2019

He literally starves his people to death and executes dissidents https://t.co/qX7zFwTa0V
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) February 24, 2019

.@jaketapper: Do you still think North Korea is a nuclear threat despite President Trump saying they are not?@SecPompeo: Yes. And he didn’t say that. @jaketapper: Yes he tweeted it. It’s a direct quote. #CNNSOTU
— Amanda Golden (@amandawgolden) February 24, 2019

The White House’s authoritarian attack on press freedom in Vietnam

Trump acts like a dictator. The White House banned reporters from attending a function because they had shouted questions earlier.

NEW —> White House bans four journalists from covering Trump-Kim dinner because of shouted questions.

My latest from Hanoi with @jdawsey1 on the White House restricting free press as a dictator looks onhttps://t.co/ydRhV3BxIG
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) February 27, 2019

Past US presidents and their aides who didn’t quite love the press corps also understood the importance of upholding the notion of a free press, particularly in the presence of a dictator. https://t.co/7IeX3lPVJf
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 27, 2019

To be clear, the reporters are being excluded by an official from the US government, not foreign officials, in one of the more outrageous moves by this White House. https://t.co/jsTmOyDaY0
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 27, 2019

It appears wire reporters @JonLemire & @jeffmason1 were punished for asking questions — which is their job — during Trump’s first availability with Kim Jong Un. They were cut out of the pool covering Trump-Kim dinner “due to the sensitive nature of the meeting,” per Sarah Sanders
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) February 27, 2019

While the WH punished reporters for asking Trump questions, Trump reveled in the attention of the print photographers allowed into the dinner spray, asking Doug Mills to send him photos so he could share them with Kim.
— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) February 27, 2019

Narcissist!

The WH is suggesting this was about North Korea, but President Trump was the person getting questions he didn’t like. Amazing that the WH would try to mimic an autocratic press environment in which only pictures, not questions are allowed of the President of the United States. https://t.co/ehAwFvhFtF
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) February 27, 2019

North Korean reporters were allowed in the Trump-KJU dinner tonight. US print reporters were blocked by the White House after shouted questions at an earlier event. Needless to say, the North Korean reporters do not shout questions.
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 27, 2019

North Carolina House district NC-09 update

In addition to the new election, here are some other developments.

The main guy who committed election fraud has been indicted.
McConnell lied and treated this as voter fraud, not election fraud by Republicans. He did this to blame Democrats which is totally wrong.

Charges were filed in North Carolina in what is expected to grow into one of the most sweeping criminal investigations ever of fraud in a federal election.

By @amyegardner https://t.co/viPkHgBCqC
— Rosalind Helderman (@PostRoz) February 27, 2019

A Republican operative behind an illicit voter-turnout effort in North Carolina was indicted on obstruction of justice charges https://t.co/OZ8fc6Z0Ee
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 27, 2019

McConnell, with a straight face: "Now that an incident of very real voter fraud has become national news and the Republican candidate seems — seems — to have benefited, these long-standing Democratic talking points have been really quiet." https://t.co/RF2DmtTnrB
— Philip Bump (@pbump) February 26, 2019

Mitch McConnell is easily the most cynical force in American politics, and has been for two decades. https://t.co/EhuhrhkzBj
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) February 26, 2019

Dan McCready’s statement in response to Senator Mitch McConnell’s floor speech about #NC09 @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/9YLaouhlnV
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) February 26, 2019

Republicans are gearing up for an uncertain and potentially crowded primary in the new election for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, while Democrat Dan McCready is already coalescing support from his party for the re-vote https://t.co/oqqL9OBlTj
— POLITICO (@politico) February 23, 2019

Gaetz’s threatening tweet

Congressman Gaetz apologized for his tweet threatening Cohen after Speaker Pelosi said something. Notice that (as far as I know) no Republicans criticized him for it. He may now face legal action. I hope so. His tweet was dangerous.

“To do it for you” https://t.co/WNOwWNfKzv
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) February 28, 2019

Speaker, I want to get the truth too. While it is important 2 create context around the testimony of liars like Michael Cohen, it was NOT my intent to threaten, as some believe I did. I’m deleting the tweet & I should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry. https://t.co/Rdbw3sTQJD
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 27, 2019

NEW: Florida Bar spokesperson: "I can confirm we have opened an investigation" involving Florida Rep. Gaetz's now-deleted tweet about Michael Cohen. https://t.co/s4W7o3oLAL
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 27, 2019

Matt Gaetz’s tweet was a good reminder that many of the president’s most loyal supporters don’t hold President Trump to the same moral standards that they hold others. Trump’s alleged marital infidelity has been the subject of several high-profile stories. https://t.co/1xfmO5p6Dy
— Eugene Scott (@Eugene_Scott) February 27, 2019

A high-profile Trump ally in Congress just straight-up threatened Michael Cohenhttps://t.co/r42Rutf4i4 pic.twitter.com/1WXJNA9nSu
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) February 27, 2019

“It’s total gangster stuff,” CNN chief legal analyst @JeffreyToobin says about Rep. Matt Gaetz’s tweet threatening Michael Cohen ahead of Cohen’s congressional testimony tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/Bd3NBHjZeZ
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) February 26, 2019

The House passes guns background check bill

A poll from January shows that 92% of the country favors requiring background checks for all guns purchases. In spite of this, the Republican-controlled Senate probably won’t even take up the legislation. They have received too much money from the NRA to turn on them.

It is so frustrating to see Republicans clearly go against the will of the people. More mass shootings won’t change their opinion either if the ones from the last few years haven’t done it. Sad!

The House, 240-190, voted to pass expanded background check legislation.
8 Republicans voted "yes"
2 Democrats voted "no"

Senate Republicans are not expected to take up the legislation. More here on the bill – and what comes next – from @ElizLanders https://t.co/ntwbqmjWky
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) February 27, 2019

77 Democrats voted against assault ban in 94 & nearly as many vs Brady Bill in 93. Today’s level of unity would have been unimaginable even a decade ago. But the Dem center of gravity has shifted unequivocally to metropolitan America which enables more unity on issues like this https://t.co/B8nq3LKGnK
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) February 27, 2019

BREAKING: House passes bill to require universal background checks on gun sales https://t.co/oWMIL5fpth
— POLITICO (@politico) February 27, 2019

Cohen fears there will not be a peaceful transition of power if Trump loses in 2020

This was one of the key things from Cohen’s testimony and something we should really be concerned about. Will Trump give up the presidency if he loses the election? He frequently talks about (phony) voter fraud and could easily not accept the results. He threatened to do this in 2016 if he lost. Mr. Cohen knows Trump well and if he’s concerned, I’m concerned.

“My loyalty to Mr. Trump has cost me everything,” Michael Cohen says.

“Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020, that there will never be a peaceful transition of power." https://t.co/ET9vPXqv8x pic.twitter.com/Bt7q0CXz3X
— CNN (@CNN) February 27, 2019

This was the fear that many scholars of extremism and authoritarianism had going into 2016. The structural dynamics have, arguably, only become worse since. This is a far more plausible scenario than many in US would like to believe. Even low level violence can quickly escalate. https://t.co/AHnTprM92O
— Jasmin Mujanović (@JasminMuj) February 27, 2019

I think we forget how big of a question this was in 2016 — that was never answered because…Trump won https://t.co/2oMrZq5VZ8
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) February 27, 2019

This seems ominously plausible. We need to start planning for a president claiming that re-election was stolen from him and resisting departure. Another national emergency? https://t.co/tEy5vCwPwb
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) February 28, 2019

Young Americans are better than old ones at telling fact from opinions

Younger Americans are better than older Americans at telling factual news statements from opinions https://t.co/vFKA5Qf5eV
— Pew Research Fact Tank (@FactTank) February 24, 2019

climate update 2/23/19

This morning I got choked up on air when discussing the political reluctance to be bold on climate change. It’s never happened to me before, but there’s no precedent for the threat we are facing. https://t.co/LXQrm6YhlV
— Heather C. McGhee (@hmcghee) February 24, 2019

“The 21st century will be dominated by climate change in the same way that … the 19th century was dominated by modernity or industry,” author David Wallace-Wells tells @yayitsrob: https://t.co/HHdgymVCcy
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) February 24, 2019

"ExxonMobil plans to pump 25% more oil and gas in 2025 than in 2017. If the rest of the industry pursues even modest growth, the consequence for the climate could be disastrous." https://t.co/i9cikJu9EN
— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) February 19, 2019

A small brown rat which lived on a tiny island off northern Australia is the world's first mammal known to have become extinct due to "human-induced climate change," the Australian government says https://t.co/v8FN0kocsr pic.twitter.com/fiXYLWyF4E
— CNN (@CNN) February 24, 2019

As a #climate scientist, I want to be crystal clear about one thing: the sweeping scope of the #GreenNewDeal approach to addressing #ClimateChange is *not* overly ambitious. It is absolutely commensurate with the massive scale of the challenge at hand. #GND (1/3) pic.twitter.com/pM8f1OFbsy
— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) February 24, 2019

Climate change is science, NOT opinion & science says – Union Concerned Sc.: "Scientists Agree: Global Warming is Happening and Humans are the Primary Cause" – #climatechange #sciencematters pic.twitter.com/mxN4BzuKYp
— Gerald Kutney (@GeraldKutney) February 24, 2019

Inspired by the legacy of great bird artist and pioneering ornithologist John James Audubon, the Audubon Mural Project aims to paint murals of each of the 314 bird species threatened by climate change: https://t.co/fKVsq4P2HD pic.twitter.com/KQ28xfs0AN
— Audubon Society (@audubonsociety) February 24, 2019

Raise the minimum wage

"A living wage is an antidepressant. It is a sleep aid. A diet. A stress reliever. It is a contraceptive, preventing teenage pregnancy. It prevents premature death. It shields children from neglect." #RaiseTheWagePA https://t.co/I1WGp8cYnG
— Mark Price (@price_laborecon) February 22, 2019

Baby Boomers needed 306 hours of minimum wage work to pay for 4 years of public college. Millennials needed 4,459.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics pic.twitter.com/aAXIuAKBN3
— SSSP Teaching (@SsspTeaching) February 23, 2019

Some say that instead of raising the minimum wage, low-wage workers need to work harder to lead a middle class life. Here’s what they are missing:

From 1979 to 2017, productivity grew 70.3% and hourly compensation of production and nonsupervisory workers only grew 11%.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) February 23, 2019

Today I testified before the Finance Committee in Annapolis in support of the $15/hr minimum wage bill. I continue to support this bill and fight for a statewide minimum wage for hardworking residents who need a salary that keeps pace with the cost of living. pic.twitter.com/xyfpQSGqm7
— Mayor Catherine Pugh (@MayorPugh50) February 21, 2019

$7.25 isn’t a living wage. And when businesses pay poverty wages, taxpayers are left to pick up the tab.

Raising the minimum wage to $15 allows people to work their way off government benefits – saving taxpayers millions and growing the economy for everyone. #RaiseTheWage pic.twitter.com/47OksHhttx
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) February 21, 2019

More on tax refunds 2/23/19 – updated 2/28/19

Average IRS refunds are now UP slightly compared to a year ago: https://t.co/hVtxFn6qps
— Jim Tankersley (@jimtankersley) February 28, 2019

People really like tax refunds, even when if it isn't strictly rational. Trumponomics vs. Behavioral economics.https://t.co/gNSpCfa7uD
— Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) February 27, 2019

IRS statistics showing that Americans' tax refunds are down by an average of 17 percent so far this year have forced a reckoning that conservatives didn’t expect https://t.co/pXdX5wDpjk
— POLITICO (@politico) February 24, 2019

GOP’s Grassley blows up over complaints about reduced tax refunds: ‘Isn’t it kind of stupid to look at a refund?’https://t.co/yEQe5wffnZ
— Raw Story (@RawStory) February 23, 2019

Under fire for dwindling tax refunds, Treasury didn’t put out data this week: “As we have noted, data this early in the filing season has many aberrations and isn’t useful in drawing broad conclusions on refunds overall.”
— Alan Rappeport (@arappeport) February 23, 2019