Trump May Push Infrastructure Plan After Tax Bill Win

The Trump administration is signaling that it may be willing to tackle an infrastructure plan following its success in pushing forward its tax plan this month. Moves for increases in infrastructure spending, unlike the GOP attempts at tax reform, have been supported by several Democrats and may have a chance to receive bipartisan support.

Trump may announce his plans for infrastructure in his upcoming State of the Union speech in 2018.

The infrastructure plan may cost upwards of $1 trillion, but will not all come out the federal treasury. A portion will be paid by the federal government, while state and local governments, along with private companies and investors, will also contribute to the projects laid out in any plan.

Increases in infrastructure spending have long been the goal of numerous politicians, Republicans and Democrats alike, with projects including new roads, bridges, terminals, etc. However, concerns over increases to the national debt (already an issue with the recently passed tax bill) could pose an issue, especially with Republicans.

Republicans Pass Tax Law, What It Means for Americans

Republicans passed the first major overhaul to the United States tax code in over thirty years this month, with President Donald Trump saying the plan will “deliver more jobs, higher wages, and massive tax relief for American families and for American companies.”

The plan was pushed by Republican leaders after the GOP Congress wanted to deliver a major piece of legislation before the year’s end, and thus deliver Trump a legislative achievement in his first year, and to pass it while they still held a 52-48 majority in the Senate after they lost a seat as a result of the Alabama special election.

The new law reduces  the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, moving the rate from among the highest in the developed world to more in line with the tax rates of other countries. In addition, it shaves off the tax rate across the board while keeping the seven tax brackets. These cuts to the individual tax rates, unlike the corporate tax rate cut, is temporary and will expire in 2025.

It also caps deductions for local and state taxes at $10,000, which can lead to higher taxes for those living in highly taxed states, such as New York, California, and Illinois.

The bill was unanimously opposed by Democrats in both houses of Congress and was opposed by a number of Republicans in the House who came from highly taxed states.

The new tax cuts are projected to add more than $1 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, accounting for lost revenues stemming from the lower rates but also possible increased revenue as businesses and individuals have more money to invest, thus increasing economic activity.

Fire in Bronx Kills 12, Worst in New York City in a Decade

A fire in an apartment complex in the Bronx killed 12 people after it broke out on Thursday night, injuring even more. The fire is the worst to break out in New York City since 2007, in which a fire, also in the Bronx, resulted from an overheated space heater cord killed 10.

The fire Thursday night is believed to have been caused by a child playing with a stove and causing a fire. The child escaped with his mother, but the fire soon spread across the apartment complex. Firefighters had difficulty fighting it as the cold weather had frozen the water for their hoses.

Zimbabwe Strongman Robert Mugabe Ousted

Longtime president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe resigned his position on November 21, ending his 37 year long hold on power on the African country. Mugabe had ruled the country since its transition from the white supremacist Rhodesia, which had declared its independence from Britain during the African decolonization period, and Mugabe was active in the struggle against the Rhodesian government.

Mugabe, who at 93 was the oldest head of state at his resignation, was at one time hailed as a leader of African nationalist politics for his role in establishing Zimbabwe. However, his management of the nation’s politics and economy led to massive corruption, economic decline, and hyperinflation. His land reform efforts, which took away land holdings from all white citizens and gave it to black citizens, many of whom had little farming experience, caused the nation to experience food shortages. However, his fatal error was his attempt to establish his wife, Grace, as his successor. Her unpopularity gave the military the needed support to stage a coup and lead to his former right hand man, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to succeed him.

Five Hundred Years Since Martin Luther's 95 Theses

Tuesday marks the 500th year anniversary of Martin Luther writing his Ninety Five Theses, which often cited as the starting point for the Protestant Reformation. Luther is believed to have posted his piece to the door of the All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, Germany, where public displays were usually posted.

Copy of Luther's original 95 Theses

The Protestant Reformation threw the Western Christian world into tumult for centuries afterwards, as the Roman Catholic Church worked to respond to the movement and rise of new denominations, and the Protestant churches found both opposition and support among various monarchs in Europe (one of the most notable cases, King Henry VIII of England transitioned from Catholicism to Anglicanism after the pope would not approve a divorce from his first wife).

Terrorist Attack Kills at Least 8 in New York City

Likely terrorist attack in New York City
leaves at least 8 dead, 11 more injured
Credit: NYPD

An attack Tuesday in New York City has left at least eight dead after a man used a rented Home Deport truck to run into cyclists. The man suspect ran from the scene and was eventually apprehended after being shot by police.

Another 11 people have been injured.

According to several witnesses, the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack, and social media accounts supporting the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group have praised the attack.

The attack likely marks the latest in a string of global attacks by IS since 2015, following large scale attacks in Paris and Brussels and similar truck attacks in London, Berlin, and Nice.

Separatist Movements Face Defeats in Spain, Iraq

Separatist movements in Spain and Iraq begun actions over the past two months in attempts to achieve independence from their countries, though both are strongly opposed by the countries, leading to confrontation.

In Spain, Catalonian separatists pushed for a referendum asking whether the region, the wealthiest in Spain, should secede and become independent. The referendum as condemned as illegal by the Spanish government and boycotted by most pro-union people in the region. Because of this, the independence option was supported by just over 92% of the vote, but with only just over turnout. In addition, there were outbreaks of violence between Spanish police forces and pro-independence supporters during the vote.

Ignoring Spanish condemnations and threats to directly rule the region, Catalan leadership, led by pro-independence parties, recognized the results and declared independence on October 27, only to be taken over by the Spanish government shortly after with little resistance. Carles Puigdemont has left Spain for Belgium (though he claims he is not seeking asylum) and has called on Catalonians to accept the result of snap elections to replace the ousted Catalonian parliament on December 21.

In Iraq, the Kurdish referendum passed with nearly 93% of the vote, with nearly 73% turning out to vote. The result led to Iraq’s military pushing into Kurdish held land, taking back territory held since Kurdish forces took the land from the Islamic State. Iraqi forces have taken over border crossings between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey and Syria, and have taken back the city of Kirkuk.

Former Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort Indicted

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort turned himself in on Monday to the FBI after the probe by former FBI Director Robert Mueller pushed for charges related to Manafort’s lobbying work in Ukraine. The probe, which was directed to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, led to a raid on Manafort’s home in July and charges this week related to alleged money laundering. Manafort’s longtime associate Rick Gates was also charged.

Both have pled not guilty.

Mueller has also announced that Trump campaign staffer George Papadopoulos lied to the FBI about Russian attempts to contact the Trump campaign in 2016.

HHS Secretary Tom Price Resigns

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price resigned Friday, following reporting that revealed his travel expenses had added to over $1 million, often using private jets when cheaper modes of transportation likely would have sufficed. Price, who had the shortest tenure of any HHS secretary, adds to the list of Trump officials who have left the administration amid controversy, such as National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and FBI Director James Comey, to whom Trump issued an abrupt dismissal. Price, an ardent opponent of Obamacare, was selected in part to begin dismantling the program amid GOP repeal efforts.

Roy Moore Wins Alabama Senate Primary

Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore defeated incumbent Sen. Luther Strange in the Republican primary in Alabama for the special election triggered by Jeff Session’s resignation to become US attorney general. Moore defeated Luther 55-45% in the runoff, after coming in first in the primary in August. Luther was an appointee to fill Sessions’s seat until an election could be held.

Moore, who was noted for his refusals to remove the Ten Commandments from a courtroom or recognize the legality of same-sex marriage during his previous terms as chief justice (for both he was suspended by Alabama’s judiciary board), ran with the support of many of Trump’s supporters (such as Steve Bannon, Seb Gorka, and Nigel Farage), but not from Trump himself, who supported Strange. Though Trum is popular in Alabama, his support for Strange was not enough for his victory.

Trump has promised support for Moore in the general, which Moore has said he welcomes, and will face Democrat Doug Jones on December 12.

Attack in Charlottesville Causes Tragedy, Political Headaches

A white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend turned violent Saturday as twenty year old man, James Fields, drove his car into a crowd filled with counter-protesters, killing a woman, Heather Heyer, and injuring 19 more. Fields was taken into custody shortly after.

The protests began last Friday, as marchers including white supremacists and neo-Nazis marched to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue. A night march was led by Richard Spencer, a white nationalist and a self-proclaimed leader of the “at-right,” a movement which contains white supremacist elements. In the march, the demonstrators carried tiki torches and shouted chants, such as, “Jews will not replace us.”

The more violent clashes happened the next Saturday, as counterprotesters, including anti-racist demonstrators and far-left elements engaged in melee with the far-right. The police in Charlottesville has been criticized for not doing enough to ensure that the demonstrations did not give way to violence. While the cohort led by Spencer and his allies had a permit for the rally, the police attempted to disperse the protesters just prior to the car attack. The violence came to a head with the car attack, which is believed to been motivated by racism and likely a terrorist attack in itself. In addition, two Virginia State police officers died when their helicopter crashed while providing support to control the violence during the rally.

In response to the attack, President Donald Trump issued an initial statement, blaming the violence on both sides, saying “many sides” were at fault. Facing criticism from many, especially from fellow Republicans, he gave another statement the next day explicitly denouncing the “KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists.” Trump faced further criticism for a press conference on Tuesday, in which he implied there were good people on both sides of the demonstrations, and that the left-wing protesters, which he called the “alt-left,” shared as much blame for the violence as the far-right demonstrators.

Scaramucci Removed from White House Role

Scaramucci, pictured here in 2016, seemed to be bringing
a more cordial attitude to the White House communications
office before revealing his animosity towards then
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus in profane
conversation
Credit: Gage Skidmore

Anthony Scaramucci, a financier with a history of political involvement, was removed Monday by from his White House job as communications director before even formally stepping into the role. In a twist of fate, he was reportedly removed at the behest of the new White House chief of staff, former general and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who replaced Reince Priebus, who Scaramucci wanted gone.


Scaramucci's tenure coincided with a major shakeup in White House staff. Sean Spicer, who had been serving as acting White House communications director after his rocky tenure as press secretary (now filled by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee), resigned in protest following Scaramucci's hiring. Scaramucci played tribute to Spicer, and seemed to enjoy engaging with the White House press corps in his first press conference following the announcement of his hiring by the White House.

Scaramucci's profane rant to a reporter, in which he accused Priebus of being a leaker of confidential information and would be fired soon, no doubt contributed to his political demise. In addition, Scaramucci had boasted that he would only be reporting to Trump, and not to the chief of staff. Though Priebus was removed on Friday, Scaramucci was not far behind.

Scaramucci's actions and attitude simply proved too much for Kelly, who is seeking to exert control over the chaotic administration, which has suffered controversy after controversy relating to its relationship with the press, allegations of collusion with the Russian government during the 2016 campaign, and failure to pass a Republican-sponsored health care overhaul, a mainstay of Republican electoral promises for the past seven years.

GOP Health Care Effort Flounders

Republican efforts to repeal the Obama’s signature health care law, or at least make changes to it, has continued to fail to produce fruit as Democrats continue their steadfast opposition and Senate Republicans cannot reach a consensus on the path forward.

GOP moderates, especially Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AL), and conservatives such as Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have considered elements of the other side’s plans untenable in getting them for a final bill. Plans that would have repealed parts of the bill and replace them with GOP plans have failed, as have plans to repeal the plan without a replacement one waiting.

On early Friday morning, the Senate rejected a so-called “skinny repeal,” which would have repealed the individual mandate, the most hated part of Obamacare by many Republicans, and eliminated certain taxes. The bill was notable in that House Speaker Paul Ryan gave assurances to some senators that the House will not pass that bill, giving them clearance to vote for it without having to be held fully accountable if made law. Still, it failed, with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) joining Collins and Murkowski in voting it down.

Trump Open to Opening More of Atlantic, Arctic to Drilling

The White House has sent signals that it could open up more of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans to oil exploration, which would reverse prior Obama administration policy prohibiting petroleum drilling in those areas. The Interior Department is also exploring opportunities to allow more drilling off the coast of most of the US mainland.

These steps comes as Trump aims to make the US a greater player in the world oil market, though the possible expansion in supply comes at a time when oil prices are at a low point. Additional increases in supply could translate into reduced costs in the rest of the economy, but greater losses for many oil producers.

British Exit Polling Threatens Hung Parliament, Results Begin to Come In

The snap general election in the UK called by Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May back in April aimed to expand the Conservative majority in the British Parliament as the government heads into discussions with the European Union to begin Brexit negotiations. Her goal of a larger Conservative presence in Parliament does not seem to have been met, however, based on early returns and exit polling and predictions.

An exit poll released shortly after polls closed at 10 PM local time indicated that Conservatives would fall just short of a majority in Parliament, with 314 seats (out of 326 needed for a majority) with the Labour Party coming in second with 266. It predicted a sharp decline for the UK Independence Party (UKIP), with slight gains for the Liberal Democrats and a decline for the Scottish National Party (SNP).

If no party gains a majority, a party would be forced to form a coalition with smaller parties. The Liberal Democrats, who formed a coalition government with the Conservatives from 2010-2015, have sworn off such a solution involving them. The SNP has said it would join with Labour to form a coalition government should it be possible. The Conservatives can rely on two small center-right parties to create a coalition.

Results can be followed here. As of 2:48 local time, Conservatives have gained 6 seats, Labour 9. 

Trump Selects Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court

President Trump announced his selection for the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the late Justice Antonin Scalia last year, with Neil Gorsuch of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals as his pick. Trump said of Gorsuch at the announcement address, "The qualifications of Judge Gorsuch are beyond dispute. He is the man of our country and a man who our country really needs and needs badly to ensure the rule of law and the rule of justice."

Gorsuch has served on the Tenth Circuit Appeal Court since 2006, where he was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by voice vote. A native of Denver, Colorado, he is the son of  Anne Gorsuch Burford, Environmental Protection Agency head under Reagan. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University, where he founded The Fed, a satirical newspaper, along with Andrew Levy, now a Fox News personality. He graduated from Harvard Law School and received a degree from the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar.

Calling Scalia a "lion of the law" at the announcement, Gorsuch is known for his advocacy an originalist, textualist approach in interpreting the Constitution, similar to that of Scalia. Gorsuch will likely most often side with the conservative side of the court should he be confirmed, giving the court a 5-4 conservative majority, with Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy (for whom Gorsuch had once clerked) as the swing vote.

Democrats have begun to announce their opposition to Gorsuch, many angered that Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, received no hearing or vote by the Republican Senate. Sen. Jeff Merkely (D-OR) released a press statement, saying, "This is a stolen seat being filled by an illegitimate and extreme nominee (Gorsuch), and I will do everything in my power to stand up against this assault on the Court.”

If more Democrats feel the same way, it could set a lengthy, tense confirmation battle in the weeks ahead.