DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Why a Firm Believer in Tax Cuts Could Derail the Senate Tax Cut Plan
WASHINGTON — On the eve of the House’s vote to pass a far-reaching $1.5 trillion tax cut, Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin placed a hasty phone call to his state’s senior senator, Ron Johnson, in hopes of resolving an unlikely conflict in his own back yard.
Mr. Johnson had become the first Senate Republican to say publicly that he could not vote for the Senate’s version of the tax bill. During the phone call on Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Ryan, who had campaigned heavily for Mr. Johnson in 2016, posed an essential question, according to the senator: “What are you going to need?”
What Mr. Johnson needs, he said in an interview from Wisconsin on Friday, is for the bill to treat more favorably small businesses and other so-called pass-through entities — businesses whose profits are distributed to their owners and taxed at rates for individuals. Such entities, including Mr. Johnson’s family-run plastics manufacturing business, account for more than half of the nation’s business income, and the senator says the tax bill would give an unfair advantage to larger corporations.
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Mr. Johnson had become the first Senate Republican to say publicly that he could not vote for the Senate’s version of the tax bill. During the phone call on Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Ryan, who had campaigned heavily for Mr. Johnson in 2016, posed an essential question, according to the senator: “What are you going to need?”
What Mr. Johnson needs, he said in an interview from Wisconsin on Friday, is for the bill to treat more favorably small businesses and other so-called pass-through entities — businesses whose profits are distributed to their owners and taxed at rates for individuals. Such entities, including Mr. Johnson’s family-run plastics manufacturing business, account for more than half of the nation’s business income, and the senator says the tax bill would give an unfair advantage to larger corporations.
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Monday, November 20, 2017
WWII veteran calls for help and dies as nurses laugh, video shows
A hidden video from 2014 showed nurses laughing as a World War II veteran repeatedly called for help and died while in their care.
The family of James Dempsey, 89, of Woodstock, Ga., hid a camera in the late veteran’s room in the Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation Center which captured the night he died.
The video showed the decorated WWII veteran repeatedly calling for help, saying he could not breathe. It also showed the nurses failing to take life-saving measures and laughing as they tried to start an oxygen machine.
More/Video
The family of James Dempsey, 89, of Woodstock, Ga., hid a camera in the late veteran’s room in the Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation Center which captured the night he died.
The video showed the decorated WWII veteran repeatedly calling for help, saying he could not breathe. It also showed the nurses failing to take life-saving measures and laughing as they tried to start an oxygen machine.
More/Video
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/18/wwii-veteran-calls-for-help-and-dies-as-nurses-laugh-video-shows.html
Steve Bannon on the Bush Family: 'I’ve Got No Time for Them'
Breitbart News Executive Chairman and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon tore into the Bush dynasty Friday, saying he has “no time for them” and explaining how they are an example of the “permanent political class.”
Bannon spoke at a retreat at the David Horowitz Freedom Center in Palm Beach Florida, and he made reference to the recent book The Last Republicans, in which it is reported that neither President George H.W. Bush nor President George W. Bush voted for President Trump.
He told the audience:
When old man Bush, between grabbing women in the Oval Office (yeh I went there) when he says that he voted for Hillary Clinton and when Bush 43 — the most destructive president and the most destructive presidency in the history of our country, including James Buchanan, when he says he didn’t vote, he voted some write-in, or he didn’t vote for President Trump, that’s all you got to know about those guys.
He said their inability to make a distinction between Trump and Clinton shows how they are fundamentally entwined with the permanent political class.
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Bannon spoke at a retreat at the David Horowitz Freedom Center in Palm Beach Florida, and he made reference to the recent book The Last Republicans, in which it is reported that neither President George H.W. Bush nor President George W. Bush voted for President Trump.
He told the audience:
When old man Bush, between grabbing women in the Oval Office (yeh I went there) when he says that he voted for Hillary Clinton and when Bush 43 — the most destructive president and the most destructive presidency in the history of our country, including James Buchanan, when he says he didn’t vote, he voted some write-in, or he didn’t vote for President Trump, that’s all you got to know about those guys.
He said their inability to make a distinction between Trump and Clinton shows how they are fundamentally entwined with the permanent political class.
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What if Ken Starr Was Right?
In the longstanding liberal narrative about Bill Clinton and his scandals, the one pushed by Clinton courtiers and ratified in media coverage of his post-presidency, our 42nd president was only guilty of being a horndog, his affairs were nobody’s business but his family’s, and oral sex with Monica Lewinsky was a small thing that should never have put his presidency in peril.
That narrative could not survive the current wave of outrage over male sexual misconduct.
So now a new one may be forming for the age of Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump. In this story, Kenneth Starr and the Republicans are still dismissed as partisan witch hunters. But liberals might be willing to concede that the Lewinsky affair was a pretty big deal morally, a clear abuse of sexual power, for which Clinton probably should have been pressured to resign.
This new narrative lines up with what’s often been my own assessment of the Clinton scandals. I have never been a Clinton hater; indeed, I’ve always been a little mystified by the scale of Republican dislike for the most centrist of recent Democratic leaders. So I’ve generally held what I’ve considered a sensible middle-ground position on his sins — that he should have stepped down when the Lewinsky affair came to light, but that the Republican effort to impeach him was a hopeless attempt to legislate against dishonor.
But a moment of reassessment is a good time to reassess things for yourself, so I spent this week reading about the lost world of the 1990s. I skimmed the Starr Report. I leafed through books by George Stephanopoulos and Joe Klein and Michael Isikoff. I dug into Troopergate and Whitewater and other first-term scandals. I reacquainted myself with Gennifer Flowers and Webb Hubbell, James Riady and Marc Rich.
Continue reading the main story
After doing all this reading, I’m not sure my reasonable middle ground is actually reasonable. It may be that the conservatives of the 1990s were simply right about Clinton, that once he failed to resign he really deserved to be impeached.
More here
That narrative could not survive the current wave of outrage over male sexual misconduct.
So now a new one may be forming for the age of Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump. In this story, Kenneth Starr and the Republicans are still dismissed as partisan witch hunters. But liberals might be willing to concede that the Lewinsky affair was a pretty big deal morally, a clear abuse of sexual power, for which Clinton probably should have been pressured to resign.
This new narrative lines up with what’s often been my own assessment of the Clinton scandals. I have never been a Clinton hater; indeed, I’ve always been a little mystified by the scale of Republican dislike for the most centrist of recent Democratic leaders. So I’ve generally held what I’ve considered a sensible middle-ground position on his sins — that he should have stepped down when the Lewinsky affair came to light, but that the Republican effort to impeach him was a hopeless attempt to legislate against dishonor.
But a moment of reassessment is a good time to reassess things for yourself, so I spent this week reading about the lost world of the 1990s. I skimmed the Starr Report. I leafed through books by George Stephanopoulos and Joe Klein and Michael Isikoff. I dug into Troopergate and Whitewater and other first-term scandals. I reacquainted myself with Gennifer Flowers and Webb Hubbell, James Riady and Marc Rich.
Continue reading the main story
After doing all this reading, I’m not sure my reasonable middle ground is actually reasonable. It may be that the conservatives of the 1990s were simply right about Clinton, that once he failed to resign he really deserved to be impeached.
More here
Lyndon Johnson's Terrible Legacy
Recently my wife and I spent a morning at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas. The damage done by this big bully is incalculable. His library reminds us of the start of the blizzard of government expansion during Johnson's presidential term, which lasted from the Kennedy assassination in October 1963 to his decision not to run for a full second term in 1968, which usually is attributed to his failure to end the war in Vietnam.
Johnson was an admirer of FDR and was determined to revive and complete what he believed should have been integral parts to FDR's New Deal. Johnson called his program The Great Society.
As if ignorance of the consequences of this socialist expansion of domestic control by government was not enough, LBJ expanded the war in Vietnam, promising America both Guns and Butter. Even today we live with this expansion of government domestic programs and seemingly never-ending wars as the modern Welfare/Warfare state.
The Johnson Treatment
I called Johnson a big bully in the paragraph above. I believe my assessment is justified by what actually is celebrated at his presidential library. The displays proudly explain and document "the Johnson touch" in print, photograph, and actual recorded telephone interviews. Johnson was a big man who towered over most people. He had a habit of getting very close to someone, leaning over at the waist, and forcing his partner in conversation to bend over backwards to avoid an uncomfortable encounter with LBJ's face. There is a large picture of Johnson giving Supreme Court Associate Justice Abe Fortas this "Johnson Treatment", literally face-to-face.Fortas, who was a long time LBJ supporter, appears to be taking the "Treatment" in good humor, but it is easy to see how it would be almost impossible to keep one's dignity with the president of the United States performing this obviously uncomfortable act.
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Johnson was an admirer of FDR and was determined to revive and complete what he believed should have been integral parts to FDR's New Deal. Johnson called his program The Great Society.
As if ignorance of the consequences of this socialist expansion of domestic control by government was not enough, LBJ expanded the war in Vietnam, promising America both Guns and Butter. Even today we live with this expansion of government domestic programs and seemingly never-ending wars as the modern Welfare/Warfare state.
The Johnson Treatment
I called Johnson a big bully in the paragraph above. I believe my assessment is justified by what actually is celebrated at his presidential library. The displays proudly explain and document "the Johnson touch" in print, photograph, and actual recorded telephone interviews. Johnson was a big man who towered over most people. He had a habit of getting very close to someone, leaning over at the waist, and forcing his partner in conversation to bend over backwards to avoid an uncomfortable encounter with LBJ's face. There is a large picture of Johnson giving Supreme Court Associate Justice Abe Fortas this "Johnson Treatment", literally face-to-face.Fortas, who was a long time LBJ supporter, appears to be taking the "Treatment" in good humor, but it is easy to see how it would be almost impossible to keep one's dignity with the president of the United States performing this obviously uncomfortable act.
More
Packin' Pastor Shoots Intruder
Georgia pastor shoots home invader in wee hours of the morning.
Pictures from the incident show the broken basement window and the quaint country home not too far off of Georgia Highway 92.
Law enforcement said Simmons received a gunshot wound to the head and collapsed in the family’s back yard when he was presumably trying to get away. Simmons was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital where he is currently in stable condition.
Charges are pending for the attempted burglar, who apparently lived nearby, but local investigators said they were not sure why the pastor’s family was targeted.
More
Pictures from the incident show the broken basement window and the quaint country home not too far off of Georgia Highway 92.
Law enforcement said Simmons received a gunshot wound to the head and collapsed in the family’s back yard when he was presumably trying to get away. Simmons was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital where he is currently in stable condition.
Charges are pending for the attempted burglar, who apparently lived nearby, but local investigators said they were not sure why the pastor’s family was targeted.
More
Democrats Defensive About Clinton’s Name on New Hampshire Fund-Raising Dinner
The New Hampshire Democratic Party’s annual fall fundraising dinner was part celebration of this year’s victories by state Democrats and part pep-rally for the bigger electoral fights ahead in 2018.
The dinner, held in Hollis, was also an early screen test for two 2020 Democratic White House hopefuls.
And the annual Kennedy-Clinton dinner also came with some controversy, as hours before the gathering the chairwoman of the New Hampshire GOP called for former President Bill Clinton’s name to be dropped from the event because of the revived sexual misconduct debate over the former president.
The dinner was held just a week and a half after the party enjoyed a big night in municipal elections, including Joyce Craig becoming the first woman ever and the first Democrat in 14 years to win a Manchester mayoral election. Democrats also swept the field in Nashua’s elections for board of aldermen and was victorious in both state House of Representatives special elections, flipping one seat from red to blue.
“While we have plenty of work to do, New Hampshire Democrats have a lot to celebrate,” said longtime state party Chairman Ray Buckley.
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The dinner, held in Hollis, was also an early screen test for two 2020 Democratic White House hopefuls.
And the annual Kennedy-Clinton dinner also came with some controversy, as hours before the gathering the chairwoman of the New Hampshire GOP called for former President Bill Clinton’s name to be dropped from the event because of the revived sexual misconduct debate over the former president.
The dinner was held just a week and a half after the party enjoyed a big night in municipal elections, including Joyce Craig becoming the first woman ever and the first Democrat in 14 years to win a Manchester mayoral election. Democrats also swept the field in Nashua’s elections for board of aldermen and was victorious in both state House of Representatives special elections, flipping one seat from red to blue.
“While we have plenty of work to do, New Hampshire Democrats have a lot to celebrate,” said longtime state party Chairman Ray Buckley.
More
We’re Sick of Being Shamed for Supporting America
Patriotic Americans are really getting sick and tired of being shamed for loving our country.
If you think I’m wrong … look no further than the NFL. Ratings are in the toilet. Stadiums are empty. Owners are melting down.
But it’s not just football. It’s everything.
Good luck trying to watch television without having an anti-Trump agenda shoved down your throat. Storylines have been adjusted to advance the “poor illegal immigrants” and “all Trump supporters are Nazis” and “police are all racist” narratives.
Uh oh – the wind blew down my “Vote Democrat” sign. Someone call the cops!
Social media is fun. God forbid you make the mistake of sharing ANYTHING that’s patriotic. The American flag is a sign of oppression.
Someone pay for my degree in basket weaving so I can drink all day instead of going to class. Bernie Sanders said that’s the American dream!
Articles in support of cops means you conspire to hurt innocent Americans. Did you say CHRISTMAS? You must hate Muslims and Jews.
More
If you think I’m wrong … look no further than the NFL. Ratings are in the toilet. Stadiums are empty. Owners are melting down.
But it’s not just football. It’s everything.
Good luck trying to watch television without having an anti-Trump agenda shoved down your throat. Storylines have been adjusted to advance the “poor illegal immigrants” and “all Trump supporters are Nazis” and “police are all racist” narratives.
Uh oh – the wind blew down my “Vote Democrat” sign. Someone call the cops!
Social media is fun. God forbid you make the mistake of sharing ANYTHING that’s patriotic. The American flag is a sign of oppression.
Someone pay for my degree in basket weaving so I can drink all day instead of going to class. Bernie Sanders said that’s the American dream!
Articles in support of cops means you conspire to hurt innocent Americans. Did you say CHRISTMAS? You must hate Muslims and Jews.
More
GQ: Blue Lives Don’t Matter
GQ Magazine, in a desperate attempt to remain relevant, has decided to go all in on the anti-police movement largely embraced by the NFL. They decided to name Colin Kaepernick as Citizen of the Year.
You’d think they would have taken note of the empty stadiums and ratings in the toilet when it comes to football. But no.
I have to imagine their latest public relations move was the recommendation of a liberal college student who dropped out after 11 years bouncing back and forth between gender studies and hangovers.
That’s right, America – the football player who can’t even get a job because he:
A) Sucks at football
B) Disrespects our police and our veterans
C) Hates America
… has been chosen as the citizen of the year.
The story is called “Colin Kaepernick Will Not Be Silenced.” That’s fair, because all this race-baiting, anti-American bum has been doing for the past year is whining that nobody wants to hire him.
More
You’d think they would have taken note of the empty stadiums and ratings in the toilet when it comes to football. But no.
I have to imagine their latest public relations move was the recommendation of a liberal college student who dropped out after 11 years bouncing back and forth between gender studies and hangovers.
That’s right, America – the football player who can’t even get a job because he:
A) Sucks at football
B) Disrespects our police and our veterans
C) Hates America
… has been chosen as the citizen of the year.
The story is called “Colin Kaepernick Will Not Be Silenced.” That’s fair, because all this race-baiting, anti-American bum has been doing for the past year is whining that nobody wants to hire him.
More
Argentina’s Navy Detects Noises at Sea That Could Be From Missing Submarine
The Argentinian navy on Monday detected noises that officials believe could be from Argentina's missing submarine, the ARA San Juan.
The San Juan, which has a crew of 44, was last heard heard from on Wednesday before it went missing in the Atlantic Ocean.
A senior U.S. Navy official familiar with the service's assistance in the search for the submarine told CNN that the sonar systems of two ships picked up noises that sounded like tools being banged against the hull of a submarine.
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The San Juan, which has a crew of 44, was last heard heard from on Wednesday before it went missing in the Atlantic Ocean.
A senior U.S. Navy official familiar with the service's assistance in the search for the submarine told CNN that the sonar systems of two ships picked up noises that sounded like tools being banged against the hull of a submarine.
More
Eight women say Charlie Rose sexually harassed them
Eight women have told The Washington Post that longtime television host Charlie Rose made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas.
The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the “Charlie Rose” show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters. Rose, 75, whose show airs on PBS, also co-hosts “CBS This Morning” and is a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes.”
There are striking commonalities in the accounts of the women, each of whom described their interactions with Rose in multiple interviews with The Post.
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The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the “Charlie Rose” show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters. Rose, 75, whose show airs on PBS, also co-hosts “CBS This Morning” and is a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes.”
There are striking commonalities in the accounts of the women, each of whom described their interactions with Rose in multiple interviews with The Post.
More
Don’t Worry, New Hampshire Women, Bill Clinton’s Got Your Back on This One
Pity the poor Democrats. Bill Clinton a problematic figure. Who knew?
New Hampshire Democrats are under fire over their annual fund raiser, which they currently call the Kennedy-Clinton Dinner.
Why is that a problem?
It’s not clear. Democrats are the party of women. And Bill Clinton is all about women, too.
There must be some sort of misunderstanding.
It’s an ancient tradition, this Kennedy-Clinton Dinner. Goes all the way back to 2016. (Is anybody reading this old enough to remember 2016?) That year, it was held in late October (or so the chronicles say), just 10 days before Hillary Rodham won her great victory and became president of the United States.
She did, didn’t she? My 2016 history is a little rusty.
Now, for you antiquarians, long before 2016 the Kennedy-Clinton Dinner had another name. As in many other states, the New Hampshire Democratic Party used to call its annual fund raiser the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, after the two presidents that Democrats consider their founders.
They would be Thomas Jefferson, the slaveholder, and Andrew Jackson, the slaveholder and oppressor of Elizabeth Warren’s non-ancestors.
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New Hampshire Democrats are under fire over their annual fund raiser, which they currently call the Kennedy-Clinton Dinner.
Why is that a problem?
It’s not clear. Democrats are the party of women. And Bill Clinton is all about women, too.
There must be some sort of misunderstanding.
It’s an ancient tradition, this Kennedy-Clinton Dinner. Goes all the way back to 2016. (Is anybody reading this old enough to remember 2016?) That year, it was held in late October (or so the chronicles say), just 10 days before Hillary Rodham won her great victory and became president of the United States.
She did, didn’t she? My 2016 history is a little rusty.
Now, for you antiquarians, long before 2016 the Kennedy-Clinton Dinner had another name. As in many other states, the New Hampshire Democratic Party used to call its annual fund raiser the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, after the two presidents that Democrats consider their founders.
They would be Thomas Jefferson, the slaveholder, and Andrew Jackson, the slaveholder and oppressor of Elizabeth Warren’s non-ancestors.
More
Eight women say Charlie Rose sexually harassed them
Eight women have told The Washington Post that longtime television host Charlie Rose made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas.
The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the “Charlie Rose” show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters. Rose, 75, whose show airs on PBS, also co-hosts “CBS This Morning” and is a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes.”
There are striking commonalities in the accounts of the women, each of whom described their interactions with Rose in multiple interviews with The Post.
More
The women were employees or aspired to work for Rose at the “Charlie Rose” show from the late 1990s to as recently as 2011. They ranged in age from 21 to 37 at the time of the alleged encounters. Rose, 75, whose show airs on PBS, also co-hosts “CBS This Morning” and is a contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes.”
There are striking commonalities in the accounts of the women, each of whom described their interactions with Rose in multiple interviews with The Post.
More
Washington Post: ‘Defiant’ Alabama Voters Are Sticking With Moore Photo of Alex Pfeiffer ALEX PFEIFFER
Alabama Republican leaders are sticking by Senate candidate Roy Moore despite national pressure to ditch him.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that attacks on Moore from Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the media are just motivating many to double down in their support of the embattled Senate candidate.
“Alabamians will be the ultimate jury in this election, not the media or those from afar,” said Terry Lathan, the GOP state chairwoman.
A Fox News poll released Thursday showed Democratic candidate Doug Jones ahead with 50 percent and Moore at 42 percent. However, CNN’s Jake Tapper noted that voters aren’t “inclined to be completely forthright with pollsters” when a candidate has been accused of sexual misconduct with minors.
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The Washington Post reported Saturday that attacks on Moore from Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the media are just motivating many to double down in their support of the embattled Senate candidate.
“Alabamians will be the ultimate jury in this election, not the media or those from afar,” said Terry Lathan, the GOP state chairwoman.
A Fox News poll released Thursday showed Democratic candidate Doug Jones ahead with 50 percent and Moore at 42 percent. However, CNN’s Jake Tapper noted that voters aren’t “inclined to be completely forthright with pollsters” when a candidate has been accused of sexual misconduct with minors.
More
Breaking News: The Justice Department will sue to block AT&T's bid for Time Warner, setting up a showdown over the first big merger of the Trump presidency
| The Justice Department plans to file a lawsuit aimed at blocking AT&T’s $85.4 billion bid for Time Warner, a person familiar with the move said on Monday. |
| By challenging the deal, the Justice Department would signal that its approach to antitrust issues is starkly different from the course of action followed during the Obama presidency. |
| Read More » |
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