| | | | A taxing dilemma for Senate Republicans | | There are two indisputable facts about the tax cut bill Republicans are trying to finesse through the Senate.
1. The Congressional Budget Office analysis of the tax bill shows it will raise the deficit by $1.4 trillion. (And remember that the Senate version repeals the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act as a way to lessen the blow of the deficit increase.)
2. The Joint Committee on Taxation, in a report released Thursday, predicted that the gross domestic product would increase by .8% over 10 years as a result of the tax legislation. That's well short of the 3-5% GDP growth predicted by the most optimistic conservatives and means, in simple terms, that the tax plan would not pay for itself -- or even come close.
For the pre-Trump version of the Republican Party, either one of those facts would have been hard to swallow. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Arizona Sen. John McCain campaigned relentlessly on his lifetime commitment to cutting government spending and working to shrink the deficit that our children and grandchildren would inherit. House Speaker Paul Ryan, too, was touted as a committed deficit hawk. Same with virtually every Republican member of the Senate.
That this bill even has a chance to pass the Senate -- another version passed the House earlier this month -- speaks to just how much Trump has changed the party in a very short period. It also reveals just how desperate Republicans in Congress are to do something -- anything -- they can take back to their voters in 2018 to show they are changing things in Washington.
(Sidebar: The fate of the bill -- due to the very question of deficits -- remains in real limbo as I hit publish tonight.)
The necessity of doing something -- anything! -- may well drag this bill over the line. But don't confuse passage with success. Republicans will need to find a way to grapple with those two facts I outlined above between now and next November.
And that is no easy task.
-- Chris | | | Apparently Ed Sheeran has a "...Baby One More Time" cover and we are here for it. | | "So when you're choosing Michigan's next attorney general, ask yourself this: Who can you trust most not to show you their penis in a professional setting? Is it the candidate who doesn't have a penis? I'd say so."
-Dana Nessel, a Democrat running to be Michigan's attorney general, in a new ad | | | CONYERS, FRANKEN HARASSMENT BACKLASH CONTINUES | | | CNN's MJ Lee on Thursday reported on the latest person to come forward to accuse Sen. Al Franken of inappropriate touching. MJ reported: "Stephanie Kemplin, 41, of Maineville, Ohio, is the fifth woman in two weeks to accuse Franken of inappropriate touching, and the second person to allege that such behavior took place while Franken was on a USO tour. Three of the five women have been identified by name." Kemplin is an Army veteran. She said Franken groped her in December 2003 while she was deployed in Kuwait. Also on Thursday, CNN's Sunlen Serfaty and Juana Summers reported that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has called on Rep. John Conyers to resign after allegations of sexual harassment against the Michigan Democrat. "The allegations against Congressman Conyers, as we have learned more since Sunday, are serious, disappointing and very credible," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference. "It's very sad and the brave women who came forward are owed justice. I will pray for Congressman Conyers and his family, and wish them well. However Congressman Conyers should resign." | | After a sexually explicit photo of Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton surfaced earlier this month on an anonymous Twitter account, the congressman told The Dallas Morning News on Thursday he won't seek re-election. The anonymous tweet, which circulated on social media, included a nude image of the congressman -- which he has not not denied is legitimate.
"I've always listened to people in Texas and worked for them in Washington, and I've been listening to a lot of people the last week in Texas," Barton told the publication. "...There are enough people who lost faith in me that it's time to step aside and let there be a new voice for the 6th District in Washington, so I am not going to run for re-election."
Barton's office confirmed the news to CNN. The longest serving member of the Texas House delegation had previously announced plans to seek re-election to Congress earlier this month. | | MEET THE GUY WHO DELETED TRUMP'S TWITTER ACCOUNT | | The person responsible for taking President Trump off Twitter for 11 minutes has been revealed! TechCrunch first reported the news that Bahtiyar Duysak, a 28-year-old from Germany, was the one behind the social media platform's error.
Duysak, who was working as a contractor at Twitter at the time, told CNN's Laurie Segall that it was "a mistake."
"It's not like I was looking for something or planning to do it. It was in front of me, and I didn't do a good job, and I didn't double-check things," he said. | | YOU'RE (PROBABLY) FIRED IF... | | Scott Lucas, a professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, wrote an op-ed for CNN on Thursday titled "Retweeting racists would get you fired in most jobs, President Trump." Inspired by this, we came up with a list of other things Trump has done that would probably get you fired, if you weren't POTUS: - Bullying people. As Chris has written, Trump sometimes acts like a fifth-grade bully. He's thrown insults at almost everyone, including lawmakers. From making fun of Sen. Bob Corker's height to calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas," he has gotten away with more insensitive remarks than most.
- Picking a fight in the aftermath of an apology. In November, Trump sought the gratitude of three UCLA basketball players after they were arrested in China on suspicion of stealing sunglasses. "Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!" he tweeted. They publicly thanked Trump after he intervened in the case. But Trump shot back at Lavar Ball, the father of one of the UCLA basketball players arrested in China, for belittling the President's role in the release. "I should have left them in jail!" he tweeted.
- Being accused of sexual harassment. This arguably doesn't always get people fired, though the so-called Harvey Weinstein Effect has changed how companies -- across industries -- handle people who are accused of harassment. Last year, many women came forward accusing the then-presidential candidate of sexual harassment, ranging from groping on planes to unwanted advances in the Trump Tower. Others accused of harassment have also so far escaped firing, like Rep. John Conyers and Sen. Al Franken.
- Related: Being caught on tape talking about sexually harassing someone. Also last year, a leaked "Access Hollywood" tape captured audio of Trump bragging about assault, although he later dismissed it as "locker room talk" and now apparently questions whether he ever said it at all. He specifically said he felt he could "grab them by the p****."
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