| | | | 5 reasons Paul Ryan should quit in 2018 | | | The news that Speaker Paul Ryan is engaged in "soul searching" about his political future and could leave Congress after the 2018 election shocked a political Washington sprinting toward a tax cut vote and Christmas recess. It shouldn't.
While Ryan insists he isn't leaving anytime soon -- not a denial, it's worth noting! -- there's a very strong case to be made that quitting at the end of 2018 is the best possible move for his political future.
Here are five good reasons why. 1. The George Costanza Effect: There's an episode of "Seinfeld" in which George realizes that his best move at work is to make a joke that people laugh at and then leave -- he calls it going out on a high note. (See the technique here.) The theory is that you should leave on your own terms and at a moment when people have a good feeling about you.
Assuming the tax plan passes Congress sometime before Christmas, that may be as good as it gets for Ryan -- a nerd who allegedly always dreamed about chairing the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. He can walk out of the Capitol with his head held high and his legacy intact.
2. The 2018 midterms: As of right now, it's a 50-50-ish shot as to whether Ryan will even have a speakership to walk away from come late 2018. Results in Virginia and in the Alabama Senate race on Tuesday suggest a hugely engaged Democratic base and a far less enthusiastic Republican base. A new Monmouth University national poll gives Democrats a massive 15-point edge on the generic ballot question.
3. Donald Trump: Ryan, more than anyone, has to know that Trump is mercurial and unpredictable. Who's to say that Trump's relationship with Ryan won't go the way of Trump's relationship with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell -- where the President was openly suggesting that McConnell might need to step aside if tax reform didn't pass?
4. This isn't Paul Ryan's party anymore: Ryan soared to national prominence on the wings of his much-ballyhooed budget, which offered deep cuts to entitlement programs in order to reduce the national debt. Trump's takeover of the Republican Party during the 2016 campaign pushed all of that aside. Trump promised to preserve Social Security and Medicare in their current form. And Trump has shown little concern for growing government spending in order to get his priorities accomplished.
5. 2020/2024/2028: If Ryan does have some interest in running for president -- and he's got oodles of time, since he is only 47 years old -- getting out of Washington and the speakership is a very good idea. (I wrote when Ryan agreed to be speaker that it was a bad move for his presidential prospects.)
People hate Washington. Especially the Republican grassroots. (How do you think we got a President Trump?) The less associated Ryan is with the near-certain legislative failures to come over the next few years, the better for his chances of running for president successfully one day.
The Point: Ryan is insistent he is sticking around for the foreseeable future. But right now may be as good as it gets for him as leader of the GOP in Congress. Why not go out on -- or at least within shouting distance of -- the top? | | 'WE BEAT OUR GOAL BY A LOT' | | | President Donald Trump used gold scissors to cut through a red banner on Thursday to signify his administration's efforts to cut through bureaucratic red tape. "We beat our goal by a lot," Trump said, regarding regulations. "Instead of adding costs ... for the first time in decades, we achieved regulatory savings. Hasn't happened in many decades. We blew our target out of the water." | | MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE TRUMPS | | | The above photo landed in the inboxes of CNN's Liz Landers and other White House reporters this afternoon. Merry Christmas from POTUS & FLOTUS! While we're talking about Christmas, you should check out Brenna's story on presidents giving serious speeches in front of Christmas decorations. Turns out, presidents love their tree decorations. | | | Finally a non-creepy version of "Baby it's Cold Outside" by Lydia Liza and Josiah Lemanski. H/T CNN's Leigh Munsil. Side note: If you are good at YouTube creeping, you may be able to find a high school choir performance of Saba singing this song with her friend. Good luck. | | "I wish I had been able to do more for Anita Hill. I owe her an apology."
-Former Vice President Joe Biden, who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee when Hill testified there in 1991. | | | FARENTHOLD TO SAY FAREWELL | | Rep. Blake Farenthold, who's under fire for accusations of sexual harassment, is not planning to run for re-election, a Republican source familiar with situation told CNN's Deirdre Walsh and MJ Lee on Thursday.
"Look, I had a couple of conversations with Blake Farenthold," House Speaker Paul Ryan said at his weekly news conference. "I think he's making the right decision to retire. There are new stories that are disconcerting. Unacceptable behavior has been alleged in those stories. And I think he's made the right decision that he's leaving Congress. And that reflects on the conversations we've had."
The news comes after a CNN report Wednesday that a former senior aide to the congressman has approached the House Ethics Committee to share a damning account of working for Farenthold. The Texas Republican plans to retire at the end of his term | | SANDY HOOK: 5 YEARS LATER | | CNN's Cassie Spodak talked to Sen. Chris Murphy, the Connecticut Democrat who has made it his priority to address gun violence ever since the 20 children were killed inside Sandy Hook Elementary five years ago.
"I was just outside the room as we told the parents. There are a lot of days when I wish that I hadn't heard the things I heard or seen the things I saw that day. It was a feeling of helplessness that's hard to describe," Murphy said of the shooting. "These parents, they're my age, their kids are my kids' ages."
Since that day, and with many of the families of the Newtown victims by his side, Murphy has made it his mission to end what he calls an "epidemic" of gun violence. He told CNN it would feel like a "personal failure" if he doesn't make progress on the issue.
Check out Cassie's story here. And if you need a good cry, read more about the the Sandy Hook victims -- 12 girls, eight boys and six women --- in this CNN story. | | DEMS' NEW ROADMAP TO VICTORY? | | CNN's Gregory Krieg and Sam Petulla looked at whether Doug Jones' win in Alabama's special Senate election on Tuesday provided a roadmap for Democrats for future elections. They write:
"The question now: Did the Jones campaign provide a roadmap for Democrats to states and districts so long deemed off-limits to liberal politicians? "The short answer is ... still complicated. While the outlines of a mobilized, Democratic coalition appear to be forming, it's difficult to say where Jones's luck -- mostly in the form of all things Roy Moore -- gave way to the shrewd strategic decisions made by his campaign.
"Democrats improved on their margins with African-Americans, college-educated whites and younger voters, especially. This same coalition recently carried candidates in the elections in Virginia and New Jersey as well. Democrats, regardless of where they run, can take a few fundamental lessons from Alabama and beyond."
Read more in their story -- complete with charts like the one above -- here. | | | From CNN's Seth Fiegerman: "The Republican-led Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to approve a controversial plan to repeal Obama-era net neutrality protections. The repeal passed 3-2, along a party-line vote."
What does that mean exactly? Seth broke it down here. But basically: "The net neutrality rules were approved by the FCC in 2015 amid an outpouring of online support. The intention was to keep the internet open and fair."
Now, the FCC is "doing away with rules barring internet providers from blocking or slowing down access to online content. The FCC would also eliminate a rule barring providers from prioritizing their own content." | | From Brenna: On the sixth day of GIFmas, 2017 gave to me … The Mooch Smooch. Anthony Scaramucci, we hardly knew thee. As the White House Comms Director, that is.
Before his 10 days in the White House, which ended after a vulgar phone call with a reporter and started at the same time as the announcement of then-press secretary Sean Spicer's departure, America was unknowingly given a sign of the bizarro ride to come. At the end of his first appearance at the White House briefing, wherein he was questioned about the nature of his job and relationship with President Trump, "The Mooch" blew a kiss to the press. Actually, it was a kiss/wave combo. The Mooch is nothing if not extra.
A much more affectionate sendoff than the press is used to, and essentially the iconic image of Scaramucci's week and a half on the job. The Mooch was ousted when John Kelly took over as chief of staff.
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