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CNN/ORC Poll: Confidence drops in Trump transition — Washington (CNN)Donald Trump will become president Friday with an approval rating of just 40%, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, the lowest of any recent president and 44 points below that of President Barack Obama, the 44th president.
Discussion:
alan.com, The Hill, New Century Times, Mediaite, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times and CBS Baltimore
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Poll: Trump will take office as least popular president in at least 4 decades — After a tumultuous campaign and transition, President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office Friday as the least popular incoming president in at least four decades, but a majority of Americans nevertheless …
Discussion:
Politico, Common Dreams, Hot Air, CNN, The Hill, The Week, New York Times, Shakesville, Hullabaloo, ABC News and Mediaite


Trump Remains Unpopular, With the Presidency in Hand (POLL) — Donald Trump enters office as the most unpopular of at least the last seven newly elected presidents, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds, with ratings for handling the transition that are also vastly below those of his predecessors.
Discussion:
The Hill, alan.com, Towleroad, Daily Kos, Althouse, Political Wire and Common Dreams


Trump: Approval polls are rigged against me
Discussion:
Washington Post and RedState

Trump Says The Approval Ratings Polls Are Rigged!
Discussion:
CNBC, Washington Post, FOX News Radio, Business Insider, Political Wire, The Daily Caller, Sputnik International and Politicus USA

Polls show Trump with historically low approval ratings
Discussion:
Washington Post and ABC News


How Repealing Portions of the Affordable Care Act Would Affect Health Insurance Coverage and Premiums — CBO reports on the estimated changes in health insurance coverage and premiums that would result from leaving the Affordable Care Act's insurance market reforms in place while repealing the law's mandate penalties and subsidies.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Politico, The Atlantic, Washington Post, New York Times, Business Insider and Politicus USA
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Putin Says Doesn't Believe Trump Met Prostitutes in Russia — Attacks on Trump seek to undermine election result, Putin says — Unsubstantiated claims are ‘obvious fabrications,’ Putin says — Russian President Vladimir Putin said he doesn't believe that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump met …
Discussion:
Slate, Political Wire, The Slot and Balloon Juice
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In Davos, Trump Aide Talks Deals With Sanctioned Kremlin Fund — Scaramucci, Dmitriev discussed investment with U.S. companies — RDIF preparing visit to Russia by U.S. business delegation — Anthony Scaramucci, aide to President-elect Donald Trump and founder of SkyBridge Capital …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo

A bit of context on Trump, NATO, and Germany
Discussion:
Cafe Hayek

LePage: Chellie Pingree should resign, John Lewis should thank white presidents — Republican Gov. Paul LePage had tough words Tuesday morning for Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree regarding her decision to skip President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday.
Discussion:
The Portland Press Herald, Washington Post, Raw Story, Mediaite and American Thinker
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More Than 40 Democratic Lawmakers Are Boycotting Trump's Inauguration — The number of Democratic lawmakers refusing to attend Donald Trump's inauguration jumped significantly on Monday, with 42 House Democrats now planning to boycott Friday's ceremony, according to the Washington Post.
Discussion:
USA Today, Politico, Fox News Insider, Congressman Ted Lieu, IJR, The Slot, Raw Story, Washington Post, Mediaite, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit, CBS Baltimore and ThinkProgress

More than 50 Democratic lawmakers now skipping Trump's inauguration
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Politico, Slate, Common Dreams, Mediaite, State & Capitol, AOL, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, IJR, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and FOX News Radio

John Lewis, Donald Trump, and the Meaning of Legitimacy
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo


‘He Is Going to Test Our Democracy as It Has Never Been Tested’ — Sometime early last fall, John Dean says he began having nightmares about a Trump presidency. He would wake in the middle of the night, agitated and alarmed, struggling to calm his nerves.
Discussion:
Political Wire and Raw Story

DisruptJ20 Releases Statement on Project Veritas Video — January 16, 2017 — Contact: Lacy MacAuley, (202) 815-0288, lacymacauley@gmail.com — Legba Carrefour, (202) 297-4511, media@disruptj20.org — DisruptJ20 Releases Statement on Project Veritas Video
Discussion:
Washingtonian, The Gateway Pundit and Project Veritas
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CIA Director John Brennan Rejects Donald Trump's Criticism — Outgoing CIA Director John Brennan rejected Donald Trump's suggestions that he may have leaked an unsubstantiated dossier on the president-elect while defending the U.S. intelligence community more broadly.


In ‘Brexit’ Speech, Theresa May Outlines a Clean Break for U.K. — LONDON — In a speech that holds the potential to define Britain's relations with its neighbors for decades to come, Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday charted a course toward a clean break with the European Union …
Discussion:
Power Line, New York Magazine, The Guardian, NPR, BillMoyers.com, Forbes, Vox, The Daily Caller, Sputnik International and Business Insider
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The Most Successful Democrat Since F.D.R. — When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, he understood, without quite saying it, that there had been no highly successful Democratic president in decades. — Bill Clinton made the country a better place, but his biggest legislative plans failed and he was beset by scandal.
Discussion:
Instapundit and Politico


First on CNN: Trump's cabinet pick invested in company, then introduced a bill to help it — Tom Price in 60 seconds Story highlights — Washington (CNN)Rep. Tom Price last year purchased shares in a medical device manufacturer days before introducing legislation that would have directly benefited …
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ThinkProgress, RedState, Washington Post, Reuters, The Huffington Post, Political Wire, The Nation, Dr. Jen Gunter, Business Insider, New York Times, The Week, twitchy.com, Outside the Beltway, The Democratic Daily, STAT, ACASignups.net, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Occupy Democrats, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story and KTLA
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Betsy DeVos Wants to Use America's Schools to Build “God's Kingdom” — It's Christmastime in Holland, Michigan, and the northerly winds from Lake Macatawa bring a merciless chill to the small city covered in deep snow. The sparkly lights on the trees in downtown luxury storefronts illuminate …
Discussion:
The Guardian, NPR, Raw Story, twitchy.com, Washington Post and Politicus USA
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How Trump's Pick for Education Secretary May Reignite the Education Wars
Discussion:
Politico


Lifelong Woodmont Country Club member resigns over Obama golf controversy — The mayor of a tony Maryland suburb resigned from a prominent golf club on Monday because the club might not welcome President Obama as a member. — Jeffrey Slavin, the mayor of the Montgomery County town of Somerset …

The Daily 202: Monica Crowley losing White House job shows that the rules of politics still apply for Donald Trump — THE BIG IDEA: Donald Trump and his team believe that the rules and norms of Washington do not apply to them. They are wrong, and yesterday brought a significant proof point.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Business Insider, NBC News, Washington Times and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »

Hair stylist to Marla Maples: No free services in exchange for Inauguration Day ‘exposure’ — Though Donald Trump and his family project an image of boundless wealth, a Washington-based hairstylist says the president-elect's second wife tried to get out of paying her to style her tresses …
Discussion:
Mediaite and New York Magazine