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Behind closed doors, Republican lawmakers fret about how to repeal Obamacare — PHILADELPHIA — Republican lawmakers aired sharp concerns about their party's quick push to repeal the Affordable Care Act inside a closed-door meeting Thursday, according to a recording of the session obtained by The Washington Post.
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In private meeting, Pence vows ‘full evaluation of voting rolls’ over claims of fraud — In a private meeting with congressional Republicans this week, Vice President Pence vowed that the Trump administration would pursue a wide-ranging probe of voting rolls in the United States …


Trump argument bolstered: Clinton received 800,000 votes from noncitizens, study finds — Hillary Clinton garnered more than 800,000 votes from noncitizens on Nov. 8, an approximation far short of President Trump's estimate of up to 5 million illegal voters but supportive of his charges of fraud.
Discussion:
The Lid, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Free Beacon

Voting Fraud Inquiry? The Investigators Got Burned Last Time — For days President Trump has promoted the absurd notion that three million to five million people voted illegally in the presidential election. — On Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump went further.
Discussion:
Althouse and Talking Points Memo


Donald Trump's Mexico Tantrum — Less than a week into the job, President Trump on Thursday raised the specter of a trade war with America's third-largest partner, Mexico, as the White House warned that the United States could impose a 20 percent tariff on Mexican imports.
Discussion:
The Week, Washington Post, ABC News, Daily Kos, Politico, FiveThirtyEight and Refinery29
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Mexico's Vicente Fox to Trump: We are ‘ready for the trade war’
Discussion:
ABC News, Mediaite and The Gateway Pundit

Melania Trump Appears on Cover of Mexican Vanity Fair Amidst Tensions
Discussion:
Washington Post, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, Refinery29, Heat Street, AOL, Fox News Insider and Mashable


President Trump: ‘Very Early’ To Talk About Lifting Sanctions Against Russia — President Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that he believes it's still “very early” to be talking about lifting sanctions against Russia. His comments came a day ahead of a planned phone call between …
Discussion:
Politico and Associated Press
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Trump: March for Life demonstrators ‘have my full support’
Discussion:
ABC News

Calexit backers can begin collecting signatures to qualify for 2018 ballot — Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment seeking California's secession from the U.S. can begin collecting voter signatures to qualify for the 2018 ballot, the secretary of state's office said Thursday.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and The American Mirror
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A viral Washington Post story about State Department resignations is very misleading — On Thursday morning, the Washington Post published a piece with an explosive headline: “The State Department's entire senior management team just resigned.” The piece alleged that Undersecretary …
Discussion:
Israpundit, Washington Blade, UN Dispatch, Power Line, The Daily Caller and twitchy.com


Trump won't attend Alfalfa Club dinner — President Donald Trump will not attend the annual Alfalfa Club dinner Saturday night, an exclusive black-tie dinner — and White House roast — that every president since Ronald Reagan has attended. — Instead of the president himself …
Discussion:
New York Times and Political Wire


Rod Blagojevich's 20-year-old daughter Amy unloads on Barack Obama — Patti Blagojevich with her daughters Annie, center, and Amy on Aug. 9, 2016, at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago after former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's resentencing. — Scratch the Obamas off Amy Blagojevich's Christmas card list.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Althouse


How Author Timothy Tyson Found the Woman at the Center of the Emmett Till Case — With a renewed cultural interest in the 1955 murder that catalyzed the 20th century civil rights movement, an interview with the author of a new book who tracked down the long-hidden woman at its center.

Trump pressured Park Service to find proof for his claims about inauguration crowd — On the morning after Donald Trump's inauguration, acting National Park Service director Michael T. Reynolds received an extraordinary summons: The new president wanted to talk to him.
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Mikhail Gorbachev: ‘It All Looks as if the World Is Preparing for War’ — Mikhail Gorbachev was the president of the Soviet Union and is the author of The New Russia. — The world today is overwhelmed with problems. Policymakers seem to be confused and at a loss.
Discussion:
AOL, Common Dreams, Mediaite, NBC News and The Week


The Bannon coup — White House and Hill GOP leaders are astonished by the unambiguous, far-reaching power of Steve Bannon and policy guru Stephen Miller over, well, just about everything. — They wrote the Inaugural speech and set in fast motion a series of moves to cement Trump as an America-first Nationalist.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, The Guardian, The Week, The Other McCain, Mashable, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Power Line, BizPac Review, Naked Politics, Daily Kos, Telegraph, New Republic, Hot Air, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit, Media Matters for America, The Daily Caller, The Last Tradition, AOL, The Hill and Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »

Melania Trump wins round in libel suit over blogger's ‘escort’ claims — First lady Melania Trump prevailed Friday in the first round of a $150 million libel suit she filed against a Maryland blogger over a report he published last summer about claims that Trump worked as a “high-end escort.”
Discussion:
RedState and John Hawkins' Right Wing News, more at Mediagazer »


Huge shakeup at ‘Today’ to make way for Megyn Kelly — More On: — NBC is canceling the third hour of “Today” to make way for new star Megyn Kelly, sources exclusively confirm to Page Six. — We're told Kelly will take over either the 9 a.m. hour from Tamron Hall and Al Roker or will replace Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford.
Discussion:
Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »


Trump's radical immigration plan: Enforce the law — There's one fundamental difference between the new White House and the old when it comes to immigration: Barack Obama ordered his administration not to enforce a number of immigration laws. Donald Trump has ordered his administration to enforce them.


Trump's Little Mexican War — The President is treating our neighbor like Obama treated Israel.
Discussion:
NBC News


Trump and the Republicans Are on a Suicide Mission Together — And we'll all have to live with the fallout. — One of the things supposedly driving President Donald Trump to distraction, in what should be a celebratory first week in office, is that he isn't getting a honeymoon period from the media and the general public.
Discussion:
Washington Post and The Atlantic

Sen. Franken: No Democrat will vote for Betsy DeVos as education secretary — and we're seeking Republicans to oppose her … Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) told Rachel Maddow on her MSNBC show Thursday night that no Democrat will vote to confirm Betsy DeVos, the Michigan billionaire tapped by President Trump to be his education secretary.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, WOOD-TV, Common Dreams and Politico


Why the media keeps losing to Donald Trump — Donald Trump is obsessed with the media. And the media is obsessed with Trump. Let's take it as a given that this obsession is unhealthy. The last time there was such a level of neurotic fixation and overwhelming distrust between a president …
Discussion:
The Federalist and Politico


Donald Trump Campaign Staffer Who Posted Racist Comments Joins The Administration — An email shows the staffer is one of 15 joining the Education Department. — Congressional Reporter, The Huffington Post — PHILADELPHIA A staffer on Donald Trump's campaign who posted racist material …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Raw Story and Baltimore Sun


Shailene Woodley on Malia Obama's Presence at Sundance Standing Rock Solidarity Event Against DAPL — This is viewer supported news. Please do your part today. — The Sundance Film Festival has been abuzz this year with sightings of former first daughter Malia Obama.
Discussion:
AOL and Heat Street