Top Items:
Sen. Rand Paul / Fox News:
Here's why I plan to vote for the Senate tax bill (and my colleagues should step up) — One of the fundamental problems in Washington is the attitude that the money that people make belongs to the government. That's why you hear arguments about how much a tax cut “costs,” …
Discussion:
Axios and Business Insider
RELATED:
Heather Long / Washington Post:
Senate GOP tax bill hurts the poor more than originally thought, CBO finds — The Senate Republican tax plan gives substantial tax cuts and benefits to Americans earning more than $100,000 a year, while the nation's poorest would be worse off, according to a report released Sunday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump wants to destroy Elizabeth Warren's brainchild. In a new interview, Warren hits back. — THE MORNING PLUM: — President Trump's perpetual scamming of his working- and middle-class voters takes a new turn Monday, amid a war that has erupted over the fate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Discussion:
CNN
CBO's Publications:
Reconciliation Recommendations of the Senate Committee on Finance
Reconciliation Recommendations of the Senate Committee on Finance
Discussion:
Vox, Axios and Washington Times
Bernie Becker / Politico:
Tax reform hangs in balance in critical week for GOP
Tax reform hangs in balance in critical week for GOP
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Axios
Damian Paletta / Washington Post:
GOP leaders in advanced talks to change tax plan in bid to win over holdouts
GOP leaders in advanced talks to change tax plan in bid to win over holdouts
Discussion:
Politicus USA, Washington Monthly and Politico
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
Will These Senators Live Up to Their Own Principles?
David Dayen / The Intercept:
White House Memo Justifying CFPB Takeover Was Written by Payday Lender Attorney — The lawyer who wrote the Office of Legal Counsel memo supporting the Trump administration's viewpoint that the president can appoint Mick Mulvaney as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau represented …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Post, Notice & Comment, Credit Slips and Balkinization
RELATED:
Lorraine Woellert / Politico:
Consumer bureau's top lawyer sides with Trump in leadership clash — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's top lawyer sided with the Justice Department over President Donald Trump's appointment of Mick Mulvaney to lead the CFPB as a leadership battle over the controversial watchdog agency escalated.
Renae Merle / Washington Post:
Leandra English, the woman at the center of a White House battle for control of the CFPB, files lawsuit against Trump pick to lead watchdog agency — The tug-of-war over leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau intensified Sunday as a high-ranking agency official sued …
Discussion:
RedState, Reuters, Washington Free Beacon, American Banker, Balloon Juice, Lawfare, IJR, ABC News and NBC News
Reuters:
White House's Mulvaney tells CFPB staff to ‘disregard’ Leandra English: memo
White House's Mulvaney tells CFPB staff to ‘disregard’ Leandra English: memo
Discussion:
Axios and Political Wire
Renae Merle / Washington Post:
At the CFPB, two acting directors show up to take command; one brings doughnuts, the other well-wishes
Stacy Cowley / New York Times:
Battle for Control of Consumer Agency Heads to Court
Battle for Control of Consumer Agency Heads to Court
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Politico, Business Insider, The Guardian, RedState and bizpacreview.com
Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Barney Frank: English should ‘clearly’ lead consumer bureau
Barney Frank: English should ‘clearly’ lead consumer bureau
Discussion:
Politico
Allie Malloy / CNN:
Cordray's successor sues Trump administration over Mulvaney's appointment to CFPB
Cordray's successor sues Trump administration over Mulvaney's appointment to CFPB
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Axios and Daily Kos
David Usborne / Esquire:
THE LAST DETAIL — When Donald Trump won the presidency, many Americans hoped John McCain would live up to his maverick image and resist his agenda. But after the senator was diagnosed with brain cancer in July, his contrarian resolve revealed itself in unexpected ways that may shape his legacy—and our future.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, AOL, The Daily Caller, Axios, Mediaite, Washington Times and Washington Free Beacon
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Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
McCain: Trump doesn't have any ‘principles and beliefs’ — (R-Ariz.) ripped President Trump in an interview, saying he doesn't think the president has “principles and beliefs.” — “I don't agree with the way he's conducting his presidency, obviously,” McCain said during an interview with Esquire.
Discussion:
RedState and The Daily Caller
Sarah Ellison / Vanity Fair:
“She Didn't Want This Come Hell or High Water”: Inside Melania Trump's Secretive East Wing — Understanding the most enigmatic First Lady—and unusual marriage—in modern political history. — I. “NOT MY THING” — Back in 2014, when Donald Trump was considering yet again a run for president …
Discussion:
Politico, Politicus USA, AOL and Raw Story
John Hilliard / BostonGlobe.com:
Tufts postpones Scaramucci event after he threatens to sue student, paper — Tufts University postponed a Monday event featuring Anthony Scaramucci, a former Trump White House spokesman, after he threatened to sue a student and the school newspaper for defamation following the publication of an op-ed column criticizing him.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Tufts Daily and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »
Travis M. Andrews / Washington Post:
Al Franken on whether he will face more groping allegations: 'I don't know. I can't say.' — Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) spoke to a handful of Minnesota media outlets on Sunday in response to the four allegations of sexual misconduct against him, saying he is “embarrassed and ashamed” …
Discussion:
Townhall.com, CNN, Power Line, Associated Press, IJR, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, Slate, mprnews.org, New York Magazine, NPR, The Hill, Political Wire and KTLA
RELATED:
Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:
Al Franken on Whether He's Ever Groped a Woman's Butt: 'I Can't Say I Haven't' Done That'
Al Franken on Whether He's Ever Groped a Woman's Butt: 'I Can't Say I Haven't' Done That'
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Bharara compares Trump to Jan Brady after Russia tweet — For U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara invoked the classic sitcom “The Brady Bunch” after President Trump lamented coverage of the Russia investigation, comparing Trump's “Russia, Russia, Russia” comment to Jan Brady's famous “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” line.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite
Julia Marsh / New York Post:
CBS boss told me to sleep with coworkers to get ahead: suit — It's another black eye for Black Rock. — A week after CBS host Charlie Rose was outed as an alleged serial sex harasser, one of the network's former producers says she was told by a boss that she would have to sleep with coworkers to get anywhere in the company.
Discussion:
Mediaite and bizpacreview.com
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Trump White House ethics lawyer exits — The ranks of former White House ethics lawyers available to comment on the ongoing controversies engulfing President Donald Trump's administration has just grown by one — an attorney who's certain to offer a much different perspective …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Charles Hurt / Washington Times:
The case for Roy Moore — ANALYSIS/OPINION: — Whence goeth that Yellow Dog? — Once upon a time, even a Yellow Dog could get elected in places like Alabama — so long as he was a Democrat. — That dog done run off and nowadays a Democrat can't hardly win, even when running against an accused pedophile.
Discussion:
Associated Press
RELATED:
Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:
Roy Moore Is Deplorable, and Donald Trump Condoning His Sins Is Unforgivable
Roy Moore Is Deplorable, and Donald Trump Condoning His Sins Is Unforgivable
Discussion:
Raw Story
Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
Bernie makes moves pointing to 2020 run — Bernie Sanders is taking steps to address longstanding political shortcomings that were exposed in 2016, ahead of another possible presidential bid in 2020. — From forging closer ties to the labor movement to shoring up his once-flimsy foreign policy credentials …
Discussion:
RedState, Political Wire and twitchy.com
Katie J.M. Baker / BuzzFeed:
More Than 180 Women Have Reported Sexual Assaults at Massage Envy — Across the US, people go to Massage Envy spas in search of a soothing, affordable escape. More than 180 people say what they got instead was sexual assault. But the billion-dollar company says that's not its problem to solve.
Discussion:
WTVR-TV, NBC News, CBS Philly and AOL
Susan B. Glasser / Politico:
Trump's Russian Schizophrenia — The United States should send arms to Ukraine to help in its “self-defense” against Russian aggression. It should hold Russia accountable for its illegal “occupation” of territory there, and push for international peacekeepers.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Michael Kranish / Washington Post:
Michael Flynn's role in Mideast nuclear project could compound legal issues — In June 2015, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn took a little-noticed trip to Egypt and Israel, paid for by a U.S. company he was advising. The company hoped to build more than two dozen nuclear plants in the region in partnership with Russian interests.
Discussion:
Arutz Sheva