memeorandum: Tax Bill Lets Trump and Republicans Feather Their Own Nests (New York Times)

11:05 AM ET, December 19, 2017

Top Items:

Trump talked about rescinding Gorsuch's nomination … For nearly eight months, President Trump has boasted that appointing Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court ranks high among his signature achievements. — But earlier this year, Trump talked about rescinding Gorsuch's nomination …

Discussion: New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Axios, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, Raw Story, New York Magazine, Business Insider, AOL and The Week

Washington Post:

Trump team's meeting with Mueller's office poised to ratchet up tensions … White House lawyers are expected to meet with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's office late this week seeking good news: that his sprawling investigation's focus on President Trump will soon end and their client will be cleared.

Discussion: CNBC, Project Republic, Just Security, IJR, New York Magazine, The Week, twitchy.com, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Politicus USA, Axios, Shareblue Media, The Hill and Vox

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

The real reason Trump allies are attacking Mueller — President Donald Trump insists he's not going to fire Robert Mueller, but that's not stopping Republicans and others close to the president from orchestrating a relentless stream of attacks on the credibility and integrity of the special counsel and his team of Russia investigators.

Discussion: Washington Post and Raw Story

Renato Mariotti / Washington Post:
Why hasn't Trump fired Mueller yet? Because he's better off not doing it.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Shakesville and Vox

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
Mueller's Scorched-Earth Tactics . . . Again

Discussion: Power Line, Lawfare, The Hill and Fox News Insider

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
Trump considered pulling Gorsuch's nomination after personal criticism: report

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Mediaite, RedState and Axios

Emma Loop / BuzzFeed:

The Senate's Russia Investigation Is Now Looking Into Jill Stein, A Former Campaign Staffer Says — The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked Green Party candidate Jill Stein's campaign to turn over documents, a former employee says. Stein is expected to release them publicly as well.

Discussion: The Intercept, ThinkProgress, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Week, TheBlaze and Blue Mass Group

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:
Former Intel chief: Putin is handling Trump like ‘an asset’

Discussion: Political Wire

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
Senate intel committee investigating Jill Stein campaign for possible collusion with the Russians

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and RedState

CNN:
Burr: Senate Intelligence is examining 2016 Jill Stein campaign

Discussion: Washington Times

New York Times:

Tax Bill Lets Trump and Republicans Feather Their Own Nests — To understand the cynicism and mendacity underlying the Republican tax bill, look no further than a provision that would benefit President Trump and other property tycoons that is in the final legislation Congress is expected to vote on this week.

Discussion: Daily Kos, National Review, Booman Tribune and Politico

John Cassidy / New Yorker:

The G.O.P. Tax Bill Is Unworkable — With the House of Representatives set to pass the final version of the Republican tax bill on Tuesday, and a vote in the Senate expected later in the week, here is a prediction: no matter which party controls Congress after next year's midterms …

Discussion: SSRN, Hullabaloo and NBC News

Alex Kotch / International Business Times:

Republican Senators Will Save Millions With Special Real-Estate Tax Break — When the U.S. Senate takes up the final tax bill this week, more than a quarter of all GOP senators will be voting on a bill that includes a special provision that could give them a new tax cut through …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Forbes, New York Magazine, IJR, Vox and New Republic

Sally Q. Yates / USA Today:

Who are we as a country? Time to decide: Sally Yates — Stand up and speak out on America's core founding values. We are not living in ordinary times, and it's not enough to admire them from afar. — Over the course of our nation's history, we have faced inflection points …

Discussion: Raw Story and Shareblue Media

CNN:

Public opposition to tax bill grows as vote approaches — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Trump's 35% approval is a new low in CNN polling, below previous first-year presidents at this point — WASHINGTON (CNN)With the House of Representatives set to vote on the Republican tax reform bill Tuesday …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Hill, Daily Kos, Politico, Political Wire and The Week

Sean Colarossi / Politicus USA:

White House Blatantly Admits Trump Probably Didn't Read His Own National Security Strategy — Trump national security spokesman Michael Anton said he “can't say” whether the commander-in-chief of the world's most powerful military has read the 55-page document.

Discussion: CNN and Washington Post

Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:
WH official: 'I can't say' Trump has read entire national security strategy

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic and The Daily Beast

Polina Nikolskaya / Reuters:
Kremlin dismisses Trump's ‘imperialist’ security strategy

Discussion: Politico and The Daily Caller

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

‘I Was An Easy Pickup’: How Trump Lost Manchin on Taxes — Subscribe to Off Message on Apple Podcasts here. Subscribe via Stitcher here. — During the transition last year and several times since, Donald Trump repeatedly pushed Joe Manchin to switch parties and become a Republican …

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story, Political Wire, Mediaite, NBC News, Shot in the Dark, MichelleMalkin.com, The Hill and Washington Free Beacon

CNN:

Former Pentagon UFO official: ‘We may not be alone’ — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)A former Pentagon official who led a recently revealed government program to research potential UFOs said Monday evening that he believes there is evidence of alien life reaching Earth.

Discussion: Daily Mail, RedState, AOL, Betsy's Page, The Daily Beast, Clayton Cramer, The American Conservative and Paste

Eli Rosenberg / Washington Post:
Former Navy pilot describes UFO encounter studied by secret Pentagon program

Discussion: The Week

The Heritage Foundation:

Heritage's New President — The Heritage Foundation Names Kay Coles James New President … The Heritage Foundation today announced Kay Coles James will become the sixth president in the think tank's 44-year history. James will officially take over as president from founder Edwin J. Feulner on Jan. 1, 2018.

Discussion: Axios and TheBlaze

Andrew Prokop / Vox:
Why Jim DeMint was ousted from the Heritage Foundation earlier this year

Discussion: Politico and The Daily Signal

Rich Lowry / New York Post:

Trump's first year is starting to look like a big win — Republicans have tried, on and off, to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling since the 1980s. The effort has always engendered intense opposition and always been abandoned. A provision for drilling in ANWR …

Bloomberg:

Grassley Wants FBI Director Wray to Replace McCabe as Deputy — McCabe is to meet privately Tuesday with House Russia probe — GOP wants to ask deputy FBI director about salacious dossier — The Senate Judiciary chairman said Monday he wants Andrew McCabe removed as deputy director of the FBI …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and NPR

Anchorage Daily News:

Track Palin, son of former Gov. Sarah Palin, arrested for assaulting his father — PALMER — Track Palin, the 28-year-old son of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was arrested on assault and burglary charges after he repeatedly hit his father, Todd Palin, at the family home in Wasilla on Saturday, charging documents say.

Discussion: Althouse, TheBlaze, AOL, The American Conservative, The Week and Mediaite

Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:
Track Palin charged with beating his father, who court documents say confronted him with a gun

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Raw Story and The Root

New York Times:

Decades after the company tried to tackle sexual misconduct at two Chicago plants, continued abuse raises questions about the possibility of change. … CHICAGO — The jobs were the best they would ever have: collecting union wages while working at Ford, one of America's most storied companies.

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

Leaked memo schooled Tillerson on human rights — Three months into his tenure as secretary of state, Rex Tillerson alarmed veteran diplomats with remarks that sounded like a potential shift in American foreign policy: The U.S., he said, should be careful not to let values like human rights create …

Discussion: Raw Story and Vox

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:

‘Silicon Valley’ Star T.J. Miller Accused of Sexually Assaulting and Punching a Woman … Warning: This story includes graphic content. — An alleged victim of former Silicon Valley star T.J. Miller is coming forward with accusations that Miller hit and sexually assaulted her while in college.

Vicki Needham / The Hill:

Senate panel rejects Trump's nominee to lead Ex-Im Bank — The Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday rejected President Trump — 's nominee to lead the Export-Import Bank. — The panel in a 10-13 vote declined to advance the nomination of Scott Garrett — , a former Republican congressman from New Jersey.

Discussion: Political Wire

Thomas P. Bossert / Wall Street Journal:

It's Official: North Korea Is Behind WannaCry — The massive cyberattack cost billions and put lives at risk. Pyongyang will be held accountable. — Cybersecurity isn't easy, but simple principles still apply. Accountability is one, cooperation another. They are the cornerstones of security and resilience in any society.

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, The Daily Caller, Mashable, Just Security, The Guardian, The Week, New York Times, Gizmodo, NPR, Politico, IJR and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

We're witnessing the wholesale looting of America — Unchecked by norms or political prudence, it's smash-and-grab time for the GOP. — Over the course of 2017, both in Congress and in the executive branch, we have watched the task of government devolve into the full-scale looting of America.

The Democrats / Medium:

A Year in Review: Alabama and the Growing Blue Wave — TO: Interested Parties FROM: DNC CEO Jess O'Connell — RE: A Year in Review: Alabama and the Growing Blue Wave — On Tuesday, we made history. Doug Jones became the first Alabama Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in 25 years.