October 01, 2019 11:01 AM UTC
Get More Smarter on Tuesday (October 1)
0 Comments- by: Colorado Pols
They say “spooky season” starts today; it kinds feels like that’s already been happening. Now, let’s Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of an audio/visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show or The Get More Smarter Podcast. And don’t forget to find us Facebook and Twitter.
TOP OF MIND TODAY…
► The U.S. Department of State apparently plans to ignore Congressional subpoenas related to impeachment proceedings against President Trump. As the Washington Post explains:
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo fired a broadside at House Democrats on Tuesday, saying State Department officials scheduled to appear this week before committees conducting the impeachment inquiry would not be made available until “we obtain further clarity on these matters.”
The refusal, in a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), described the demand for depositions by five officials who played a role in U.S. relations with Ukraine as “an attempt to intimidate, bully, and treat improperly, the distinguished professionals of the Department of State.”…
…The statements came as Pompeo’s role in the Ukraine investigation broadened with reports that he was a participant in the July 25 call by President Trump to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to the impeachment investigation.
Before that report, first published by The Wall Street Journal, Pompeo had brushed off questions about the incident, saying last week that he had not yet read the transcript of the telephone call released by the White House, or the whistleblower complaint that it sparked.
It was widely reported on Monday that Pompeo was indeed a participant on the infamous July 25 call with Ukraine. Now Pompeo is accusing Democrats of “bullying.”
The Trump administration appears to be digging in on impeachment at the same time that public opinion is drastically shifting in favor of ousting Trump. As Stephen Collinson writes for CNN, Trump’s impeachment defense strategy has more holes than the Denver Broncos’ roster:
The President seems to be reeling, waiting for the next blow to fall, defended only by his increasingly unhinged tirades, his tweets quoting supporters on cable news and confrontational and conspiracy-laden appearances by aides on TV.
The President’s unaccustomed struggle to control the narrative and to get his opponents to respond to his moves bodes ill for any hopes he has of avoiding a full House impeachment vote.
There is no sign of the organized, disciplined political and legal strategy that for instance helped Bill Clinton emerge from his impeachment trial as a viable President.
► As the New York Times reports, President Trump recently pressured Australia to get involved in helping to discredit the Mueller investigation.
► Democratic Presidential candidates are starting to reveal third quarter fundraising numbers. As CBS News reports Sen. Bernie Sanders raised $25 million in the last three months and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg pulled down $19 million.
► Check out the latest episode of The Get More Smarter Podcast, featuring an interview with Los Angeles Times White House reporter Eli Stokols.
Get even more smarter after the jump…
IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…
► Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) apparently has no plans to cancel his headlining appearance at a fundraiser for President Trump this weekend in New York City. There’s no obvious way out of this mess for Gardner now.
As the Washington Post explains, the Affordable Care Act and expansions to Medicaid are making Americans healthier:
There’s a growing body of evidence that the Affordable Care Act has saved lives and made some Americans healthier since the sweeping health-care bill was passed nearly a decade ago.
This evidence largely comes from states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA, my Washington Post colleague Amy Goldstein reports. In some areas, such as parts of Detroit where poverty and illness are common, previously uninsured patients now have coverage under the expanded safety-net program. For some people, that means not only getting primary care — but having thousands of dollars for medication and medical bills now paid for. In other areas, more prescriptions are getting filled and dialysis patients are living longer in places where coverage was expanded.
But many backers of the health-care law have not yet seized on this good news to galvanize public support, even as the fate of the ACA remains in question. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is expected to rule any day now on the high-stakes case, after a federal judge in Texas ruled late last year that the entire law is unconstitutional. No matter the outcome, the decision is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court.
ACA supporters “have not taken political advantage of the signs that the ACA is translating into better health — at least, not yet,” Amy writes.
► A good number of GOP exes live in Texas. As Chris Cillizza explains for CNN:
On Monday, Texas Republican Rep. Mac Thornberry announced he is not running for another term in 2020. Which, on its face, is a totally a normal thing! Thornberry is term-limited out as ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee and has already spent 25 years in Congress.
But with his retirement announcement, Thornberry becomes the 6th(!) House Republican in Texas to announce his retirement ahead of the 2020 election — a remarkable 1/4 of the entire 23-Republican strong delegation. In fact, almost half of all House Republicans who are retiring without seeking another office are in Texas…
…none of these decisions were made apart from politics — and one calculation in particular: The rapidly changing demographic face of the Lone Star State.
Hispanics are now projected to be the largest demographic group in the state by as early as 2022. In 2018 alone, Texas gained nine Hispanics for every new white resident, according to an analysis of the Census numbers by the Texas Tribune. And while Republicans have been struggling to win over Hispanic voters since George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection race, President Donald Trump’s strong stances on immigration have moved those voters even further from the GOP.
► The National Rifle Association (NRA) has been dealing with all sorts of internal problems in the last year, and now they’re reportedly negotiating with President Trump to support his anti-impeachment efforts in exchange for inaction on gun violence legislation. According to a new report, Senator Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) may have received illegal help from the NRA in his 2014 election:
The nonprofit and nonpartisan organization Campaign Legal Center has filed an FEC complaint alleging the NRA’s coordination with Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin in the 2016 campaign through a shell corporation called Starboard, which illegally funneled potentially millions from the NRA in in-kind contributions. “There is substantial evidence that the NRA funneled millions through a shell corporation to unlawfully coordinate with candidates it was backing,” Brendan Fischer, director of federal reform at the CLC, said. “The NRA using inside information about a candidate’s strategy to create ‘independent’ ads supporting him creates an unfair advantage and it violates the law.”
The NRA’s lobbying organization as well as its PAC had a contract with Starboard to create ads not just in Johnson’s 2016 campaign, but also to help Republicans Tom Cotton, Cory Gardner, and Thom Tillis in 2014. Which means that those three, now running for reelection in 2020, also had illegal help from the NRA in their elections.
It’s no mystery why Gardner won’t lift a finger to do anything about gun violence.
► A federal appeals court has affirmed the right of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to scrap “net neutrality” regulations that are widely supported by Americans.
► As Westword reports, former Republican State Senate President John Andrews is working to make Colorado a home for anti-Islamic hatred.
► The acting director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will keep his job despite Senate objections. As Colorado Public Radio explains:
U.S. Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt has extended the tenure of the Trump administration’s top steward of public lands, rebuffing Democrats’ calls for his termination.
William Perry Pendley’s role as the acting director of the Bureau of Land Management now extends to Jan. 3, 2020.
Pendley has been in the post since July. Senate Democrats, including presidential candidates Michael Bennet, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, called for Pendley’s ouster over his longstanding support for selling public lands.
“As the BLM considers a major reorganization, there is no reason for this effort to be led by an acting director who spent his career attempting to dismantle the agency,” the Democratic senators wrote in an ultimately fruitless letter to Sec. Bernhardt.
Pendley is overseeing the move of the BLM headquarters from Washington D.C. to Grand Junction, Colorado.
► 9News reports on a new law in Colorado called “Kevin’s Law,” which allows patients to get emergency medications without a prescription in certain circumstances. In a separate but related story, 9News explains how expensive co-pays may be contributing to the opioid crisis.
► The Colorado Times-Recorder reports on an upcoming panel that will examine how to save local journalism.
► Corey Lewandowski, President Trump’s former campaign manager, is indicating that he may not seek a U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire after all.
► The City of Denver has banned the sale of tobacco to anyone under the age of 21.
► The Colorado Independent investigates the case of a story about Sen. Cory Gardner that mysteriously vanished from the website of the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman.
► North Korea and the United States will reportedly resume denuclearization talks this weekend. President Trump’s former National Security Adviser, John Bolton, warns that Trump is being swindled.
Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
► Hooray for communism!
► You’re never too young to get ripped off by Jon Caldara.
ICYMI
► The time has come for Senate Republicans to make a choice: Trump or Country?
► We weren’t just speculating when we suggested (repeatedly) in this space that Republican recall efforts in Colorado were just a big scam to line the pockets of organizers.
For more political learnings, check out The Get More Smarter Show or The Get More Smarter Podcast. And don’t forget to give Colorado Pols a thumbs up on Facebook and Twitter.
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