To date, Congress has been interviewing witnesses behind closed doors. Witnesses’ preliminary statements may be released, but their full depositions are not. There is selective leaking by those supportive of and opposed to the President. The media are conducting their own investigations and releasing pertinent information. The facts on their face appear damning, but we may be seeing only the tips of the iceberg.
There is an excellent new study from the Urban Institute that gives the costs and the impacts of a variety of different reform proposals. The estimated 2020 costs range from $26 billion to $2.7 trillion, depending on the details of the reform proposal. It will help you make sense of the Democratic presidential debates on health reforms and the 2020 election issues and beyond.
Mayor Pete, Amy Klobuchar and Corey Booker impressed me the most. Bernie Sanders was excellent as well.
I write in strong support of Congress’ impeachment inquiry. President Trump’s conduct in seeking to persuade a foreign government to initiate proceedings against one of his chief election rivals is an impeachable offense as envisaged by the framers of the US Constitution. In terms of violating constitutional red lines, I would liken it to driving 100 miles an hour on the wrong side of the road while drunk.
The unanimous Committee found extensive Russian disinformation campaigns on social media during the 2016 election and thereafter. It expects more of the same and in a more sophisticated fashion during the 2020 presidential contest.
The American people have already made the decision that they do not want Donald Trump as their President; however the Democrats need to nominate an individual who the American people do want as their next President. Ideally, this is a man or woman on a white steed or in an electric car coming into clean up and restore civic American virtues after the bullying, lying, incoherent caricature of a fat cat that Trump has become as our nation’s President.
The President yesterday gave Turkey the green light to invade Syria and kill our loyal Kurdish allies. It is as yet unclear what motivated him, but he is being roundly criticized in a highly unusual manner by many of his loyalist allies such as Lindsey Graham and Nikki Haley.
We may be heading towards the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. The news of his behavior gets worse and worse, and he appears to be oblivious to the crimes he is committing in the public square, or maybe he believes that doubling down, threatening, bullying will make it all go away – strategies that have worked quite well for him in the past. It won’t; the facts will come out, and so far they are becoming worse and worse for him.
In his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee this week, US ambassador Kurt Volker provided documents showing the extent of Trump’s abuse of his presidential powers in seeking to bully the Ukraine to help his political campaign.
In the Democratic debates, Warren and Sanders favor Medicare for All (a public, single payer) while Biden and Harris and Buttigieg support different versions of “Medicare for All Who Want It” – the “Public Option” -- a competitive multiple payer model. It’s therefore worth looking at the performance of public plans in California.
GM workers are on strike for better pay, greater profit sharing and the end to lower pay and benefits for temp worker jobs. GM is trying to move towards cleaner, less polluting and higher gas efficiency motor vehicles. President Trump is revoking California’s waiver for cleaner air, less polluting vehicles and pursuing anti-trust actions against those car manufacturers working with California towards less pollution, fewer greenhouse gases and higher gas mileage.
We may be headed towards an impeachment of President Trump; certainly we are in the inquiry or investigative stage.
It looks as if Iran was responsible either directly or indirectly for the attack on Saudi oil production. This took out 5% of the world’s oil production and will probably next lead to gas shortages and price hikes around the world. We’ll see what happens soon.
The Constitution prohibits Presidential emoluments from foreign governments, from the US government or state governments. (Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 and Article 2, Section 1, Clause 8) The purpose is to prevent government corruption. The prohibition against emoluments applies to other top government officials like members of Congress, Cabinet members and ambassadors, etc. “Black’s Law Dictionary defines an “emolument” as an “advantage, profit, or gain received as a result of one’s employment or one’s holding of office”. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IF11086.pdf
America’s democracy depends on truth, law and civility. As American lawyers, we stand up for those values when they are attacked. Our national political leaders must tell the truth, so the American people know what the facts are to evaluate proposed public policies and politicians’ behavior to hold their politicians accountable. Adherence to the Constitution, laws and fundamental, American democratic principles and norms is essential to the fair and effective functioning of our government. It enables the people’s elected legislators to determine the rules under which we live and to prevent abuse by any official. Civil treatment of all people by government officials is essential to the American creed that “all men are created equal,” the core American belief in the dignity of each person.