Wyckoff NJ, Democratic Members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus Representatives Josh Gottheimer, Thomas Suozzi, Vincente Gonzalez, Anthony Brindisi, Dean Phillips, Max Rose, and Abigail Spanberger met at the White House to sit down with President Trump in the Situation Room regarding the shutdown. Entering the meeting, the Members released the following statement:
“Over the last weeks, we have been listening to our constituents and speaking with our fellow Members of Congress — in both parties and in both chambers. There is strong agreement across the aisle and around the country: We must reopen the government. Our security, safety, and economy have been compromised, and millions of families are suffering.
“There is also strong agreement that if we reopen the government, the possibility exists to work together and find common ground to tackle some of our country’s toughest problems and fix them. But that conversation can only begin in earnest once the government is reopened. We accepted the White House’s invitation to meet today to convey that message.”
Washington DC, “This new deal will be the most modern, up-to-date, and balanced trade agreement in the history of our country, with the most advanced protections for workers ever developed. President”, Donald J. Trump
This deal could have major impact on New Jersey , Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal, a major component of the Port of New York and New Jersey, is the principal container ship facility for goods entering and leaving New York metropolitan area and the northeastern quadrant of North America. The busiest container port in the world in 1985, the Port was, as of 2004, the largest in the eastern United States and the third-largest in the country.
REBALANCING OUR TRADE RELATIONSHIP: President Donald J. Trump kept his promise to deliver a modern and rebalanced trade deal to replace NAFTA.
Seoul South Korea, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said today that North Korea has expressed a commitment to “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, and is not seeking conditions.
“They have not attached any conditions that the U.S. cannot accept, such as the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea. All they are talking about is the end of hostile policies against North Korea, followed by a guarantee of security.” He added that a deal could be reached that includes denuclearization, a peace treaty, and normalization of relations between the two Koreas and the United States.
Moon’s announcement comes following President Trump’s statement that he’d walk away from talks if he didn’t think they were producing results. Trump also said during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that his campaign of “maximum pressure” on North Korea would continue until Pyongyang gave up its nuclear weapons.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo visited North Korea last week and formed a “good relationship” with Kim Jong Un. A summit between the Korean leaders and President Trump is planned for May or June.
Ridgewood NJ, according to Open Secrets a government watchdog , the NRA is nowhere near the top lobbyist in Washington DC . Even though , “the NRA reported $779,000 in individual contributions in February. It was the most money raised in 11 months and more than the total raised in November, December and January combined.”
US Chamber of Commerce $82,190,000
National Assn of Realtors $54,530,861
Business Roundtable $27,380,000
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America $25,847,500
Blue Cross/Blue Shield $24,330,306
American Hospital Assn $22,074,214
American Medical Assn $21,535,000
Alphabet Inc $18,150,000
AT&T Inc $16,780,000
Boeing Co $16,740,000
Open Society Policy Center $16,110,000
DowDuPont $15,877,520
National Assn of Broadcasters $15,460,000
Comcast Corp $15,310,000
Lockheed Martin $14,464,290
Amazon.com $13,000,000
Southern Co $12,970,000
National Retail Federation $12,890,000
NCTA The Internet & Television Assn $12,790,000
Oracle Corp $12,385,000
Data for the most recent year was downloaded on February 28, 2018.
Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]
Washington DC, in a bombshell report a four-page memo detailing extensive FISA court abuse was made available to the entire House of Representatives Thursday. The contents of the memo are so explosive, says Journalist Sara Carter, that it could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and the Department of Justice and the end of Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation.
The classified document outlining what is best described as extensive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse was made available to all House members Thursday and the revelations could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and Department of Justice, several sources with knowledge of the document stated. These sources say the report is “explosive,” stating they would not be surprised if it leads to the end of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation into President Trump and his associates.
The House Intel panel’s passage of New York Republican Rep. Peter King’s motion to release the FISA abuse memo to fellow House members has rocked Washington, D.C . The House Intelligence Committee passed a motion along party lines on Thursday to make the classified report alleging extensive ‘FISA Abuse’ related to the controversial dossier available to all House members.
The report reveals extensive abuse of power, corruption of electoral process, subversion of democracy and highly illegal collusion between the Obama administration, the FBI, the DOJ and the Clinton Campaign against Donald Trump and his team during and after the 2016 presidential election. The report also contains information regarding the debunked dossier that alleges President Trump and members of his team colluded with the Russians in the 2016 presidential election.
Steve King
✔ @SteveKingIA
I have read the memo. The sickening reality has set in. I no longer hold out hope there is an innocent explanation for the information the public has seen. I have long said it is worse than Watergate
Ron DeSantis
✔ @RepDeSantis
The classified report compiled by House Intelligence is deeply troubling and raises serious questions about the upper echelon of the Obama DOJ and Comey FBI as it relates to the so-called collusion investigation.
For all the roiling anger and energy at the grassroots, the party still fell short in Georgia and Kansas. And Democratic prospects in upcoming elections aren’t promising. (??????????????? grassroots anger …nice try)
By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI
04/19/17 05:06 AM EDT
As it became clear late Tuesday evening that Jon Ossoff would fall just short of the 50-percent mark in the first round of voting in a suburban Atlanta special election, Democrats back in Washington started leafing through their calendars and asking: When does the winning start?
Ossoff’s moral victory — capturing 48 percent of the vote in a conservative-oriented district — was welcome, but after two successive close-but-no-cigar finishes in House special elections in Georgia and Kansas, a new worry is beginning to set in.
Ridgewood NJ, So much for the Trump Putin Alliance. Several months of nonstop accusations by the media and Democrats that our President Donald Trump is colluding with Russian Leader Vladimir Putin came to crashing halt with last nights tomahawk missile attack on a Russian ally Syria.
Trumps decisive action came on the eve of a Sino-Trump sit down in Mar-a-Lago . Leaving the Chinese leader ,many Trump allies and most trump critics in disarray. In one move Trump sent a signal to North Korea, Iran , Russia and the Democrats.
The fact that Trump campaigned so strenuously against such actions makes it that much more significant.
Students of history will remember many a new presidents ,most notable John F Kennedy who were tested in the early part of their administration .
In one decisive stroke the president silenced not only critics of his leadership ,departed from the failed policies of the Obama administration , put an end to Russian collusion accusations, and mirrored the action of what his former opponent Hillary Clinton had suggested just hours earlier .
Will the tomahawk missile attack on Syria lead to renewed entanglements in the middle east ,given Trumps campaign rhetoric I have my doubts . More likely it will be akin to Reagan’s firing of 13,000 air traffic controllers in early August of 1981. Like Reagan it says this president means business .
“Any regulation that is outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers, or contrary to the national interest will be scrapped.”– Donald J. Trump
YEARS OF GOVERNMENT OVERREACH: President Donald J. Trump has inherited the bloated regulatory regime of the past Administration.
According to the American Action Forum, the regulations from the Obama Administration cost United States taxpayers a total of $873 billion.
The Obama Administration issued 3,037 finalized regulations.
GETTING GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE WAY: Today, President Trump signed legislation to help eliminate unnecessary, harmful, and job-killing regulations.
Earlier today, President Trump signed four bills under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), in one of the few times the CRA has been used to cancel Federal regulations.
House Joint Resolution 37 will roll back the “blacklisting” rule that empowers big law firms to get rich by suing American companies and workers who contract with the Federal Government.
House Joint Resolution 44 removes the Bureau of Land Management’s “Planning 2.0” rule to prevent further centralization of Federal land management decisions at the expense of local citizens.
House Joint Resolutions 57 and 58 eliminate layers of bureaucracy that could have cost State and local school systems millions of dollars, while encouraging freedom and innovation in our schools.
CUTTING RED TAPE ACROSS THE GOVERNMENT: President Trump has signed Executive Orders and legislation to cut regulations that get in the way of Americans.
President Trump has required that for every new Federal regulation, two existing regulations be eliminated.
President Trump ordered agencies to create Regulatory Reform Task Forces to identify costly and unnecessary regulations.
President Trump signed an Executive Order instructing Federal agencies to minimize the burden of the Affordable Care Act on Americans while he works to repeal and replace it.
President Trump signed legislation, House Joint Resolution 38, to prevent the burdensome “Stream Protection Rule” from causing further harm to the coal industry.
President Trump signed legislation, House Joint Resolution 41, to eliminate a costly regulation that threatened to put American mining and energy companies and their employees at an unfair disadvantage.
President Trump directed the Secretary of Commerce to develop a plan to streamline Federal permitting processes for domestic manufacturers.
President Trump signed an Executive Order expediting the environmental review and approval processes for domestic infrastructure projects.
President Trump directed the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct a full review of the burdensome regulations required by the Dodd-Frank Act.
President Trump ordered a re-examination of the Department of Labor’s “fiduciary rule,” to make certain that it does not harm Americans as they save for retirement.
KEEPING HIS PROMISES TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE: President Donald J. Trump has promised the country he would cut needless regulation.
While campaigning for President, Donald Trump promised to cut regulations massively.
While campaigning for President, Donald Trump vowed to cut any regulation that is outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers, or contrary to the national interest.
“I am going to lift the restrictions on American energy, and allow this wealth to pour into our communities.” – Donald J. Trump
MUCH NEEDED REFORM: The past Administration burdened Americans with costly regulations that harmed American jobs and energy production.
The previous Administration’s Clean Power Plan could cost up to $39 billion a year and increase electricity prices in 41 States by at least ten percent, according to NERA Economic Consulting.
The Clean Power Plan would cause coal production to fall by 242 million tons, according to the National Mining Association.
27 states, 24 trade associations, 37 rural electric co-ops, and 3 labor unions are challenging the Clean Power Plan in Federal court.
AMERICAN ENERGY INDEPENDENCE: President Donald J. Trump’s Energy Independence Policy Executive Order reverses the regulations on American jobs and energy production.
President Trump’s Executive Order directs the Environmental Protection Agency to suspend, revise, or rescind four actions related to the Clean Power Plan that would stifle the American energy industry.
President Trump’s Executive Order directs the Attorney General to seek appropriate relief from the courts over pending litigation related to the Clean Power Plan.
President Trump’s Executive Order rescinds Executive and Agency actions centered on the previous administration’s climate change agenda that have acted as a road block to energy independence.
President Trump’s Executive Order lifts the ban on Federal leasing for coal production.
President Trump’s Executive Order lifts job-killing restrictions on the production of oil, natural gas, and shale energy.
President Trump’s Executive Order directs all agencies to conduct a review of existing actions that harm domestic energy production and suspend, revise, or rescind actions that are not mandated by law.
Within 180 days, agencies must finalize their plans.
President Trump’ Executive Order directs agencies to use the best available science and economics in regulatory analysis, which was not utilized by the previous administration.
It disbands the Interagency Working Group (IWG) on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases.
By revisiting the federal overreach on energy regulation, President Trump is returning power to the states – where it belongs.
FREEING AMERICA’S POTENTIAL: President Trump has worked tirelessly to free American industry and ingenuity from the constraints of Government overreach.
President Trump has signed four pieces of legislation to clear burdensome and costly regulations on energy production from the previous Administration.
President Trump has required that for every new Federal regulation, two existing regulations be eliminated.
President Trump has directed each agency to establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force to identify costly and unnecessary regulations in need of modification or repeal.
President Trump has directed the Department of Commerce to streamline Federal permitting processes for domestic manufacturing and to reduce regulatory burdens on domestic manufacturers.
President Trump signed legislation, House Joint Resolution 38, to prevent the burdensome “Stream Protection Rule” from causing further harm to the coal industry.
President Trump ordered the review of the “Clean Water Rule: Definition of Waters of the United States,” known as the WOTUS rule, to evaluate whether it is stifling economic growth or job creation.
President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum and gave a Presidential permit to clear roadblocks to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline.
President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum declaring that the Dakota Access Pipeline serves the national interest and initiating the process to complete its construction.
FULFILLING HIS PROMISE: By taking action on the Clean Power Plan, President Trump is fulfilling his promise to the American people.
As a candidate, Mr. Trump promised “we will eliminate… the Clean Power Plan—these unilateral plans will increase monthly electric bills by double-digits without any measurable improvement in the climate.”
Joe Piscopo, currently mulling a New Jersey gubernatorial bid, is laughing off reports of Russian-backed hacking during the 2016 elections, calling them “comical.”
“It’s a ruse. It’s a joke. They got nothing. The Russia thing is comical because it won’t go away,” the “Saturday Night Live” alum told Mediaite on Thursday when asked what he makes “of all this Russia business.”
“I ask this with respect, with respect to the Russian theorists — you talk about conspiracy theories, I mean, this is what this is — did the Russians come to my county in Jersey in the middle of nowhere and did they hack into my mechanical voting both so when I switched — I voted for somebody, they switched my vote?” Piscopo told the site.
Piscopo has repeatedly floated running for governor of New Jersey as a Republican. With a filing deadline looming, he now says he’s “more serious” about running as an independent.
The 65-year-old comedian and radio show host said, “I mean, get to the — there’s no way they could hack it! If they hacked into the Democratic Party, if indeed they did, who cares? They think, like, the voters are dumb.”
Groupthink produced a failure of the “wisdom of crowds” and an underestimate of Trump’s chances.
By Nate Silver
Filed under The Real Story Of 2016
Published Mar. 10, 2017
This is the ninth article in a series that reviews news coverage of the 2016 general election, explores how Donald Trump won and why his chances were underrated by most of the American media.
Last summer, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in what bettors, financial markets and the London-based media regarded as a colossal upset. Reporters and pundits were quick to blame the polls for the unexpected result. But the polls had been fine, more or less: In the closing days of the Brexit campaign, they’d shown an almost-even race, and Leave’s narrow victory (by a margin just under 4 percentage points) was about as consistent with them as it was with anything else. The failure was not so much with the polls but with the people who were analyzing them.
The U.S. presidential election, as I’ve argued, was something of a similar case. No, the polls didn’t show a toss-up, as they had in Brexit. But the reporting was much more certain of Clinton’s chances than it should have been based on the polls. Much of The New York Times’s coverage, for instance, implied that Clinton’s odds were close to 100 percent. In an article on Oct. 17 — more than three weeks before Election Day — they portrayed the race as being effectively over, the only question being whether Clinton should seek a landslide or instead assist down-ballot Democrats:
Amber Athey Investigative Reporter@amber_atheyon Mar 09, 2017 at 8:26 AM EDT
An experiment designed to reveal gender bias by reenacting the presidential debates with the candidates’ genders reversed found that Hillary Clinton would have been even less likeable as a man.
The two NYU professors who designed the experiment were “unsettled” to discover that audience members actually found Trump’s style more endearing when it came from a woman.
One female audience member even remarked that she found the male version of Clinton “very punchable” because he smiled so much.
President Donald Trump branded Democrats “hypocrites” over calls for an investigation into his administration’s contacts with Russia, posting a photograph on the internet of one of the opposition party’s leaders sharing doughnuts and coffee with Vladimir Putin.
It came after half a dozen Trump officials and advisers were revealed to have met Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to Washington, in the six months before the president took office.
Mr Trump responded by posting the picture on Twitter showing Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the US Senate, smiling alongside Mr Putin during his trip to New York in 2003.
The president said: “We should start an immediate investigation into Senator Schumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A total hypocrite!”
In contrast to U.S. stocks, most major stock markets around the globe haven’t enjoyed the same postelection bump, and many remain far below their record levels
By
JULIE WERNAU
Updated Jan. 25, 2017 5:02 p.m. ET
Donald Trump never promised to make the rest of the world great again.
U.S. stock markets have rallied since the president’s victory more than two months ago, rising on improved economic data and hopes Mr. Trump can stimulate the economy with tax cuts and infrastructure spending while rolling back regulations.
But most major stock markets around the globe haven’t enjoyed the same postelection bump, and many remain far below their record levels.
Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans, and people of the world: thank you.
We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.
Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.
We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done. Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent.
Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.
For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.
Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you! It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country.
What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.
The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.
Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens.
Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves.
These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public. But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
This American carnage stops RIGHT HERE and stops RIGHT NOW. We are one nation – and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.
The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry;
Subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military; We’ve defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own;
And spent trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.
We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.
One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.
The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.
But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.
We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.
From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.
From this moment on, it’s going to be America First. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.
I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.
America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.
We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation.
We will get our people off of welfare and back to work – rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.
We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American.
We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world – but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.
We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.
We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones – and unite the civilized world against Radical Islamic Terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.
At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.
When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.
The Bible tells us, “how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”
We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected.
We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most importantly, we are protected by God.
Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving.
We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining but never doing anything about it.
The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.
Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America.
We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.
A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our divisions. It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag. And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty Creator.
So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.
Together, We Will Make America Strong Again. We Will Make America Wealthy Again.
We Will Make America Proud Again.
We Will Make America Safe Again….
and Yes, Together, We Will Make America Great Again. Thank you, God Bless You, And God Bless America.
Donald J. Trump
45th President of the United States
