Ex-Giuliani official tells CNN she’s appalled by what he’s become: ‘A different person than what we knew’
GOP strategist Susan Del Percio (Screen cap).
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Susan Del Percio, a Republican political strategist who once worked for Rudy Giuliani when he was mayor of New York, told CNN on Tuesday that she is shocked and appalled by the person he’s become.
Talking with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, Del Percio said she has been astonished to see Giuliani rambling during off-the-cuff TV interviews in which he has shown a total inability to tell a coherent story.
“When I went into the administration in my mid-20s, I worked for someone who was so disciplined, methodical and an inspiring leader and that’s not who I see right now,” she said. “The thing that is most disappointing to see is the lack of discipline.”
Del Percio explained that she thought Giuliani was brought on to handle negotiations with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team — but he had somehow let himself get sidetracked into being President some rich asshole’s public relations liaison for discussing the Stormy Daniels scandal.
And while Del Percio would not go so far as to speculate on whether the former New York mayor is mentally deteriorating, she did say that there’s an unmistakable change in the way that he’s handling himself now versus how he handled himself in the past.
“I think we see a different person than what we all knew 25 years ago,” she said.
Watch the full interview below.
Seth Meyers says the rich asshole never went on his show because he refused to apologize on-air for 2011 mockery
"Late Night" host Seth Meyers
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After making fun of some rich asshole at the 2011 White House Correspondent’s Dinner, Late Night‘s Seth Meyers wanted to have some rich asshole on the show in 2015 — but the future president would only agree to it if the host apologized on-air for the jokes.
Meyers told Politico’s Off Message podcast that the rich asshole relayed the demand through his longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen just before launching his presidential campaign. Once the host refused the demand, the talks to have the future president on Late Night ended.
When discussing why the rich asshole has become such a target for comedians, the Late Night host told Politico’s Edward-Isaac Dovere the president has “turned himself into an object of ridicule.”
MSNBC’s Joe and Mika unload on Kellyanne Conway for gloating over NY AG Schneiderman resignation
Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough (MSNBC)
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MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski ripped White House adviser Kellyanne Conway for gloating over the resignation of a New York Democrat over domestic abuse accusations — as she continues to serve President some rich asshole.
Eric Schneiderman abruptly resigned Monday evening after The New Yorker reportedthat four women had accused him of physical violence — and Conway celebrated the political downfall of a prominent the rich asshole enemy.
Gotcha. twitter.com/schneiderman/s…
“Given that tweet, it seems that Conway has given license to remind people that she’s been less eager to comment on another powerful man who said on tape that he kisses and grabs women without consent,” Brzezinski said.
The “Morning Joe” producers rolled the infamous “Access Hollywood” recording that showed the rich asshole boasting about getting away with sexual assault because he was famous, and Scarborough called out Conway and other the rich asshole apologists as hypocrites.
“Democrats immediately stepped forward and called on Eric Schneiderman to resign,” Scarborough said, “yet the party that claims it’s the party of family values, the party of Mike Pence, that surrounds itself with preachers that say that some rich asshole prays before meetings, the party that has some rich asshole going out in the Rose Garden talking about National Prayer Day soon after he admit to one lurid affair after another, after lying about them, this is, I guess, the party of some rich asshole and the party of Mike Pence.”
“There’s quite a contrast,” he continued. “I mean, let’s be honest, let’s be blunt. It was the Democratic Party in the 1990s that enabled Bill Clinton and would say behind the scenes that, yes, they knew Bill Clinton abused women and treated them terribly, but they still circled the wagons for him.”
“At least the Democratic Party has figured it out now, but the Republicans — wow, unbelievable,” Scarborough added. “Anybody that opens their mouth against Eric Schneiderman has it coming straight back at them about the man they defend day in and day out.”
Conservative Ken Cuccinelli delivers brutal review of Rudy’s defense of the rich asshole: ‘Why the hell were you talking?’
Ken Cuccinelli, left, and Jeffrey Toobin, right, appear on CNN (Screen cap).
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Conservative attorney Ken Cuccinelli delivered a stinging rebuke of the rich asshole attorney Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to defend President some rich assholeduring a Tuesday morning CNN panel.
In a discussion with CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, Cuccinelli marveled that Giuliani admitted during an interview on Sunday that he was going on TV to represent the president despite the fact that he didn’t know all the facts of the case he was discussing.
“When your personal lawyer, the head of your legal team, speaks to facts, the presumption is you’re speaking to facts as understood by your client,” Cuccinelli said. “And what — and to Jeffrey’s point, Rudy bounced around on this. And he didn’t answer certain key questions like, ‘Why did this happen when it happened?’ ‘What was — what were the specifics of the payback?’ He’s invited a whole another round of questions. And if he wasn’t brought on to deal with Stormy Daniels, then why in the hell were you talking about it?”
Cuccinelli was also baffled that Giuliani felt the need to prematurely announce the release of American hostages held by North Korea — despite the fact that, days after his pronouncement, the hostages have still not been released.
Toobin offered a similarly blunt assessment of Giuliani’s work for the rich asshole.
“I think Rudy Giuliani has made a fool of himself,” he said. “It’s been a really embarrassing performance and he hasn’t even told a coherent story.”
Watch the video below.
‘Two questions in four hours?’: CNN panel mocks the rich asshole’s scattershot preps for Mueller interview
CNN panel with John Avlon, Alisyn Camerota, Chris Cuomo and Michael Zeldin (Photo: Screen capture)
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A Tuesday morning CNN panel couldn’t help but mock President some rich asshole for spending four hours trying to prepare for impending litigation that might require him to be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the rich asshole spent four hours trying to prepare for a possible interview by special counsel Robert Mueller.
“In an informal, four-hour practice session, some rich asshole’s lawyers were only able to walk him through two questions, given the frequent interruptions on national-security matters along with some rich asshole’s loquaciousness, one person familiar with the matter said,” the WSJ said.
CNN host Alisyn Camerota wanted to know when the four-hour period was and how much tweeting was going on at the time.
“Only two questions. In other words, look, the way you interpret this, there’s so much national security stuff happening the president can’t possibly prepare for this sit-down,” she said.
Daily Beast editor John Avlon disagreed, noting that other presidents in the past have managed to make it work.
“The president has pressing responsibilities for national security,” he said. “It’s tough to make that time. On the other hand, presidents have done it in the past. That particular tidbit is delicious and it seems like an outtake from within the loop. There’s the absurdity and believability of high office — two questions in four hours.”
Chris Cuomo was more speculative, asking if people truly believe that the rich asshole spent four hours studying for something he doesn’t want to do.
“With regular breaks for presumably tweeting as well as national security,” Avlon said. “Here is the point, first of all, he is totally loquacious, he is not focussed. Two questions derail him for large periods of time? Sure.”
Michael Zeldin, former special assistant to Robert Mueller, explained that it makes sense in the context of attorneys working with their client to understand possible questions and ways to answer without digging into a deeper hole.
“So that they can help him make a final decision,” Zeldin continued. “I’m not so sure that he’s actually made a final decision. He has an instinct saying, ‘I can talk my way through an interview with Mueller.’ These practice sessions inform him whether that’s true or not. That’s smart for them to practice with him and say, ‘What do you think?'”
Watch the full discussion below:
‘He was drinking too much’: Morning Joe reveals why the rich asshole didn’t want Rudy Giuliani to join his administration
Joe Scarborough (MSNBC)
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MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough has been dropping hints why Rudy Giuliani was passed over for a role in the the rich asshole administration, but he finally revealed the president’s concerns.
The “Morning Joe” host has been saying that President some rich asshole privately expressed concerns that Giuliani had “lost it,” and fell asleep in meetings, but he told viewers the real reason Tuesday with co-host Mika Brzezinski’s prodding.
“He was drinking too much,” Scarborough said.
The president apparently overcame his initial concerns about the former New York City mayor and asked him to join his legal team against the special probe, but the rich asshole is reportedly already tired of Giuliani’s antics on TV.
“It’s interesting that some rich asshole went out, as he was leaving the White House a few days ago, and said, ‘Rudy needs to get his story straight,'” Scarborough said. “‘He just came on and he needs to get his story straight.’ Well, Rudy got his story straight and he went out and said, ‘Hey, yeah, there are probably more women, we could expect more women — that could happen, yeah. More women may come forward in the future.’ So now some rich asshole is upset about that, and reports, again, may be the latest version of the ‘Mooch’ — he may be on his way out.”
MSNBC’s Mike Barnicle wondered whether Giuliani’s bizarre TV appearances, which seemingly blew apart the rich asshole’s legal strategy, were intended as a distraction.
“The more this continues, the presidency as theater, you have to ask the question — are we being played by some rich asshole and Rudy Giuliani?” Barnicle said. “Because every day Giuliani says something that is so odd and so at odds with we know it, that you wonder, are they just continuing this thing to keep us preoccupied with things that are going on in public, Giuliani talking about some rich asshole.”
Scarborough dismissed that possibility, and then dropped his bombshell.
“Mike, I wish they were that smart — they’re not that smart,” Scarborough said. “some rich asshole said during the transition that Rudy Giuliani was losing it, that he was a couple of steps behind.”
Brzezinski reminded her co-host and fiancé that the rich asshole’s associates had raised other concerns during private conversations during the transition period.
“That he was falling asleep five minutes into meetings,” Scarborough added. “I can mention this: Everybody around some rich asshole said he was drinking too much — some rich asshole suggested as much — that was two years ago. And the fact that some rich asshole brought this guy in two years later despite his own reservations about him, almost two years ago, that’s not any, it’s not 3-D chess. That’s not even checkers, that’s a monkey throwing poo against the wall, and it doesn’t usually turn out well.”
Stephen Colbert rips the rich asshole backers for defending Stormy Daniels lie: ‘I could not have a lower opinion of Kellyanne Conway’
"The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert. Image via screengrab.
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Stephen Colbert on Tuesday ripped Kellyanne Conway for defending some rich asshole even as the president continues to offer an inconsistent timeline on the Stormy Daniels payout.
“Of course it’s not easy lying for some rich asshole because the rich asshole keep changing his story,” Colbert said Tuesday, noting the president claimed he had “no idea” about the money—despite claims by people close to him who say the rich asshole know about the deal “months before he denied it.”
Conway on Sunday told CNN’s Jake Tapper that when the president claimed he has “no idea” about the Daniels payment, he mean he had no idea in 2016, when the money was originally dispensed.
“I think she’s saying that in 2018 the rich asshole knew, but he was answering in 2018 as if it were 2016 when he didn’t know,” Colbert explained. “Let me respond to that not as current Stephen Colbert, but as the Stephen from before I saw that clip”
“I could not have a lower opinion of Kellyanne Conway,” Colbert said, adding, “that’s true now.”
Watch below:
Rudy Giuliani Is Either a Spy for the Left, an Idiot or Both Because He’s Destroying the rich asshole With Every Interview
Rudy Giuliani has been in the White House just about two weeks, and he’s already taking a flamethrower to the place.
In his first interview, some rich asshole’s latest lawyer has confirmed not only that the president did have an affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels but also that he paid his longtime attorney Michael Cohen back the $130,000 he gifted to Daniels to keep her trap shut about the apparent affair.
After the rich asshole spoke out against his newest lawyer’s statements, noting that Giuliani needs to think before he speaks, America’s former mayor basically followed the company line in an interview with Jeanine Pirro on Fox News, noting that he was new and “still learning” all the facts of the case.
“I have been in the case for two weeks,” Giuliani said, Vanity Fair reports. “So I’m not an expert,” he added. “I’m getting there.”
Which sounds like Giuliani has learned his lesson, right?
Giuliani: Hold my switchblade comb.
On Sunday, during an appearance on ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Giuliani noted that he didn’t consider the $130,000 to be a payoff amount because to him that’s peanuts. Now, had it been $1.3 million, then we’re talking serious money, but a measly $130,000? Well, that was just stop-annoying-me money.
Except Daniels wasn’t annoying the president; in fact, she hadn’t spoken about it. But let’s not get tangled up in those Russian-hooker-piss-stained bedsheets when there’s more to talk about. Giuliani was asked point-blank whether Cohen had made any other payments to women on the president’s behalf. Seems like a pretty easy question, doesn’t it?
Giuliani: Hold my croissant sandwich.
“I would think if it was necessary, yes,” he responded.
I swear I can’t make this stuff up. But Giuliani wasn’t done. He added that every lawyer around town has been telling him that the president shouldn’t speak in an interview or before a grand jury with special counsel Robert Mueller.
“I’m facing a situation with the president, and all the other lawyers are, in which every lawyer in America thinks he would be a fool to testify,” Giuliani told Stephanopoulos, Vanity Fair reports. Unfortunately, he continued, “I have a client who wants to testify.”
Now, this can be looked at two ways: Giuliani could be setting the stage to make it appear as if the president has nothing to hide, and so therefore he wants to speak with the special counsel. Or Giuliani is literally being transparent in this moment and noting that against his best advice, his dumbass client is going to do it anyway. Either way, I’m enjoying the newest addition to the rich asshole’s legal team and the disastrous interviews that he continues to give.
Somebody get Giuliani some Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and a Styrofoam cup of coffee—the secret snitching elixir used by police—so he can start telling all the White House secrets.
What did Michael Avenatti, Daniels’ lawyer, who appeared later on the same show, have to say about Giuliani’s performance?
“It’s a train wreck,” he said. “I can’t believe that actually just happened. I mean, what we witnessed by Rudy Giuliani may be one of the worst TV appearances by any attorney on behalf of a client in modern times.”
Avenatti wasn’t finished: “This guy is all over the map over the last 72 hours on some very simple facts that should be very straightforward. I think it is obvious to the American people that this is a cover-up, that they are making it up as they go along.”
‘Clear-cut’: Seth Meyers challenges the media to call out the rich asshole and his circle of ‘serial habitual liars’
"Late Night" host Seth Meyers
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“Late Night” host Seth Meyers on Monday took on Rudy Giuliani’s media blitz and the same media’s reluctance to point out when members of some rich asshole’s inner circle (like Giuliani) tell blatant lies.
Meyers joked the Stormy Daniels sage has had “more twists and turns than well, a porn star,” noting the the rich asshole team’s ever-shifting story on the payout to the adult film star.
The “Late Night” host then turned his attention to Giuliani’s recent media blitz, including a claim the lawyer made on Fox News that he’s “not an expert on the facts, yet.”
“What are you talking about?” Meyers asked. “the rich asshole’s gonna be the first client to plead insanity on behalf of his lawyer.”
Meyers later played a clip of Giuliani petting an imaginary cat while discussing the apparently fawning treatment she received by the FBI.
“Did he just pet his own hand?” Meyers wondered. “Rudy Giuliani is like a Bond villain that can’t afford his own cat.”
“He probably had a cat and that cat was like, ‘This guy’s crazy I’m out here, goodbye—I’m going to law school,” Meyers added.
The host then pointed out that in a subsequent interview, Giuliani donned a somewhat garish piece of jewelry.
“What’s with the diamond encrusted pinkie ring?” Meyers demanded. “Are you trying to look like a mob lawyer? I’m surprised he didn’t do the interview in a velour tracksuit.”
“Rudy, what is wrong with you?” he continued. “It’s almost like he challenged himself to confess to at least one crime per interview. Soon he’s just going to start cold-calling TV shows to tell them about illegal stuff the rich asshole did.”
Meyers later explained that why it’s been “blindingly obvious” since they first pushed th bogus conspiracy that Barack Obama was not born in the United States, “the rich asshole and his inner circle are serial, habitual liars.”
“They lie constantly,” Meyers said. “And they do it one purpose. This particular case is as clear-cut as it can possibly get.”
“The media needs to just call these what they are, lies: if not, you’re just doing this to the rich asshole,” Meyers continued, playing a clip of Giuliani fawning over his imaginary cat.
Watch the video below:
Melania the rich asshole reportedly said she knows her husband contributes to cyberbullying -- and the White House wants her to back off
- First lady Melania the rich asshole is reportedly fully aware of the irony surrounding her campaign against cyberbullying and has privately acknowledged that her husband is part of the problem.
- The White House has urged her to choose another issue to champion, according to a report from The Washington Post, but she remains convinced it’s the “right” thing to do.
- “We have to find a better way to talk to each other, to disagree with each other, to respect each other,” the first lady said at a meeting with social media and tech executives at the White House in March.
First lady Melania the rich asshole is reportedly fully aware of the irony surrounding her campaign against cyberbullying and has privately acknowledged that her husband is part of the problem.
The Washington Post reported that she’s been heard saying that she knows the president has contributed to the tone of today’s conversation online.
And the White House has urged her to choose another issue to champion, according to The Post, but she remains convinced that fighting cyberbullying is the “right” thing to do.
In March, Melania held a meeting with executives from top social media and tech companies at the White House and said she understood why some were “sceptical” of her campaign against cyberbullying.
“I am well aware that people are sceptical of me discussing this topic,” the first lady reportedly said at the time. “I have been criticised for my commitment to tackling this issue, and I know that will continue.”
“But it will not stop me for doing what I know is right,” she reportedly added. “We have to find a better way to talk to each other, to disagree with each other, to respect each other.”
Stephen Balkam, the founder and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute, attended the March meeting and said Melania’s comments were “remarkable.”
“I was pleased that she addressed the elephant in the room,” Balkam added.
President some rich asshole is notorious for his use of Twitter, where he frequently attacks his political opponents and often picks insulting nicknames for them in the process.
Mueller rejects the rich asshole request to answer questions in writing
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is now on President the rich asshole's legal team, told CBS News correspondent Paula Reid Monday afternoon that special counsel Robert Mueller's office has rejected proposals to allow some rich asshole to answer questions from investigators in writing.
The president's legal team has previously signaled that this would be their preferred format for a possible interview as it helps protect some rich asshole from the possibility of lying or misleading investigators, which is a criminal offense.
Giuliani told CBS News that it will take up to three weeks for him to get fully up to speed on the facts of the investigation and be prepared to engage in formal negotiations with the special counsel about the terms of a possible interview with some rich asshole.
Giuliani told Reid that he and the president's legal team continue to be in communication with the special counsel, but that he wants to have a better sense of the facts before engaging in formal negotiations about a possible interview.
If they can come to an agreement on the terms of an interview, Giuliani says he would like to wait until after the North Korea summit to prepare some rich asshole. He believes that it would take several days to prepare the president for this kind of interview and he would not want to take him away from preparing for talks with North Korea.
If negotiations are not successful and some rich asshole is subpoenaed, he will fight it, Giuliani said. The case would likely end up at the Supreme Court.
Giuliani is not suggesting that some rich asshole would ignore a subpoena, but rather that they will use it as another opportunity to negotiate an interview on their terms. If that does not work, they will challenge it in court.
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CNN’s Bakari Sellers reveals why Rudy Giuliani ‘sucks’ as the rich asshole’s lawyer
Bakari Sellers on CNN_ -- screen capture
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During a panel discussion on CNN, politician and attorney, Bakari Sellers, said that Giuliani “sucks” at his job at the moment.
However, he gave Giuliani a little bit of grace by saying he has one of the most difficult clients on Earth to represent.
“I don’t really blame Rudy Giuliani or Ty Cobb or any of the other lawyers that have come through his radius, the President of the United States is a horrible client to have,” Sellers said. “Just imagine someone that you cannot control at all. Someone that you cannot advise. Someone who just literally flies by the seat of their pants and when you try to explain to them the gravity of the situation they’re in, their narcissistic approach says they’re too big to fall.”
Watch his full assessment on President the rich asshole below.
Melania and some rich asshole leading 'largely separate lives on separate schedules'
Melania the rich asshole has launched her multipronged effort to promote the well-being of children, amid reports she is leading a largely separate life from her husband, US President some rich asshole.
The first lady formally launched her long-awaited initiative after more than a year of reading to children, learning about babies born addicted to drugs and hosting a White House conversation on cyberbullying.
"As a mother and as first lady, it concerns me that in today's fast-paced and ever-connected world, children can be less prepared to express or manage their emotions and often times turn to forms of destructive or addictive behaviour such as bullying, drug addiction or even suicide," some rich asshole said in prepared remarks.
"I feel strongly that as adults, we can and should 'be best' at educating our children about the importance of a healthy and balanced life," she said of her "BE BEST" initiative.
Today's announcement followed a period of high visibility for a first lady who once had a scant public presence around the White House.
Close friends of the Trumps have revealed the couple live largely separate lives and on different schedules, the Washington Post claims.
"They spend very little to no time together,” one of the US president's long-time friends said, speaking anonymously.
Sources have told the Post the pair rarely dine together at the White House.
some rich asshole is also rarely seen when Mr the rich asshole retires to his Mar-a-Lago resort on holidays or weekends.
Previously some rich asshole has been seen resisting her husband's touch, even swatting away his hand on one occasion.
"She is a dignified, private person, and she’ll deal with her personal life in private and it’s no one’s business,” some rich asshole's friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff told the Post.
“They are not that couple that holds hands just because.
"She is old-world European and it’s not who she is.”
Last month, some rich asshole joined her husband to host the prime minister of Japan at the Trumps' Florida estate and the president of France at the White House. She also represented the administration at the April funeral of former first lady Barbara Bush.
The first lady said early on in her husband's presidency that she would focus on child wellbeing. The goal of her new public awareness campaign is to encourage parents and other adults to teach children how to be good citizens, including being kind, not bullying on or off social media, staying away from drugs and taking care of themselves.
The campaign will focus on the issues of wellbeing, social media and opioid abuse, she said.
"If we truly listen to what our kids have to say, whether it be their concerns or ideas, adults can provide them the support and tools they need to grow up to be happy and productive adults who contribute positively to society and their global communities," some rich asshole said.
some rich asshole made the announcement in the White House Rose Garden as President some rich asshole looked on from the audience.
some rich asshole's announcement also came as her husband remains under intense legal pressure from a special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
He is also facing questions over US$130,000 in hush money paid by one of his attorneys to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who says she had sex with the rich asshole in 2006. Mr the rich asshole denies her accusation.
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the rich asshole ‘growing increasingly irritated’ with Giuliani and considering banning his lawyer from TV: report
Rudy Giuliani appears on ABC (screen grab)
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President the rich asshole is not a fan of his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani’s, latest unscripted remarks, according to the Associated Press.
Since joining President the rich asshole’s legal team, Giuliani has appeared to do way more harm than good.
A source told the Associated Press that President the rich asshole is “growing increasingly irritated” with Giuliani’s behaviors.
the rich asshole is considering whether or not to ban Giuliani from making television appearances and meeting with members of the media.
Giuliani added fuel to the fire in an interview with Fox News when he said the president knew of a payout between adult film Star Stormy Daniels’ and Michael Cohen.
“This is not the way to handle a complicated case,” Alan Dershowitz, who has been informally advising the rich asshole, said.
Giuliani also made remarks regarding foreign affairs that were deemed to be untrue.
White House officials and President the rich asshole insiders have said Giuliani doesn’t represent them, and the lawyer could be on thin ice with the president.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said:
“He speaks for himself and not on behalf of the administration on foreign policy.”
POLITICS
White House Prepares To Send Congress $15 Billion Spending Cuts Package
The Republican version of fiscal conservatism is to increase the deficit by hundreds of billions and then propose $15 billion in cuts.
WASHINGTON ― The White House is preparing to send Congress a roughly $15 billion package of spending cuts Tuesday using an obscure budgetary process to rescind so-called unobligated funds while also preparing another package that would take money from the recently passed government funding bill.
A senior administration official told reporters on a conference call Monday that this would be the first of two packages ― with the White House expecting lawmakers to approve these recommended cuts before tackling another bundle of reductions directed at the omnibus spending bill passed in March. However, while the House looks apt to approve the package ― which would cut roughly $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), $4.3 billion from a government vehicle loan program and more than $100 million in unspent funds to address Hurricane Sandy damage ― the White House said it looked forward to having a “conversation” with the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has indicated he would oppose cuts that go back on the March agreement, but he may be open to a package like this one that targets money that simply hasn’t been spent. Among those “unobligated” funds, the White House wants to rescind $800 million from an Affordable Care Act study of innovative health care payment programs, $252 million in funds never spent on addressing the Ebola outbreak, $123 million in leftover money from a railroad workers’ benefit program and $148 million from an animal inspection account.
Meanwhile, Democrats will likely oppose these first cuts, particularly because they go after the CHIP program.
The White House contends its CHIP cuts won’t affect the health care program, noting that $5 billion were funds for a program whose authorization has expired and $2 billion is from a contingency fund that isn’t expected to be used. But Democrats see the proposal as a clear swipe at the Children’s Health Insurance Program and are likely to point out that Republicans are trying to balance the budget ― at least to again give the impression that they’re trying to balance the budget while the deficit increases ― on the backs of children.
Because of that political argument, even with a sizable GOP majority in the House, the cuts are not a sure thing in either chamber, particularly the Senate. Under budget rules Congress approved in 1974, the package requires only a simple majority in either chamber and can’t be filibustered in the Senate. Funds proposed for rescission are also frozen for 45 days or until Congress acts, which would come at the end of June.
Lawmakers do have the ability to pare back the package, but they don’t have the authority to add any more cuts in authorized spending to the proposal, and scaling back the rescissions would spoil the White House’s talking point that this is the largest single rescission package ever sent to Congress.
The second package of cuts would be an even heavier lift in both chambers.
While conservatives welcome a plan that reduces the $1.3 trillion in spending in the March omnibus bill, Democrats see any attempt to take money away from that agreement as a clear breach of a hard-fought deal. With the threat of a second package on the way, Democrats may resist going along with the appropriations process for this year, which could again derail the spending process and force Republicans and Democrats to govern by approving another series of stopgap spending bills until a government funding bill is pushed to the brink.
Still, the White House is moving forward with the plan, if only to appear serious about fiscal conservatism while it adds massive amounts of money to the national debt.
“We want to make sure the muscle memory behind this process is remembered by Washington,” said the senior administration official who spoke on background to reporters Monday.
Michael Avenatti asks ex-the rich asshole aide Nunberg point-blank whether Cohen sold ‘access to the president’
Michael Avenatti (Left) and Sam Nunberg (Right)
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Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avanetti on Monday asked former some rich asshole campaign aide Sam Nunberg point-blank whether he ever witnessed Michael Cohen “selling access to the president.”
Avenatti was on MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber” when he asked the question.
“Obviously Michael was not asked to join the administration, did not go to Washington,” Avenatti began. “I mean, did he undertake any business dealings along the lines of selling access to the president? Did you get the impression that he was trying to put himself out there as a guy that could put people in touch with the president?”
Nunberg, who made headlines earlier this year when he was publicly accused of drinking alcohol before participating in a series of live TV hits, replied that he had only “limited contact” with Cohen, whom he described as a “Jared Kushner guy.”
Nunberg went on to describe Cohen as a “very good snake” which he meant as a “compliment” even if he “didn’t trust [Cohen].”
Watch below:
POLITICS
Jake Tapper Says John McCain Not Wanting some rich asshole At Funeral Is ‘A Real Moment For The Country’
“Senator McCain is everything that President the rich asshole is not,” S.E. Cupp said to Tapper.
Journalist and “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper said that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) not wanting President some rich asshole at his funeral is a “real moment for the country.”
During Sunday’s broadcast of “Union” on CNN, Tapper paused to talk about a recent report in The New York Times that McCain, 81, is making plans for the future as he fights aggressive brain cancer.
According to the report, McCain’s “intimates have informed the White House” that they plan to allow Vice President Mike Pence to attend McCain’s future funeral, but not President the rich asshole.
“I want to change the subject for one second,” Tapper said on Sunday night. “This has been reported now in the The New York Times and elsewhere. The plan would be to have Mike Pence be the one to honor Senator McCain in hopefully long, long, long from now event of his demise. This is a real moment for the country where an American hero, somebody beloved in many, many ways is saying, ‘I don’t want this guy at my funeral.’”
Tapper also addressed McCain directly, saying that he’s “rooting” for the ailing “hero.” Along with serving as a senator since 1987, McCain is a Vietnam war veteran and was the 2008 Republican presidential candidate.
In 2015, the rich asshole dismissed McCain’s experiences as a prisoner of war, saying he likes “people who weren’t captured.” Over the weekend, the president called the senator’s vote against health care reform “a bad vote” and “not a nice thing” in a speech to the NRA.
The discourse continued on “State of the Union” after Tapper’s comment. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said that he wasn’t particularly surprised by McCain’s feelings about the rich asshole because the senator, Meeks said, is not a hypocrite.
“Senator McCain is known for being honest, just the opposite of some rich asshole, and frank. When someone would come up with something negative about President Obama, he corrected them,” said Meeks.
“And so, I wouldn’t expect anything to be different for Mr. McCain, Sen. McCain, now. He is not going to be a hypocrite. He does not believe that some rich asshole represents the kind of moral authority that the president of the United States should represent for our country and the rest of the world ... It would be a mischaracterization of who he is.”
Those sentiments were backed by “Unfiltered” host S.E. Cupp who said that McCain is “not a sellout,” later adding, “Senator McCain is everything that President the rich asshole is not.”
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