ELECTION 2020 - Gladiator Style

[5JeepsAz]

https://apnews.com/8a7ff9c4e60678aafcd7f430e49196ea

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump “pleaded” with China’s Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help his reelection prospects, according to a scathing new book by former Trump adviser John Bolton that accuses the president of being driven by political calculations when making national security decisions.

The White House was working furiously to block release of the book, whose China revelations carry echoes of Trump’s efforts to solicit political help from Ukraine that led to his impeachment.

Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser for a 17-month period, called Trump’s attempt to shift the June 2019 conversation to the U.S. election a stunning move, and wrote that it was among innumerable conversations that “formed a pattern of fundamentally unacceptable behavior that eroded the very legitimacy of the presidency.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lighthizer-denies-bolton-claim-trump-xi-2020-election

"Absolutely untrue, never happened. I was there, I have no recollection of that ever happening. I don't believe it's true, I don't believe it ever happened," Lighthizer said Wednesday at a Senate Finance Committee hearing.


WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was meeting with a top Chinese official in Hawaii on Wednesday as new revelations about President Donald Trump and China rocked Washington.

Pompeo and his deputy Stephen Biegun were holding closed-door talks with the Chinese Communist Party’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, according to a senior State Department official on the base. No reporters were allowed to travel with Pompeo and Biegun, and coverage of the event is expected to be extremely limited.

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[5JeepsAz]

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Reversing another of his Republican predecessor’s decisions on health care, Kentucky’s Democratic governor announced plans to bring back the state’s health insurance exchange begun by his father as an outgrowth of the Affordable Care Act.

Gov. Andy Beshear said Wednesday that he sent a letter to federal officials notifying them of his plans to revive the state-based exchange at the start of 2022.

His father, former Gov. Steve Beshear, started the online exchange in the aftermath of the landmark health care reforms championed by then-President Barack Obama. Kentucky’s program was dismantled by the Republican who followed the elder Beshear as governor.

DARBY, Pa. (AP) — Joe Biden unleashed a stinging critique Wednesday of President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major legal setback for President Donald Trump on a high-profile consumer issue, a federal appeals court has ruled that his administration lacks the legal authority to force drug companies to disclose prices in their TV ads.

 

[5JeepsAz]

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020...-american-free-enterprise-plays-pivotal-role/

When future historians tell the story of this pandemic, I hope American capitalism is not so despised and maligned by the professoriate that they leave out the pivotal role private enterprise and individual autonomy played, not just in slowing and ultimately defeating the virus, but in getting the country back to work

Snip

The best thing the government did, arguably, is get out of the way. Government watchdog Americans for Tax Reform has identified more than 600 rules or regulations that were changed to give companies the room to innovate and adapt to meet the demand for equipment and other goods created by the pandemic. My hunch is these are probably 600 regulations that do not need to come back once this is over.

....

80s or 90s 'history'

2000s 'history'

2020s 'history'

All of which costs more than

Listen to these people:

America's 50 Top Givers - Forbes

www.forbes.com/top-givers/#1ca5dbac66ff

For the fifth year running, Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett tops the list at No.1, while Bill and Melinda Gates, Michael Bloomberg, the Walton family and George Soros round out the top five. In total, America's 50 most generous philanthropists gave out $14.1 billion in 2018, up from $12.6 billion in 2017 and $12.2 billion in 2016.

 

[5JeepsAz]

What You Need to Know about Arizona’s COVID Numbers
By RICH LOWRY June 17, 2020 (NationalReview)

Yes, they’re up, but the media is rushing to deem the state’s reopening a catastrophe.

snip

There’s no doubt that there’s increased community spread in Arizona, a trend that bears watching. But the rush to push the state into shutting down and deem it a cautionary tale of the perils of reopening is simplistic at best and skips over details crucial to understanding Arizona’s true situation

snip

And there are hot spots in the counties in the south of the state, where there is an influx of laborers across the border. Santa Cruz on the border had the highest positivity rate in Arizona over the past week, according to Arizona officials. The border county of Yuma has also had a high rate.

None of this is to say that Arizona shouldn’t proceed with all due care, only that many of the headlines don’t convey the entire picture, nor are they intended to.


....

ho-hum

EXCLAMATION

1. used to express boredom or resignation.

ADJECTIVE

1. boring.
   "a ho-hum script"

--

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona mayors are free to make wearing face masks mandatory to slow the spread of coronavirus, Gov. Doug Ducey said Wednesday, a turnabout amid pressure as the state became a national virus hotspot.

snip

The governor had as recently as last week resisted allowing cities to do more than the state allows to slow the virus spread, saying statewide directives avoid a patchwork of regulations. .

snip


Mayors in Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff said they would move quickly to require masks.

Pressure has been mounting for Ducey to act amid the state’s alarming rise in cases. Hundreds of Arizona medical professionals urged him to take steps like requiring face masks in public, top Democratic politicians urged him to act and the state’s biggest newspaper, The Arizona Republic, also called for action.

snip

The rising numbers may have forced his hand. Arizona hospitals were treating a record number of coronavirus patients Tuesday amid a surge of new cases. The state’s Health Services Department reported a record number of emergency room visits for the virus as well.

The health agency confirmed 1,827 new cases and 20 new deaths Wednesday. That brings the total confirmed cases to 40,924 and deaths to 1,239.

Hospitals were treating 1,582 patients on Tuesday, an increase of more than 500 from two weeks earlier. Emergency room visits for patients with virus symptoms soared to nearly 1,100. On June 3, hospitals reported seeing 638 patients in emergency rooms.

Statewide Tuesday, hospitals were at 85% of capacity. That’s well above the 80% rate where Ducey said they would have to halt elective surgeries to preserve space.

snip

The governor also said he would direct the state to take action against “bad actor” businesses that don’t follow guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state for social distancing and other measures. The action is aimed at businesses like bars that have allowed large gatherings with few precautions.

And he said he was calling up 300 members of the National Guard to help counties that have struggled with contact tracing for large numbers of new cases. Tracing the contacts of infected people to ensure they’re not spreading the virus is a key action needed to slow the virus’ spread.

The moves came after more than 700 health providers sent Ducey the letter earlier this week urging him to require that people wear masks in public spaces.

Among them was Dr. Natasha Bhuyan of Phoenix. The family medicine doctor said marketing campaigns and tweets from the governor’s office urging the use of masks aren’t going to cut it.

“We’ve been educating the public this entire time, and clearly it hasn’t been effective,” Bhuyan said. “The accurate scientific information is just not reaching people. It’s a public health tenet: When you make things mandatory, you see results.”

She said she believes if immediate action isn’t taken, Arizona could see hospital ICUs and ventilators reach capacity as early as July.

 

[5JeepsAz]

August 08

Nixon resigns

In an evening televised address on this day in 1974, President Richard M. Nixon announces his intention to become the first president in American history to resign. With impeachment proceedings underway against him for his involvement in the Watergate affair, Nixon was finally bowing to pressure from the public and Congress to leave the White House.

“By taking this action,” he said in a solemn address from the Oval Office, “I hope that I will have hastened the start of the process of healing which is so desperately needed in America.”

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-resigns

In 1974, Goldwater and Rhodes told Nixon he was doomed
https://www.azcentral.com/story/azdc/2014/08/03/...

Nixon announced his resignation the next evening, effective at noon on Aug 9, 1974. Over the years, Goldwater, Rhodes and Scott have been …

Does Trump listen to his advisers? Is it true that a U.S ...
https://www.quora.com/Does-Trump-listen-to-his...

Apr 03, 2019 · The idea is to surround yourself with greatness, and learn from them. There is no point in hiring a specialist for his knowledge, then ignoring him because your smarter. The problem here is Trump is the smartest person alive. …


Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner

When asked who Trump listens to, the billionaire's biographer Michael D'Antonio paused a moment.

"I don't think he takes very many people seriously," he finally said, before adding, "I think that he would listen to the children to a point ... especially Ivanka."

 

[5JeepsAz]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are deeply unhappy about the state of their country — and a majority think President Donald Trump is exacerbating tensions in a moment of national crisis, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

With less than five months until Election Day, the survey offers few bright spots for a president confronting a historic pandemic, a sharp economic decline and national outrage over police brutality against black people. Most Americans — including 63% of Republicans — say the country is heading in the wrong direction. And close to two-thirds — including 37% of Republicans — say Trump is making America more divided.

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) said on Thursday it took down posts and ads run by the re-election campaign of U.S. President Donald Trump for violating its policy against organized hate.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kathryn Wheelbarger, one of the Pentagon’s most prominent and respected policy officials, is resigning after three years in the job

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, the second stunning election-season rebuke from the court in a week

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook said Thursday that it is working to help Americans vote by mail, including by notifying users about how to request ballots and whether the date of their state’s election has changed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she is ordering the removal from the Capitol of portraits honoring four previous House speakers who served in the Confederacy.

 

[5JeepsAz]

June 18, 2020 - Biden Ahead Of Trump By 8 Points In Presidential Race, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Nearly 6 In 10 Support Vote By Mail In November

If the election for president were being held today, former Vice President Joe Biden would receive 49 percent of the vote and President Donald Trump would receive 41 percent, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh- pea-ack) University national poll of registered voters released today. This compares to a May 20th national poll when Biden led Trump 50 - 39 percent. In today's poll, Democrats go to Biden 93 - 4 percent and independents are split with Biden at 43 percent and Trump at 40 percent, while Republicans go for Trump 92 - 7 percent. There are wide gaps among gender, race, and education groups:

• Women back Biden 59 - 33 percent, while men back Trump 51 - 38 percent;
• Black voters back Biden 82 - 9 percent, Hispanic voters back Biden 57 - 31 percent, and white voters back Trump 50 - 42 percent;
• White voters with a college degree back Biden 57 - 35 percent, while white voters without a college degree back Trump 59 - 33 percent.

"The country gyrates uneasily through a killer virus, unrest in the streets, and volatile ugly divisiveness, but the presidential horserace looks now like it did back in February," said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.

BIDEN VS. TRUMP

When asked who would do a better job handling various issues, Biden leads in 4 of them, while Trump leads Biden only on handling the economy:

• On the economy, Trump has a slight lead 51 - 46 percent;
• On handling a crisis, Biden leads 54 - 43 percent;
• On the coronavirus response, Biden leads 54 - 41 percent;
• On health care, Biden leads 55 - 41 percent;
• On race relations, Biden leads 58 - 36 percent

 

[5JeepsAz]

All you need to know

(foxnews poll today, snipped for brevity)

When you think about voting for president this year, which is the bigger motivation?

Fear the other candidate might win

Jun 2020 Biden supporters (vs Trump) 63%
Sep 2016 Trump supporters (vs Clinton) 61%

Overall foxnews poll numbers stayed similar, the size of the landslide this time?

Democrat Joe Biden 50%
Republican Donald Trump 38%

 

[5JeepsAz]

'We are Trumpicans -- Don't Even Call Ourselves Republicans' (RealClearPolitics)

That line comes from a June 14 Sun Sentinel newspaper report headlined ‘Trumpicans’ throw presidential birthday bash, while Joe Biden supporters are 'Ridin’ with Biden.’ ”

Here is the quote in its entirety:

“We don’t even call ourselves Republicans anymore," said [Annie Marie] Delgado, Florida president for Trump Team 2020. "We are Trumpicans. It is a movement that is going to ensure the re-election of Donald Trump in the state of Florida. As Florida goes so the nation goes.”

The “Trumpicans” headline caught my eye because it potentially signifies a Republican Party identity crisis that could extend well beyond Florida

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump came under attack from both sides of the American political spectrum on Thursday as liberal Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and former White House aide and conservative hawk John Bolton both declared him unfit to lead the country.

“President Trump is clearly ethically unfit and intellectually unprepared to be the president of the United States,” Pelosi, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, told a news briefing.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Congress approved $2 trillion pandemic aid in March, many Democratic and Republican lawmakers agreed on safeguards against fraud and abuse to ensure that companies receiving the money use it to save American jobs.

But the Trump administration has advised agencies that they can largely ignore reporting requirements in the legislation designed to help a newly created watchdog group track how the money is spent, according to public documents and four people with knowledge of the matter.

 

[5JeepsAz]

Sorry for the source. This can't be lied about tho

"Start here: Trump got 306 electoral votes in his 2016 win.

Now, consider these 2020 scenarios (all calculations made via 270towin.com):

* If Trump loses Texas (and wins everywhere else he won in 2016), he loses to Biden, 270 electoral votes to 268 electoral votes.

* If Trump loses Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin (and wins everywhere else he won in 2016), he loses to Biden 278 to 260.

* If Trump loses Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania (and wins everywhere else he won in 2016), he loses to Biden 279 to 259.

* If Trump loses Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin (and wins everywhere else he won in 2016), he loses to Biden 276 to 262.

* If Trump loses Arizona, Ohio and Wisconsin (and wins everywhere else he won in 2016), he loses to Biden 271 to 267.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/04/poli...20-election-donald-trump-joe-biden/index.html

 

[5JeepsAz]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department moved abruptly Friday to oust Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan overseeing key prosecutions of President Donald Trump’s allies and an investigation of his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. But Berman said he was refusing to leave his post and his ongoing investigations would continue.

“I have not resigned, and have no intention of resigning, my position,” Berman said.

His statement came hours Attorney General Bill Barr said Berman was stepping down from his position.

 

[5JeepsAz]

Spoiler alert. When this jumps off, we know who wins....

Fox News Poll: Biden widens lead over Trump; Republicans enthusiastic, but fear motivates Dems

In the head-to-head matchup, the poll finds Biden leads Trump by a 50-38 percent margin. That 12-point advantage is statistically significant, and up from Biden’s 8-point lead last month (48-40 percent).

 

[5JeepsAz]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has abruptly dropped its insistence on secrecy for a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program for small businesses.

The administration announced Friday it will publicly disclose the names of recipients of the taxpayer-funded loans, the amounts they received in ranges, as well as demographic data on the businesses.

The unexpected move came after Democratic lawmakers, government watchdogs, ethics advocates and news organizations called for the administration to make the information public.

 

[5JeepsAz]

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Supporters and detractors of President Donald Trump continued to gather Friday in Tulsa, where Trump is scheduled to take the stage for the first of his signature rallies during the coronavirus pandemic.

Verbal clashes sparked at times as hundreds of people converged amid a nationwide push for racial justice and tensions over the continued health and economic threats of COVID-19

 

[5JeepsAz]

you who love treasoners...

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