” … Voters and big business were arrayed against leaving the climate agreement. Yet despite the majority’s sentiment, a tiny—and until recently, almost faceless—minority somehow prevailed. How this happened is no longer a secret. The answer, as the New York Times reported, on Sunday, is ‘a story of big political money’. It is, perhaps, the most astounding example of influence-buying in modern American political history.” More …
Trump Pulls Out of Climate Deal, Western Rift Deepens
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other G-7 leaders did all they could to convince Trump to remain part of the Paris Agreement. But he didn’t listen. Instead, he evoked deep-seated nationalism and plunged the West into a conflict deeper than any since World War II.” More …
CEOs Praised for Backing the Paris Accord Also Funded Lobbyists Pushing Trump to Withdraw
“The Chief Executives of Dow Chemical and Corning Inc., among other business leaders, were portrayed in the media as environmental champions for opposing President Donald Trump’s move to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement… Yet both companies back one of the few business groups to openly lobby the Trump administration in support of withdrawing from the plan.” More …
Federal Reserve’s Kaplan: Immigration Crackdown Hurting Economy
“President Trump’s immigration crackdown is already crimping economic growth as undocumented workers fearful of deportation stay home and reduce their spending, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said.” More …
Why Trump Campaigned Like a Populist and Governs Like a Sellout
” … Trump’s working class supporters have gotten little economic help from his policies, and are unlikely to receive it in the future. Trump’s health care bill, far from protecting everyone (as he promised), will cause 23 million Americans to become uninsured. It will raise premiums for the oldest and sickest Americans, which include many of his most fervent working-class supporters. Although Trump promised during the campaign that he would not touch Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, his proposed budget cuts both Social Security and Medicaid. Although he promised to help people who are out of work find jobs, his proposed budget slashes job training programs, and so on and so on.” More …
Trump’s White House Orders Agencies to Ignore Democrats’ Oversight Requests
“The White House is telling federal agencies to blow off Democratic lawmakers’ oversight requests, as Republicans fear the information could be weaponized against President Donald Trump. At meetings with top officials for various government departments this spring, Uttam Dhillon, a White House lawyer, told agencies not to cooperate with such requests from Democrats, according to Republican sources inside and outside the administration.” More …
Trump Failing to Track Foreign Cash at His Hotels
“The Trump Organization does not ‘attempt to identify individual travelers who have not specifically identified themselves as being a representative of a foreign government entity,’ according to a new company pamphlet. The policy suggests that it is up to foreign governments, not Trump hotels, to determine whether they self-report their business.” More …
Money Laundering a Concern at Trump Property
“The net is closing around a duo of fugitive oligarchs and their kin accused of laundering Kazakh money in posh U.S. real estate — including Trump Organization properties.” More …
Special Counsel’s Trump investigation Includes Manafort Case
“The special counsel investigating possible ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia’s government has taken over a separate criminal probe involving former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and may expand his inquiry to investigate the roles of the attorney general and deputy attorney general in the firing of FBI Director James Comey, The Associated Press has learned.” More …
How the Trump Administration’s Secret Efforts to Ease Russia Sanctions Fell Short
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Unknown to the public at the time, top Trump administration officials, almost as soon as they took office, tasked State Department staffers with developing proposals for the lifting of economic sanctions, the return of diplomatic compounds and other steps to relieve tensions with Moscow. These efforts to relax or remove punitive measures imposed by President Obama in retaliation for Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and meddling in the 2016 election alarmed some State Department officials, who immediately began lobbying congressional leaders to quickly pass legislation to block the move, the sources said.” More …