November 9, 2018

The U.S. is in a state of perpetual minority rule- WaPo op-ed

Daniel Markovits and Ian Ayres teach about law, economics and politics at Yale Law School. Ayres is an author of “Voting With Dollars.”

Many see the midterm results as a split decision. Democrats herald their victory in the House as a repudiation of President Trump’s agenda. Republicans, meanwhile, regard picking up three seats in the Senate as a vindication of that very agenda, and the president tweeted that the election was a “very Big Win.”

Both appraisals accord Trumpism a democratic legitimacy it has not earned and does not deserve. Look behind the midterm elections’ outcomes — and the distortions produced by small states in the Senate and by gerrymandering in the House — to focus directly on the votes that constitute democratic bedrock, and a very different picture comes in to focus. The partisan balance of power — even the new balance, including a Democratic House — subjects the United States to undemocratic minority rule.

As of this writing, Democratic candidates for the House overall have won 4.2 million more votes than Republican candidates did. And partisan gerrymanders and geographic sorting meant that the Democrats needed every vote they got.Similarly, although the 2018 tallies are not complete, we estimate that the Democratic senators in the new Congress — taken all together over the three cycles that elected them — will have won 4.5 million more votes than Republican senators. The members of the Democratic minority, on average, each received about 30 percent more votes than their Republican counterparts.?

Both results represent trends rather than historical anomalies or accidents. Research by the political analyst David Wasserman (of the Cook Political Report) shows that the current Republican biases in both the House and Senate elections are at all-time highs — greater than the partisan biases in favor of either party at any prior time for which data exist.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-us-is-in-a-state-of-perpetual-minority-rule/2018/11/08/9f9f38a0-e2b1-11e8-8f5f-a55347f48762_story.html?utm_term=.ab6fffe6ee9f

November 9, 2018

And Sinema moves into the lead

https://results.arizona.vote/#/featured/4/0


Sinema 48.91%

McSally 48.80%

November 8, 2018

Marc Elias is awesome

https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1060597698422861824

We did not misconstrue anything. The GOP has been trying to disenfranchise voters and prevent lawful ballots from being counted. We have filed to intervene to protect those voters and ensure a fair count. Once that is done, @kyrstensinema will be declared the winner.


https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1060673016085073921

Marc E. Elias
?
Verified account

@marceelias
8m8 minutes ago
Senator, I think you have lost your mind. Delete your account.


@marcorubio
Now democrat lawyers are descending on #Florida. They have been very clear they aren’t here to make sure every vote is counted.

- They are here to change the results of election; &
- #Broward is where they plan to do it.

November 8, 2018

WH has suspended Acosta's press credentials

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1060333380225519616


The White House has suspended @Acosta’s hard pass which means he needs permission/an escort every time he goes to the WH.

Jim Acosta
?
Verified account

@Acosta
I’ve just been denied entrance to the WH. Secret Service just informed me I cannot enter the WH grounds for my 8pm hit

November 8, 2018

Don Jr thinks he going to be indicted this week according to Vanity Fair

“THE PRESIDENT IS VERY DEPRESSED”: WITH DON JR. FACING POSSIBLE INDICTMENT, AND ENDLESS HOUSE INVESTIGATIONS FORTHCOMING, NO WONDER TRUMP IS IN A BAD MOOD

by Gabriel Sherman


Trump’s move against Sessions today arrives at a moment when Trump allies are increasingly concerned about Donald Trump Jr.’s legal exposure. In recent days, according to three sources, Don Jr. has been telling friends he is worried about being indicted as early as this week. One person close to Don Jr. speculated that Mueller could indict him for making false statements to Congress and the F.B.I. about whether he had told his father about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians to gather “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. This source had heard that the case could revolve around Trump’s former deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, who’s cooperating with Mueller and who was deeply involved in the campaign at the time of the meeting. Trump, this person continued, is “very upset” about the risks Don Jr. faces. “The president is very depressed,” this person said. (“Don never said any such thing, and there is absolutely no truth to these rumors,” said Don Jr.’s lawyer, Alan Futerfas.)

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/post-midterms-trump-is-in-a-bad-mood

November 7, 2018

PressSec said the white supremacist guy at the WH today was there for Fall Garden Tour

You can't make this crap up.

https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1060314491613863938

I asked @PressSec why Casey, head of an alt right group, was at the WH.

Her response: "He was one of more than twenty-five thousand people who came to the White House Fall Garden Tour, which is open to the public. Free tickets are made available to anyone who wants to attend."


https://twitter.com/JGreenblattADL/status/1060291909825032193


Identity Evropa is a white supremacist group that popularized "you will not replace us" chant; Casey is its leader. We demand the White House answer why he was there. The White House should be #NoPlaceForHate. For more info, read: https://www.adl.org/resources/profiles/identity-evropa …

November 7, 2018

Trump is likely to pick Kobach - WH political operative

https://twitter.com/Bernstein/status/1060264768383135744

I asked a political operative with the White House's ear if Kobach for AG is likely. His response: "Yes

November 7, 2018

Napolitano says Trump violated the law by appointing Matt Whitaker as acting attorney ge

However, Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano explained to Fox News host Dana Perino how Trump could be breaking the law with his new appointee.

Napolitano explained that Whitaker was not confirmed by the Senate and therefore violates the law.

“Under the law, the person running the Department of Justice must have been approved by the United States Senate for some previous position. Even on an interim post,” Napolitano said.

Napolitano continued saying that next in line for the position is Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

“[Whitaker] was not confirmed by the United States Senate for a leadership position at the Justice Department. The White House will have to work this out. Who has been confirmed and who’s next in line? Deputy attorney general Rosenstein,” he said.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/11/fox-news-legal-analyst-says-trump-violated-the-law-by-appointing-matt-whitaker-as-acting-attorney-general/?utm_source=push_notifications

November 7, 2018

Ron Wyden speaks truth to power

https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/1060228712959016967


People know a cheat when they see one

"People don't understand tax returns," Trump says when asked why he might not want to release his tax returns.

November 7, 2018

One of the R Congressmen Trump called out today for not supporting him responds

https://twitter.com/RyanCostello/status/1060222202212171776

To deal w harassment & filth spewed at GOP MOC’s in tough seats every day for 2 yrs, bc of POTUS; to bite ur lip more times you’d care to; to disagree & separate from POTUS on principle & civility in ur campaign; to lose bc of POTUS & have him piss on u. Angers me to my core.