https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-making-clintons-look-clean-193314744.html

Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 in part because voters perceived his opponent, Hillary Clinton, to be a dishonest, self-dealing phony.

Trump has now pulled off the improbable: He makes Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill look like ethical exemplars, compared with the corruption endemic in Trump’s administration.
Trump’s knifing of American law-enforcement agencies, while on a podium at the Helsinki “summit” with American enemy Vladimir Putin, visibly raised the possibility that Trump might sell out his own country to appease a ruthless dictator who at this moment is working to manipulate the upcoming U.S. elections. Trump is now going even further to aid Russian attacks against the United States, by saying Russia is no longer targeting U.S. elections. Intelligence officials contradict Trump and say Russia is still at it. The president of the United States is defending a foreign government that’s attacking the United States. Right now.

Source: Huffington Post

Former FBI director and longtime Republican James Comey has urged Americans to vote for Democrats in November.

“This Republican Congress has proven incapable of fulfilling the Founders’ design that ‘Ambition must … counteract ambition,’” Comey tweeted on Tuesday, quoting The Federalist Papers. “All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats this fall.”

“History has its eyes on us,” he concluded.
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Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/james-comey-vote-democrat-november_us_5b4ea2ede4b0b15aba89c148

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Holy cow!

in a few weeks. Kinda dreading it but trying to be supportive of the hubby. If you're a local (Amarillan?), please give some advice which area to stay (safety is a must), good restaurant recommendations and things to do (outdoors activities, music, arts, etc.). We are in early fifties BTW.

Also is there a local Dems club to plug into?

Thanks!

We're on a trip with my inlaws visiting towns in north Tx and Oklahoma where 6 generations of doctors have practiced. This morning at the Hampton Inn breakfast area full of people they have Faux News on showing the idiot and Kim with the hosts fawning all over themselves praising DOTUS.After a few minutes i got up & changed the channel to NBC Today. So far no one has changed it back. My small revenge to keep my blood pressure down today 😊

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cuomo-plans-sue-u-government-202047608.html

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said his administration plans to sue the federal government over the new Republican tax law, on the grounds that it’s unconstitutional because it discriminates against New York and other states that voted against President Donald Trump. “Make no mistake, they’re robbing the blue states to give money to red states,” Cuomo said during his State of the State speech in Albany Wednesday. “It is an economic civil war. It is illegal and we will challenge it in court as unconstitutional.”

Cuomo, who described the Trump presidency as “the most hostile federal administration in history,” said the changes to state and local tax deductions in the bill will raise New Yorkers’ property and income taxes by at least 20 percent. The governor added that New York state already contributes $48 billion more annually to the federal government than it gets back.

Critics of the state and local tax deduction have said the break effectively lets the federal government subsidize high-tax states. The bill signed by Trump on Dec. 22 sets a new $10,000 limit on state and local tax deductions for federal income taxes starting on Jan. 1.
The impact of the tax law “is a question of New York’s economic viability long term, a question of New York’s competitiveness long term,” Cuomo said. “The threat from this federal government is not going to derail the great state of New York, I promise you.”

In addition to challenging the law as unconstitutional, Cuomo said he plans to start a campaign to repeal and replace the new tax law. And, he said he’s considering workarounds to respond to the changes, including restructuring New York’s current income and payroll tax system, and creating new opportunities for making charitable contributions to support public programs.
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Should be interesting to see if this gains traction. If it does i'm sure other blue states will join and it will become a class action lawsuit.
I'm thinking the American people who are against the federal tax bill as a whole should sue the government.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/2018-will-be-a-fight-to-save-democracy-from-trump.html

Harvard professors of government Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have written a more foreboding analysis. Their forthcoming book, How Democracies Die, studies the modern history of apparently healthy democracies that have slid into autocracy. It is hard to read this fine book without coming away terribly concerned about the possibility Trump might inflict a mortal wound on the health of the republic.

Levitsky and Ziblatt dismiss several popular myths that may serve as comfort. Authoritarian presidents do not always or even usually act immediately — they often take few steps against their opponents in their first year in office. Authoritarianism does not usually take the form of a sudden, dramatic coup, but instead the slow strangling of institutional restraints by the ruling party. It is more of an outgrowth of partisan politics than a sudden departure — partisanship taken to newer heights.
In their historic study, the most important variable in the survival or failure of a democracy is the willingness of a would-be authoritarian’s governing partners to break with him and join the opposition. In countries that have successfully staved off authoritarianism, parties that hold the balance of power, usually those in the center-right, instead join with the opposition. They act out of the belief that any policy gains they might wrest from an ideologically friendly authoritarian are not worth the long-term threat to their country’s democracy.

The spurious charge that the FBI was motivated by pro-Clinton bias has become a pretext for a political purge to advance Trump’s goals of transforming the agency into a political weapon at his disposal. To say this is not to make an accusation against the president but simply to describe the views he has made perfectly clear. “I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department,” he told the Times. “But for purposes of hopefully thinking I’m going to be treated fairly, I’ve stayed uninvolved with this particular matter.” He likewise implores the Department of Justice to imprison political antagonists who have committed no crimes.
.
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“Next year will bring ‘full Trump,’ said one person who recently talked to the president,” Mike Allen reported over the holiday week. Allen’s reporting focused more on Trump’s nativist instincts, which his conventionally right-wing governing partners have largely deflected until now. The point is that Trump does not surrender his obsessions or impulses. He can be delayed and distracted, but he keeps returning to his essential identity. At his core, Trump is a man who expects the federal government to serve him personally exactly like the Trump Organization does. He either despises the very notion of popular sovereignty — and its premise that the state serves the people and not the personal whims of their executive — or simply fails to understand it. It is simplistic to expect boots marching in the streets, but there will be a battle for democracy."
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We need to fight like hell and GOTV!!

https://www.amazon.com/DRAIN-THE-SWAMP-Card-Game/dp/B075M4SLXH/ref=sr_1_30_sspa?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1514272544&sr=1-30-spons&keywords=adult+board+games+for+parties&psc=1

"Laugh your ass off and test your knowledge of the lunacy that abounds in our American political landscape. Get out your anger and angst while having “bigly” fun with family and friends. You will be challenged to answer questions of varying difficulty to score points. And as you wade into the Swamp you must find a way to separate the humor from the truth. Good luck! “This is the greatest game in the history of games! You’re gonna win so much you’ll get tired of winning!” Contents: Swamp Deck and Swamp Master Deck - over 200 questions!"

Folks, i just found this board game on Amazon while looking for board games to play with our young adult children. A clever and brilliant idea. This should be a hit at our house. Let me know if any of you have ordered it and how you like it.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/13/politics/alabama-exit-poll-analysis/index.html

1. Moore won only among old(er) voters
2. Moms walked away from Moore
3. Moderates fell for Jones
4. Trump approval was blah
5. Jones played Moore to a draw on values
6. The Democratic Party is more popular than the Republican party
7. Republicans are increasingly only a rural party
8. Black voters are incredibly energized

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"Terrify" is a bit of a stretch but these are good indicators the party of Lincoln is no longer the party of the people.
Please lock if duplicate.

https://www.npr.org/2017/11/07/562303931/election-day-2017-whats-on-the-ballot-and-what-s-at-stake-around-the-country

"The marquee races of 2017 are in Virginia and New Jersey where term limits mean that voters are picking new governors. While both races may have begun with an emphasis on statewide issues such as property taxes and education policy, in the closing weeks both have morphed into the latest test of President Trump's influence down the ballot. While Murphy is highly favored to win in New Jersey, the contest between Gillespie and Northam has grown increasingly narrow. The outcome in Virginia could play a big role in shaping each party's message in the 2018 midterms. For Republicans, a victory by Gillespie could encourage congressional GOP candidates to fully embrace Trump's style of populism next year. Should Northam prevail, it could quell the ongoing debate in Democratic ranks about the extent to which the party should nominate more liberal versus centrist candidates.

While odd-year elections aren't typically the venue for major ballot initiatives, there are a couple that bear watching on Tuesday.
Maine: Voters are being presented with the opportunity to bypass Republican Gov. Paul LePage's veto pen and approve an expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. If the measure succeeds, Maine would be the first time a state has expanded Medicaid via a referendum and could energize organizers of similar campaigns for 2018 across the country, including in Utah and Alaska.
Ohio: Voters will weigh in on whether the state and its agencies should pay the same or lower prices for prescription drugs as the Veterans Affairs medical system. It's being described as the state's most expensive ballot measure with the pharmaceutical industry spending nearly $60 million to defeat it.
New York: With many Americans genuinely unhappy with the direction of the country, a ballot measure in New York state could indicate how much desire there is to blow up the political system and start all over. As part of the state's constitution, New York voters get to decide every 20 years whether the state should hold a constitutional convention to rewrite or amend the state's constitution.

Among the other big cities with mayoral races on the ballot are Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Charlotte, N.C.
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If anyone has any news/status of the races going on today please do share. I'm so nervous i'm about to pop out of my skin the same way as on Nov. 8 last year

Hello fellow north Texans (or fellow Texans elsewhere if you're able to travel a bit),
Our candidate Beto O'Rourke is coming to Arlington for 2 events:

Nov. 4 event:
Greater Arlington Mansfield Democratic Women's BBQ for Beto
When: Saturday Nov. 4th, 2 PM - 4 PM
Where: El Ranchito restaurant, 3517 S Cooper St, Arlington, TX 76015

Nov. 10 event:
Town Hall with Rep. Beto O'Rourke at UTA
When: Friday Nov. 10, 5-7pm CST
Where: UT Arlington University Hall, 601 S Nedderman Dr, Arlington, TX 76010
FB link: https://www.facebook.com/events/297552597427202/

Come support Beto in his bid to unseat Ted Cruz!!