Donald Trump would not say if he would pardon former George W. Bush White House official Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Trump said the question was “not pertinent,” but Valerie Plame’s response on Twitter to The Daily Caller’s question to Trump about Libby was, “My head is spinning.”
Libby was convicted in 2007 for obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury, and one count of making false statements.
The initial indictment came in 2005 when an investigation into the leak of classified information regarding then CIA officer Valerie Plame became public in a Robert Novak column.
Former Bush Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage revealed in 2006 to CBS News, well into the investigation, that he was the Novak’s source not Libby. No one was ever indicted for actually leaking Plame’s identity. (Read more from “Former CIA Operations Officer’s Head ‘Spins’ Over Scooter Libby Question to Trump” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-05 00:07:432015-09-05 00:07:43Former CIA Operations Officer’s Head ‘Spins’ Over Scooter Libby Question to Trump
2016 Republican frontrunner Donald Trump told Breitbart News that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush should be speaking English—not the Spanish he spoke to attack Trump in Miami this week—on the campaign trail.
Trump had harsh words for Sen. Marco Rubio in this interview as well and lit into the donor class, all while saying that the “silent majority” in America is waking up and fighting to take back the country from the political class.
Trump also predicted that he will not only win the White House in 2016, but that he will be re-elected in 2020–predicting he will be a two-term president–and that at the end of his eventual eight years in the White House he will be known to all as a “great conservative” just like Ronald Reagan.
“I like Jeb,” Trump said. “He’s a nice man. But he should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States.”
“El hombre no es conservador,” Bush said in Spanish of Trump in Miami, according to the Tampa Bay Times. That means, according to that newspaper, that Bush is saying of Trump: “The man is not conservative.” (Read more from “Donald Trump Fires Back at Bush: He Should Lead by Speaking English While in the U.S.” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-02 23:32:472015-09-02 23:32:47Donald Trump Fires Back at Bush: He Should Lead by Speaking English While in the U.S.
By Jeremy Diamond. Donald Trump said Thursday he is opposed to tightening gun laws in the U.S. but is in favor of addressing mental health to prevent shootings, after a man shot two journalists on live television.
“This isn’t a gun problem, this is a mental problem,” Trump told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day.” “It’s not a question of the laws, it’s really the people.”
Calling the gunman a “very sick man,” Trump said mental illness is “a massive problem” in the U.S. He suggested more resources should be devoted to addressing mental health — hoping to prevent shootings like the one in Virginia, which he called “really, very sad.”
Trump did not offer specific solutions to addressing the mental health problem, but said there are ‘”so many things that can be done” and repeatedly said the Virginia shooter, who killed himself Wednesday after killing two others, should have been “institutionalized.”
“In the old days they had mental institutions for people like this because he was really, definitely borderline and definitely would have been and should have been institutionalized,” Trump told Cuomo. “At some point somebody should have seen that, I mean the people close to him should have seen it.” (Read more from “Donald Trump: It’s Mental Health, Not a Gun Problem” HERE)
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Donald Trump Says He Wants to Raise Taxes on Himself
By David Knowles. Republican front-runner Donald Trump began to flesh out his economic vision for America, and it includes raising taxes on the wealthy.
Trump said during a Wednesday interview on Bloomberg’s With All Due Respect that he would like to change the tax code.
“I would change it. I would simplify it,” Trump told hosts Mark Halperin and John Heilemann from the lobby of Trump Tower on New York’s 5th Ave. Specifically, Trump targeted hedge fund profits, which are currently taxed at a lower rate than regular income.
“I would take carried interest out, and I would let people making hundreds of millions of dollars-a-year pay some tax, because right now they are paying very little tax and I think it’s outrageous,” Trump said. “I want to lower taxes for the middle class.”
Asked whether his proposed changes meant he was prepared to raise taxes on himself, the billionaire framed his answer in terms of fairness. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-01 23:21:392015-09-01 23:21:39Donald Trump: It’s Mental Health, Not a Gun Problem
Facing a barrage of attacks from Donald Trump, Jeb Bush is going nuclear on the Republican presidential front-runner by trying to paint him as a closeted liberal. A web video released Tuesday by the former Florida governor splices old clips of Trump expressing liberal positions.
The flip-flopper charge has been devastating to some past presidential candidates. But experts in the political science of flip-flopping doubt Jeb’s attacks will damage Trump.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if these attacks are less effective than you’d think,” said political scientist Robert Van Houweling, who co-authored a 2012 paper with Michael Tomz about the effects of “political repositioning” on voting. “He’s moving towards the primary electorate and a lot of people in the primary electorate will welcome that.”
Bush’s video features Trump calling himself pro-choice in 1999, identifying “more as a Democrat” in 2004 and praising Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton while she was a senator from New York. The video emphasizes Trump’s statements that he’s from New York . . .
Trump responded by assailing Bush for a “flailing campaign” and reiterating in two follow-up tweets his claim that the Floridian is beholden to his donors. Later Tuesday he posted an Instagram video with 2013 footage of a Jeb speech honoring Hillary Clinton’s public service.
Polling continues to show a surge for anti-establishment candidates with Donald Trump holding a commanding lead in the GOP primary. Some experts are amazed at the billionaire’s ability to completely flip previously unfavorable ratings to favorable, all largely without relying on paid media. As The Wall Street Journal pointed out, Donald Trump dominated Sunday news shows last week without even appearing on any program . . .
Here are the theories on the rise of the Trump phenomenon:
Master of Persuasion
Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip calls Trump the “Clown Genius.” Adams argues Trump’s mastery skills at persuasion and branding are everywhere in his campaign . . .
Positive Thinker
Carmen Fowler LaBerge, president of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, says, “Trump is tapping into the spirit and power of positive thinking that pervades the teachings of modern cultural evangelists like Oprah Winfrey and Joel Osteen.” (Read more from “God’s Trumpet, Positive Persuader or Narcissistic Blowhard? 3 Theories on the Trump Phenomenon” HERE)
By B. Christopher Agee. After riding his tough stance on illegal immigration to a commanding lead among Republican presidential candidates, Donald Trump broached another crime-related topic at a recent campaign event in Tennessee.
In a message citing the need for and benefits of strong local law enforcement, Trump offered a direct promise to any gang members causing trouble under his administration.
“You know the gang members in Baltimore and Chicago,” he said, “and these are some tough dudes, they’re going to be out so fast.”
He told an enthusiastic crowd that a Trump White House would “get rid of those gang members so fast your head will spin.”
Though he did not give specifics regarding that plan, he did note the importance of allowing police to perform their duties unfettered by the demands of anti-cop activists.
“I know cities where people are afraid to even talk to people,” he said, “because they want to be able to retire and have their pension.” (Read more from “There’s a New Group of People Donald Trump Says He Wants to Remove From America’s Streets” HERE)
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Increase Taxes? Talk by Donald Trump Alarms G.O.P.
By Alan Rappeport. For years, Republicans have run for office on promises of cutting taxes and bolstering business to stimulate economic growth, pledging allegiance to a Reaganesque model of conservatism that has largely become the party’s orthodoxy.
But this election cycle, the Republican presidential candidate who currently leads in most polls is taking a different approach, and it is jangling the nerves of some of the party’s most traditional supporters.
The tendency of that candidate, the billionaire developer Donald J. Trump, to make provocative, headline-grabbing speeches has helped obscure an emerging set of beliefs: that he would raise taxes in certain areas, particularly on corporations that he believes do not act in the best interests of the United States.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on American companies that put their factories in other countries. He has suggested he would increase taxes on the compensation of hedge fund managers. And he has vowed to change laws that allow American companies to benefit from cheaper tax rates by using mergers to base their operations outside the United States.
Alarmed that those ideas might catch on with some of Mr. Trump’s Republican rivals — as his immigration policies have — the Club for Growth, an anti-tax think tank, is pulling together a team of economists to scrutinize his proposals and calculate the economic impact if he is elected. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-31 22:06:282015-08-31 22:06:28There’s a New Group of People Donald Trump Says He Wants to Remove From America’s Streets
By John McCormick. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has emerged as a leading Republican presidential candidate in Iowa and is closing in on frontrunner Donald Trump in the state that hosts the first 2016 nomination balloting contest.
The latest Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll shows billionaire Trump with the support of 23 percent of likely Republican caucus participants, followed by Carson at 18 percent. When first and second choices are combined, Carson is tied with Trump.
Trump finds himself in a vastly better position than when the previous Iowa Poll was taken. He has become a credible presidential candidate to many likely Republican caucus-goers. The real estate mogul is rated favorably by 61 percent and unfavorably by 35 percent, an almost complete reversal since the Iowa Poll in May. He finds his highest ratings among those planning to attend the caucuses for the first time (69 percent) and limited-government Tea Party activists (73 percent). Just 29 percent say they could never vote for him, a number cut in half since May.
Although he isn’t generating the headlines enjoyed by Trump, Carson has quietly built a dedicated network of supporters in Iowa. During the past month, he also aired more ads than any other presidential candidate in Iowa. Carson has the highest favorability rating among Republican candidates, with 79 percent of likely GOP caucus-goers seeing him positively.
Those glowing views of Carson, who has a compelling life story and is seeking to become the nation’s second black president, could make it hard for Trump or other rivals to attack him as the campaign heats up this fall. Christian conservatives, who represent nearly 40 percent of likely caucus participants in the poll, may be starting to coalesce around the former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. (Read more from “Here’s the Candidate Edging Close to Front-Runner Trump in Latest Poll” HERE)
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Republican Candidates Address Donald Trump and Volatility in Polls
By Steve Eder. As the summer of Donald J. Trump winds down, some of the real estate mogul’s rivals took to the Sunday political talk shows, discussing plans for emerging from Mr. Trump’s shadow in the Republican field.
Scott Walker
The Wisconsin governor denied that his campaign has been forced to shift course by the potency of Mr. Trump’s candidacy . . .
Chris Christie
As his own campaign struggles to take hold, the New Jersey governor told Fox News Sunday that he plans to be on the main stage for the second Republican debate Sept. 16 in Simi Valley, Calif., even though several polls show he no longer ranks in the top 10 of the Republican field. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-30 21:49:322015-08-30 21:49:32Here’s the Candidate Edging Close to Front-Runner Trump in Latest Poll
She’s nothing if not provocative — some would say profane. The former teen idol who got her big break on the Disney Channel, pop music sensation Miley Cyrus has just said something that may further roil the already agitated waters of presidential politics. And the candidate about whom Cyrus made the surprising comment is, himself, well known for stirring things up quite a bit.
In an interview with The New York Times, Cyrus reflected on the explosive reaction to her ‘twerking’ performance on the MTV Video Music Awards show a couple of years ago. The singer is getting ready to host the 2015 version of the MTV awards show.
The Times’ description of those few shocking moments on stage in 2013 notes that even MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski slammed Cyrus’ more-than-suggestive gyrations as “raunchy porn that’s disgusting and disturbing.”
“The last time Ms. Cyrus took the stage at the Video Music Awards, two years ago, she performed, tongue unleashed, with giant teddy bears (stepping out of one, into her new reality), a phallic foam finger and a pre-crash Robin Thicke [her partner in the twerking performance] — prompting a thousand think pieces about slut-shaming, racial appropriation for her use of black female dancers and the meaning of twerking,” according to the piece in The New York Times.
Buried in the Times article, as almost a throw-away tidbit, is the claim by Miley Cyrus that she got a surprise phone call the day after her daring display of “talent” on the MTV broadcast — a call from the man whose name was on the hotel where she was staying. Times reporter Joe Coscarelli quotes Cyrus as saying:
I was staying at the Trump Hotel and Donald Trump literally called and said, basically, “I know everyone’s talking about it, but I loved it.”
(Read more from “Miley Cyrus Just Said That Donald Trump Called Her to Tell Her This…Unbelievable” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00kathleenhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngkathleen2015-08-29 00:44:192015-08-29 00:44:19Miley Cyrus Just Said That Donald Trump Called Her to Tell Her This…Unbelievable
Hillary Clinton’s lead in the Democratic presidential race is the slimmest it’s been in years, as Donald Trump keeps a stranglehold on the GOP race, a new poll found Friday.
Clinton maintains 45 percent support among Democrats, but Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is up to 25 percent, according to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking survey released Friday.
It’s Clinton’s smallest lead since Reuters started polling Democratic voters on her candidacy in 2012, the news service noted.
Vice President Biden, who is rumored to be mulling a White House bid, drew 16 percent. The remaining people polled were undecided or voting for other candidates.
Trump received 33 percent support among Republicans, crushing his closest rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, at 12 percent. (Read more from “Poll: Clinton’s Lead Shrinks as Trump Maintains Dominance” HERE)
Donald Trump told Mark Halperin yesterday that his sister, a federal judge, would be a “phenomenal” Supreme Court justice. He also said that “we will have to rule that out now, at least.”
If he ever becomes president, let’s hope he rules it out permanently. Maryanne Trump Barry came up in my book The Party of Death for writing one of those heated judicial decisions in favor of giving constitutional protection to partial-birth abortion. She called a New Jersey law against it a “desperate attempt” to undermine Roe v. Wade. It was, she wrote, “based on semantic machinations, irrational line-drawing, and an obvious attempt to inflame public opinion instead of logic or medical evidence.” It made no difference where the fetus was when it “expired.”
So: The right of abortionists to make a child “expire” by partially extracting her from the womb, sticking scissors in the back of her head, vacuuming out her brain, and crushing her skull to complete her extraction, is right there in the Constitution. But let’s please not have any “semantic machinations.” (Read more from “Donald Trump PRAISES His Sister, a Pro-Abortion Extremist Judge” HERE)
Donald Trump would not say if he would pardon former George W. Bush White House official Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Trump said the question was “not pertinent,” but Valerie Plame’s response on Twitter to The Daily Caller’s question to Trump about Libby was, “My head is spinning.”
