film / tv / politics / social media / lists celeb / pajiba love / misc / about / cbr
film / tv / politics / web / celeb

brad-paisley-carrie-underwood.jpg

Morning Briefing: Someone Implicated in the Mueller Probe Has Vanished, Plus Trumpcare is Crushing It!

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | November 9, 2017 |

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | November 9, 2017 |

— Remember Carrier, that company that struck a deal with Donald Trump to keep 1,000 jobs in Indianapolis in exchange for $7 million? Yeah, well, it was actually only 700 jobs. And since that deal, 350 employees have been laid off, and come January 11th, another 215 will be terminated.

I assume that Carrier will nevertheless get to keep that $7 million that Donald Trump essentially gifted the company in exchange for, ultimately, Jack and Squat, the two employees who have not yet been laid off.

— Tax reform continues its roll out. There’s a lot of details, as most of you know, but for many of our purposes, basically the middle class will get a small tax cut that will be phased out in a few years (and ultimately result in higher taxes) while rich people and corporations will get a huge permanent tax cut. Middle-income earners who, for instance, are freelancers, are gonna get creamed, because a lot of our deductions will be taken away (including student loan interest deductions). We’re gonna get f**ked. But it’s OK! Because the obscenely wealthy people of America will pay it forward! They always do! Trust in trickle down economics! It’s never failed America (except every single time it has been attempted).

Also, in things that shouldn’t be said aloud:

Again: Use your inside voice, Graham:

And also, Gary Cohn:

I’m so excited for Big CEOs!

— I wish I could explain to you all what’s happening in Saudi Arabia, but I don’t understand what’s going on in Saudi Arabia. This, however, is alarming:

— I want to prepare you all for this, so that you don’t get your hopes up in spite of the wave of Democrats winning in Virginia and New Jersey two days ago. Republican Roy Moore is going to win in Alabama. Roy Moore is an awful, terrible, crooked, homophobic, Islamaphobic, racist deplorable human being. But this is Alabama. He’s going to win. I am sorry. He’s also decided to refuse to debate his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, because he’s a coward and he doesn’t want to defend his positions on social issues out loud. This is bad for Alabama. This is bad for the Senate, but it doesn’t have to be bad for the rest of the country, because Democrats can tie every motherfucking Republican in the United States of America to the Roy Moore, starting with the people — like Ted Cruz — who have actively endorsed him. They are basically supporting a Nazi, and if there is one thing we learned on Tuesday, it’s that in most of America, we still don’t like Nazis.

Sorry Alabama: You’re going to end up taking one for the team here.

— Today in China, Donald Trump broke with tradition and — at the insistence of the Chinese government (which heavily regulates its press — Trump refused to take questions during a news conference. Previous Presidents have told the Chinese governments to shove their “insistences” up their asses, that America has the First Amendment, and by God, we will answer questions especially in China, because we are a goddamn Democracy.

Trump, meanwhile, is either a goddamn coward or he has no respect for the First Amendment, or both.

But then again, what do you expect from people like this?

I liked it better when Bannon never spoke to the press.

— Uh, no big deal, but Joseph Mifsud, that professor who linked George Papadopoulos to the Russians? Yeah, he’s vanished.

— Meanwhile:

— In other news re: Russia:

Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn has expressed concern about the potential legal exposure of his son, Michael Flynn Jr., who, like his father, is under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Can you say ‘flip’?

— So, Trumpcare is out, and guess what? It’s doing even better than Obamacare! Sign up today!

— Finally, I leave you with this, which was fun, in a country music kind of way.