December 11, 2017 10:57 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (December 11)

• 6 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Try not to panic; Christmas Day is two weeks from today. It’s time to Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Congressional Republicans continue to push their absurdly-flawed tax plan in an effort to pass the legislation before the end of the year. As the Washington Post reports, the GOP seems to be undeterred by the fact that they are trading clarity for speed:

Republicans are moving their tax plan toward final passage at stunning speed, blowing past Democrats before they’ve had time to fully mobilize against it but leaving the measure vulnerable to the types of expensive problems popping up in their massive and complex plan.

Questionable special-interest provisions have been stuffed in along the way, out of public view and in some cases literally in the dead of night. Drafting errors by exhausted staff are cropping up and need fixes, which must be tackled by congressional negotiators working to reconcile competing versions of the legislation passed separately by the House and the Senate.

And the melding process underway has opened the door to another frenzy of 11th-hour lobbying as special interests, including President Trump’s rich friends, make one last dash for cash before the final bill speeds through both chambers of Congress and onto Trump’s desk. Passage is expected the week before Christmas.

Poll after poll shows that Americans really hate the Republican tax plan, but the GOP seems to be careening toward a finish line nevertheless.

► Voters in Alabama are one day away from determining whether or not to send accused pedophile Roy Moore to the U.S. Senate. Democrat Doug Jones may be able to pull off a huge upset on Tuesday, particularly if Alabamians decide that they are too embarrassed to go with Moore at the ballot box. Alabama’s Senior Senator, Republican Richard Shelby, gave voice to that sentiment on Sunday when he revealed that he did not vote for Moore because of the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against the GOP nominee.

Meanwhile, Politico explains how President Trump ultimately came around to convincing himself that it was okay to back Moore’s campaign:

Two factors nudged the president from private sympathy to public cheerleading for the besieged candidate that would eventually draw the RNC, which had severed ties with Moore, back into the race.

The first was a perceived pile-on against Moore from his own advisers that left the president resentful and angry. His daughter Ivanka Trump told The Associated Press in mid-November that “there’s a special place in hell for people who prey on children.” She was repeating a statement from the White House’s legislative director, Marc Short, who used the same phrase days earlier in an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd.

At the same time, the president had been asking aides for polling on the race, and Moore’s numbers began to bounce back. That meant a chance for Trump to claim credit for Moore’s comeback — and to redeem what he considered his mistaken and embarrassing endorsement of Moore’s primary opponent, Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed in February to temporarily fill the seat.

Trump is now doing the opposite of what his daughter, Ivanka, wants him to do, which is a strange story in and of itself.

If Moore does win the Alabama Senate election, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) will be under significant pressure to reaffirm previous statements that the Senate should vote to expel the former judge.

► President Trump is facing new pressure over prior accusations of sexual harassment. From the New York Times:

Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said on Sunday that women who have accused President Trump of sexual misconduct “should be heard,” a surprising break from the administration’s longstanding assertion that the allegations are false and that voters rightly dismissed them when they elected Mr. Trump…

…“They should be heard, and they should be dealt with,” Ms. Haley said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And I think we heard from them prior to the election. And I think any woman who has felt violated or felt mistreated in any way, they have every right to speak up.”

A group of women who have publicly accused Trump of harassment — at least 13 women have come forward already — detailed their claims during a news conference earlier today. The White House maintains its general response that all of Trump’s accusers are lying and that the American people are cool with these allegations because they elected Trump to the Presidency.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► There is still too little talk in Congress about renewing funding for CHIP, the health insurance program for low-income children that is starting to shut down for lack of federal money.

► Officials at Air Force Space Command, headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, are concerned about funding levels as Congress keeps kicking the “government shutdown can” down the street.

► The “gay wedding cake” Supreme Court case involving a Lakewood baker won’t be decided until June, but you can now listen to the oral arguments yourself.

► The attorney for Republican state Rep. Lori Saine, who was arrested last week for trying to bring a loaded handgun through airport security at DIA, is, um…not the best spokesperson.

► A special election has been set to replace Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, who resigned last week in the wake of numerous sexual harassment allegations. Because of a combination of timing and Michigan’s replacement election laws, voters in Michigan’s 13th District will effectively be without representation in Congress for 11 months.

► A Colorado Pols diarist examines the bizarre case of a city council election in Greeley that is being challenged in part because the apparent winner is a convicted felon.

► Activists are increasing their efforts to call attention to a “net neutrality” vote expected by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week.

Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

► In an era of enhanced (publicly-reported) creepiness from elected officials, Arizona Congressman Trent Franks managed to find a way to stand out from the crowd. 

► You can add skier Lindsey Vonn to the list of people that Trump supporters are now supposed to dislike.

ICYMI

► The next two days may be your last chance to voice concerns about a Trump administration push to cripple “net neutrality.”

► If you missed this fascinating New York Times story about President Trump’s daily life in the White House, stop what you are doing and read it. Now.

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