Month: October 2019

Huge Majority Rejects Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections

Buck Banks

81%

A new Selzer & Co national poll finds 81% of Americans believe that it’s not right for political candidates to ask foreign governments to help them win election. That includes 81% of Republican, 85% of evangelicals Christians, 87% of rural voters — President Trump’s 2016 base. If the general election were today, only 38% of likely voters say they would definitely vote to re-elect Trump while 47% would definitely vote for someone else.

Republican Attacks the Credibility of Vindman

Buck Banks

“It seems very clear that he is incredibly concerned about Ukrainian defense. I don’t know that he’s concerned about American policy… We all have an affinity to our homeland where we came from… He has an affinity for the Ukraine.”

— Former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI), in a CNN interview, trying to challenge the credibility of Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a who will testify in the House impeachment inquiry today.

Top Former Bush Adviser Leaves GOP

Buck Banks

“First, the Republican Party has largely become the Party of Trump. Too many Republicans in Congress are willing, in the interest of protecting their jobs, to overlook Trump’s misdeeds (just as too many Democrats were for Clinton during his impeachment). I have no interest in associating myself with that behavior. Maybe someday, the party will return to having honorable leaders like Bush, McCain, and Romney. Until then, count me out.”

— Greg Mankiw, former economic adviser to President George W. Bush, writes that he’s no longer a Republican.

Steyer Has Already Spent $30 Million on TV Ads

Buck Banks

$30 million

Tom Steyer has now spent nearly $30 million in TV and radio advertisements for his presidential bid, NBC News reports. “Steyer’s spending over the airwaves is seven times greater than the second-biggest advertiser in the presidential race (President Trump’s re-election campaign) and 15 times greater than his nearest Democratic rival (Pete Buttigieg).”

Biden Hit Oligarch in the Wallet

Buck Banks

$1 million

Daily Beast: “Indicted Ukrainian gas oligarch Dmytro Firtash spent more than $1 million hiring key figures in Republican efforts to investigate the Biden family. … But the two men have a history. Two Ukrainian gas industry experts say the gas-market reforms pushed by Biden and others in 2014 and 2015 hit Firtash in the wallet, and badly. One knowledgeable outside observer estimated that the 2014 and 2015 gas reforms and legislation cost him hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Swing States Experiencing a Manufacturing Recession Already

Buck Banks

22

“A manufacturing recession may already be under way in vulnerable swing states, challenging President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deliver blue-collar jobs to his base,” NBC News reports. “Out of the 22 states with manufacturing job losses so far this year, some of those with the biggest percentage declines are states where Trump won by less than 5 percentage points.”

TRump Brother’s Company Awarded $33 Million Government Contract

Buck Banks

$33 million

“A company in which President Trump’s brother has a financial stake received a $33 million contract from the U.S. Marshals Service earlier this year, an award that has drawn protests from two other bidders, one of which has filed a complaint alleging possible favoritism in the bidding process,” the Washington Post reports.