Month: January 2020

Gardner: No New Witnesses

Buck Banks

“I do not believe we need to hear from an 18th witness. I have approached every aspect of this grave constitutional duty with the respect and attention required by law, and have reached this decision after carefully weighing the House managers and defense arguments and closely reviewing the evidence from the House, which included well over 100 hours of testimony from 17 witnesses.”

— Sen. Cory Gardner told Colorado Politics that he thinks the Senate has heard from enough witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial, taking off the table a potential Republican vote to subpoena national security adviser John Bolton.

House Democrats Unveil $750 Billion Infrastructure Plan

Buck Banks

$750 billion

“House Democrats on Wednesday plan to unveil a five-year, $760 billion framework for rebuilding the nation’s highways, airports and other infrastructure, laying out an election-year package with little chance of enactment after bipartisan talks with the White House on the issue failed to gain traction,” the New York Times reports.

National Debt to Rise to 98% of GDP by 2030

Buck Banks

98%

“Sustained federal budget deficits and debt will hit the highest levels since World War II over the next decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office report,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The government will spend $1 trillion more than it collects in 2020 and deficits will exceed that amount every year for the foreseeable future. As a share of gross domestic product, the deficit will be at least 4.3% every year through 2030. That would be the longest stretch of budget deficits exceeding 4% of GDP over the past century. … Debt held by the public will be 81% of GDP this year and is projected to reach 98% by 2030.”

Bloomberg’s Climbing in National Polls

Buck Banks

12%

A new Morning Consult poll finds Michael Bloomberg at 12% nationally and in fourth place, just behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 14%. “Upon entering the race in November, Bloomberg’s net favorability (or the share of voters with favorable views minus those with unfavorable views) was just +5 among Democratic primary voters and +4 among black voters. In the latest poll, he was at +33 among all Democratic primary voters and +32 among black voters.”

Kelly Believes Bolton

Buck Banks

“If John Bolton says that in the book I believe John Bolton… John’s an honest guy. He’s a man of integrity and great character, so we’ll see what happens.”

— When asked if former National Security Adviser John Bolton should testify at President Trump’s impeachment trial, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said that he supports calling witnesses, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports.