December 5, 2014

No SOTU Blues

December 5, 2014 Buck Banks

The opportunities for a president to address the nation are few,
But the GOP wants to punish him for pushing immigration reform through.
They want to put the kibosh on
This year’s State of the Union,
But it’ll be a sad day if POTUS doesn’t get to give his SOTU.

Emanuel Apparently Doesn’t Miss the White House or Congress

December 5, 2014 Buck Banks

No f**king way.

— Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, when asked by Roll Call if he missed being in the White House or Congress.

Romney Tweets Had to Be Approved by 22 People

December 5, 2014 Buck Banks

22

Number of people on the digital team of Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign who needed to approve every tweet, Facebook post, blog post or photo issued by the campaign, according to a New Media Society study.

Administration Posts Strong Year-End Jobs Report

December 5, 2014December 16, 2014 Buck Banks

321,000

Number of jobs the U.S. economy added in November; the unemployment rate held at 5.8%, according to Wonk Wire.

Boehner’s Reasoning for Allowing a State of the Union Address

December 5, 2014 Buck Banks

The more the president talks about his ideas, the more unpopular he becomes. Why would I want to deprive him of that opportunity?

— Speaker John Boehner, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, on reports that Republican might not invite President Obama to deliver his State of the Union address.

Buffett Gives Maximum to Ready for Hillary Group

December 5, 2014 Buck Banks

$25,000

Amount Warren Buffett gave — the maximum donation allowed — to Ready for Hillary last quarter. It was “his first-ever check to the sort of independent political groups that he’s scorned in the past,” Bloomberg reports.The group has raised more than $11 million to finance its efforts to lay the groundwork for a Clinton presidential campaign.

Jenna Bush Hager Admits to a ‘Little Hank-Panky’ at White House

December 5, 2014 Buck Banks

A lady never talks … Maybe there was a little hanky-panky, maybe there was a kiss on the roof.”

— Jenna Bush Hager, in a Bravo interview, on whether she ever fooled around in the White House.

One in Three Americans Has a Serious Political Disagreement with a Family Member

December 5, 2014 Buck Banks

30%

Of Americans say they “have serious political disagreements with someone in their family, but only about a third of those say a political disagreement has hurt their relationship with a close family member,” according to a new YouGov poll.

Obama Has Maintained — Not Increased — Government Spending

December 5, 2014 Buck Banks

$3.50 trillion

Amount the federal government spent in fiscal year 2014, which ended Sept. 30. In fiscal year 2009, the federal government spent about $3.52 trillion. Cato Institute: “In other words, there’s been no growth in nominal government spending over the past five years. It hasn’t received nearly as much attention as it deserves, but there’s been a spending freeze in Washington.”

Day: December 5, 2014

No SOTU Blues

Emanuel Apparently Doesn’t Miss the White House or Congress

No f**king way.

— Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, when asked by Roll Call if he missed being in the White House or Congress.

Romney Tweets Had to Be Approved by 22 People

22

Number of people on the digital team of Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign who needed to approve every tweet, Facebook post, blog post or photo issued by the campaign, according to a New Media Society study.

Administration Posts Strong Year-End Jobs Report

321,000

Number of jobs the U.S. economy added in November; the unemployment rate held at 5.8%, according to Wonk Wire.

Boehner’s Reasoning for Allowing a State of the Union Address

The more the president talks about his ideas, the more unpopular he becomes. Why would I want to deprive him of that opportunity?

— Speaker John Boehner, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, on reports that Republican might not invite President Obama to deliver his State of the Union address.

Buffett Gives Maximum to Ready for Hillary Group

$25,000

Jenna Bush Hager Admits to a ‘Little Hank-Panky’ at White House

A lady never talks … Maybe there was a little hanky-panky, maybe there was a kiss on the roof.”

— Jenna Bush Hager, in a Bravo interview, on whether she ever fooled around in the White House.

One in Three Americans Has a Serious Political Disagreement with a Family Member

30%

Of Americans say they “have serious political disagreements with someone in their family, but only about a third of those say a political disagreement has hurt their relationship with a close family member,” according to a new YouGov poll.

Obama Has Maintained — Not Increased — Government Spending

$3.50 trillion

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“They’ve invested heavily in AI labs. They’ve invested heavily in data centers. So, the first family has a financial stake in this industry, and as a result, the president of the United States is compromised.”

— “Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on Monday said President Trump will likely not heed calls from technology leaders to implement guardrails on the development of artificial intelligence because of his family’s investments in the industry,” NewsNation reports.

— Jane Haman

“We’re working through some political issues in Israel. I think we agree with them on the end state. They just have a crazy election, and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards.”

— Jared Kushner, quoted by CBS News, on the lack of progress in Gaza.

Numerati

470

Reuters has documented at least 470 targets of retribution under Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. The list illuminates the sweeping effort by the president and his administration to punish dissent and reshape the government.

$184 million

50%

38%

31%