Day: December 26, 2017
Majority of Obamacare Enrollees from Trump States
7.3 million
“Americans in states that Donald Trump carried in his march to the White House account for more than 4 in 5 of those signed up for coverage under the health care law the president still wants to take down,” ABC News reports.“An Associated Press analysis of new figures from the government found that 7.3 million of the 8.8 million consumers signed up so far for next year come from states Trump won in the 2016 presidential election. The four states with the highest number of sign-ups — Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia, accounting for nearly 3.9 million customers — were all Trump states.”
Trump’s First Year Worse than We Anticipated
“Grit your teeth. Persevere. Just a few more days and this awful, rotten, no-good, ridiculous, rancorous, sordid, disgraceful year in the civic life of our nation will be over. Here’s hoping that we all — particularly special counsel Robert S. Mueller III — have a better 2018. … Many of us began 2017 with the consoling thought that the Donald Trump presidency couldn’t possibly be as bad as we feared. It turned out to be worse.”
— Eugene Robinson
Trump Administrations Sets the Expectation Bar Low
“It’s true, they haven’t started World War III yet. That’s a pretty low bar.”
— Former Bush national security aide Eliot Cohen, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration.
Nearly Half Believe Trump Colluded with Russians
47%
A new CNN poll finds that nearly half of Americans, 47%, say they approve of special counsel Robert Mueller’s handling of the probe into Russia’s involvement in the presidential race and the possibility of collusion with the Trump campaign. One third of Americans, 34%, say they disapprove.
Franken Laments Loss of the War for Truth
“As I leave the Senate, I have to admit that it feels like we’re losing the war for truth. Maybe it’s already lost. If that’s what happens, then we have lost the ability to have the kinds of arguments that help build consensus.”
— Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), quoted by the Washington Post, in his final speech on the Senate floor.
Hundreds of EPA Employees Leaving the Administration
700
“More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration,” the New York Times reports.
New Yorkers Avoiding Trump’s Golf Course
11%
Crain’s New York: “Rounds played this year at the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point were down 11% through mid-September, according to data from the city. The decline is nearly five times larger than the national trend and considerably bigger than the 3.5% overall drop in traffic at golf courses in the city through October.”
New Year’s at Mar-a-Lago to Cost More this Year
$750
Politico: “Ticket prices for the annual Dec. 31 bash at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in South Florida are going up to $600 for dues-paying members and $750 for their guests, according to members of the private Palm Beach club. Last year’s tickets went for $525 for members and $575 for guests.”
Finally – a Pollster Asks How the Majority of 2016 Voters View the Political Scene
On Dec. 21, Public Policy Polling sent out a series of tweets with results from recent polling of normal American voters. As the pollster put it, “We know people get sick of hearing what Trump voters think about things, so here's a thread on what supporters of the popular vote winner think about things…”
Here’s what PPP found in its poll of people who voted for the candidate who won the most votes in the 2016 election:
