Devin Nunes threatens to "impeach" the head of the FBI and Rod Rosenstein, while Donald Trump just wants to fire everybody.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Tuesday that he will seek to "impeach" FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if they decline to hand over the document used to launch the FBI's probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election. 

"I can tell you that we're not going to just hold in contempt, we will have a plan to hold in contempt and impeach," Nunes said on Fox News's "The Ingraham Angle." 

Asked host Laura Ingraham if he was serious about impeaching Wray, Nunes replied: "Absolutely."

Of course as we know Nunes is essentially Trump's lap dog, and he is desperate to earn his Scoobie snack from his master.

However Trump may not even bother to go through that process as he is still talking about firing Rosenstein on his own: 

President Donald Trump is considering firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, multiple people familiar with the discussions tell CNN, a move that has gained urgency following the raid of the office of the President's personal lawyer. 

Such an action could potentially further Trump's goal of trying to put greater limits on special counsel Robert Mueller. 

This is one of several options -- including going so far as to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions -- Trump is weighing in the aftermath of the FBI's decision Monday to raid the office of Michael Cohen, the President's personal lawyer and longtime confidant. Officials say if Trump acts, Rosenstein is his most likely target, but it's unclear whether even such a dramatic firing like this would be enough to satisfy the President.

In other news Mitch McConnell refused to allow a vote to protect Robert Mueller and his investigation:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he doesn't think the Senate needs to pass legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller, arguing President Trump won't fire him. 

"I haven't seen a clear indication yet that we needed to pass something to keep him from being removed because I don't think that's going to happen, and that remains my view," McConnell told reporters. The GOP leader, asked what the Senate would do if Trump fired the special counsel, declined to speculate. 

"It's still my view that Mueller should be allowed to finish his job. I think that's the view of most people in Congress," he said. 

There is NO way that McConnell actually believes that Trump is not capable of trying to fire Mueller, or of firing Rosenstein and forcing his successor to fire Mueller.

Especially since he actually had to be talked down from doing so by his lawyers back in December.

Jesus what a shit show!

Donald Trump attacks (And misspells the name of) his Attorney General while ranting about "Dem crimes."

Source

So did you notice that Trump left the final "s" off of Jeff Sessions' name?

Well so did he, about ten minutes later, so he simply removed it and then reposted the same unhinged tweet with a correction. 

Question: If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation? Why didn’t Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren’t Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Sessions!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2018

Yeah, nothing seems insane about that.

So if I understand this correctly Trump wants to know why the Justice Department is not investigating the Obama Administration, who started these investigations in the first place, for not doing more to stop the interference that helped him to win the White House?

Well, perhaps he should ask Mitch McConnell that last question.

Courtesy of Politico:  

Joe Biden said Tuesday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stopped the Obama administration from speaking out about Russian interference in the 2016 campaign by refusing to sign on to a bipartisan statement of condemnation. 

That moment, the former Democratic vice president said, made him think “the die had been cast ... this was all about the political play.”

Now if Trump thinks the Justice Department should investigate why Mitch McConnell obstructed Obama's efforts to warn the American people, well I think we are all on board with that. 

Only about 2% of those polled reported any benefit from the new GOP tax bill.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Only 2 percent of American adults reported receiving a bonus, a bump in pay or another perk due to the Republican tax overhaul passed in December, a new survey found. 

Twenty-seven percent of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they believe the legislation will increase the amount they pay in taxes, while 24 percent said they think they will pay less in taxes and 23 percent did not anticipate their tax payment will be altered. 

A third of the respondents polled said the new legislation made them more likely to cast a ballot for a Democrat, while a quarter of those surveyed said the same for a Republican. 

GOP lawmakers have commended companies like Walmart for announcing bonuses or additional employee benefits due to the tax law’s passage late last year. Democrats have slammed the legislation, which President Trump signed into law before the New Year, as a tax cut for the wealthy.

Oh yes, the bonuses. About that...

Courtesy of Vice:

Consider the one-time, $1,000 bonuses for employees that many companies, like Comcast and AT&T, have announced. First of all, one-time bonuses, while nice to have, are not wage increases. The promise of the tax cut was not that it would let companies throw a few bucks in the employee tip jar, but permanently raise pay. Bonuses don’t make up for stagnant wages, as Southwest Airlines’ mechanics union, which has been locked in a contract battle for over five years, told the company. 

The Comcast and AT&T bonuses were also announced late last year, allowing them to be written off as a business expense in 2017. If a business gave a bonus in 2017, it went against the 35 percent corporate tax rate then in effect. If were to give one this year, the bonus would only go against the new 21 percent rate. In other words, it was cheaper for businesses to announce bonuses in December than January, suggesting we may not see much of their kind again. 

But Comcast and AT&T in particular serve as the poster children for dishonesty in this matter. Because around the same time that they made a big show of rewarding employees with bonuses, both companies quietly engaged in layoffs. Comcast fired 500 members of its sales department before Christmas, and AT&T is eliminating “thousands” of jobs, according to its union, the Communications Workers of America. “We believe there's more than 4,000 people AT&T has (notified of layoffs) across the country,” Larry Robbins, vice president of CWA Local 4900, told the Indianapolis Daily Star.

Just to do the math on this, $1,000 bonuses to 200,000 AT&T workers is $200 million. Cancelling 4,000 jobs at the median US compensation of $59,000 per year (some of the workers affected likely earned less) would actually amount to a higher number, and unlike the bonuses, those layoffs are permanent. More to the point, any $1,000 bonus for workers is a drop in the ocean compared to chopping the corporate tax rate by 40 percent, as the Trump tax cuts will. AT&T, according to calculations from economist Dean Baker, will see $2.4 billion in annual savings from that tax cut, more than ten times the likely cost of its the one-time bonus. (Neither Comcast nor AT&T immediately responded to a request for comment.)

Also keep in mind that as Wal-Mart handed out bonuses, and promised a wage increase, they also suddenly closed Sam's Clubs all over the country, including every single one up here in Alaska.

Donald Trump is going to lie about all of this during his State of the Union speech, which is yet another reason I will most likely be watching Netflix instead.

Joe Biden says that the Obama Administration wanted a bipartisan response to the Russian interference in the last election but were blocked by Mitch McConnell.

Courtesy of Politico:  

Joe Biden said Tuesday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stopped the Obama administration from speaking out about Russian interference in the 2016 campaign by refusing to sign on to a bipartisan statement of condemnation. 

That moment, the former Democratic vice president said, made him think “the die had been cast ... this was all about the political play.” 

He expressed regret, in hindsight, given the intelligence he says came in after Election Day. "Had we known what we knew three weeks later, we may have done something more,” Biden, a potential 2020 presidential candidate, said. 

Biden was speaking at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, a block from his old office at the Old Executive Office Building, to discuss his new article in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, “How to Stand Up to the Kremlin.”

As you might expect McConnell disagrees strongly with this characterization of eventts.

However I reported this exact same event back in December of 2016: 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rejecting bipartisan calls for a special committee to investigate Russian interference in the U.S. election, which American intelligence says was aimed in part at helping Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. 

What's more a former Obama White House staff echoed Biden's version of events:  

“Our administration's interest in making sure the response was bipartisan wasn't for the sake of being bipartisan. It was necessary because we needed the buy-in from state and local election administrators (many of whom were Republican partisans and/or skeptical of federal government),” the official argued in an email. “Unfortunately, as is well documented, Senator McConnell was unwilling to help — only making matters worse.”

Let's face it Mitch McConnell does not care about protecting American election integrity just so long as the meddling benefits his party's candidate.

Good news! Your government is back up and running. Well at least temporarily.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins: "Today is a day to celebrate because we have shown that a determined group of senators working together across the aisle can result in positive action" https://t.co/xXFLArURok

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 22, 2018

Courtesy of CNBC: 

Senators were optimistic they had the votes to end the government shutdown Monday after leaving meetings more confident about a compromise deal to allow Congress to pass a short-term funding bill. 

On Monday afternoon, the chamber advanced a stopgap bill to keep the government open through Feb. 8 by a comfortable 81-18 margin. The chamber still needs to approve its final passage. 

"We will vote today to reopen the government," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. 

Schumer said Democrats have received assurances that the Senate will take on immigration issues, such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Earlier Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he intends to allow debate on immigration before Feb. 8.

Oh Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, when will you ever learn?

Mitch McConnell is never going to keep that promise, and if he does, he is guaranteed to sabotage the process.

Under the cover of darkness the Republicans pass massive tax overhaul.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

The Senate passed the most sweeping tax rewrite in decades early Saturday, with Republicans lining up to approve an overhaul that will touch almost every corner of the United States economy, affecting families, small business owners and multinational corporations, with the biggest benefits flowing to the highest-earning Americans. 

Senators voted 51-49, as Republicans approved the nearly 500-page bill in the early morning hours after lawmakers received a rewritten version, which contained significant changes from the original bill that passed two Senate panels last month along party lines. The last-minute revisions prompted an outcry from Democrats, who said it was impossible — and irresponsible — for lawmakers to read and digest a significant piece of legislation in such a short period of time. 

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader and Kentucky Republican, called it “a great day for the country.” 

The president praised Republican lawmakers on Saturday morning on Twitter, saying, “Biggest Tax Bill and Tax Cuts in history just passed in the Senate. Now these great Republicans will be going for final passage. Thank you to House and Senate Republicans for your hard work and commitment!”

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, said in a statement that with Senate approval “we will move quickly to a conference committee so we can get a final bill to President Trump’s desk.”

But, speaking on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, called the Republican approach “a process and a product that no one can be proud of and everyone should be ashamed of.”

As explained by Senator Jon Tester last night, this bill was handed to the Democrats with only a handful of hours before the vote, and with revisions being added almost up until the last minute.

I was just handed a 479-page tax bill a few hours before the vote. One page literally has hand scribbled policy changes on it that can’t be read. This is Washington, D.C. at its worst. Montanans deserve so much better. pic.twitter.com/q6lTpXoXS0

— Senator Jon Tester (@SenatorTester) December 2, 2017

Many of those revisions contained sweetheart deals for Senators who were previous hold outs like Susan Collins:  

Several amendments that Collins offered were incorporated into the bill, including the restoration of a $10,000 deduction for property taxes and a lower threshold for deducting medical expenses. 

Collins touted the ability for her to get changes into the bill as crucial to her decision to ultimately be able to support it.

And Lisa Murkowski:  

Senate Republicans passed legislation early Saturday allowing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as part of a tax reform package, moving closer to fulfilling a long-time GOP goal. 

The passage of the bill marked a significant achievement for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, who has introduced legislation to open a portion of the Alaskan refuge to drilling every term she has served in the chamber, only to be blocked by Democrats. 

“This small package offers a tremendous opportunity for Alaska, for the Gulf Coast, and for all of our nation,” Murkowski said before the vote. “We have authorized responsible energy development in the 1002 area.” 

This has already received significant backlash from conversations groups: 

A major conservation group is blasting the newly passed Senate GOP tax bill for allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), calling the bill “simply shameful.” 

“Opening the Arctic to drilling as part of this tax plan is simply shameful. The Arctic Refuge isn’t a bank—drilling there won’t pay for the tax cuts the Senate just passed,” National Audubon Society President and CEO David Yarnold said in a statement Saturday.

Actually it is not likely to bring in much money at all as the cost of new drilling is quite high in Alaska and with the price of oil plunging the risk to cost ratio may mean that few, if any, new wells are dug.

In the meantime the bill did repeal the Obamacare mandate which means that the healthcare of millions of Americans will likely be affected by the vote.

The editorial board of the New York Times called it an "Historic Tax Heist":

The bill is expected to add more than $1.4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade, a debt that will be paid by the poor and middle class in future tax increases and spending cuts to Medicare, Social Security and other government programs. Its modest tax cuts for the middle class disappear after eight years. And up to 13 million people stand to lose their health insurance because the bill makes a big change to the Affordable Care Act. 

Yet Republicans somehow found a way to give a giant and permanent tax cut to corporations like Apple, General Electric and Goldman Sachs, saving those businesses tens of billions of dollars.

All in all it is a truly terrible bill, which is why the Republicans demanded that it be passed late last night, because they well knew that if the American people had the opportunity to really know what was in it that they would take to the streets with pitchforks and torches. 

New accuser comes forward and claims that Roy Moore sexually assaulted her when she was only fifteen years old.

"He said 'You're just a child.' And he said, 'I am the District Attorney of Etowah County. And if you tell anyone about this, no one will ever believe you," accuser Beverly Young-Nelson says Roy Moore told her after the alleged sexual assault. (via CBS) pic.twitter.com/3GZNQqIO0A

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 13, 2017

Courtesy of CBS News: 

Nelson describes her first encounters when she was 15 years old working as a waitress at a local restaurant after school. 

She said Moore, DA of Etowah County, was a regular customer where he would often pull the ends of her hair as she passed by and complimented the young girl's looks. 

"I did nothing to encourage this behavior," said Nelson, adding "I did not respond to any of Mr. Moore's flirtatious behavior." 

She said that at the time of the encounters she had a boyfriend and was "not intersted in having a dating or sexual relationship with a man twice my age." 

Nelson went on, describing another incident in which Moore signed a school yearbook of hers when she was 16. 

"He wrote in my yearbook as follows: 'To a sweeter more beautiful girl, I could not say merry christmas, Christmas, 1977, Love Roy Moore, old hickory house. Roy Moore, DA.'" 

She said after the incident, Moore had offered to drive Nelson home after work, during which she alleges he forced himself on Nelson and groped her in a locked car. 

"I trusted Mr. Moore because he was district attorney, I thought he was doing something nice to offer to drive me home," said Nelson. 

She detailed her fighting off Moore in the car as he squeezed her neck, forcing her head onto his crotch. 

She said that Moore eventually gave up, and told her, "You're just a child and he said I'm the district attorney if you tell anyone about this no one will ever believe you."

This woman also says that she told others about the assault, though not at the time that it took place, and informed her husband before they got married.

If that can be verified, along with Moore's signature in her yearbook, I think Moore is cooked. 

According to her attorney she is also perfectly willing to testify before Congress and the Senate under oath.

The other day a former boyfriend also came forward to affirm that he once dated the former 14 year old girl that Moore molested and that she told him the story back in 2009.

Mike Ortiz says he dated Corfman (Roy Moore’s accuser) for 2 years around 2009.
He says during that time, she told him about a sexual encounter w/ Moore when she was young.
Again: Moore calls these claims “completely false & a desperate political attack.”#ALSen pic.twitter.com/T9iCDiIkJr

— Lauren Walsh (@LaurenWalshTV) November 10, 2017

In response Mitch McConnell publicly stated that he believes the women and is calling for Moore to "step aside."

Senators Orrin Hatch and Susan Collins are also calling for Moore to resign.

On the plus side for the embattled Senate candidate more than 50 Alabama pastors just signed a letter of support for Roy Moore and  his campaign.

Moral Majority my ass.

Update: I realize now that nobody can leave comments on any of the posts after the Sean Hannity post from 6:15 this morning (Including me).

No I do not know what is wrong at the moment, but I have been having my own problems with Blogger for several days now.

Hopefully it will rectify itself, but in the meantime if you want to talk about a post you will have to leave a comment on the Hannity post from this morning. 

It appears that Michael Flynn and his son are next up in the Robert Mueller indictment sweepstakes.

Courtesy of NBC News:

Federal investigators have gathered enough evidence to bring charges in their investigation of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser and his son as part of the probe into Russia's intervention in the 2016 election, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. 

Michael T. Flynn, who was fired after just 24 days on the job, was one of the first Trump associates to come under scrutiny in the federal probe now led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign. 

Mueller is applying renewed pressure on Flynn following his indictment of Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, three sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News.

The investigators are speaking to multiple witnesses in coming days to gain more information surrounding Flynn's lobbying work, including whether he laundered money or lied to federal agents about his overseas contacts, according to three sources familiar with the investigation.

And just to add to the evidence that Flynn was working in cahoots with the Russians, there is also this: 

Former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn followed five Twitter accounts based out of the Russian-backed “troll factory” in St. Petersburg—and pushed their messages at least three times in the month before the 2016 election. 

Over 2,750 troll accounts based out of the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency were made public by House investigators on Wednesday. The accounts, some of which had previously been identified by The Daily Beast as Russian-generated, were pulled from Twitter due to their ties to the troll factory over the past three months. 

The Daily Beast had previously discovered Flynn, Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, and Trump campaign digital director Brad Parscale retweeted Ten_GOP several times in the month before the election.

We cannot possibly be surprised by this as I think most of us have known that Flynn is guilty, guilty, guilty for some time now.

I think the only thing that remotely surprises me is that he was not the first one indicted.

But this also likely means that after Mueller has rounded up the obvious suspects, he then shifts his attention to the persons of interest that are closest to Trump's inner circle.

"Paper trail leads directly back to Mike Pence—proof Pence knew Michael Flynn was a Russian agent" @Funder on #AMJoy https://t.co/mK7L0yJI2Y

— Scott Dworkin (@funder) November 5, 2017

So is this when Trump fires Jeff Sessions and appoints an Attorney General that will allow him to get rid of Robert Mueller? Possibly.

And Mitch McConnell does not appear at all interested in keeping that from happening.

Courtesy of Politico:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Saturday that special counsel Robert Mueller is not in need of congressional protection from President Donald Trump. 

"I don’t hear much pressure to pass anything," McConnell told MSNBC's Hugh Hewitt. "There’s been no indication that the President or the White House are not cooperating with the special counsel." 

McConnell added, "I think the view up here is let him do his job."

Senators on both sides are submitting bills to protect the Mueller investigation and Yertle the Turtle just sits on his hands and does nothing.

If I were a cynical person I might think that the fix was in.

By the way according to a former adviser to Vladimir Putin, he believes he was responsible for Trump's victory, even if the Republicans do not:

It’s really difficult to understand what was the level of Putin’s involvement or blessing in that. After November, after Trump was elected, the situation changed. Now Putin understands, or he believed at least, that he was strong. I don’t know who believed in America that Putin elected Trump, but Putin believed that. Putin believed that, and that has become a political factor.

So yes, Robert Mueller and his investigation need to be protected, because as they say on the X-Files, "The truth is out there."

Donald Trump has now taken to mocking John McCain and Mitch McConnell in private.

Courtesy of Axios: 

In private, President Trump has taken to physically mocking M&M: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (slumped shoulders; lethargic body language) and Sen. John McCain (imitating the thumbs-down of his historic health-care vote). 

Trump is venting about his frustration with what he considers failed leadership by Senate Republicans as he takes his lumps this week in wars with, well, everyone.

Axios also reports that Trump is feeling like a whipped dog since it seems he simply cannot get a win.

Whether it be the NFL players, Kim Jong Un, moderate Republicans, Robert Mueller, or even his own former adviser Steve Bannon, it seems that EVERYBODY is defying him and coming out on top.

That makes Trump especially dangerous.

He hates to lose, and at this point he desperately needs a win, so that could really manifest itself in a variety of destructive ways.

McConnell and Trump drumming up support to go after Obamacare one last time.

Politico: McConnell & Trump both ramping up their lobbying for Graham-Cassidy, will be whipping senators this week. https://t.co/VpfGHxQaNz

— Taniel (@Taniel) September 17, 2017

Courtesy of Politico:  

Obamacare repeal is on the brink of coming back from the dead. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his leadership team are seriously considering voting on a bill that would scale back the federal government’s role in the health care system and instead provide block grants to states, congressional and Trump administration sources said.

It would be a last-ditch attempt to repeal Obamacare before the GOP’s power to pass health care legislation through a party-line vote in the Senate expires on Sept. 30.

McConnell says that he will bring this up for a vote if he can get fifty Senators to support it.

So far he does not have that  many, but they are just now ramping up the pressure.

For those who are wondering here is a breakdown of how bad this bill will be for the American people.

JUST OUT: Here's a summary of the Graham-Cassidy repeal. Yes, it's that bad.

Spread far and wide if useful. pic.twitter.com/Z0bbj0qaPd

— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) September 13, 2017

You can find information on how to contact your Senators here.

They are trying to push this through under the radar so we need to make as much noise as possible.

Chuck Schumer brags to Mitch McConnell about his cozy new relationship with Donald Trump.

Courtesy of Politicususa:

Schumer was overheard telling someone, “He likes us. He likes me anyway….Here’s what I told him, I said, ‘Mr. President, you’re much better off if you can sometimes step right and sometimes step left. If you have to step in just one direction, you’re boxed.’ He gets that.”

Now what makes this conversation even more interesting is who Schumer was talking to about this.

Evidently Schumer was talking to McConnell when he said this, believe it or nothttps://t.co/V8Ncsew3HV

— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) September 14, 2017

Of course what makes this so interesting, is that Trump REALLY does not seem to like Mitch McConnell and has even attacked him on Twitter for being ineffective at his job.

And this is after news comes out that Trump made at least a verbal deal with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to protect the Dreamers and keep DACA in place.

Now I would assume that Trump thinks he is playing the two Democrats and that ultimately he will use them to get what he wants passed in the Senate, but both Pelosi and Schumer are long time political warriors who have pretty much seen it all.

If anybody is about to get played it is Cheeto Hitler.

The New York Times reports that Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump engaged in profane shouting match over the phone. Oh really?

Courtesy of the New York Times:

In a series of tweets this month, Mr. Trump criticized Mr. McConnell publicly, and berated him in a phone call that quickly devolved into a profane shouting match. 

During the call, which Mr. Trump initiated on Aug. 9 from his New Jersey golf club, the president accused Mr. McConnell of bungling the health care issue. He was even more animated about what he intimated was the Senate leader’s refusal to protect him from investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to Republicans briefed on the conversation. 

(Wait, what? Trump expected McConnell to protect him from the Russia investigations? Okay seriously, how is that not considered obstruction?) 


Mr. McConnell has fumed over Mr. Trump’s regular threats against fellow Republicans and criticism of Senate rules, and questioned Mr. Trump’s understanding of the presidency in a public speech. Mr. McConnell has made sharper comments in private, describing Mr. Trump as entirely unwilling to learn the basics of governing. 

In offhand remarks, Mr. McConnell has expressed a sense of bewilderment about where Mr. Trump’s presidency may be headed, and has mused about whether Mr. Trump will be in a position to lead the Republican Party into next year’s elections and beyond, according to people who have spoken to him directly.

So I guess at this point we can assume that McConnell's invitation to the White House pajama party has been revoked, right?

Of course this fight has been brewing almost since the moment that Trump took office, with his attitude toward McConnell careening back and forth between saccharine sweet to outright hostile.

Now we have Trump actively supporting primary challenges to Senators that he feels are disloyal, as if he were the living embodiment of the Tea Party that has caused so many headaches for McConnell in the past.

For his part McConnell had this shot delivered over Trump's bow:

But Mr. McConnell’s allies warn that the president should be wary of doing anything that could jeopardize the Senate Republican majority. 

“The quickest way for him to get impeached is for Trump to knock off Jeff Flake and Dean Heller and be faced with a Democrat-led Senate,” said Billy Piper, a lobbyist and former McConnell chief of staff.

Yeah, you know that came from Yertle the Turtle himself.

I think this is only the beginning of the ugliness to come.

More popcorn anyone?

Mitch McConnell reveals what he was thinking right after the Republican health care bill crashed and burned in the Senate.

Courtesy of WPL: 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a surprise appearance at a Republican event Saturday morning ahead of the Fancy Farm picnic this afternoon. 

McConnell initially expected to be absent because he had delayed the Senate’s August recess in order to pass a bill to repeal Obamacare. But U.S. senators and representatives headed home after the effort’s failure last week. 

“I choose not to dwell on situations where we come up a little bit short,” McConnell told a crowd of Republicans at Graves County High School. 

“Even on the night when we came up one vote short of our dream to repeal and replace Obamacare, here’s the first thing I thought about: feel better, Hillary Clinton could be president.”

Jesus Christ!

Currently in office we have a desperately unqualified psychopath who seems determined to destroy the country, as well was the Republican party, and this asshole's hatred of Hillary Clinton is so intense that he still feels the election turned out for the best.

I can tell you one thing.

If Hillary HAD won the rest of the world would not currently be thinking that we had all lost our damn minds.

Anti-Trump group turning up the heat on Mitch McConnell in his home state.

Courtesy of the Courier-Journal:  

An anti-Trump group that says it's "sick" of Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell dodging its emails, phone calls and social media posts now has a plan it says is too big for him to ignore. 

Indivisible Kentucky has purchased two billboards of the Senate majority leader's face on northbound Interstate 65 in Louisville emblazoned with the phrases "You make us sick" and "We've had enough." 

The signs, placed near Cardinal Boulevard and St. Catherine on I-65 N, cost the group more than $10,000. A spokeswoman for Indivisible Kentucky said the funds were raised by the group as well as an anonymous benefactor. One is scheduled to debut this week and the other sometime next week.

If McConnell thinks that he can just hold off for awhile and then get Trumpcare passed while nobody is paying attention, I don't think he clearly understands how focused the American people are in preventing that. 

Perhaps McConnell should focus less on getting a bill that nobody seems to want passed through the Senate and focus more on fighting to retain his seat.

It appears that might be in jeopardy.

Donald Trump spent morning pushing hard for Senate Republicans to use "nuclear option."

Republican Senate must get rid of 60 vote NOW! It is killing the R Party, allows 8 Dems to control country. 200 Bills sit in Senate. A JOKE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

The very outdated filibuster rule must go. Budget reconciliation is killing R's in Senate. Mitch M, go to 51 Votes NOW and WIN. IT'S TIME!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

Republicans in the Senate will NEVER win if they don't go to a 51 vote majority NOW. They look like fools and are just wasting time......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

Actually there WAS a 51 vote majority, that voted AGAINST passage of the GOP "skinny" bill.

....8 Dems totally control the U.S. Senate. Many great Republican bills will never pass, like Kate's Law and complete Healthcare. Get smart!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

If the Senate Democrats ever got the chance, they would switch to a 51 majority vote in first minute. They are laughing at R's. MAKE CHANGE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

Damn! Somebody was certainly over caffeinated this morning!

What Trump is referring to is the Senate "nuclear option" which is what McConnell used to get Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court. (After first refusing to allow a confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland of course.)

However while McConnell may have felt compelled to alter the rules to place a conservative on the Supreme Court he is less likely to do the same for Trumpcare.

First off there is every likelihood that even more Senators will come out against the bill than the three who blocked the "skinny" bill the other night.

And secondly if it DOES pass only because the Republicans changed the rules, every American voter who loses health care, or has a family who suffers as a result, will take their outrage to the polling stations punish the GOP.

That is a risk far more concerning than the ravings of a mad man on Twitter.

But Trump didn't stop there.

If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

That's right Trump is threatening to end Cost Sharing Reduction payments to insurance companies, which reduce co-payments and deductibles for lower income customers under Obamacare, and end insurance for members of Congress altogether.

And if that threat was a little too subtle Trump followed it up with this.

Unless the Republican Senators are total quitters, Repeal & Replace is not dead! Demand another vote before voting on any other bill!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017

Yep, gaining cooperation through verbal insults and intimidation. Isn't that how the Mob gets people to do what they want?

Trumpcare crashes and burns after two more Republican Senators refuse to support it. Update!

Courtesy of Politico:  

President Donald Trump's top legislative priority was dealt a potentially fatal blow Monday night as two more Republican senators announced their opposition to the party's health care overhaul. 

Trump quickly called on Republicans to simply repeal Obamacare and begin work on a new health care plan, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would try to do so.

“Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful," McConnell said.

However that setback is not stopping Yertle the Turtle from suggesting that the Republicans could still bring up a bill they voted on back in 2015 to repeal Obamacare.

There is only one problem: 

GOP lawmakers have voiced severe doubts that such a plan can win the 50 votes necessary this year given the uncertainty it would throw onto insurance markets. The 2015 vote was viewed as mostly symbolic at the time given Obama’s certain veto.

Yet McConnell seems damned and determined to take health care away from millions of Americans and to get the Republican Senators on record as supporting it.

And Donald Trump is just as reckless with the lives of his constituents.

Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2017

As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2017

The Senate must go to a 51 vote majority instead of current 60 votes. Even parts of full Repeal need 60. 8 Dems control Senate. Crazy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2017

The country is being run by sociopaths.

Update: It appears the attempt to repeal and NOT replace Obamacare is dead in the water as well. 

Well at least there are a few non-sociopaths out there.

Mitch McConnell attempts to bribe Alaskan Senators into supporting Trumpcare.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

The latest version of the Senate health care bill has a host of provisions designed to woo hesitant lawmakers — but perhaps none is more blatant than a change targeted at Alaska’s two GOP senators. 

Both Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski have not committed to supporting the proposal, and Murkowski has been one of the harshest critics of the bill’s closed-door drafting process.

Mich McConnell cannot afford to lose any more votes, so this is how desperate he has become:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., apparently hopes to appeal to Murkowski by slipping in a provision that could allow her state to access more than $1 billion in federal money. 

States with high premiums would receive access to a $182 billion fund designed to stabilize their insurance exchanges. One percent of that money would be earmarked specifically for states that have premiums more than 75 percent higher than the national average — and Alaska is the only state that would meet the standard. 

This means the state could get more than $1.8 billion over the next decade. Alaska has some of the highest health care costs in the nation because of its remoteness and lack of medical facilities in many rural areas. 

Sullivan said that the program, dubbed the “Kodiak Kickback” or “Polar Payoff” by pundits, would serve as a big boost for his state.

Dan Sullivan is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Koch brothers, so he will vote as they tell him to.

Murkowski on the other hand at least has some semblance of independence, though she will vote in what ever way will ensure her reelection.

So I guess as Alaskans we need to pressure her into doing the right thing, for all of her wrong reasons.

Personally as an Alaskan I do not want to be singled out so that we are protected from a policy that hurts millions of my fellow Americans. And I was raised to believe that Alaskans were kinder and more giving than those living in other parts of the United States.

That may not be as true anymore, but back in the day when all we had was each other to survive in one of the harshest climates on the planet, nobody sat in a broken down car on the side of the road for more than a few minutes without somebody stopping to help.

And nobody went hungry in the winter without the community coming together to help their family get enough to eat and warm clothes to wear.

THAT is who we used to be, and THAT is how many of us still would still like to see ourselves.

We cannot have while others have not.

So Lisa Murkowski needs to vote NO on this bill, and then needs to lead the GOP to work together with the Democrats to fix Obamacare and make it work better for ALL of us.

THAT is how she ensures her reelection.

A number of Republican Senators are begging Mitch McConnell to cancel the August recess for fear of what they may face from constituents this 4th of July after failing to make progress on a health care bill.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

An even larger group of Senate Republicans suggested Friday that McConnell should scale back or cancel the chamber’s month-long August recess, given the lack of progress they have made on not just health care but a tax-code overhaul, spending bills, the debt ceiling and a budget resolution. 

Senate Republicans David Perdue (Ga.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), John Neely Kennedy (La.), James Lankford (Okla.), Mike Lee (Utah), Mike Rounds (S.D.), Luther Strange (Ala.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) sent McConnell a letter Friday asking him to shorten or cancel the August recess so they can get more done. 

“Delivering meaningful results was never assumed to be easy, but the millions of Americans who placed their confidence in our leadership expect our full and best effort,” the 10 senators wrote. 

Republicans are steeling themselves for attacks on their health-care negotiations over the July Fourth recess, with progressive activists planning to pressure any members of Congress they see at public events. Most GOP senators were keeping their plans close to their vests, though a handful, including Cassidy, Ted Cruz (Tex.), Susan Collins (Maine), Jerry Moran (Kan.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) have announced town halls or parade visits. 

Collins, a vocal critic of the current Senate draft, had publicized just one scheduled appearance — in the 1,300-person town of Eastport, Maine, near the Canadian border. 

At (Louisiana Senator Bill) Cassidy’s town hall at the Living Faith Christian Center in Baton Rouge, he tried to make the case for transitioning Medicaid recipients into private insurance. But constituents interrupted him repeatedly, prompting him to chastise them for being rude. 

“I’ll tell you what’s rude — kicking 22 million people off of health care in this country,” said a man in the front row after the senator recognized him to speak. 

The audience erupted into cheers. 

Reminding Cassidy, a medical doctor, of his stint treating patients at a hospital for the uninsured, the man continued: “You worked at Earl K. Long for many years. You know what people are like at their lowest.” 

Senate Democrats are staging events aimed at highlighting how the Senate’s draft bill could hurt health-care delivery in their home states. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) is visiting at least two rural hospitals over the break to underscore the impact of proposed funding cuts.

Yeah I bet these GOP Senators are absolutely dreading these 4th of July events.  

I think that Alaska's two senators are only planning on attending the parades, but I have little doubt that they will be inundated with demands that they protect Medicaid and work to expand health coverage up here.

I especially think that is true of Lisa, who many see as being much more likely to reject the GOP plan, and who is the subject of a lot of anti-repeal advertising on our local radio and television stations right now.

The GOP's plan to repeal Obamacare just went into a ditch. Or careened off a cliff. Kinda depends on who you ask.

WATCH: Senate Dems hold "People's Filibuster" against ObamaCare repeal pic.twitter.com/mGkyRvBwFQ

— The Hill (@thehill) June 27, 2017

Courtesy of CNN Politics:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will delay the vote on the Republican leadership's health care bill until after the July 4 recess. 

McConnell told GOP senators that he wants to make changes to the bill, get a new Congressional Budget Office score and have a vote after the holiday, two sources told CNN. 

McConnell said that President Donald Trump had invited all Republican senators to the White House on Tuesday afternoon. 

"We're going to continue discussion in our conference," McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill after his meeting with his caucus.

The republicans are insisting that this does not mean the bill is dead, but can you imagine what these Senators will face back home during this break?

Most will likely hide in their houses or state offices at avoid the angry crowds gathered outside, and those that are brave enough to hold a town hall will spend the entire time pressed up against the wall attempting to inch toward the exit.

There is NO WAY they come back from that anxious to pass a health care bill.

Alaska's Lisa Murkowski is clearly a no vote on anything that the Republicans could come up with.

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski: “People support greater access to health care. Planned Parenthood provides for that.” https://t.co/XLEolQj5AG

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 27, 2017

And even Mitch McConnell has signaled that it might be time to bring in the "A" Team.

You know, the Democrats:  

Mitch McConnell is delivering an urgent warning to staffers, Republican senators and even the president himself: 

If Obamacare repeal fails this week, the GOP will lose all leverage and be forced to work with Chuck Schumer.

Those ought to be some fun negotiations, especially since Elizabeth Warren has now stated categorically that it is time for Democrats to push for single payer.

Warren: The Next Step For Dems Is Single-Payer Health Care https://t.co/syfo9PhUNV via @TPM

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 27, 2017

As we have already reported Americans are supporting the idea of single payer now more than ever, which might give Democrats a little more leverage than in times past.

I think the most important thing that Democrats can do in the interim is to make the Republicans solely responsible for every problem that crops up in health care until new legislation gets passed, and that includes higher rates, loss of coverage, and fewer available options.

If I were a Democratic Senator or Congressperson I would have a bumper sticker on my car that read "We can permanently fix health care in America, ask us how."

James Comey went to the deputy Attorney General to request more resources for his Russia probe. And then he was gone. Update!

So does this mean I'm not going to get those additional resources?

Courtesy of the New York Times: 

Days before he was fired, James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, asked the Justice Department for a significant increase in resources for the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election, according to four congressional officials, including Senator Richard J. Durbin. 

Mr. Comey made his appeal to Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, who also wrote the Justice Department’s memo that was used to justify the firing of Mr. Comey this week, the officials said. 

“I’m told that as soon as Rosenstein arrived, there was a request for additional resources for the investigation and that a few days afterwards, he was sacked,” said Mr. Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois. “I think the Comey operation was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives, and this was an effort to slow down the investigation.”

Wait, you mean James Comey WASN'T fired because he was mean to Hillary?

Now of course the Justice Department is denying that Comey asked for additional resources.

You know, the Justice Department that is now run by that paragon of truthfulness Jeff Beauregard Sessions.

Another reason trotted out by White House aides was that Comey refused to provide Trump a preview of the testimony he was planning to give before the Senate last week:

Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had wanted a heads-up from Comey about what he would say at a May 3 hearing about his handling of an investigation into former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. 

When Comey refused, Trump and his aides considered that an act of insubordination and it was one of the catalysts to Trump’s decision this week to fire the FBI director, the officials said. 

"It gave the impression that he was no longer capable of carrying out his duties," one official said. Previews of congressional testimony to superiors are generally considered courteous.

It should also be remembered that Comey HAD been scheduled to appear before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence this week, however now there is confusion as to whether the acting director, Andrew McCabe, or Comey will take the stand, depending on who you ask.

(Personally I would assume that the Democrats want to hear testimony from Comey now more than ever.)

In the meantime the calls for a special persecutor are being shouted from the rooftops, while the Republicans attempt to deny the need for one:

McConnell dismissed calls by Democrats — joined by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) — for the appointment of a special prosecutor or independent commission to investigate Russia’s influence in the Trump campaign, which the FBI is now investigating. 

He argued that the Senate Intelligence Committee is already reviewing the matter, as is the FBI, and empowering another investigative authority could hamper their work. 

“Today we’ll do doubt hear calls for a new investigation, which could only serve to impede the current work being done to not only discover what the Russians may have done [but] also to let this body and the national security community develop countermeasures and war-fighting doctrine to see that it doesn’t occur again,” McConnell said. 

Methinks that someone doth protest too much.

There are also currently some fairly well known names being floated as possible replacements for Comey.

Sources: @ChrisChristie, Rudy Giuliani, @TGowdySC, and Ray Kelly on FBI director short list. pic.twitter.com/NcTcOMh8WK

— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 10, 2017

Trey "Benghazi" Gowdy, Rudy "9-11, 9-11, 9-11" Giuliani, Chris "Bridge-gate" Christie, or Ray "Stop and Frisk" Kelly. Oh yeah, those are certainly the folks I would choose to conduct a nonpartisan investigation into a Republican president's possible criminal ties to Russia.

Of course all of this might be academic as some Democrats are signaling that they will not confirm ANY new FBI Director candidates until they get a special prosecutor assigned to this case.

More popcorn anyone?

Update: Comey's letter to his friends and fellow agents.

READ: James Comey's farewell letter to friends and agents https://t.co/d1GuPWRREQ pic.twitter.com/UCNbZl3b1v

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 11, 2017

Update 2: WaPo is now reporting, based on thirty sources, the REAL reasons why Trump fired James Comey: 

Trump was angry that Comey would not support his baseless claim that President Barack Obama had his campaign offices wiretapped. He was frustrated when Comey revealed in Senate testimony the breadth of the counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s effort to sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election. And he fumed that Comey was giving too much attention to the Russia probe and not enough to investigating leaks to journalists.

So essentially the reasons are the reasons that most of us assumed when we first heard that Comey was fired. 

This story is not going away, and it is clear that Trump has made a VERY serious miscalculation.