January 27, 2017

Week One

President Trump’s first full week in office included the astonishing statement by the new Commander-in-Chief that between 3-5 million votes were illegally cast in the most recent election, thus calling into question the legitimacy of his own Presidency. On Twitter, Trump called for a “major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states”. This happens when someone moves and then registers to vote in their new community. According to news reports, Senior White House Advisor Steve Bannon, Treasury Secretary Nominee Steve Mnuchin, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and first daughter Tiffany Trump are all registered in two states. This is not illegal (unless you actually vote twice), so why did the President include this type of activity in his list of alleged frauds?

In a subsequent interview, the President asserted that not one single “illegal” vote would have gone to him. His spokesman stated in a press briefing that the investigation would look particularly at New York and California. I probably don’t have to remind you who won those two states.

Of course, there is not a shred of evidence that voter fraud occurred in November. Because elections are overseen on the state and local level, it would have had to involve thousands of people from all over the country. It’s just not true. Furthermore, it seems that Congressional Republicans do not agree with the President’s assertions – they have no plans on investigating these baseless allegations.

In contrast, U.S. intelligence officials have concluded (with evidence) that Russia interfered in the most recent election yet there is no effort by the new Administration to investigate that.

By insisting that millions of votes were illegally cast, President Trump is not only creating doubt about his own election, he is calling into question every race on every ballot in every state, all without evidence. It is truly stunning and a troubling beginning to the Trump Administration.

Other actions this week are concerning, but were expected. President Trump issued Executive Orders targeting Sanctuary Cities, advancing the border wall and jumpstarting both the Dakota Access and the Keystone XL Pipelines. Other immigration actions included a 30 day ban on persons seeking to enter the U.S. from certain countries and temporarily suspending refugee admissions.

As noted, these are issues the President campaigned on and he is now following through. We can expect much more in the days and weeks ahead, including efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Taxpayer Funding and Choice

Now on to House votes. On Tuesday the House considered H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017. To be clear, federal law already prohibits taxpayer money from being used for abortion services. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) established tax credits for small businesses offering PRIVATE insurance to their employees. Under H.R. 7, those small businesses would be prohibited from using those tax credits if any of their private insurance plans include abortion coverage. Today over 80% of private insurance plans available through employers include abortion coverage. H.R. 7 also impacts women who buy their insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplaces established under the ACA. If they choose a plan that includes abortion coverage, they will not be eligible for premium tax credits even if they never use that aspect of their health plan. Simply put, this is an attack on choice. I voted NO. H.R. 7 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

Green Line Extension

I have some good news to report this week. The Green Line Extension (GLX) is included on a draft list of infrastructure projects the new Administration has identified as a priority. While unofficial, it’s comforting that the project is on the list. I am looking forward to reviewing the comprehensive infrastructure program that the new President has talked about implementing.

A Note About This Newsletter

We surpassed 10,000 subscribers this week. I am especially appreciative of your interest because this is an opt-in list, everyone receiving the newsletter has proactively signed up for it. A special thank you to all the readers who have been with us since the beginning and welcome to our new subscribers. As always, we look forward to your feedback and commentary.

What’s Up Next

The next House votes are scheduled for Monday January 30th. At this writing, a list of legislation to be considered is not available.