Here’s an interesting pair of polls that, put side-by-side, paint a revealing and somewhat surprising portrait of both Russians and Americans. Gallup reported the other day that a record percentage of Russians (20 percent) would like to leave Russia for some other country. This is especially true among young people. But before you start feeling

It may have backfired as a political argument, but self-deportation might be the new reality anyway. Politico reports today that “voluntary departures” of illegal immigrants have soared during Donald Trump’s presidency, although the “voluntary” nature of those decisions might be debatable. Scaled-up enforcement and get-tough policies have incentivized people to give up and go home:

So much for getting over the 2016 election and “moving on” I suppose. A recent poll completed by Scott Rasmussen has found that a perhaps surprising number of Democrats really have bought into their own press about the President. A solid majority of them (57%) say that they believe Donald Trump is guilty of treason.

After the Trump administration rattled its trade-war sabers, China has responded by proceeding with its planned visit to the US. Over the weekend, the White House threatened to impose the rest of the proposed tariffs in Chinese goods totaling $200 billion when talks on a trade deal appeared to stall. Trump advisers accused China of

Richard Neal may well be right, but it won’t be as easy as he might think. The House Ways and Means chair told reporters yesterday that he would sue to force Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to comply with his demand to surrender Donald Trump’s tax returns. “We think the law is unambiguous,” Neal declared in

As theories go, this is certainly one of them. Was today’s assertion of executive privilege by Donald Trump a strategy to prevent Robert Mueller from appearing before House Judiciary Committee? Chair Jerrold Nadler thinks Trump “will try to stop Robert Mueller,” and says that Trump has “broken the law six ways from Sunday.” “Robert Mueller

The NY Times published a big story today on Trump’s taxes from 1985 to 1994. The upshot is that Trump claimed over a billion dollars in losses during that time and, as a result, paid almost no tax on his income. The numbers show that in 1985, Mr. Trump reported losses of $46.1 million from

It really is Donald Trump’s party now. Three years ago, traditional Republican donors kept Trump at arm’s distance, or in many cases further than that. Trump returned the favor by declaring his scorn for the GOP establishment and attacking the party’s former nominees for their opposition. As it turned out, everyone could afford to do that

The executive privilege hammer has struck. Will Donald Trump get nailed for it? According to Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House will tell former counsel Don McGahn not to comply with a congressional subpoena aimed at records of his work with Trump, and later his testimony. The press secretary told ABC News that the Trump

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has formally refused a request the Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee to turn over several years of Trump’s tax returns. This wasn’t unexpected but it does set up a future showdown over the issue. From the Washington Post: Mnuchin, in a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman

Call this the counterintuitive take on impeachment and polling. Despite overwhelming opposition to the idea and the obvious lessons from 1998 in hand, Rep. Al Green told MSNBC this weekend that Congress has to impeach Donald Trump to save its soul. Green also argued that Trump would win in 2020 without impeachment, a point that

“I would say it’s done,” Donald Trump told Fox News’ Catherine Herridge last night, but Congress certainly doesn’t think so. The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify further about conversations described in Robert Mueller’s special-counsel report, but Trump makes it clear that he will invoke executive privilege to prevent

Like a bad episode of Law and Order, Roger Stone pulled his latest argument in court right from the headlines. If Attorney General William Barr argues that one cannot prove an obstruction charge if no underlying crime existed in the investigation, then how can the Department of Justice prosecute him? After all, Stone’s attorneys argue, if

The surprising GDP boom in the first quarter doesn’t look like a fluke at all. Job creation had its biggest gain in April since the first of the year, adding 263,000 jobs and sending unemployment to a 49-year low. The latter might have more to do with the vagaries of the BLS Household survey, but don’t

It’s not a Godfather II-Michael Corleone “nothing, Senator” counteroffer … but it’s not a whole lot more than that, either. Perhaps sensing that a court fight over Robert Mueller’s report might not get resolved soon enough for his purposes, House Judiciary chair Jerrold Nadler tried suggesting a small amount of compromise from his original subpoena. At

Can a state require presidential candidates to reveal their tax returns to qualify for the ballot? California legislators tried it once, but Jerry Brown vetoed it two years ago, noting that it was likely unconstitutional. That didn’t stop state senators from passing it again, and this time they hope Gavin Newsom wants to pick a

Remember when Republicans capped the deductions for state and local taxes (SALT) as part of their overall tax reform package in December 2017? Critics predicted the Apocalypse, and advocates waited excitedly for tax revolts in blue states. Governors in high-tax states accused Donald Trump and the GOP of economic warfare, especially New York’s Andrew Cuomo,

If it’s still “the economy, stupid,” Donald Trump has positioned himself well for re-election. CNN reported this morning that the president hit a new high for approval on the economy, with 56% of respondents giving him good grades. It’s the best rating for Trump in more than two years, and this time economic performance justifies

With the economy booming and showing positive signs across the board, it’s something of a mystery why so many people continue to insist that everything is terrible and the world is about to end. That’s the issue being tackled by our friend Andrew Malcolm this week at his new home, Issues & Insights. (Be sure

Former FBI Director James Comey has written a piece for the NY Times in which he describes President Trump as a soul-eating monster: Amoral leaders have a way of revealing the character of those around them. Sometimes what they reveal is inspiring. For example, James Mattis, the former secretary of defense, resigned over principle, a

Impeachment? Senate Democrats would rather change the subject, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton discovered after talking it over with a few of them. Their answer for public consumption is that it’s just too soon after Robert Mueller’s investigation to get a grip on what the specific basis for impeachment might be: Senate Democrats are putting the

“What matters more,” one discouraged Wall Street Democrat lamented to New York Magazine’s Gabriel DeBenedetti, “my social values or my paycheck?” After giving an overwhelming fundraising edge to Hillary Clinton in 2016, the sharp left turn by Democratic presidential hopefuls in 2020 has Wall Street funders thinking twice about their loyalties. Citing a “tremendous fear”

Call this the Unified Theory of Politics, at least in the Trump era. The Wall Street Journal’s Gerald Seib wonders why Donald Trump seems to be baiting Democrats into starting impeachment proceedings. He concludes that impeachment might be the easiest way for Trump to win a second term, especially since he and his campaign don’t

Can Donald Trump stop Congress from seizing his private business records? He’s certainly giving it the ol’ college try. The Trump family sued their two banks to prevent them from complying with subpoenas issued by House Democrats, a move that will tie up their investigative ends for at least months: President Trump, his three eldest

Rear Admiral John Ring had seven weeks to go as the commander of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. By mid-June, Ring would have rotated out of the position quietly and on schedule. Instead, Ring got relieved of his command over a “loss of confidence in his ability” to lead the facility, but the Department

Last week, Politico took the first turn in reporting that the Mueller bubble had collapsed. It’s the New York Times’ turn this week, largely plowing the same ground that Sarah Ferris did. In town hall after town hall, House Democrats are hearing a lot about policy from their constituents, and nearly dead silence on either

Is President Trump teaming up with Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist – Vermont)? Maybe not, but this weekend it certainly sounded like he was trying to give him a hand in the Democratic primary. As Politico reported yesterday, the President took a break from his campaign activities to warn Sanders that the DNC was once again

Did North Korea force a US envoy to sign off on a $2 million “bill” for medical services before releasing Otto Warmbier? According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump personally ordered Joseph Yun to sign such an agreement. But did the US ever pay the “bill”? North Korea issued a $2 million bill for the

It’s been years since our operating philosophy was “it’s the economy, stupid,” but perhaps it’s time to return to it. Economic growth spiked upward in a quarter usually known for its retreats, hitting an annualized rate of 3.2% growth in Q1. That’s a full point above 2018Q4’s disappointing 2.2% growth rate: Real gross domestic product

Why would two FBI agents text each other about attempts to “develop” sources within an incoming American administration? Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) would like to know the answer to that question after more texts between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok became public late yesterday. The content of the texts suggest that