monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

No
Sen. Rand Paul (Kentucky)
Sen. John McCain (Arizona)
Has serious concerns
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) -- "My issues are still how they derive the formula and how that works with the numbers for Alaska"
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) -- "I'm leaning against the bill," she said Friday at a Portland, Maine, event, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Unclear
Sen. Dan Sullivan (Alaska) -- "I'll answer that as I dig more into the bill"
Sen. Cory Gardner (Colorado) -- Said he's undecided and more information is needed
Sen. Johnny Isakson (Georgia) -- Spokeswoman said he was undecided
Sen. David Perdue (Georgia) -- Said he was still looking at it
Sen. Todd Young (Indiana) -- "Still thinking about it"
Sen. Marco Rubio (Florida) -- Said he still wants to see some of the details but "returning power to the states is something I want to believe in"
Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa) -- Did not respond to questions about whether she supports the bill
Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) -- Spokeswoman said he's still studying the bill but learning toward it
Sen. Jerry Moran (Kansas) -- A spokesperson said he is still talking to Kansans about it.
Sen. Pat Roberts (Kansas) -- Said he's looking at it, but he couldn't say he was a "yes" yet
Sen. Steve Daines (Montana) -- Would not say publicly
Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio) -- Said he's still reading the bill but open to it
Sen. James Lankford (Oklahoma) -- Spokesman said he was undecided
Sen. Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) -- Said he hasn't decided yet
Sen. John Thune (South Dakota) -- "We will see. It all comes down to votes ... it's got to get 50 votes. It's a function of math."
Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tennessee) - Said he would like to support it, and might, but unhappy that the Graham-Cassidy bill and Sen. Bernie Sanders' Medicare-for-all distracted from his effort with Sen. Patty Murray on market stabilization
Sen. Bob Corker (Tennessee) -- Expects to support but still studying
Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) -- Said he has not made up his mind yet
Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) -- Impressed with bill but working to see if "technical changes" can be made
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia) -- "There is still a lot of work to be done"

Earlier this morning, the president took aim at another GOP lawmaker who is a no on Graham-Cassidy when he sent a mean tweet Rand Paul’s way, leading the Kentucky senator to respond that he “won’t be bribed or bullied” into supporting the bill. It will be interesting to see how POTUS reacts to McCain’s actions. Coincidentally, Trump is holding a rally tonight in Alabama, so we likely won’t have to wait long to find out.

Russia's foreign minister has likened the war of words between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un to a kindergarten fight between children.
The North Korean leader earlier labelled Mr Trump "mentally deranged" and a "dotard" after Mr Trump threatened to destroy his country.
Mr Trump responded with a tweet calling Kim Jong-un "a madman" who "will be tested like never before!"
Moscow's Sergei Lavrov said a pause was needed, "to calm down the hotheads".
"Yes, it's unacceptable to silently watch North Korea's nuclear military adventures but it is also unacceptable to unleash war on the Korean Peninsula," he said.
He called for a political process, which he said was a key part of the United Nations Security Council process.
"Together with China we'll continue to strive for a reasonable approach and not an emotional one like when children in a kindergarten start fighting and no-one can stop them," he said.

1

Reply
report
Fri 22 Sep, 2017 06:12 pm
Once more Trump makes the Russians look like the grown ups.

True that. Gods help us, we have a three-year-old in the White House. I doubt he's toilet-trained yet. He'as certainly potty-mouthed..

Once more Trump makes the Russians look like the grown ups.

THERE IS AT LEAST ONE REPUBLICAN WHO HAS BOTH A CONSCIENCE AND A BRAIN

China has moved to limit North Korea's oil supply and will stop buying textiles from the politically isolated nation, it said on Saturday.
China is North Korea's most important trading partner, and one of its only sources of hard currency.
The ban on textiles trade will hurt Pyongyang's income, while China's oil exports are the country's main source of petroleum products.
The tougher stance follows North Korea's latest nuclear test this month.
The United Nations agreed fresh sanctions - including the textiles and petroleum restrictions - in response.
A statement from China's commerce ministry said restrictions on refined petroleum products would apply from 1 October, and on liquefied natural gas immediately.
A limited amount, allowed under the UN resolution, would still be exported to North Korea.
The current volume of trade between the two countries - and how much the new limits reduce it by - is not yet clear.
But the ban on textiles - Pyongyang's second-biggest export - is expected to cost the country more than $700m (£530m) a year.
China and Russia had initially opposed a proposal from the United States to completely ban oil exports, but later agreed to the reduced measures.
North Korea has little energy production of its own, but does refine some petroleum products from crude oil it imports - which is not included in the new ban.
The AFP news agency reports that petrol prices in Pyongyang have risen by about 20% in the past two months.
"It was $1.90 yesterday, today it is $2," a petrol station employee told the agency. "I expect the price will go up in the future."
North Korea also produces coal, some $1.2bn of which was exported to China in 2016, but China had already strictly limited its imports of North Korean coal earlier this year.
North Korea's foreign minister is expected to speak at the United Nations General Assembly later on Saturday, amid an escalating war of words between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump.

But the ban on textiles - Pyongyang's second-biggest export - is expected to cost the country more than $700m (£530m) a year.

It's not just Americans who think you're full of it.

Iran says it has successfully tested a new-medium range missile, in defiance of US President Donald Trump.
The launch of the Khoramshahr missile, which has a range of 2,000 km (1242 miles), was shown on state TV. It is unclear when the test took place.
At the UN on Tuesday, Mr Trump criticised Iran's missile programme and the 2015 nuclear deal with the country.
On Friday Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would increase its military power "as a deterrent"
The Khoramshahr missile was first displayed at a military parade on Friday in Tehran. It is capable of carrying multiple warheads, state broadcaster Press TV reports.
The US announced fresh sanctions on Iran in July over its ballistic missile programme and what it said was Iran's support for terror organisations.
It also imposed sanctions on Iran after a ballistic missile test in January. It says such launches violate the spirit of the 2015 agreement between Iran and six world powers to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
President Trump is due to tell Congress on October 15 if he believes that Iran has complied with the nuclear deal and if he thinks the US should continue to abide by it.
At the UN General Assembly this week, the US and Iranian leaders traded barbs.
President Trump included Iran among a "small group of rogue regimes", said its government was bent on "death and destruction" and said the nuclear agreement was an "embarrassment" to the US.
Mr Rouhani responded by referring to a "rogue newcomer to international politics" and deplored the US leader's "ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric".
He said his country would "not be the first" to violate the deal, which Mr Trump has threatened to pull out of despite other signatories and international monitors saying Iran has stuck by its terms.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump said he had already made up his mind but would not yet reveal his decision.

The founding of the United Nations was a historic moment that saw leaders from across the planet join together to commit to a more peaceful world.

But most historians don’t remember the Jedi master Yoda being among them.

The Saudi government is scrambling to withdraw a history textbook that accidentally included a doctored photograph of King Faisal sitting next to the little green Star Wars character.

The picture was supposed to illustrate a section on the King’s rule but somehow the book’s editors used a version that showed Yoda perched next to the monarch as he signed the UN charter.

“The Ministry of Education regrets the inadvertent error,” said Ahmed al-Eissa, the Saudi education minister.

“The ministry has began printing a corrected copy of the decision and withdrawing the previous versions, and has formed a legal committee to determine the source of the error and to take appropriate action.”