monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

The $1.5 trillion tax cut that President Trump signed into law late last year, combined with a looming agreement to increase federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars, would deliver a larger short-term fiscal boost than President Barack Obama and Democrats packed into their $835 billion stimulus package in the Great Recession.

The administration is also expected to soon roll out its $1.5 trillion infrastructure package, which would include $200 billion in new federal spending, offset by unspecified cuts elsewhere. [...]

The added stimulus is drawing some quiet cheers from liberal economists, who say a fiscal shot at a time of low unemployment could boost typical workers’ wages in ways unseen for two decades. But it is raising alarms among fiscal hawks.

Republican lawmakers in 2011 brought the U.S. government to the brink of default, refused to raise the debt ceiling, demanded huge spending cuts, and insisted on a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. On Wednesday, they [...] announced a plan that would add $500 billion in new spending over two years and suspend the debt ceiling until 2019. This came several months after Republicans passed a tax law that would add more than $1 trillion to the debt over a decade. [...]

In 2011, Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), then chairman of the House Budget Committee, proposed a budget-slashing plan that would lead to a $415 billion deficit in 2019. Ryan is now speaker of the House, and the tax and spending plan he is helping advance through Congress would put the deficit at almost three times the amount he envisioned in 2011.

According to outlines of the budget plan circulated by congressional aides, existing spending caps would be raised by a combined $296 billion through 2019. The agreement includes an additional $160 billion in uncapped funding for overseas military and State Department operations, and about $90 billion more would be spent on disaster aid for victims of recent hurricanes and wildfires.

The budget agreement would increase what’s called discretionary spending — areas such as scientific research, education, roads and health care that are funded year to year through congressional appropriations — by 21 percent over existing budget caps. Those caps were put in place after 2011 budget talks broke down between President Barack Obama and GOP congressional leaders

From the increase in domestic spending, Mr. Schumer said the deal includes $20 billion for infrastructure, $6 billion for the opioid crisis and mental health, $5.8 billion for child care and $4 billion for veterans hospitals and clinics. [...]

The agreement includes an additional four-year extension of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, on top of the six-year extension that Congress approved last month.

The deal also lifts the debt limit until March 2019, pushing any future confrontation over that issue until after the midterm elections.

Pelosi speaks for record 8 straight hours demanding immigration vote

In her remarks, Pelosi announced that she and many fellow House Democrats would oppose the spending package unless House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., promised to allow a vote on a plan to shield from deportation hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally.

According to the House historian's office, Pelosi appeared to have set a record for the longest continuous speech in the chamber's history. The previous record, of five hours and 15 minutes, was set by Rep. Champ Clark, D-Mo., in 1909.

Her speech drew little reaction from Republicans, except for a tweet from the Republican Congressional Congressional Committee.

"Dear @NancyPelosi," it read. "Every minute you’re in front of the cameras, you make our job easier."

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., joked that he thought the speech would "make her Wikipedia page. It's her biggest accomplishment this year."

I strongly prefer that no one entertains the idea of doing this.

I don’t owe anyone evidence of who I am.

Thank you.

"To be positive: To be mistaken at the top of one's voice. "

Ambrose Bierce wrote:
"To be positive: To be mistaken at the top of one's voice. "

Americans who voted for Donald Trump because they liked his rhetoric about "draining the swamp" should probably avert their eyes -- because today's news is about as swampy as it gets.

Quote:

Republican senators used their majority to advance President Donald Trump's nomination of a former coal-industry lobbyist to serve as the second-highest ranking official at the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Environment and Public Works Committee voted along party lines 11-10 on Wednesday to send the nomination of Andrew Wheeler to the full Senate for a vote.

One of US President Donald Trump's top aides has resigned amid abuse claims from his two ex-wives.

White House staff secretary Rob Porter said "these outrageous allegations are simply false" as he announced he would step down.

The accusations were first reported in the Daily Mail and include accounts of physical and emotional abuse.

The White House would not comment on a report that Mr Porter, 40, failed to receive security clearance.

His ex-wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, both recounted stories of Mr Porter's alleged misconduct.

His first spouse, Ms Holderness, said the White House aide had been verbally and physically abusive.

Ms Holderness, a US government analyst, said Mr Porter had kicked her on their 2003 honeymoon in the Canary Islands.

She also alleged he punched her in the face while they were on holiday a couple of years later in Florence, Italy.

Ms Holderness supplied a photo of herself with a black eye to the media.

Ms Willoughby, a motivational speaker, told the Daily Mail she was married to Mr Porter from 2009-13.

She wrote about her experiences in a blog post entitled Why I Stayed.

She said she filed a protective order against him in June 2010 after he allegedly punched the glass of the door at their Alexandria, Virginia, home.

Ms Willoughby told the Washington Post on Wednesday: "He has never faced repercussions that forced him to confront his issues.

"I care about him and want what's best for him, but that doesn't necessarily mean him keeping his job because he needs to face these underlying issues."

Mr Porter rejected the allegations in a statement read by the White House press secretary on Wednesday.