Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 5-16-17

White House And Political News
American Institutions ‘Under Assault’ Says Former Intelligence Chief
Stay Woke:
Republican Congress Planning
American democracy is under assault" on separate fronts from President Don- ald Trump and Russia, the former U.S. intelligence chief warned Sunday, expressing dismay over the abrupt firing of FBI director James Comey amid a probe into Moscow's meddling in U.S. elections and possible ties with the Trump campaign.
Top Democrats like Chuck Schumer say the administra- tion was getting concerned about the investigation getting too close to home. They are considering blocking the pres- ident's new FBI nominee until he appoints a special prosecu- tor to take over the Russia probe.
the big news here, is the Russ- ian interference in our election system," said James Clap- per, the former director of na- tional intelligence. "I think as well our institutions are under assault internally."
Clapper said America's founding fathers had created three co-equal branches of gov- ernment with checks and bal- ances, but with Trump as president, that was now “erod- ing.”
Clapper also said there is a “curious pattern” of deaths of opponents of Russian Presi- dent Vladimir Putin who have questioned or challenged his role.
The White House had no im- mediate comment.
Big Cuts In Food Stamps, Welfare
And Possibly Veteran Benefits
Report: Top Aide Gave Trump ‘Fake Report’ Before Major Crackdown
President's Trump's
deputy national security ad- viser reportedly gave the pres- ident fake information, leading to a crackdown at the White House.
K.T. McFarland handed the president a printout of two covers of Time magazine, Politico reported, citing four White House officials familiar with the matter.
One of the covers appeared to be from 1970 and issued a warning of a coming ice age. The other cover was from 2008. That one was about surviving global warming.
After the incident, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus warned senior staff not to try to slip information to the president, according to the news outlet.
The president often blasts the media, accusing reports of dishonest and biased coverage against him, however he relies on his aides to keep him in- formed. Never questioning whether or not the informa-
K.T. McFarland gave President Trump fake information.
Backlash About FBI Director
Former Intelligence chief James Clapper appeared on CNN’s Sunday show.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper joined the chorus of critics ac- cusing the president of tainting U.S. institutions in an appear- ance on CNN.
"I think, in many ways, our institutions are under assault, both externally — and that's
You think its bad now. House Republicans just voted to slash hundreds of billions of dollars in health care for the poor as part of their Obamacare re- placement. Now, they’re weigh- ing a plan to take the scalpel to programs that provide meals to needy kids and housing and ed- ucation assistance for low-in- come families.
President Donald Trump’s refusal to overhaul Social Security and Medicare — and his pricey wish-list for in- frastructure, a border wall and tax cuts — is sending House budget writers scouring for pen- nies in politically sensitive places: safety-net programs for the most vulnerable.
According to Politico, under enormous internal pressure to quickly balance the budget, Re- publicans are considering slash- ing more than $400 billion in spending through a process to evade Democratic filibusters in the Senate.
The proposal, which would be part of the House Budget Com- mittee's fiscal 2018 budget, won't specify which programs would get the ax; instead it will instruct committees to figure
Donald Trump has proposed a pricey infrastructure plan, wants a wall between U. S. and Mexico and tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the poor. Con- trary to what most think, there are more white people on food stamps and welfare than other races.
out what to cut to reach the sav- ings. But among the programs most likely on the chopping block, the sources say, are food stamps, welfare, income assis- tance for the disabled and per- haps even veterans benefits.
If enacted, such a plan to curb safety-net programs — all while juicing the Pentagon’s budget and slicing corporate tax rates — would amount to the biggest shift in federal spending priori- ties in decades.
tion is fake.
While the information
stream to past commanders- in-chief has been tightly mon- itored, Trump prefers an open Oval Office with a free flow of ideas and inputs from both official and unofficial channels. And he often does not differentiate between the two.
Aides sometimes slip him stories to press their advan- tage on policy; other times they do so to gain an edge.
The consequences can be
tremendous, according to a half-dozen White House offi- cials and others with direct in- teractions with the president.
A news story tucked into Trump’s hands at the right moment can torpedo an ap- pointment or redirect the president’s entire agenda.
Current and former Trump officials say Trump can react volcanically to negative press clips, especially those with damaging leaks, becoming en- grossed in finding out where they originated.
Firing Has Trump Planning
Major White House Shake-Up
President Donald Trump, who has reportedly been isolated and frustrated by the negative coverage en- gulfing his administration in recent days, may be consider- ing a major reorganization of his White House staff, ac- cording to an Axios report from Mike Allen on Sunday.
Trump is said to have been furious at his communica- tions team — led by Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Communications Director Michael Dubke — for what he has characterized as their failure to defend his decision to fire former FBI director James Comey, The New York Times reported Friday.
However, Trump kept Spicer and the communica- tions team in the dark regard- ing his decision to fire Comey until the last possible moment, according to The Times.
Regardless, Trump seems to be considering a sweeping shakeup of his West Wing staff in the wake of the media
President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey and has had a firestorm of criticism.
firestorm that followed his abrupt decision to fire Comey — the man who was overseeing an FBI investiga- tion into the Trump cam- paign's possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
After Comey was fired, the White House scrambled to get an official statement out. Initially, they said that Trump's decision had noth- ing to do with the Russia probe and was based entirely upon the recommendation of deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and attorney general Jeff Sessions.
PAGE 6 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MAY 16, 2017