USAPP Managing Editor, Chris Gilson looks at the best in political blogging from around the Beltway

Gilson, Christopher

LSE Research Online

blogs.lse.ac.ukhttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2015/08/29/biden-meets-warren-the-pentagons-missing-8-5-billion-and-why-the-fed-may-not-raise-rates-yet-us-national-blog-round-up-for-22-28-august/Biden meets Warren, the Pentagon’s missing $8.5 billion andwhy the Fed may not raise rates – yet: US national blog roundup for 22 – 28 AugustUSAPP Managing Editor, Chris Gilson looks at the best in political blogging from around the Beltway. Our round-up of state blogs will follow on Sunday. Elections and the road to 2016Government, the Beltway and Congress’ agendaForeign policy, defense and tradeObamacare and health policyThe economy and societyAnd finally… President Obama, the Democratic Party, and the GOP Monday saw one of the worst stock market crashes since the Great Recession, as Chinese stocks tumbled,followed by big falls in other stock indices across the world. The Fix argues that the big stock market drop isunlikely to hurt President Obama’s approval ratings given that previous crashes did little to dent the approval ofpresidents in the past; such crashes are simply a small part of what’s going on in the ‘grand spectrum’ of politics.Staying on the President, this week saw a good deal of speculation as to whether or not Obama would endorse hisVice-President, Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential race. Occasional Planet notesthat the Obama administration has been noticeably absent in commenting on the presidential run of formerSecretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and that endorsing Biden would make more sense, as he would likely carryObama’s policies forward in what would essentially be a third term for his administration.The White House also came under fire this week after President Obama referred to Republicans as ‘crazies’.White House Dossier writes Tuesday that White House Deputy Press Secretary, Eric Schultz, acknowledged thatthe statement was a mistake, but only in so far as the president was airing his frustration with challenges he facesthis fall at avoiding another government shutdown.Moving on to the Democratic Party more generally, American Thinker looks at how the ‘New Left’ has been able totake over the Party. They say that the Democratic Party now has its roots in the ‘tenets of race and class identity,equal outcomes, and an expanding welfare state’, rather than its former values of allowing people to pursue life,liberty, and happiness.Turning to the Republican Party, Talking Points Memo wonders if billionaire Donald Trump is making a bid torebrand the GOP as a white nationalist party given his recent immigrant-bashing. They say that Trump isappealing to the politics of resentment, populism, and grievance. There has been a great deal of speculation as towhether Trump’s hard line on immigration will hurt the Republican Party. Monkey Cage reckons that it probably willnot, given how many GOP voters think that illegal immigration is a serious problem, and because there iswidespread support for his policies, such as business owners checking worker immigration status and cuttingfunding for sanctuary cities.Elections and the road to 2016 Speaking of the current Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump had yet another eventful week:He’s actually gaining support among non-whites, despite his comments on immigration ( The Fix)…Donald Trump Credit: Gage Skidmore (Creative Commons BY SA)…while his ‘nativist campaign’ is also rallying racist supporters ( Hit & Run)……which include a former KKK Grand Dragon, David Duke ( FreakOutNation).In this light, it is unsurprising that Trump claimed this week to know nothing of the Black Lives Mattermovement (Daily Kos).RedState defends Trump, claiming that he and most of his supporters aren’t racist, and argues that peopleare only saying that he is as he is daring to oppose the GOP leadership’s preference for immigration reform.While in the past, Trumphas stated that hiscampaign will be self-financed, he is nowapparently open to takingcontributions – so long asdonors do not expectpolitical favors in return(Post Politics).In another somewhatsurprising policyannouncement, Trump alsostated this week that hethinks the rich should paymore in taxes (Wonkblog)Looking ahead to the restof the campaign, TalkingPoints Memo games outthe Trump ‘nightmare’scenarios, whereby he gains the nomination next year.The GOP are trying to persuade Trump to pledge to not run as a third party candidate if he fails to gain thenomination. They can make him take such a pledge, which would allow him to go on some state’s primaryballots, but they can’t make him honor it (The Fix).By Thursday, Trump was leading the GOP field with 28 percent (Talking Points Memo)……but some are wondering if his support is overstated as many of his supporters in the polls appear to beunlikely voters (Outside the Beltway).Is Trump the Ross Perot of the 2016 election? (American Thinker).Trump was also in the news this week for his ejection of Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, from an Iowa pressconference Trump was giving (RedState)…… and he’s also been whining that Fox News has not been treating him fairly ( Crooks & Liars).The Fix has rather helpfully diagrammed all of Trump’s various feuds whilst he’s been running for thepresidency, from Fox News to the other 2016 candidates. Moving on to the rest of the Republican presidential field, The Hill’s Congress blog writes on Monday that seriousGOP candidates should not embrace Donald Trump’s ‘fringe’ birthright citizenship theory and outlines thedifficulties that any would face if they wished to change or challenge the 14th Amendment which establishedbirthright citizenship. Townhall also looks at the GOP and immigration, writing this week that the party shouldpursue a policy which would involve sealing the borders and the creation of a ‘Purple Card’ which would be a formof amnesty.On Saturday, Outside the Beltway warns us not to expect the Republican presidential field to shrink to any greatdegree before the Iowa Caucuses in February – mostly because of Donald Trump’s influence in the race. Previouspresidential primary contests have been characterized by more infighting between moderate candidates which hasNew Jersey Governor Chris Christie Credit; Gage Skidmore (Creative Commons BY SA)tended to begin to shrink the field at this point in the cycle.Turning now to the GOP’s still-large field:Neurosurgeon Ben Carson wants to use drone strikes on the caves used to transport Mexicans across thesouthern border (FreakOutNation).Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker, has flip-flopped on immigration once again at the same time his pollingnumber are crashing (Outside the Beltway)……while Post Politics has six ways that Walker has become more like Donald Trump.Political Heat meanwhile takes Walker to task for his opposition to Planned Parenthood, and calls him ahypocrite given that the Governor’s flagship jobs agency, the Wisconsin Economic DevelopmentCorporation, gave substantial sums to a medical firm which did research on fetal tissue.Are the presidentialambitions of New JerseyGovernor Chris Christiefinished? (Crooks & Liars)?An anti-Christie PACcertainly thinks so, windingup its activities this week,stating that Christie has‘performed the service ofstopping his campaign inspirit’ (The Fix).Last week we reported thatformer Texas Governor,Rick Perry’s campaign wasfacing financial troubles –this week saw his Iowachairman, Sam Clovis,resign because he was nolonger being paid (PostPolitics).This week did not seem to be a great one for former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush – Political Animal  says thathe has tried to attack Trump and the other GOP presidential contenders but has stumbled, referring to Asianimmigrants as the main source of ‘anchor babies’.Also on that point, The Atlantic  says that Donald Trump has been able to make Jeb Bush seem like a‘wimp’, given the former governor’s lack of emotions on the campaign trail.PoliticusUSA reckons that Bush’s campaign is ‘collapsing’ given his low poll ratings…… while The Fix wants to know why he has embraced former Congressman Eric Cantor.RedState is unsure what the point of (Ohio Governor) John KasichFormer Hewlett Packard exec Carly Fiorina did well out of the GOP’s debate earlier this month – is shebetter off being left out of the next one though (The Atlantic)?With such weak polling there are new questions about how long South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham’spresidential campaign continue (Roll Call’s At the Races).The Democratic presidential primary field was also in the news this week – The Fix writes Thursday on the six bigthings that they know about it, including that the Democratic political class is spooked about how former Secretaryof State, Hillary Clinton has handled the problems with the private email server she ran. Looking at the candidatesmore closely:Speaker of the House John Boehner Credit: Gage Skidmore (CC-BY- SA-2.0)Clinton’s polling isn’t looking great with the percentage of Democrats who support her falling to around 45percent after being 69 percent in April (American Thinker).Daily Kos says that despite what others say, Clinton’s poll numbers haven’t dropped at all……though that doesn’t help the fact that when people think of Clinton they think of the word ‘liar’ ( The LonelyConservative).How is Clinton dealing with her email controversy? It’s complicated (The Fix).Despite her problems, the 2016 primary map still favors Clinton (Sabato’s Crystal Ball).While some are concerned about Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ rising popularity compared to Clinton,he may only win New Hampshire, and nowhere else (Outside the Beltway).With growing concern about Hillary Clinton’s polling numbers, speculation increased this week over thepossibility that Vice-President Joe Biden might make a presidential run (Outside the Beltway)……speculation that was further fueled by Biden’s meeting with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren(Post Politics).Political Animal  reckons that Biden has little to lose in running for president……though the numbers and history are stacked against him (The Fix).The Federalist wonders if Biden will have to answer for his ‘long record of terrible decisions’ if runs forpresident. Government, the Beltway and Congress’ agendaOn Tuesday, Federal Eye looks at whether or not federal workers can be fired for adultery following the news thatas many as 15,000 federal employees may have used their government email account to use the Ashley Madisonsite.On Friday, Outside the Beltway says that according to new public opinion polling, only 14 percent of Americansapprove of the way that Congress is doing its job. They write that Congressional approval has been in thedoldrums for the best part of a decade, largely because of the perception that it gets very little done anymore.American Thinker profiles House SpeakerJohn Boehner (R-OH), who they say maybe the most underestimated man inWashington DC as he has claimed manyconservative accomplishments for theGOP. Staying in the House, Daily Koswrites Tuesday that Republicans havepromised a long and bruising war overdefunding Planned Parenthood. They mayeither try to shut the government down inthe fall over the issue or launch an in-depth investigation of the organization.Moving to the Senate, Post Politicsreports that Ted Cruz (R-TX) also statedthis week that he would be fighting todefund Planned Parenthood, and that itwould not be his fault if the governmentshut down over the issue. Still in the Senate, The Daily Signal looks at the five key Democrats who coulddetermine the fate of the Iran deal that is currently before Congress. The GOP needs 67 votes in the Senate tooverride a presidential veto of a resolution of disapproval for the deal.Foreign policy, defense and tradeStaying on the topic of the Iran deal, The Daily Signal comments on what they say is a ‘secret side deal’ to theagreement, whereby Iran will be allowed to us its own inspectors to oversee a site where it may be conductingnuclear weapons research. The Hill’s Congress blog, meanwhile says this week that the biggest problem with thedeal is that its text would exempt existing contracts from any re-imposition of sanctions, meaning that the so-called‘snap-back’ provision has little teeth.PoliticusUSA writes Saturday on what they describe as the GOP’s ‘favorite socialist program’ – $8.5 billion worthof Department of Defense contracts which it could not account for. They say that the DoD is the only part ofgovernment that is allowed to lose so much money without there being a national outcry.Last week saw the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, David Shear release theDoD’s new Asia strategy report. The American Interest  says that the Pacific strategy is one of ‘lock and load’ withcommitments to deploy more combat ships to the region.The US has been using force against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria for more than a year now, but can the SupremeCourt force Congress to authorize this use of military force? The Atlantic reckons that it should if a member of themilitary comes forward with a legal challenge to the military action. Outside the Beltway meanwhile warns of thedangers of solely using airpower to fight wars such as the fight against ISIS.Obamacare and health policy On Thursday, The American Interest  reports that big rate increases under the Affordable Care Act (‘Obamacare’)are about to go nation-wide, despite previous hopes that some state regulators would not approve the largest pricerises. Roll Call’s Beltway Insiders meanwhile calls for the Affordable Care Act to be freed from what they say areits unpopular taxes such as the medical device tax and a special tax on more expensive health insurance plans –the so-called ‘Cadillac tax’. The expansion of Medicaid across the states is a key provision of the Affordable Care Act. The Federalist notesthis week that for many states, this expansion also means more cash for Planned Parenthood. They say that somestates, like Oklahoma, are facing a coverage gap which may force them to accept the Medicaid expansion, whichwould mean more money for Planned Parenthood.Worried about the high cost of prescription drugs? Blame President Obama and his colleagues writes The Hill’sCongress blog, saying that they have fueled the rise with Obamacare.The economy and societyWonkblog writes this week that economic turmoil in China aside, the Federal Reserve may not raise interest ratesin the near future because of the lack of inflation at the moment. Apparently the Fed needs to be confident thatinflation is headed back up to 2 percent before it raises rates.On Saturday, The Daily Signal reports that the majority of food stamp recipients are now working age adults,rather than children or seniors. They say that prior to the 2008 recession, 55 percent of food stamp receivinghouseholds consisted of children and the elderly.This week saw a great deal of debate over ‘anchor babies’ – the children that many conservatives sayundocumented immigrants have to allow them to stay in the US. Americablog says that they are not ‘a thing’, andthat immigrants do not use them to gain citizenship; it’s apparently a tedious and time consuming way of gainingcitizenship.The taxi service app Uber has come under criticism recently for its perceived failure to screen drivers, with manywho had criminal convictions working for the company. Hit & Run argues that Uber should keep employing suchdrivers given how hard it is for former prisoners to find legitimate work once on the outside.Wednesday saw the tragic shooting of two television journalists live on-air in Virginia by a disgruntled ex-colleague. Monkey Cage looks at why it is so difficult to pass gun control laws in the US – it’s mostly because ofthe short ‘issue attention cycle’ whereby the media move on to other stories soon after shootings such as these,Credit: Clementine Gallot (CC-BY-2.0)meaning that the public becomes less concerned about gun control.Most of the presidential primary season debateswill be conducted on cable TV. The Fix wonders ifthis now equates to being a modern-day poll tax.And finally…Next week President Obama visits Alaska – TheFix looks at the history of presidential visits to theLast Frontier.Hit & Run has an example of what presidentialadvertising looked like in 1940 – much longer.With speculation growing about a presidential runby Joe Biden, Smart Politics looks at the history ofvice-presidential presidential runs.Featured image credit: David B. Gleason (Flickr,CC-BY-SA-2.0)Please read our comments policy beforecommenting.Note:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of USAPP– American Politics and Policy, norof the London School of Economics.Shortened URL for this post: http://bit.ly/1PZHmB1CC BY-NC 3.0 2015 LSE USAPP

Biden meets Warren, the Pentagon’s missing $8.5 billion andwhy the Fed may not raise rates – yet: US national blog round up for 22 – 28 August

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