Sidebar: VP Harris and Equity

In this week's Sunday School, remarks made by Vice President Kamala Harris were brought up by Florida's Sen. Rick Scott. 

When asked by Margaret Brennan to respond to comments made by former president Donald Trump, Scott replied that people need to come together, and then he added, 

I'd also say that what Vice President Harris said yesterday that, or the day before yesterday that, you know if you, if you have a different skin color, you're going to get relief.   

Brennan said that wasn't what Harris said; Scott argued with her. I promised I'd have some details on it, once I was able to figure out what was going on.

Let's start with how the NY Post covered it.

Vice President Harris came in for a torrent of criticism after telling an audience that “communities of color” would be first in line for relief in the  devastating aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

“We have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity,” she said during a discussion with Priyanka Chopra at the Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Leadership Forum on Friday.

“If we want people to be in an equal place, sometimes we need to take into account those disparities and do that work,” she added.

And, of course the Post included all the nasty comments, including that Harris was being racist. That type of thing was rife on social media, and in certain media circles, and, I'd add, with Republican officials like Rick Scott who decided to carefully misinterpret and then 'correct' her remarks. 

No, no, no. Wait, wait, Margaret. Margaret, let's make sure. FEMA has to be colorblind. FEMA has to provide support to everybody.

So, what did Harris really say? Let's start with the question she was asked by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who was invited by the DNC's Women's Leadership Forum to have a 'fireside chat' with the VP. 

Can you talk a little bit about the relief efforts, obviously, of Hurricane Ian and what the administration has been doing to address the climate crisis in the states? 

But — and just a little follow up, because this is important to me: We consider the global implications of emissions, right? The poorest countries are affected the most. They contributed the least and are affected the most. So how should voters in the U.S. feel about the administration’s long-term goals when it comes to being an international influencer on this topic?

And here, in full, is Harris's answer, from the White House transcript. For the TL/DR crowd, I've added emphasis to what she said about Hurricane Ian. 

So, first of all, again, thanks to the leadership in this room, which were part of the propelling force in the 2020 election so that we could actually be in office — because one of the requests — dare I say, “demands” — of this group was, “Do something about the climate crisis.”  And so, we were able to be elected. Thank you, everyone here. 

And then have the — (applause) — but — and have, then, $370 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act dedicated to address the climate crisis — not only because it is a crisis, as it evident — as evidenced, as you have mentioned by Ian, by the wildfires happening in California, the floods, the hurricanes, but also because of America’s leadership and what it should be globally on this issue. And so that has happened, and it will propel a lot of good work.  

The crisis is real, and the clock is ticking. And the urgency with which we must act is without any question. 

And the way that we think of it and the way I think of it is both in terms of the human toll and — I know we are all thinking about the families in Florida, in Puerto Rico with Fiona — and what we need to do to help them in terms of an immediate response and aid, but also what we need to do to help restore communities and build communities back up in a way that they can be resilient — not to mention, adapt — to these extreme weather conditions, which are part of the future.  

No talk about FEMA money going to black folks and not to white folks? Nope - no mention of FEMA at all, in fact. 

Now, here's what she had to say about disparities, in response to the part of the question about climate change.

On the point that you made about disparities: You know, when I was — back when I was District Attorney of San Francisco — I was elected in 2003 — I started one of the first environmental justice units of any DA’s office in the country focused on this issue. And in particular on the disparities, as you have described rightly, which is that it is our lowest income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making. And so, when — 

Chopra Jonas interrupted here to say "and women." 

Absolutely. And so, we have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity; understanding that not everyone starts out at the same place. And if we want people to be in an equal place, sometimes we have to take into account those disparities and do that work. (Applause.) 

But also, I will say, as a former prosecutor, part of this issue also has to be about enforcement and, where appropriate, making sure that the bad actors pay a price for what they do that is directly harming communities in terms of their health and wellbeing. 

So, when we think about policy then, there are many aspects to it, including something that the President and our administration and I are very excited about, which is the opportunity that moving towards a clean energy environment and industry — what it will do in terms of job creation and building up our economy.  It’s tremendous. (Applause.) 

So, there are many benefits to this work. 

And to your point about the global piece: Among the leaders that I have been meeting and convening — just recently, in fact — and now this was, I think, the third time — I convened the presidents and prime ministers of the Caribbean countries; there’s an organization called CARICOM. And I convened them just a couple weeks ago. And the consistent discussion we are having is exactly your point, which is: We are one of the greatest emitters in the world and the Caribbean countries, for example, are paying the biggest price. They are some of the lowest emitters, yet the erosion that they are experiencing to their island nations is profound. 

And when you combine that with the fact that nations like that — their biggest source for their GDP is tourism, and what the climate crisis and extreme weather conditions do in terms of then plummeting their incoming resources, not to mention what we are expecting all good nations to do to contribute to mitigation and adaptation.

So, there is still a lot of work to be done to recognize the equities. And I will say, for us, as the United States, to own responsibility for what we rightly — (applause) — should do to recognize these disparities and contribute in a way that is fair with the goal of equitable priorities.

Is Harris the only one who's been victimized by a soundbite? Of course not; it would be silly to think so. She won't be the last either. Heck, she probably won't be the last one this week.

The thing that's so frustrating? No one will be pushing back on folks like Rick Scott, or the NY Post, or anyone else for saying something that wasn't true - but there'll be more than enough people willing to 'report' on the fact that they said it. 

Sunday School 10/2/22: Extra Credit

In your Sunday School, we heard from Rick Scott, one of Florida's two Republican senators. Today, we hear from Marco Rubio, the other one, and from FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell. Both made multiple appearances. 

We'll start with Criswell, who talked with Jon Karl in the This Week classroom. She described the situation in Florida using terms like "a lot of devastation," "significant damage," still homes under water," "active rescues," and "a long road to recovery."  She spent a day with Gov. Ron DeSantis, to hear his concerns, and the concerns of folks impacted by Hurricane Ian. And,

I committed to him that we would continue to bring in resources to meet the needs, not just for this response and the stabilization, but as we go into the recovery efforts... it was good to be able to see some of the damage and talk to the people directly while we were together so then he could let me know what kind of resources and assistance he might need.

Karl asked her about the death toll (NBC reported 87 deaths) and wondered if it had to do with the forecast being off, or because of delays in ordering evacuations. Criswell said the storm was "fairly unpredictable" in the days before landfall, adding 

Just 72 hours before landfall, the Fort Myers and Lee County area were not even in the cone of the hurricane. And as it continued to move south, the local officials immediately -- as soon as they knew that they were in that threat zone, made the decisions to evacuate and get people to safety.

There's some disagreement on that, as we learned from yesterday's conversations. She also said that FEMA had "pre-staged... search and rescue resources across the federal family" with state resources to mobilize immediately after the storm passed, and they're still working to account for everyone.

Efforts continue in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona. Criswell noted that 90% of customers now have power, and other agencies are also going in to the island to "make sure that we continue to move forward in supporting all of those people that have been impacted by that, to include individuals that have had a lot of damage to their homes -- a lot of water damage this time as compared to previous hurricanes." 

Rubio was next. He described Hurricane Ian as without comparison in Florida storms, noting Fort Myers Beach "no longer exists" and Sanibel Island is "basically flattened."  Even the buildings still standing

have been damaged by water, probably uninhabitable and have to be razed. So, this is a character-altering event. It will change the character and the nature of these communities. They’ll be rebuilt, but you can’t rebuild something that is slice of old Florida and bring it back. 

Regarding Sanibel, he said the priority now is to identify the people who stayed but will have to leave eventually,

because there's no way to continue their life there. There’s no way to restore the power. There’s no economy there. At some point, they'll have to be moved. And, you know, as I said, that bridge will be rebuilt. That will take a very long time, a couple of years at least. And, obviously, you know, life in Sanibel is going to change in the interim.

He praised the federal response, saying it's been very positive from day one. It's not just FEMA; it's the Army Corps, the Coast Guard, the SBA, and other agencies that will be helping individuals who need assistance. And, speaking of assistance, Karl asked about his history of voting against Superstorm Sandy relief, which Rubio said included pork and other non-disaster related funding. He asked if Rubio would insist on a clean emergency funding bill for his own state. 

Rubio said he's supported other emergency relief bills for folks all over the country, and he's supported them without pay-fors. 

What I won't support is things that are not emergency relief. What we're going to ask for Florida is what we supported for every other state in the country that’s been affected by -- by natural disasters, and that is emergency relief designed to be spent immediately to help the people affected now...

That wasn't the case with the Sandy aid bill, he said; it included things that may weren't directly related to urgent disaster relief. And when Karl asked if he'd take the same stand on aid for Florida if Congress did their thing and added a bunch of unrelated stuff. Rubio said "it won't come to that," because he and Rick Scott won't ask for anything unrelated.

I mean, why would somebody add something from another state that’s not impacted by the storm? So, it shouldn’t come to that and I’m not -- you know, it shouldn’t come to that pork in the road because it’s unnecessary thing. It's our request. 

Remind me, how long has he been in the Senate? Honestly, it'll be fun to watch this play out if push comes to shove. 

Karl's last question was on Ukraine, and whether i's application for NATO membership should be expedited. Rubio's a no on that, and says the bigger issue is what Vladimir Putin will do next.

Putin...could very well attack some NATO distribution point, because that's who he's blaming. He’s blaming NATO, the U.S., our allies for supplying Ukraine with weaponry that’s allowed Ukraine to be so effective. So, I think we need to start thinking through, what’s the response going to be...

The concern is if NATO forces are hurt or killed in such an attack; Rubio said it's a decision for the alliance that could come sooner rather than later.

The senator also spoke with Dana Bash in the CNN State of the Union classroom. Switching from Hurricane Ian to Hurricane Fiona, she asked if thought Puerto Rico should become a state, "so that it can be more resilient in having infrastructure" for disasters. 

He said he has "long believed" that Puerto Ricans should be able to vote on statehood - they "certainly have a right to have that vote." He also  said he thinks Puerto Ricans serve in the military more, on a per capita basis, than "just about any community in the country."  

Turning to Ukraine, Bash said the administration doesn't think there's any imminent threat of Putin using nuclear weapons, and she wondered if he sees things the same way. Rubio said he couldn't comment on what the administration folks are seeing, but

...I'm not saying the risk of him detonating a nuclear device as a demonstration is zero. I think, certainly, the risk is probably higher today than it was a month ago. 

And, did he think the Nord Stream pipeline leaks were sabotage?

I think logic and common sense will tell you that these things don't blow up on their own, especially in strategic and key points. Someone has to know where the vulnerabilities are. And someone has to have the capability to go down there and do it.

He doesn't think we have to look very far to find the likely suspects. 

And the only people in that region who have both the motive and the capability to have done it are Russian or Russian forces. So, I think, for me, it's not an intelligence matter at this point. It's a common sense matter.

And, finally, he thinks the recent deal with Venezuela to get seven Americans home was a bad deal. Rather, he said it encourages bad actors to "trump up some charges and arrest Americans..."

I think seven innocent American hostages in exchange for two convicted drug dealers who happen to be the nephews of Maduro is a huge win for Maduro and, unfortunately, puts Americans all over the world now in danger.

Feel free to chime in on any of this - you'll get extra Extra Credit for that!

See you around campus. 

Sunday School 10/2/22

For your Sunday School today, we've got multiple interviews with Florida's Republican Senator Rick Scott. The interviews covered much of the same ground, so I tried to move around with the topics. 

On MTP, What's-his-name asked Scott if "things like mobile manufactured housing should even be legal" in Florida anymore. In part, he said they have to look at building codes after every event, to make sure it doesn't happen again. 

At the same time, you know people that they want to live in Florida. They want to live in the Sunshine State. And, you know, the more expensive housing you have, it makes it difficult for people to live there. So I guess it's a balance.

They also talked about insurance, and the need for both stricter building codes, to encourage insurance companies to play in the state, and for eliminating fraud, which costs consumers money and disproportionately impacts the poor, and discourages companies from writing policies.

And on getting federal money for his state, something he and Rubio have requested, What's-his-name suggested there may be some in Congress who "don't want to support" the request, given DeSantis voted against Hurricane Sandy aid because it wasn't paid for by cuts somewhere else. Grab a fork and some croutons.

Well, I think what you have to do is you have to, you have to, you know, spend your money wisely, but you do need – I mean, the federal government is a partner in this. And I learned that as governor. The federal government is a major partner in helping families, helping businesses, helping governments get back to, get back to normal. But you don't want to waste money. As an example, I put a lot of effort into cracking down on the significant fraud in the debris pickup market and what happens after a hurricane. And I've been actually trying to get the bill passed since I've been up there – I've been up there almost four years – to fix that because there is abuse in this. But we do have to provide disaster aid. And whether that's for a hurricane, or whether that's for flooding, or whether that's for wildfires, we've got to do that. And, you know, I hope people will, you know, continue to support and I think we ought to be doing – we've got to come up with a way to do this where it's a longer-term strategy.

And, on the election, does he think the Rs will take back the Senate? Scott thinks they're at "52 seats, plus."

On CNN's State of the Union, Scott told Dana Bash this was probably the worst storm he's seen, given the widespread nature of the damage, even in areas far from the Gulf Coast where Ian made landfall in Lee County. Bash asked him about officials there who didn't issue evacuation orders until less than 24 hours before landfall, which was "an apparent violation of their own policies." She wondered if that was the case, and it the delay cost lives.

Scott talked generically about loss of life, and all lives mattering, and doing everything you can to make sure no lives are lost, and he made sure he didn't pin the tail on anyone's um, er, 'donkey', if you catch my drift. Ultimately, she got him to agree that "I think it's something we have to look at to see why" the evacuation order didn't happen according to the plan. Teeth pulled, or something.

In the Face the Nation classroom, Margaret Brennan talked about the hurricane, of course, and also noted the most recent, offensive remarks from the FPOTUS, who said that Sen. Mitch McConnell has a "DEATH WISH" and made racist modifications to McConnell's wife's name,', and from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who claimed that Democrats want Republicans dead and that they have "already started the killings." She asked Scott if he'd rebuke the comments, given he's a member of the leadership.

Scott said we've got to come together, and "I'd also say that what Vice President Harris said yesterday that, or the day before yesterday that, you know if you if you have a different skin color, you're going to get relief." Brennan said, "that's not what the vice president said. She talked about equity and the problem within FEMA. But I'm specifically talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene." (I'll have more on the Veep's comments in a Sidebar.)  

Here's the exchange that followed.

RS: No, no, no. Wait, wait, Margaret. Margaret, let's make sure. FEMA has to be colorblind. FEMA has to provide support to everybody. Now, I - here's what I here's what I'll tell you, I believe that we've got to do -- President Trump has talked about this unbelievable spending that's causing inflation hurting the poorest families. I grew up in a poor family. I watched how inflation hurt my mom. We've gotta watch how we spend this money. 

MB: I know sir. You're talking about substance, and I would love to talk to you about that. But what I quoted you as a phrase saying McConnell has a death wish. He said racist things about Elaine Chao. And then they have already started the killings. I mean, that's not a policy dispute, Senator, the language is what I'm talking about. Isn't that dangerous?

RS: I think we all have to figure out how do we start bringing people together and have a common goal to give every American the opportunity to get a great job, their kids to have an education, they believe they can be anything and make sure everybody lives in a safe committee. That's what I do every day. And I've tried to bring people together to do that. 

 It went on like that a little longer, Brennan focusing on divisive language, and Scott trying to explain Trump was talking about policy.

I believe that what I believe what the President Trump was talking about is the fact that we can't keep spending money. We are -- We're going to hurt our poorest families the most with this reckless Democrat spending and we cannot we got to stop it. We can't cave into their spending. 

On Trump calling Elaine Chao "Coco Chow," Scott waved that off by saying Trump likes to give people nicknames, and he "sure he has a nickname for me." I checked Trump's Twitter archive, and here's the worst thing he ever said about Scott. Perhaps there's a nickname in there somewhere? 

Governor Rick Scott of Florida did really poorly on television this morning. I hope he is O.K. (June 25, 2015).

I'll have interviews with Sen. Marco Rubio and FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell in your Extra Credit. 

See you around campus.  

Oh - one more thing - the Dems have not started killing the Rs, just so you know.

TGIF 9/30/22

Another week is winding down, and it's time for the good week/bad week accounting. Here are just a few of the folks who earned a mention.

The state of Florida had a mixes week. On the latter, the cat-4 Hurricane Ian made a mess of things, tossing boats and houses and piers around, causing massive flooding, and cutting power to millions of customers as it crossed the state. On the other hand, many people evacuated on time, and many of those who didn't rode out the storm and lived to talk about it. We'll learn more in the coming days on how deadly it was, but the initial reports were not as bad we expected. On a personal note, I'm grateful that all my friends and family in Florida are safe.

Staying in the Sunshine State, Gov. Ron DeSantis is doing his darnedest to act statesmanly, given his presidential aspirations, but his past - and votes against disaster funding for another hurricane in a far-off place (the blue states of New Jersey and New York) - are cropping up on social media. His staff said the Gov has no time for pettiness, which is a first, I think; he's a master of the petty, in fact. But when push comes to shove, or when storm surge comes to the Gulf Coast, he's willing to set that aside and work with President Biden, at least until there's talk about making fiscally responsible disaster aid demands. 

Speaking of the gaffe master, he might have exceeded our wildest imaginations at a White House hunger conference this week, when he called out for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski, who was killed in a car accident in August. Walorski was a co-chair of the Hunger Caucus, and was one of the folks who introduced the bill that led to the conference. And, of course, the pack of reporters, hungry as always for a sound-bite and air time, undertook "a series of tense exchanges" trying to get an answer as to why Biden, well, pulled a Biden. Is an answer necessary?

Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was formally sworn in this week, and will take her seat on the bench on Monday, at a time when 60% of us believe the Court is "out of touch" and 66% believe there should be term limits for Justices.  Those sentiments aren't indicative of KBJ, of course, but she's coming on the Court at a difficult time, with some tough cases on affirmative action and college admissions, LGBTQ rights, and election issues, among others.

Beto O'Rourke, who's running for governor of Texas, received support from family members of Uvalde school shooting victims. They traveled nearly five hours by bus to hold a press conference an hour before the only debate between O'Rourke and Gov. Greg Abbott who, in these folks minds, "had not taken enough action on gun control measures" since the shooting four months ago.

I hope you had a good week.

TGIF, everyone.

TGIF 3/11/22

The TGIF post has always been used to identify individuals or groups of people who've had a pretty good week, or a particularly bad week. 

This week however, I'm highlighting a state that, in my opinion, has had a particularly bad week. Which state gets this singular honor? Texas. 

Now, I've written about Texas several times over the years - after all, they've got Ted Cruz. Here's a sampling: 

• the state's efforts at making sure people don't have to worry about letting their deeply held beliefs get in the way of doing their jobs; 
• Gov. Greg Abbott saying he'll eliminate rape in Texas; and
• the state interjecting itself into medical decisions that should be made by a patient's family, not the government.

So, what's been going on recently that earned them this dubious feature tonight? Plenty.

Last month, Abbott directed the state to investigate parents for child abuse if they allowed their transgender children to receive certain types of medical care. The policy was put on hold; the court ruled it "had been improperly adopted and violated the Texas constitution." The state, of course, appealed. 

Testimony in the hearing brought some ugly details to light, including that  

abuse investigators had been told to prioritize cases involving the parents of transgender children and to investigate them without exception, after the state’s governor’s order. 

Department of Family and Protective (DFPS) staff were told not to put anything about these cases in texts or emails, something they've never been advised about any other investigations. And, it's important to note that the DFPS 

has been the subject of a decade-old federal lawsuit over its foster care system, in which children faced abuse as well as long waits to be adopted or placed in safer homes. Federal monitors have been overseeing the process of carrying out judicial orders since 2019, among them a directive to improve the handling and investigation of reported child abuse.

So yes, by all means, let's focus on trans kids and their loving parents, and not actual cases of child abuse. Makes perfect sense to me (yes, that's sarcasm). As does the state's Department of Health removing LGBTQ suicide prevention resources from its website. 

Instead of listing the phone number, website, and text line for the Trevor Project, as it did at the beginning of February, the website no longer includes any links for LGBTQ youth. Instead, information on the Trevor Project can only be found in a PDF for “Parent and Youth Suicide Prevention” but does not include information about the Trevor Project in the least bit. 

What else? 

We're all familiar with the Texas abortion law, which encourages Texans to turn on each other for bounties if they think a woman has gotten an abortion in violation of the law. Now that I think about it, why didn't they include that part on the trans child abuse directive? 

Anyway, the US Supreme Court (twice) refused to pause the law while the case moved through the Texas courts; the review's finished. 

The decision by the Texas Supreme Court turned on whether medical licensing officials had an enforcement role under the law... writing for the court, Justice Jeffrey Boyd said those state officials have no enforcement authority, “either directly or indirectly.”

So, states now have a free pass on legal responsibility for laws they enact no matter how irresponsible they might be. 

I don't want you to think that Texas only discriminates against women and LGBTQ kids they're equal opportunity discriminators.

A Texas agency discriminated against communities of color when it denied more than $1 billion in federal relief funds sought by Houston and Harris County to help hard-hit areas recover from Hurricane Harvey, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found.

Remarkably, Houston and Harris County didn't receive any money when the state initially handed out funds, even though the whole country saw the photos of the storm damage. You can see them here, if you're interested.

HUD officials said the state agency’s method of doling out the funds “discriminated on the basis of race and national origin” and “substantially and predictably disadvantaged minority residents, with particularly disparate outcomes for Black residents,” according to a Friday letter detailing the result of a HUD probe. The land office is in violation of the Civil Rights Act as well as federal housing law, federal housing officials said.

I have a hard time reconciling these headlines with this cheerful statement on the state's website:

There's something for everyone in Texas!

And I can't imagine any state having a worse week than the one that Texas just had - not even Florida.

TGIF, everyone.

Wondering on Wednesday (v181)

Meandering through the muddle, and wondering, this Wednesday, about stuff like this:

• Whether anyone will ever be able to show us conclusively, with forensically verified photographic evidence, where Donald Trump was on 9/11?  The story changes, and changes, and changes, and I know it's not the most important thing in the world, but everyone remembers where they were when they heard about the attacks, and to my knowledge no one has three or four versions of where they were and what they did that day. And I don't know if anyone believes that Trump was at Ground Zero - and if he had been (which is highly doubtful) there would absolutely be a photo. About that I don't wonder one bit. 

• If the Republican legislators in North Carolina reached out to Scott Walker and the rest of the Wisconsin Republicans to get a page out of their playbook?  Incredibly, the GOP, the party of patriotism and flag-waving and chest-thumping and all that, decided that the best time to override the Democratic governor's budget was to call a vote while Democrats in the legislature were attending a 9/11 memorial service, guaranteeing them the requisite majority to blow up the budget. I've long wondered where all the Republican cojones were, and it seems I don't need to wonder about that one bit, either.

• Why the president expressed concern about "very very bad drug dealers" who could be hiding among the refugee, when our own data shows that there's actually more risk of drugs flowing from the US to the Bahamas than the opposite?  

And I wonder if the country will ever remember what it felt like on 9/12, when everyone was of one heart, and stood together, and was kind to each other, no matter what our differences may have been on 9/10. 

Is that lost forever?

Wondering on Wednesday (v180)

Happy first Wednesday of September.

Let's start with Alabama, Dorian, and the president. Here's my wondering: If Alabama was a blue state, would Trump have put it inside the cone of uncertainty at any point? Would he have defended that move, if he made it, even as the National Weather Service was tweeting disagreement in order to calm fears that had been raised for no reason?  And who the heck drew the Sharpie cone over Alabama in the first place?

There was a lot of consternation on the left that the president supposedly cancelled his visit to Poland so that he could stay home and monitor Dorian directly, when in fact he spent a couple of days at his golf course in Sterling, VA. "Shame on him for golfing during a potential crisis," was the message - as if President Obama didn't play golf back in '16 when Louisiana was flooded. I wonder why there was so much outrage? Dorian was not threatening the US at the time - Alabama had nothing to fear while the president was assaulting the golf course.

Besides, he was monitoring the storm. Take a look at this article from the New York Times.

Over the long weekend, President Trump monitored Hurricane Dorian from a golf cart at his club in Virginia, calling for regular updates from an aide trailing him around the course. By 8 p.m. Monday, as Dorian churned toward Florida and Mr. Trump’s boarded-up Mar-a-Lago resort, the president had golfed twice and since Saturday morning pelted the American public with 122 tweets.

By all means, slam him for making money again from his presidency, but I think we can all back off from the criticism of golfing during a crisis. I also wonder who or what he would have been tweeting about had he not had Dorian to keep him occupied.

Speaking of making money from his presidency, how about that visit by Pence and Mother (and his actual mother and his sister) to Ireland? Pence needed an hour-long motorcade, another hour on Air Force Two, and then another short trip by car to get to his meeting with the Irish President.

The lengthy commute was necessary because of Mr. Pence's choice of hotel: Rather than spending Monday night in Dublin, the vice president stayed 181 miles away by car on the other side of Ireland - at the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in Doonbeg. The person who suggested he stay there was the hotel's owner himself, President Trump.

 "I don't think it was a request, like a command," Marc Short, Mr. Pence's chief of staff, told reporters travelling with the vice president. "I think it was a suggestion."

The Times notes that this just the way things are done in the Trump Administration.

In total, nearly $20 million has been spent at the Trump family hotels since 2015 by various mostly Republican political groups, including Mr. Trump’s own political committees, according to a tally by the Center for Responsive Politics. 

Nice work if you can get it, right? I wonder how anyone can pretend that he's not making money off his presidency?

And finally tonight, let's wonder how many more Republicans will not be running for re-election next year. A short time ago, another one - Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, declared he's done.

I've said all along I'd know when the right time came and I've come to the conclusion that it has. There is nobody running against me. Nobody can say they've pushed me out. I'm doing this on my own terms. 

Sensenbrenner, 76 years old, has served for 42 years. And he's the second one to announce today; earlier, Rep. Bill Flores said he's not running again, becoming the fifth Texan to bail. 

Now, I wonder how we can get Republican Senators to make the same decision...

Wondering on Wednesday (148)

Let's get right to it, shall we?

I wonder what the president meant when he said "we love the people of Poland coming into the United States in any way, shape or form, OK?" I'm sure he meant in any legal way, shape or form, of course. Right?

White House photo

And now there's no reason to wonder if there's a reduction in the number of Poles we love wanting to come here, after Trump bigly dissed his counterpart, President Andrzej Duda, by not giving him a chair to sit in while signing a new joint strategic partnership.

You'll see the American president, resolutely staring with resolve at the White House photographer from behind the Resolute Desk, and you'll see the insensitive treatment of Duda to Trump's right.

No one could find the man a chair? Not even one of the couple thousand 'senior officials' in the administration? Maybe Poland won't be naming the their hoped-for new military base Fort Trump after all.

Trump visited North Carolina today, to survey damage from Hurricane Florence and greet residents.  Differing from his well known trips to Texas (what a great turnout) and Puerto Rico (tossing paper towels to storm victims), closer to home he helped hand out meals. And, of course, he had to ask about Lake Norman, a large man-made lake north of Charlotte.

And how is Lake Norman, that area? How is that doing? I love that area. I can't tell you why, but I love that area. 

It didn't take a ton of wondering as to why he might be interested.

Moving on to the other major storm occupying the news, I wonder why it is that the Senate feels the need to move forward so quickly on the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation?  I mean, it's not like we need him on the Supreme Court, right?

There's certainly no reason to think that having a 9th judge on the bench is necessary on the first Monday in October 2018, given that we were denied a 9th judge for 293 days when it was a Democrat behind the appointment. Honestly, what's the big hurry?

I'm also wondering about the specific qualifications the Judiciary Committee members and their staffs have for investigating allegations of sexual abuse. I mean, do any of them even watch Law and Order SVU?

And I'm trying to picture them explaining to their daughters, granddaughters, nieces, or any other young women they know why there's no need for an impartial, professional investigation.

Moving on to the deteriorating level of discourse in politics (and everything else, it seems) today,  is anyone wondering why Trump supporter Claudia Tenney is conjuring up Mafioso images in her battle against Anthony Brindisi to represent NY's 22nd congressional district? I know she's doing it now - but did you know she started with this tactic more than a year ago?  Here's a little bit from an interview with USA today in July 2017.

While unloading on her Democratic challenger during a Thursday interview with USA Today, Tenney (R-New Hartford) sought to highlight the "great contrast" between her own father, late state Supreme Court Justice John R. Tenney, and Brindisi's father Louis, who she described as "very heavily involved with the organized crime in Utica for many years, representing them."

"He fought for law and order and Anthony's father represented some of the worst criminals in our community," Tenney said, looking at a picture of her father during a wide-ranging interview in her DC office.

"You have to question...some of the things that have happened in his family. The voters make that decision. I'm not saying Anthony is part of that but that's the family you come from." 

Brindisi's campaign had the best possible answer back then:

Anthony Brindisi believes that name-calling never created a job in Upstate New York.

Fast forward to this week and Tenney is downing her game, to Trumpian levels. In a memo sent to staffers - and to the Utica Observer-Dispatch - we learn from Tenney campaign consultant Tim Edson that

We have the unique situation that we should be cautious about, his family has a track record and this is going to be an intense, tough race (Edson said). And as the pressure  itself on Brindisi and he watches his political career come to an end, (people) need to be vigilant because it's possible his family members could return to the kind of intimidating behavior that's sort of characterized the last 30 years of them being in Utica. 

What the ever-wondering hell is that???  No -- seriously, what the ever-wondering hell IS that???  Is this guy actual proud of himself for this?

Why, yes - yes he is. Just look at his company's website. Here's a snippet, with a little emphasis to help you see what this stereotypical attack on Italian-Americans is all about.

FP1 writes and produces advertising that is inspired, fresh, and cuts through the clutter of typical political and issue ads. The utmost importance is placed on creating advertising that is emotionally and intellectually compelling - with an overall tone that viewers find to be informational, honest, and persuasive - not standard spin. 

I wonder how much Tenney's paying for this "intellectually compelling' crap?  It's not worth one red cent if you ask me.

Sunday School 9/16/18

FEMA administrator Brock Long made the rounds today, hitting three of our classrooms: Face the Nation, Meet the Press and Fox News Sunday  We'll look at each of those appearances in reverse order.

Before we get into the interviews, here's a quick refresher on the current investigation into Long's potential abuse of official cars.

The IG is investigating whether Long misused government resources and personnel on trips back home to Hickory, NC, on the weekends, said two of the officials. The IG's interest was drawn after one of the vehicles - a black Suburban - was involved in an accident, according to one of the officials. 

There's also noise that Kirstjen Nielsen was concerned about Long's frequent trips home and extensive time out of the office, and that she had talked to him about that - and about resigning.

Chris Wallace didn't mention the investigation, and instead spent the bulk of the interview focused on Hurricane Florence, with only a little bit of time on Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria. On the former, Long expressed confidence that FEMA was well positioned and cooperating effectively with state and local officials in the Carolinas. On the latter, Wallace asked a "simple factual question" whether Long disputed the 3,000 hurricane-related deaths. The response was, well, less than simple. Here's part of it:

Well, there are several different studies that are all over the place when it comes to death; in the official stance of FEMA is we don't count deaths. You know, the only thing that would come remotely close to data that we would have is the funeral benefits that we push forward... And there is a difference between direct deaths and indirect deaths. One study could have studied the entire year that's gone by about a number of indirect deaths over time or whatever, versus a six-month study in George Washington. 

So, that's -- you know, there's a lot of issues with numbers being all over the place. It's hard to tell what's accurate and what's not, but we have got to come together as a country to focus on the rebuilding of Puerto Rico and building a resilient infrastructure... 

Frustrated, indeed - by the numbers that were made up to make him look bad.

Let's look at Long's answer to Chuck Todd's question about that 'make president look bad' thing:

Well I mean there's, I don't think the studies, I don't know why the studies were done. I mean, I think what we're trying to do, in my opinion, what we've got to do is figure out why people die, from direct deaths, which is the wind, the water and the waves, you know, building collapsing, which is probably where the 65 number came from. And then there's indirect deaths. So, the George Washington study looked at what happened six months after the fact.

And you know, what happens is -- and even in this event, you might see more deaths indirectly occur as time goes on because people have heart attacks due to stress. They fall off their house trying to fix their roof. They die in car crashes because they, they went through an intersection where stoplights weren't working/ You know the other thing that goes on, there's all kinds of studies on this that we take a look at. Spousal abuse goes through the roof. You can't blame spousal abuse, you know, after a disaster on anybody.

Stop right there and re-read that italicized sentence again, maybe a couple of times. Because I'm pretty darn sure that you can always blame spousal abuse on the spouse, hurricane or no.  That's a shocking comment for Long - or anyone - to have made. I can't wait for the president to retweet this one.

On CBS, John Dickerson talked about interrupted medical care, which accounted for a large percentage of  Katrina deaths, and Maria deaths as well; he also specifically asked who at FEMA contributed to the George Washington University report. This answer, too, is shocking, but for a different reason.

Yeah, I don't know who they interviewed within the agency. They may have looked at funeral benefits to help, you know, calculate whatever number. And that's a number, you know, that's the only number we would really be able to contribute to any study going forward...

So, multiple times today, Long had the chance to clarify what FEMA knows about the death toll from Hurricane Maria, by simply offering up the funeral benefits figure he cited as facts FEMA could provide. And he didn't do it.  That none of the interviewers asked for death figures shows a lack of curiosity on their part as well.

Long also has zero curiosity about his own agency, to the point that since the GW study came out at the end of August, he hasn't even found out who at FEMA provided information or what information was provided.  How is that even possible? If he knows there was no 'interview' per se but just a data capture, he should have said that, too.

See you around campus.

Wondering on Wednesday (v147)

Random noodling around tonight; we'll see where it takes us. There's certainly a lot going on out there to wonder about.

Do you wonder, listening to president Trump talk about Hurricane Florence, whether he's actually taking credit for her being the biggest one ever to hit the east coast? You hear him talk about his thinking, and that of other really smart people, and I honestly sense a little bit of pride there.

HAHAHA, Obama - take that!  My storm's way bigger than any of yours. Sad! Haahaha. And my hands too....hahahaha! It's going to be a fantastic disaster!! 

Sticking with the president, raise your hand if you have any idea what the president must have been thinking about when he gave a double fist pump and an angry sneer upon arriving at the 9/11 memorial in Pennsylvania.  Personally I think he's terribly unphotogenic, and I think there have to have been more than a few purposefully bad pics of him published since he started his campaign, but here's the thing: you can't be photographed doing a double fist pump as you arrive at a memorial service if you don't do a double fist pump as you arrive at a memorial service. 

I'm wondering, for all you party-registered NY voters, if your phones are ringing off the hook with recommendations for tomorrow's primary, or if it's just me? For example, I had three phone calls from the Communications Workers of America -- my retired husband's union - in 12 minutes. Seriously. And they're calling me, not him, because he's an Independent and can't even vote in the primary for governor. I've had law firms calling to tell me to vote for a specific judicial candidate, and former judges calling for the same race, but a different person.

I've had calls on the Attorney General's race, the governor's race, my state senator - it's a battle royale I tell you.  Anyone willing to hazard a guess on the gubernatorial primary? Will it be the Sonofa Gov, incumbent Andrew Cuomo, or maybe the angry activist, former Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon? Or maybe Syracuse's former mayor Stephanie Miner, who's running as the representative of a new party?

Speaking of Nixon and Miner, should one of them overcome massive odds to win the primary, she would become the 16th woman with the chance to become their state's governor. I wonder who would have thunk that? Even more remarkable, according to the Barbara Lee Family Foundation,

There are currently six women governors, and the most we've ever had serving at one time was nine. Over the course of US history, only 39 women have eve served as their state's governor. Compare that to over 2,300 men.

I wonder if this will be the time the tide turns?

And finally, sticking with politics for the close, NY's 24th congressional district is a mess again, with boatloads of out-of-district money flooding in, like always. The incumbent John Katko is running snotty TV and radio ads during the lunch hour and the dinner hour, daily -- and we've got almost two months until the general election? I don't know about you, but I'm wondering of what he's afraid?

Wondering on Wednesday (v145)

Wondering what happens when you Google 'Trump News'? Here, I took one for the team.  Taking the step to go first to Google News, and then search for Trump News. I get this.

As you know, what you see when you search for Trump News and what I got will almost certainly be different because you and I are different and because we're searching at different times, and so on.

For example, because I follow the president on Twitter (forewarned and all that jazz), his tweets are featured prominently on my search page.  Also featured in the search, in case you're wondering, is this article from PolitiFact:

Trump tweeted that "96 percent of (Google News) results on 'Trump News' are from National Left-Wing Media."

This figure is based on a non-scientific study from a conservative website that categorized any media outlet not expressly conservative as being part of the "left." These outlets include wire services, broadcast networks and most major newspapers and collectively account for a large percentage of original news reports produced in the United States. The methodology essentially preordains that a large percentage of coverage captured by Google will be what the study defines as "left." which is wrong. 

We rate the statement False.

No surprise there, in case you were wondering.

Moving on to more fun wondering, what will it look like when some 100 pink Cadillacs line the street at Aretha Franklin's funeral?  The word was sent out to Mary Kay consultants across the land, and really to anyone else who has a pink Caddy, and they're coming from as far as Texas and Florida. That surely will be a sight to see, don't you think?

In a remarkable effort to help other people, NFL star JJ Watt raised over $41M for Hurricane Harvey relief, via a GoFundMe page.  This week, the first anniversary of Harvey, Watt said that he had distributed all of the money through eight groups; their efforts, according to the Houston Texans,

have been used to clean up and rebuild more than 600 homes and 420 childhood centers, distribute more than 26 million meals and provide health care to more than 6,500 people. 

In a statement, Watt said

As I reflect on the events of Hurricane Harvey one year ago, the memories of destruction and devastation remain, but they are accompanied by memories of hope, selflessness and the beauty of the human spirit. The actions of professional first responders and everyday citizens alike were an inspiration to the world and a shining example of the inherent good that lies within us all...

While a great deal has been accomplished in the past 12 months, there is still much work to be done. Moving forward, there will be more of the same, as we continue to work with our incredible nonprofit partners to provide as much help and support as we possibly can for those affected by Harvey. I cannot thank everyone enough for your support and generosity.

A couple of things come to mind reading about this tremendous effort: first, what an amazing accomplishment, to contribute so much and get others to contribute as well, to help perfect strangers.

At the same time though, it's painful wondering what the folks in Puerto Rico must be feeling, a couple of weeks shy of the anniversary of their nightmare, Hurricane Maria.

The big new number for them is not record millions of dollars of charity being distributed, it's an almost overwhelming adjustment to the official death toll of the storm. The original number, 64, was widely hailed by the president as a success story for the federal effort after the storm; the new number, an estimated 2975 storm-related deaths, came from a study by George Washington University.

The study let to renewed criticism across multiple fronts.

WWYD: Disaster Tax Relief

As we wait for the House to re-approve the "massive tax cut for the middle class" today (after yesterday's SNAFU on a handful of provisions not meeting Senate reconciliation rules), and wait for another 'excitable boy' gavel bang from Paul Ryan, I thought it would be fun to put some of the changes through the What Would You Do? meter.

The Rs have said their plan 'reforms' and 'simplifies' our tax code; they did that by tinkering or massaging a tax benefit here and there. Tax benefits, for the purpose of this discussion, includes those things people derisively refer to as loopholes - things that benefit only certain Americans, primarily 'other people' (hence the derision).

One of these benefits extends to people who suffer losses from disasters such as floods and fires.

Right now, disaster victims can deduct losses that aren't insured and that amount to more than 10 percent of their incomes.

So, think about friends, family and others living in the Gulf Coast or Puerto Rico who were impacted by the hurricanes and floods earlier this year. Think back to Sandy, Irene, Katrina, and Andrew and all of the other storms we remember by name.

Think about all of the people who were impacted by the flooding right here in NY along the Lake Ontario shore, for months. The official declaration was made for most of counties along the shore back in November, but some were left out and are waiting for a review to be finished to know for sure whether they'll be included in the declaration.

It's easy to picture losses from those and other disasters far exceeding 10% of a homeowner's income, isn't it, especially since flood insurance is prohibitively expensive for many people? And, especially since in many cases (my own backyard included) the flood maps don't make a whole heckuva lot of sense outside coastal areas, major rivers, and other obviously flood-prone areas.

Think about all of the people who have lost their homes in the California fires this year - epic and historic wildfires, still burning. Sure, some of them are celebrities, but most of them are just regular folks, right?

So, what's different after the GOP's massaging of this loophole? Well,

Under the new tax plan, the deduction could only be claimed for those disasters that the president declares a federal emergency. The proposed change would go into effect January 1, 2018, meaning disaster victims could file one final deduction this year if they experienced a loss that did not receive Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) support.

What's the impact of the change? It's hard to say for sure, but we do have some historical info.

In 2015, more than 72,000 people filed a casualty or theft deduction resulting in $1.6B in claims, according to the IRS' Statistics of Income Division (The IRS lumps casualty and theft deductions together in its count). 

Most of us can pretty readily recall the big ones, the national disasters that do receive the presidential declaration, but unless we are paying particular attention or are personally impacted, it's harder to remember the ones that don't. Here's a reminder of just one that didn't make the cut.

The historic wildfires that hit Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado last March, however, did not receive a federal disaster designation, meaning those affected would not have been able to utilize the personal-loss deductions if such an event had occurred under the new tax plan... 

Losses to the High Plains wildfires last March were significantly less (than those associated with Harvey and Irma). The fires burned 2100 square miles in the four states, causing about $55 million in fence losses. In Texas alone, the personal losses to farmers and ranchers was estimated at $25.1 million.

While farm and ranch losses to wildfire, tornadoes, etc., pale in comparison to damage from major hurricanes, losses to individuals from either event are the same. 

So,  if you were making the decisions about how our tax plan should work, what would you do about deductions for disasters?

1. Allow deductions, with no percent of income limitation, regardless of whether a federal disaster is declared.
2. Allow deductions, with a percent of income limitation, regardless of whether a federal disaster is declared.
3. Allow deductions, with no percent of income limitation, only when a federal disaster is declared.
4. Allow deductions, with a percent of income limitation, only when a federal disaster is declared.
5. Do not allow deductions, but offer low interest federal loans to everyone to cover uninsured losses.
6. Do not allow deductions, but offer low interest federal loans only to those households with income under $200,000.
7. Do not allow deductions or federal loans; the homeowner, rancher, businessman, etc. would be responsible for either having enough insurance to protect themselves, or being able to secure loans through state or local governments or their financial institutions.

Have at it, legislators.