US Politics

Simon & Schuster, Woodward’s publisher, announced Monday that it plans to release his 19th book, titled “Fear: Trump in the White House,” on Sept. 11.

But the process for managing the book has not been as formal in President Donald Trump’s White House — in fact, there hasn’t been any process at all. According to half a dozen former administration officials and people close to the administration, Woodward was never officially granted access to the White House or to the president, and the communications department did nothing to help him in researching or writing his book.

...

As one former administration official put it: “He hooked somebody, and that put the fear of God in everyone else.”

Another former official added: “It’s gonna be killer. Everyone talked with Woodward.”

According to Simon & Schuster, the book will reveal “the harrowing life inside Donald Trump’s White House and how the president makes decisions on major foreign and domestic policies.” The cover is a striking red wash over an uncomfortably close close-up of Trump’s face.

lex-man wrote:Is it really the first time he's called for the Russian investigation to be stopped?

Attorney group: Child died ‘soon after’ release from ICE family detention facility

The American Immigration Lawyers Association said Wednesday that a migrant toddler died shortly after being released from an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Dilley, Tex.

“AILA has learned that a toddler died soon after release from the Dilley South Texas Family Residential Center,” Gregory Z. Chen, director of government relations for the 15,000-member association, said in a statement. “We do not have information on the cause of death or information that confirms a connection between medical treatment at STFRC and this death.”

Chen did not name the child or say when the alleged death occurred, and The Washington Post was unable to independently verify the death.

Alvin Flummux wrote:Between that and the abuses being committed behind closed doors, I sincerely hope the Democrats launch lengthy investigations into the matter once the House flips.

Housing and rates are worrying some economists that a recession is looming.

"One of the biggest concerns is the housing market," said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist for Stifel, on CNNMoney's "Markets Now" live show Wednesday. "It's throwing up a very large red flag and suggests maybe this 4% growth we saw in the second quarter is not sustainable."

Home sales have declined in four of the past five months as housing prices have grown -- but paychecks have remained stagnant. Many people can't afford to buy homes, and those who can are taking on a lot of debt to get into them.

Piegza says that echoes what happened right before the Great Recession in 2008.

"We're not there yet, but this is what led us to the housing crash," she said.

How could this happen again? Piegza believes that a decade of rock-bottom interest rates helped people forget about the dangers of borrowing too much.

"I don't know if we learned our lesson from the Great Recession," she said. "We are going back to a lot of the easy lending that we used to see."

Although Piegza said a recession isn't necessarily imminent -- especially after quarterly growth just came in at the fastest pace in almost four years -- there are signs of waning momentum in the economy.

Interest rates, for example, are starting to become a bad omen.

The Federal Reserve, which is finishing up its two-day meeting Wednesday, is expected to raise its target rate two more times this year. Higher rates have boosted short-term US Treasury bond rates. But the longer-term bond rates haven't risen along with the shorter-term rates, because investors are growing wary about the economy over the long haul.

With two more interest rate hikes planned, the Fed could boost short-term rates higher than long-term ones, inverting the so-called yield curve. An inverted yield curve has preceded every recession in modern history.

"We could easily be there by the end of the year," Piegza said. "I think we'll see pressure on the longer end by the end of the year, but the Fed will still be raising rates on the short end."

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said that he is not concerned about an inverted yield curve. Piegza strongly disagrees.

"It is a predictive measure of a recession," she said.

twitter.com/TheOnion/status/1025091783540318209

Harry Ola wrote:

lex-man wrote:Is it really the first time he's called for the Russian investigation to be stopped?

Publically yes. Privately, probably not. There's a story that he ordered McGahn, the White House Counsel, to fire him last year, but he refused on the grounds of it being obstruction of justice and Trump backed down.

Suspected Russian spy found working at US embassy in Moscow

Exclusive: Russian is understood to have had full access to secret data during decade at embassy

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... et-service

Saint of Killers wrote:

Suspected Russian spy found working at US embassy in Moscow

Exclusive: Russian is understood to have had full access to secret data during decade at embassy

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... et-service

Alvin Flummux wrote:If it happens, I hope it's while Trump's in office, so he can take all dat blame.

OrangeRakoon wrote:

Alvin Flummux wrote:If it happens, I hope it's while Trump's in office, so he can take all dat blame.

You just know it's going to happen just after he gets voted out

captain red dog wrote:I think even when the Dems take control they would bottle pushing for charges against Trump. It will be something along the lines of "moving on from the past" or "drawing a line under things" to somehow prevent them from having an ex-president face charges.

captain red dog wrote:I think even when the Dems take control they would bottle pushing for charges against Trump. It will be something along the lines of "moving on from the past" or "drawing a line under things" to somehow prevent them from having an ex-president face charges.

Moggy wrote:

captain red dog wrote:I think even when the Dems take control they would bottle pushing for charges against Trump. It will be something along the lines of "moving on from the past" or "drawing a line under things" to somehow prevent them from having an ex-president face charges.

It’ll all depend on what the charges are and what can be proven.

Let’s not forget that it was not so long ago that the Republicans were dragging a President through impeachment because he lied about a blowjob. I am not sure that the Democrats would ignore large scale fraud and collusion with an unfriendly foreign power.