Us politics

So far, President Trump has acted much like he did in business, starting his initiatives with forceful opening shots. That’s a classic negotiating tactic, and his latest use of it appears to have come in his threat to cut federal funding to California should it declare itself a sanctuary state. “If we have to, we’ll defund. We give tremendous amounts of money to California,” Trump told Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly in an interview that aired on Sunday. “California in many ways is out of control, as you know. ... If they’re going to have sanctuary cities, we may have to do that. Certainly that would be a weapon,” he said. “Obviously, the voters agree or otherwise they wouldn’t have voted for me.” Threatening to cut funding to the nation’s most populous state — and the one with the biggest economy — was Trump’s opening gambit, even though a president cannot unilaterally cut federal funding to a … [Read more...] about Will Trump’s ‘Art of the Deal’ bravado translate to politics?

Historic public impeachment proceedings got underway Wednesday, as career diplomats delivered solemn testimony about the Trump administration’s alleged misconduct in Ukraine that they found bewildering and at odds with U.S. interests.As they described a scheme by administration officials and Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, to pressure the Eastern European nation’s president to launch investigations against Democrats that would help Trump in 2020, GOP lawmakers worked to undermine the legitimacy of the hearings.The stark divide – in Congress and among the broader electorate -- over Trump’s alleged misdeeds was on full display in the House hearing room. The committee members snapped at one another about the way Democrats are managing the proceedings and their decision to shield an anonymous whistleblower from public hearings.As they did, the invited witnesses girded for a rough day. Advertisement Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. … [Read more...] about U.S. diplomats describe Trump’s effort to hijack Ukraine policy for his political benefit

This piece was drawn from the afterword to a new edition of “Sexual Politics,” by Kate Millett, which is out in February from Columbia University Press. In the fall of 2014 Time magazine published a list of words that, it proposed, should be banned—a click-bait compilation of terms and phrases that had become so buzzy and catchy that they had proliferated into cringe-inducing overuse. Among them were “bae,” a term of endearment; “disrupt,” a Silicon Valley cliché; “literally,” when used to mean “figuratively”; and “feminist.” About this last the magazine asked, “When did it become a thing that every celebrity had to state their position on whether this word applies to them, like some politician declaring a party? Let’s stick to the issues and quit throwing this label around like ticker tape at a Susan B. Anthony parade.” The magazine assumed a familiarity with a … [Read more...] about “Sexual Politics” and the Feminist Work That Remains Undone

With less than a year to go before the June 2018 primary, some winners are emerging in San Francisco’s political fundraising race. The big showdown next June is the contest to represent District Eight’s Castro and Noe Valley neighborhoods. Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, a moderate appointed by Mayor Ed Lee to fill the seat Scott Wiener vacated when he was elected to the state Senate, is trying to fend off a challenge from City College of San Francisco Trustee Rafael Mandelman, a progressive who would tip the balance of the board. So far, Sheehy is in the lead, with $105,414 in contributions compared with Mandelman’s $88,790. Among Sheehy’s supporters are tech lobbyist Alex Tourk, pro-development housing activist Todd David and Lee’s former senior adviser, Tony Winnicker. Mandelman has backing from Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, former Supervisor David Campos and tenants rights advocate Dean Preston. Two other candidates, Meaghan Zore and Harold Brown, did not … [Read more...] about Winners in S.F. political fundraising race begin to appear

Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent opinion contributor to CNN and The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author; view more opinion articles on CNN. (CNN)Contrary to the famous adage from Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, it's not the economy, stupid. It's happiness and overall well-being. And even though President Donald Trump is running for re-election during an economic boom (never mind the trillion-dollar deficit fueling it) Democrats are wrong to fear that a strong economy could doom their prospects. That's because it turns out that voters actually care about other things besides money. Frida Ghitis Sure, money matters a lot. But a growing body of research suggests that other things may count more. In particular, it appears that we care greatly about our well-being, which includes income and retirement accounts but also a … [Read more...] about Trump makes people feel lousy. That could spell his political doom