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<meta name="description" content="The Washington Post has done it: they&rsquo;ve found the only bad way to politicize Hurricane Harvey, the ongoing catastrophe that has already proved to be one of the most devastating storms in American history. Analysis: How many votes could Hurricane Harvey cost Trump in Texas? https://t.co/pSJaImDSGY&mdash; Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 29, 2017
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    <title>Yes, politicize Hurricane Harvey&#x2014;just not like this. | New Republic</title>
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avatar image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.0.0.0.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:100%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/7d319d3b0a7275ecb7c40273c3615f60ea62c30d.jpeg?w=200&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;h=200" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0"/></div></div></a><h3 class="minute-byline" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.0.0.1"><a class="author-emily-atkin author-link" itemprop="author" title="Emily Atkin" href="/authors/emily-atkin" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.0.0.1.0">Emily Atkin</a></h3></div><div class="minute-meta" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.0.1.0"></span><a class="" href="/minutes/144604/" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.0.1.1"><time property="dc:date dc:created" itemprop="datePublished" content="2017-08-29" datetime="2017-08-29" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.0.1.1.0">6 months ago</time></a></div></header><div class="minute-image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.1"><div class="image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.1.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.1.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/bbbf21e7f4b3ee270bc3b0cb25f2bc6e899fb777.jpeg?w=600&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=400" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.1.0.0.0"/></div></div><div class="article-image-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.1.1"><div class="photo-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.1.1.0">Alex Wong/Getty</div></div></div><div class="minute-combined" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.2"><h1 class="minute-title" itemprop="title" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.2.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.2.0.0">Yes, politicize Hurricane Harvey—just not like this.</span></h1><div class="minute-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.2.1"><div class="content-body" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.2.1.0"><p>The <i>Washington Post</i> has done it: they’ve found the only bad way to politicize Hurricane Harvey, the ongoing catastrophe that has already proved to be one of the most devastating storms in American history. </p><figure class="article-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Analysis: How many votes could Hurricane Harvey cost Trump in Texas? <a href="https://t.co/pSJaImDSGY" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://t.co/pSJaImDSGY</a></p>— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/902533937267953665" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">August 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></figure><p>Don’t get me wrong. The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/29/how-many-votes-could-hurricane-harvey-cost-trump-in-texas/?utm_term=.dedde2b964fe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">article</a>—written by three political science experts—contains interesting, even useful research on how natural disasters can sway American presidential elections. But the timing is just . . . stunningly bad. Right now, Harvey is still an active tropical cyclone, dumping billions of gallons of water on the fourth largest city in America. The death toll is still <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/harvey-death-toll-climbs-as-floodwaters-rise" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">rising</a> and will not be fully known until floodwaters recede, which could take weeks. People are still <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/29/us/harvey-houston-texas-louisiana/index.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">trapped</a> in submerged homes; shelters are <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/28/as-harvey-rescues-rise-in-houston-shelters-became-overpopulated.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">overcrowding</a>; vulnerable fence-line communities are breathing <a href="https://t.co/4eSvAXGhpn" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">toxic fumes</a>. Harvey is doing a lot of truly awful things at this very moment. And you want to talk about how it could impact an election in three and a half years?</p><p>I am all for politicizing storms in the correct context. Politicization must serve to hold public officials accountable for decisions they’ve made that contributed to deadly results. Did your congressperson ignore warnings that sea-level rise would make storm surges worse? Did your mayor <a href="https://qz.com/1064364/hurricane-harvey-houstons-flooding-made-worse-by-unchecked-urban-development-and-wetland-destruction/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">greenlight major development in a floodplain</a> and destroy wetlands that could have absorbed flood waters? Did your president refuse to fund <a href="http://time.com/money/4918458/trump-budget-targest-disaster-response/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">disaster preparation</a> or emergency response agencies? Does your political party <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/8/28/16213268/harvey-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">deny climate change</a>, and continue to do so even as extreme weather events batter America? If the answer is yes, politicization is not only appropriate, but <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/28/harvey-didnt-come-out-of-the-blue-now-is-the-time-to-talk-about-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">necessary</a>. </p><p>As my former colleague Natasha Geiling <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/hurricane-harvey-climate-politics-bc26ca7afa9f/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">wrote in <i>ThinkProgress</i></a><i> <br></i>this week: “The smart thing to do isn’t to pretend that disasters like Harvey don’t have political underpinnings; the smart thing would be to take a look at the policies that helped make Harvey a costly and deadly disaster, and make better choices in the future.” Hopefully the <i>Post</i> makes better choices too, namely by holding off on 2020 analysis until the floodwaters recede.</p></div></div></div><div class="sharebox sharebox-minute" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.3"><div class="sharebox-inner" 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data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.2.$main-minute.0.0.0.3.0.4.0"/></span></div></div></div></div></article></div></div><div class="minutes-secondary" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3"><div data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0"><div class="" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0"><div class="minutes-header-wrap" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.0"><div class="minutes-header-grid" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.0.0"><div class="minutes-header-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.0.0.0"><h2 class="minutes-secondary-header" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.0.0.0.0.0">February 13, 2018</span></h2></div></div></div><article id="minute-147073" class="minute minute-first" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1"><div class="minute-grid" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0"><div class="minute-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0"><header class="minute-header" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.0"><div class="minute-author" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.0.0.0"></span><h3 class="minute-byline" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.0.0.1"><a class="author-sarah-jones author-link" itemprop="author" title="Sarah Jones" href="/authors/sarah-jones" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.0.0.1.0">Sarah Jones</a></h3></div><div class="minute-meta" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.0.1.0"></span><a class="" href="/minutes/147073/new-polling-suggests-democrats-need-stronger-economic-message" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.0.1.1"><time property="dc:date dc:created" itemprop="datePublished" content="2018-02-13" datetime="2018-02-13" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.0.1.1.0">10 hours ago</time></a></div></header><div class="minute-image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.1"><div class="image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.1.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:71.13333333333334%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.1.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/978eab4e207713abdd6e64a7c70753650c90356b.jpeg?w=600&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=427" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.1.0.0.0"/></div></div><div class="article-image-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.1.1"><div class="photo-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.1.1.0">Mark Wilson/Getty Images</div></div></div><div class="minute-combined" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.2"><h1 class="minute-title" itemprop="title" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.2.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.2.0.0">New polling suggests that Democrats need a stronger economic message.</span></h1><div class="minute-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.2.1"><div class="content-body" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.2.1.0"><p>A new poll produced by Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC, reveals that Donald Trump’s standing is beginning to rise. That could spell trouble for Democrats, <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article199812624.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><i>McClatchy</i> reports</a>: </p><blockquote><p>According to internal polling by the super PAC, President Trump’s approval rating climbed to 44 percent in the first week of February, compared to 53 percent who disapprove. That mirrors Trump’s improving position in public polls.</p><p>In November, the same survey found his approval rating at 40 percent, with 54 percent disapproving. <span>The group’s survey also showed the Democratic Party’s generic ballot advantage had shrunk, with 46 percent preferring Democrats to 42 percent for Republicans.</span></p></blockquote><p>The same report identifies the reason for Trump’s relative success: Democrats started focusing less attention on health care and the economy. It also recommended a shift in party priorities ahead of the all-important midterm elections. That shouldn’t be difficult for a progressive party—yet Democrats often don’t seem to know who they are or who they represent. They still aren’t united on single-payer health care, or on any other kind of health care reform. Senate Democrats signed a spending agreement with Republicans without ensuring protections for Dreamers. Democrats like <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/joe-manchin-iii/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">West Virginia’s Joe Manchin</a> and <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/doug-jones/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Alabama’s Doug Jones</a> frequently vote in line with the Trump administration. The party’s overarching failure to decide on an economic message doesn’t just hurt their chances against the GOP; it also betrays their vulnerable base. Their only path to viability is to repeatedly draw the starkest possible distinctions between their policies and the policies of Donald Trump. <br></p></div></div></div><div class="sharebox sharebox-minute" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.3"><div class="sharebox-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.3.0"><a href="#" title="Share on Facebook" class="sharebox-cell" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.3.0.0"><div class="sharebox-item sharebox-item-facebook" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.3.0.0.0"><div class="icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0"><div class="svg-wrapper svg-wrapper-icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0"><svg version="1.1" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 64 64" class="svg-svg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$0.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0.0"><path class="icon-path icon-facebook" 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data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.0"><a title="Alex Shephard" class="minute-author-avatar" href="/authors/alex-shephard" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.0.0"><div class="avatar-alex-shephard avatar image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:100%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/a06b59d5987812d80a023c5513ab30c2e93123db.jpeg?w=200&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;h=200" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0"/></div></div></a><h3 class="minute-byline" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.0.1"><a class="author-alex-shephard author-link" itemprop="author" title="Alex Shephard" href="/authors/alex-shephard" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.0.1.0">Alex Shephard</a></h3></div><div class="minute-meta" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.1.0"></span><a class="" href="/minutes/147060/white-houses-rob-porter-problem-getting-worse" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.1.1"><time property="dc:date dc:created" itemprop="datePublished" content="2018-02-13" datetime="2018-02-13" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.0.1.1.0">14 hours ago</time></a></div></header><div class="minute-image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.1"><div class="image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.1.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:66.65482954545455%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.1.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/f2dcdc1b07516615b79658f3d75e2ecb677a809f.jpeg?w=600&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=400" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.1.0.0.0"/></div></div><div class="article-image-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.1.1"><div class="photo-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.1.1.0">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</div></div></div><div class="minute-combined" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.2"><h1 class="minute-title" itemprop="title" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.2.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.2.0.0">The White House’s Rob Porter problem is only getting worse.</span></h1><div class="minute-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.2.1"><div class="content-body" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.2.1.0"><p>In the wake of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/07/politics/rob-porter-ex-wives-white-house/index.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">reporting</a> that revealed that former White House staff secretary Rob Porter had been accused of abusing two ex-wives and a girlfriend, the Trump administration has insisted that it acted quickly to remove Porter. Chief of Staff John Kelly, who has received the brunt of criticism for failing to take the allegations against Porter seriously, told staff that Porter <span>“was gone 40 minutes” after Kelly learned of the extent of his abuse. But there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that the White House’s timeline of events is inaccurate. </span></p><p>On Tuesday, <i>Politico </i><a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/13/kelly-porters-scandal-white-house-407242" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">reported</a> that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders organized an off-the-record briefing with Porter and four reporters from <i>The New York Times, The Washington Post</i>, <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>, and <i>Axios</i> in the hours after <i>The Daily Mail </i>published photographs of one of Porter’s ex-wives with a black eye. While it’s unclear if Kelly was aware of the briefing, it clearly contradicts the White House’s primary claim, which is that Porter was removed immediately after evidence of his abuse surfaced. Instead, it now seems clear that the Trump administration was still working to protect Porter even after <i>The Daily Mail</i> published its story. </p><p>Kelly reportedly informed President Donald Trump that he would be willing to resign last week, and is, in <i>Politico</i>’s words, “increasingly isolated” in the West Wing. The Porter story has undermined his credibility and his reputation as someone who could impose order on the chaotic White House. But, as the <i>Politico </i>story shows, the rot extends beyond Kelly. The chief of staff may take the fall, but the entire White House shares responsibility for its failure to take action against Porter. </p></div></div></div><div class="sharebox sharebox-minute" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.3"><div class="sharebox-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.3.0"><a href="#" title="Share on Facebook" class="sharebox-cell" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.3.0.0"><div class="sharebox-item sharebox-item-facebook" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.3.0.0.0"><div class="icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0"><div class="svg-wrapper svg-wrapper-icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0"><svg version="1.1" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 64 64" class="svg-svg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$1.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0.0"><path class="icon-path icon-facebook" d="M37,64V34.8h9.8l1.5-11.4H37v-7.3c0-3.3,0.9-5.5,5.6-5.5l6,0V0.4C47.6,0.3,44,0,39.8,0c-8.7,0-14.6,5.3-14.6,15v8.4h-9.8v11.4h9.8V64H37z" 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data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.0.0.0"></span><h3 class="minute-byline" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.0.0.1"><a class="author-sarah-jones author-link" itemprop="author" title="Sarah Jones" href="/authors/sarah-jones" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.0.0.1.0">Sarah Jones</a></h3></div><div class="minute-meta" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.0.1.0"></span><a class="" href="/minutes/147058/white-house-believes-poor-people-dont-deserve-choose-eat" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.0.1.1"><time property="dc:date dc:created" itemprop="datePublished" content="2018-02-13" datetime="2018-02-13" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.0.1.1.0">14 hours ago</time></a></div></header><div class="minute-image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.1"><div class="image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.1.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.1.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/3cbc0267df66a92bd836d85731e9c4acc3910c1c.jpeg?w=600&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=400" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.1.0.0.0"/></div></div><div class="article-image-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.1.1"><div class="photo-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.1.1.0">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</div></div></div><div class="minute-combined" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.2"><h1 class="minute-title" itemprop="title" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.2.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.2.0.0">The White House believes poor people don’t deserve to choose what they eat. </span></h1><div class="minute-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.2.1"><div class="content-body" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.2.1.0"><p>Trump’s budget, released on Monday, proposes drastic cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in addition to a change in the way food aid is delivered to low-income families. The administration’s innovation: Blue Apron, but for poor people.<br></p><p>“What we do is propose that for folks who are on food stamps, part—not all, part—of their benefits come in the actual sort of, and I don’t want to steal somebody’s copyright, but a Blue Apron-type program where you actually receive the food instead of receive the cash,” said <span>Mick Mulvaney, director of the </span><span>Office of Management and Budget</span><span>. “It lowers the cost to us because we can buy [at wholesale prices] whereas they have to buy it at retail. It also makes sure they’re getting nutritious food. So we’re pretty excited about that.”</span></p><p>Blue Apron, as<i> The Washington</i> <i>Post</i> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/12/trump-wants-to-slash-food-stamps-and-replace-them-with-a-blue-apron-type-program/?utm_term=.095defddee48" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">points out</a>, costs about $10 per serving, while food stamps provide roughly $1.37 in food per person. Blue Apron also allows customers to choose their meals for the week; the American poor, however, will not enjoy such liberties. <span>Though there are already restrictions on how food stamps may be used, the so-called America’s Harvest Box represents a significantly more restrictive approach to food aid. </span><span>The SNAP boxes would contain peanut butter, shelf-stable milk, juice, grains, cereals, pasta, and canned beans and meat. No word on what SNAP recipients should do if they have dietary restrictions for medical reasons, or if they keep a religious diet. The boxes also will not contain any fresh fruit or vegetables.</span></p><p>But the White House is less concerned with nutrition than saving money—and in the process, they’ve revealed the truth behind Republican rhetoric about choice and personal liberty. On food stamps, two conservative beliefs combine: The first is that the average poor person is poor because they don’t work, and the second is that personal liberty is a privilege. The <span>America’s Harvest Box proposal implies that</span><span> SNAP recipients haven’t earned the right to choose their own meals. Talk about a nanny state.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="sharebox sharebox-minute" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.3"><div class="sharebox-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.3.0"><a href="#" title="Share on Facebook" class="sharebox-cell" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.3.0.0"><div class="sharebox-item sharebox-item-facebook" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.3.0.0.0"><div class="icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0"><div class="svg-wrapper svg-wrapper-icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0"><svg version="1.1" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 64 64" class="svg-svg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0.0"><path class="icon-path icon-facebook" d="M37,64V34.8h9.8l1.5-11.4H37v-7.3c0-3.3,0.9-5.5,5.6-5.5l6,0V0.4C47.6,0.3,44,0,39.8,0c-8.7,0-14.6,5.3-14.6,15v8.4h-9.8v11.4h9.8V64H37z" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$2.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0.0.0"></path></svg></div></div></div></a><a 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2018</span></h2></div></div></div><article id="minute-147049" class="minute minute-first" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1"><div class="minute-grid" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0"><div class="minute-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0"><header class="minute-header" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.0"><div class="minute-author" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.0.0.0"></span><h3 class="minute-byline" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.0.0.1"><a class="author-matt-ford author-link" itemprop="author" title="Matt Ford" href="/authors/matt-ford" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.0.0.1.0">Matt Ford</a></h3></div><div class="minute-meta" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.0.1.0"></span><a class="" href="/minutes/147049/jeff-sessionss-anglo-american-remark-wasnt-inherently-racist" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.0.1.1"><time property="dc:date dc:created" itemprop="datePublished" content="2018-02-12" datetime="2018-02-12" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.0.1.1.0">a day ago</time></a></div></header><div class="minute-image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.1"><div class="image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.1.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:66.55844155844156%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.1.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/da2ea0a02a134440452eeeb7d60ef8961d0d3269.jpeg?w=600&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=399" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.1.0.0.0"/></div></div><div class="article-image-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.1.1"><div class="photo-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.1.1.0">BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images</div></div></div><div class="minute-combined" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.2"><h1 class="minute-title" itemprop="title" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.2.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.2.0.0">Jeff Sessions’s “Anglo-American” remark wasn’t inherently racist.</span></h1><div class="minute-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.2.1"><div class="content-body" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.2.1.0"><p>The attorney general received some attention on Monday for referencing “the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement” during a speech to the National Sheriffs’ Association.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/sessions-touts-anglo-american-heritage-of-sheriffs-office" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">CNN</a><span>&nbsp;and </span><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/sessions-touts-anglo-american-heritage-of-sheriffs-office" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Daily Beast</a><span> took note of the phrase without drawing any conclusions, while other outlets made their point more clearly. Splinter’s Emma Roller, for example,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://splinternews.com/jeff-sessions-let-his-racism-peek-through-a-little-more-1822927819" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">concluded</a><span> that Sessions “let his racism peek through a little more than he may have intended to.”</span></p><p><span>The quote wasn’t included in</span><span>&nbsp;Sessions’s&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-sessions-delivers-remarks-national-sheriffs-association" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">prepared remarks</a><span>, where he describes the sheriff’s historical origins and community role as part of “our legal heritage.”</span></p><blockquote><p><span>I want to close by reiterating my deep appreciation and profound thanks to all the women and men of law enforcement—federal, state, local, and tribal.&nbsp; I want to thank every sheriff in America. Since our founding, the independently elected Sheriff has been seen as the people’s protector, who keeps law enforcement close to and amenable to the people. The Sheriff is a critical part of our legal heritage.</span>﻿<br></p></blockquote><p>Sessions deviated from that phrasing in the speech he actually gave, largely by substituting in “Anglo-American” and more forcefully defending the institution itself.</p><blockquote><p>Since the founding, the independently elected sheriff has been the people’s protector, who keeps law enforcement close to and accountable to people—to the elected process. The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement. We must never erode this historic office.</p></blockquote><p>Some observers took “the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement” to be a reference to officers’ ethnic heritage. But the context of his speech suggests it was a clumsy reference to the American criminal-justice system’s cultural heritage.</p><p>Sheriffs, for example, can be traced back to the medieval English institution of the same name.&nbsp;<span>Even after independence, early Americans continued to draw upon English common law and initially kept colonial institutions of justice intact. Judges and lawyers frequently note this continuity and its impact on modern American law. Justice Anthony Kennedy’s habit of writing in sweeping phrases makes him especially prone to this. He’s invoked the “Anglo-American legal tradition” in matters ranging from </span><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/548/05-7053/concur.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">a 2006 dispute</a><span> about the duress defense in criminal law to&nbsp;</span><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/564/09-1476/opinion.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">a 2011 case</a><span> about the First Amendment’s Petitions Clause.</span></p><p>But Kennedy is hardly alone. Justice Samuel Alito complained in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/569/11-564/dissent5.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">a 2013 dissent</a> that the majority’s decision was “based on a putative rule of trespass law that is nowhere to be found in the annals of Anglo-American jurisprudence.” It’s not just the Court’s conservatives, either. In <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/553/06-1195/concur.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">a 2008 Guantanamo Bay-related case</a>, Justice David Souter wrote a concurring opinion, joined by justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens, that pointedly reminded the decision’s dissenters about “<span>a basic fact of Anglo-American constitutional
history” involving habeas&nbsp;corpus.</span><br></p><p>Sessions’s policy preferences on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/jeff-sessions-1924-immigration/512591/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">immigration</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-sessions-0516-20170515-story.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">criminal justice</a>&nbsp;don’t incline liberals to give him the benefit of the doubt, and understandably so. But&nbsp;in the context of legal history, his choice of words doesn’t necessarily convey racist sentiment—and given his <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/21/us/jeff-sessions-fast-facts/index.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">decades of experience in the law</a>, he’s surely familiar with that history.</p></div></div></div><div class="sharebox sharebox-minute" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.3"><div class="sharebox-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.3.0"><a href="#" title="Share on Facebook" class="sharebox-cell" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.3.0.0"><div class="sharebox-item sharebox-item-facebook" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.3.0.0.0"><div class="icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0"><div class="svg-wrapper svg-wrapper-icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0"><svg version="1.1" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 64 64" class="svg-svg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$3.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0.0"><path 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Amy Sherald painted Michelle, and Kehinde Wiley took on Barack. Both portraits are large-scale and make important use of color in framing each subject. Their palettes do not blend well together side by side, but as individual portraits, each painting is a great achievement.</p><p>Both painters are African American, and both are known for working with African American subjects. Wiley’s style is to place his subject against a busy, patterned background. Those backgrounds have a wallpaper-like repetition to them, and they have the effect of elevating the person in the foreground into a kind of icon. The skin of a Kehinde Wiley subject tends to glow as if reflecting a strong light source.&nbsp;</p><p>The Obama portrait is a good example of the style. The president is seated against a backdrop of foliage, dotted with flowers that symbolize the subject’s rich heritage: jasmine for Hawaii, blue lilies for Kenya, chrysanthemums for Chicago. The leaves twine around his feet, compromising the foreground/background distinction with a playful decorativeness that nonetheless feels organic. Especially during his second term, Obama was often photographed as a tired man. Wiley has given him a bright face and a portrait full of life and energy.</p><p>Sherald’s subjects are not as bright as Wiley’s, either in skin tone or in light source. She tends to paint human skin with a mutedness that approaches grayscale. That fading of the skin makes her subjects seem dreamy, almost mythological, as opposed to Wiley’s iconicity. But her portraits often also feature big pops of color in her subject’s clothing, and flat—also dreamlike—backgrounds.</p><p>It’s a shame that, side by side, Kehinde Wiley’s vivid style makes Sherald’s portrait look especially quiet. If I had to choose, I’d say that Sherald’s vision of Michelle Obama is the slightly better work. The pose and the placement of the hands expresses a gestural sense of the subject’s self that flows right into the dress: Michelle Obama is a&nbsp; wearer of clothes and an owner of arms and a woman who looks right at you, this painting says.&nbsp;</p><p>Both paintings use backgrounds that are abstracted away from the subjects, and so each painting does place their respective Obama into the canonical space of history (rather than some specific room). But neither is overly serious. Neither is bogged down by the pressure and duty of the occasion, instead rising to it with joy and personality. 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data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.0"><a title="Alex Shephard" class="minute-author-avatar" href="/authors/alex-shephard" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.0.0"><div class="avatar-alex-shephard avatar image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.0.0.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:100%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/a06b59d5987812d80a023c5513ab30c2e93123db.jpeg?w=200&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;h=200" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0"/></div></div></a><h3 class="minute-byline" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.0.1"><a class="author-alex-shephard author-link" itemprop="author" title="Alex Shephard" href="/authors/alex-shephard" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.0.1.0">Alex Shephard</a></h3></div><div class="minute-meta" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.1.0"></span><a class="" href="/minutes/147038/will-infrastructure-week-different" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.1.1"><time property="dc:date dc:created" itemprop="datePublished" content="2018-02-12" datetime="2018-02-12" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.0.1.1.0">2 days ago</time></a></div></header><div class="minute-image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.1"><div class="image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.1.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:65.62222222222222%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.1.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/e8e1000ea32001ef1d54931fd6e767192903e831.jpeg?w=600&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=394" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.1.0.0.0"/></div></div><div class="article-image-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.1.1"><div class="photo-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.1.1.0">Bloomberg/Getty</div></div></div><div class="minute-combined" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.2"><h1 class="minute-title" itemprop="title" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.2.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.2.0.0">Will this Infrastructure Week be any different?</span></h1><div class="minute-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.2.1"><div class="content-body" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.2.1.0"><p>Over the course of 2017, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/infrastructure-week-is-always-next-week/552047/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">repeatedly claimed</a> that it was “Infrastructure Week,” the week in which the administration would finally unveil its long-promised infrastructure plan. But Infrastructure Week, it turned out, was really just a state of mind, or at least had little or nothing to do with infrastructure at all. While the administration would occasionally release a cocktail-napkin plan, most infrastructure weeks were notable for the non-bridge-and-road-related drama that accompanied them. In early June, when the administration released its sketched out plan, for instance, Trump instead spent most of the week <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/337046-trumps-infrastructure-week-goes-off-the-rails" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">feuding with James Comey</a>: </p><figure class="article-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/863007411132649473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">May 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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</figure><p>These diversions turned Infrastructure Week into a giant joke. <span>However, on Monday the White House finally </span><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/INFRASTRUCTURE-211.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">unveiled</a><span> its $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, which promises to rebuild America’s deteriorating infrastructure and “address unmet rural infrastructure needs, empower State and local authorities, and train the American workforce of the future.”</span></p><p><span>There are roadblocks ahead. Some Republicans are grumbling about the </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/politics/trump-budget-deal-administrative-state.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">cost of the budget deal</a><span> they passed last week, suggesting that a large spending bill may meet resistance, particularly among House conservatives. That would require votes from Democrats. </span><span>But this plan, which relies heavily on </span><a href="/article/138674/beware-donald-trumps-infrastructure-plan">public-private partnerships</a><span>, has little in it that most Democrats would support without drastic changes. Among those changes is the amount of federal money involved. Right now, the plan places the funding burden primarily on the states, rather than the federal government.</span></p><p><span>The Trump administration may have finally unveiled its infrastructure proposal, but it’s no closer to passing a comprehensive plan than it was the last time it was Infrastructure Week.</span></p></div></div></div><div class="sharebox sharebox-minute" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.3"><div class="sharebox-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.3.0"><a href="#" title="Share on Facebook" class="sharebox-cell" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.3.0.0"><div class="sharebox-item sharebox-item-facebook" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.3.0.0.0"><div class="icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0"><div class="svg-wrapper svg-wrapper-icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$5.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0"><svg version="1.1" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 64 64" class="svg-svg" 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id="minute-147014" class="minute minute-first" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1"><div class="minute-grid" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0"><div class="minute-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0"><header class="minute-header" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.0"><div class="minute-author" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.0.0.0"></span><h3 class="minute-byline" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.0.0.1"><a class="author-sarah-jones author-link" itemprop="author" title="Sarah Jones" href="/authors/sarah-jones" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.0.0.1.0">Sarah Jones</a></h3></div><div class="minute-meta" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.0.1.0"></span><a class="" href="/minutes/147014/trump-sympathizes-alleged-abuser-rob-porter" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.0.1.1"><time property="dc:date dc:created" itemprop="datePublished" content="2018-02-09" datetime="2018-02-09" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.0.1.1.0">4 days ago</time></a></div></header><div class="minute-image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.1"><div class="image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.1.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:65.8%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.1.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/4f5fcdc01b22f5277470fbe4ea1035c9a84b8e43.jpeg?w=600&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=395" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.1.0.0.0"/></div></div><div class="article-image-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.1.1"><div class="photo-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.1.1.0">Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press</div></div></div><div class="minute-combined" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.2"><h1 class="minute-title" itemprop="title" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.2.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.2.0.0">Trump sympathizes with alleged abuser Rob Porter. </span></h1><div class="minute-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.2.1"><div class="content-body" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.2.1.0"><p>In his first public remarks since the White House aide resigned over domestic-abuse allegations, President Donald Trump stopped just short of defending his former staffer. “He worked very hard,” he said. “I found out about it recently, and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well. It’s a ... obviously tough time for him. He did a very good when he was in the White House, and we hope he has a wonderful career. Hopefully he will have a great career ahead of him. But it was very sad when we heard about it. Certainly he’s also very sad. Now, <span>he also, as you probably know, says he’s innocent, and I think you have to remember that.” (The BBC </span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43010912" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">has full video of Trump’s remarks</a><span>.)</span></p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/top-white-house-officials-knew-of-abuse-allegations-against-top-aide-for-months/2018/02/08/2faddcf2-0ce9-11e8-95a5-c396801049ef_story.html?utm_term=.e763f9fdd7db" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><i>The Washington Post</i> reports</a> that the White House has actually known about the abuse accusations for months and that White House counsel Don McGahn chose to keep Porter on staff anyway. Porter, for his part, denies the accusations, despite graphic evidence to the contrary, and that was apparently enough to persuade McGahn, Chief of Staff John Kelly, and other White House staff. </p><p>Trump, meanwhile, may have chosen an alternative target to blame. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/09/politics/rob-porter-donald-trump-reince-priebus/index.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">According to CNN</a>, he reportedly blames Hope Hicks for the administration’s botched response to the allegations. Hicks has been in a relationship with Porter:</p><blockquote><p>Trump was not consulted when Hicks and several other aides drafted a White House statement defending Porter, and he is under the impression that Hicks has let her romantic relationship with Porter cloud her judgment, a source familiar said. </p><p><span>In the aftermath, Trump has told associates he feels that Hicks put her own priorities ahead of his. However, there is little to indicate that Hicks’ standing is in jeopardy.</span></p></blockquote><p><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/what-about-the-19-women-who-accused-trump/547724/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Nineteen women </a>have accused Trump of sexual assault. He, too, denies allegations of abuse. But it’s difficult not to wonder what he feels he may have in common with Porter. <br><br></p></div></div></div><div class="sharebox sharebox-minute" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.3"><div class="sharebox-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.3.0"><a href="#" title="Share on Facebook" class="sharebox-cell" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.3.0.0"><div class="sharebox-item sharebox-item-facebook" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.3.0.0.0"><div class="icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0"><div class="svg-wrapper svg-wrapper-icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0"><svg version="1.1" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 64 64" class="svg-svg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$6.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0.0"><path class="icon-path icon-facebook" d="M37,64V34.8h9.8l1.5-11.4H37v-7.3c0-3.3,0.9-5.5,5.6-5.5l6,0V0.4C47.6,0.3,44,0,39.8,0c-8.7,0-14.6,5.3-14.6,15v8.4h-9.8v11.4h9.8V64H37z" 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data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.0.0.0"></span><h3 class="minute-byline" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.0.0.1"><a class="author-sharon-zhang author-link" itemprop="author" title="Sharon Zhang" href="/authors/sharon-zhang" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.0.0.1.0">Sharon Zhang</a></h3></div><div class="minute-meta" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.0.1.0"></span><a class="" href="/minutes/147006/budget-deal-throws-lifeline-two-nuclear-energy-reactors-built-america" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.0.1.1"><time property="dc:date dc:created" itemprop="datePublished" content="2018-02-09" datetime="2018-02-09" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.0.1.1.0">5 days ago</time></a></div></header><div class="minute-image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.1"><div class="image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.1.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:59.814453125%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.1.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/211cc7fe0c67f0dda42107880c710ef94799bf94.jpeg?w=600&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=359" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.1.0.0.0"/></div></div><div class="article-image-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.1.1"><div class="photo-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.1.1.0">Flickr/NRCGOV</div></div></div><div class="minute-combined" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.2"><h1 class="minute-title" itemprop="title" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.2.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.2.0.0">The budget deal throws a lifeline to the only two nuclear energy reactors being built in America.</span></h1><div class="minute-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.2.1"><div class="content-body" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.2.1.0"><p>Early this morning, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/us/politics/congress-budget-deal-vote.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">President Donald Trump signed</a> the budget deal struck in Congress just hours before, reopening the federal government after it shut down briefly overnight. The deal will increase spending by $300 billion, and includes “provisions that help a broad array of industries and sectors, including energy, health care and education,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/us/politics/senate-spending-bill-taxes-medicare.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">according to <i>The New York Times</i></a>. It also <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1892/text#toc-HCB7A80B28E184774841A11A4FE3AF60E" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">includes</a> a tax credit extension to save a nuclear reactor project in Georgia that’s been delayed and over budget <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/climate/georgia-vogtle-nuclear.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">for years</a>.</p><p>In the past two decades, only one nuclear energy project has been finished in the U.S., due in part to “soaring construction costs and competition from cheaper natural gas and renewable energy,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/business/georgia-vogtle-nuclear-reactors.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">the <i>Times</i> reports</a>. The two nuclear reactors being built at Georgia Power’s Vogtle station, near Augusta, are the only reactors currently under construction in the country. Without an extension of the tax credit, which was due to expire in 2020 and is <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/02/09/budget-agreement-includes-tax-credits-for-plant.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">helping</a> the company cover construction costs, <span>the project would have been all but dead. </span><span>The Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates the state’s energy sector,</span><span> </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/climate/georgia-vogtle-nuclear.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">told the <i>Times</i> in December</a><span> </span><span>that, should the tax credit not be extended, the commission “</span><span>may reconsider the decision to move forward.”</span></p><p><span>Georgia Power has already raised the cost estimate from $14 billion to $23 billion, and the reactors, which</span><span> </span><span>were supposed to be completed by now,</span><span> </span><span>are now estimated to be online by</span><span> 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c-0.4,0.4-0.7,0.9-0.7,1.5c0,0.5,0.2,1,0.6,1.4l4.1,4.2c0.4,0.4,0.8,0.5,1.4,0.5c0.5,0,1-0.2,1.4-0.5l3-2.9 C28.7,25.1,28.9,24.6,28.9,24.1z" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.3.0.3.0.0.0.0.0.0"></path></g></svg></div></div></div></a><span class="sharebox-content" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.3.0.4"><input type="text" class="sharebox-content-link" readonly="" value="https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147006/budget-deal-throws-lifeline-two-nuclear-energy-reactors-built-america" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.1.0.0.3.0.4.0"/></span></div></div></div></div></article><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.2"></span><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$7.3"></span></div><div class="" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.0"></span><article id="minute-147005" class="minute" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1"><div class="minute-grid" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0"><div class="minute-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0"><header class="minute-header" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0"><div class="minute-author" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.0"><a title="Alex Shephard" class="minute-author-avatar" href="/authors/alex-shephard" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.0.0"><div class="avatar-alex-shephard avatar image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.0.0.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:100%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/a06b59d5987812d80a023c5513ab30c2e93123db.jpeg?w=200&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;h=200" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0"/></div></div></a><h3 class="minute-byline" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.0.1"><a class="author-alex-shephard author-link" itemprop="author" title="Alex Shephard" href="/authors/alex-shephard" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.0.1.0">Alex Shephard</a></h3></div><div class="minute-meta" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.1.0"></span><a class="" href="/minutes/147005/democrats-daca-leverage-disappeared" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.1.1"><time property="dc:date dc:created" itemprop="datePublished" content="2018-02-09" datetime="2018-02-09" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.0.1.1.0">5 days ago</time></a></div></header><div class="minute-image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.1"><div class="image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.1.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.1.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/253afe5dbb97bd0eacd7d2e3561e8c28c9e88dfc.jpeg?w=600&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=400" class="img-responsive-img img-jpg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.1.0.0.0"/></div></div><div class="article-image-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.1.1"><div class="photo-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.1.1.0">Chip Somodevilla/Getty</div></div></div><div class="minute-combined" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.2"><h1 class="minute-title" itemprop="title" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.2.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.2.0.0">The Democrats’ DACA leverage has all but disappeared.</span></h1><div class="minute-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.2.1"><div class="content-body" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.2.1.0"><p>When the last government shutdown <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/us/politics/government-shutdown.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">ended a month ago</a> with no deal to protect the hundreds of thousands of immigrants covered by the <span>soon-to-expire Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals</span><span> program, Democrats reassured their base by insisting that they had preserved their leverage. Government funding would run out a month later, after all. The Senate would pass a budget that would require dozens of Democratic votes in the House, which could then be translated into a deal on both immigration and spending. When House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi embarked on an eight-hour filibuster on Thursday, in which she demanded that House Speaker Paul Ryan take action on DACA, it seemed to be a part of this plan: House Democrats would hold out support for a budget deal until Ryan agreed to hold a vote that would ultimately provide legal protections to those covered by DACA. <br></span></p><p>Early Friday morning, Congress passed a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/08/politics/budget-vote-congress-shutdown/index.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">two-year budget</a>, which President Donald Trump then <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/us/politics/congress-budget-deal-vote.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">signed</a> into law, ending a brief government shutdown. No progress was made on DACA. In retrospect, Pelosi’s filibuster now looks like it came from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/pelosi-launches-hours-long-filibuster-style-speech-in-bid-to-force-immigration-votes-in-the-house/2018/02/07/b98a25f4-0c33-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html?utm_term=.41489afd0320" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">a place of weakness</a>, rather than strength. After she and others in Democratic leadership had made assurances to their base and rank-and-file members that they had the upper hand, it was clear that they simply couldn’t (or wouldn’t) tie the budget negotiations to DACA once again. </p><p>DACA expires on March 5. Trump has suggested that people covered by the program shouldn’t worry about being deported or losing work permits, but the administration is already<a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/1/28/16932234/trump-daca-deport-dreamers" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> taking action</a> against some. And while the threat of a government shutdown has been taken off the table, there’s no indication that Republicans won’t continue using people covered by the program as hostages as they demand changes to legal immigration, funding for a border wall, and other measures. The dynamic for Republicans hasn’t changed, in other words. But Democrats have lost a key piece of leverage. </p></div></div></div><div class="sharebox sharebox-minute" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.3"><div class="sharebox-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.3.0"><a href="#" title="Share on Facebook" class="sharebox-cell" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.3.0.0"><div class="sharebox-item sharebox-item-facebook" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.3.0.0.0"><div class="icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0"><div class="svg-wrapper svg-wrapper-icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0"><svg version="1.1" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 64 64" class="svg-svg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0.0"><path class="icon-path icon-facebook" d="M37,64V34.8h9.8l1.5-11.4H37v-7.3c0-3.3,0.9-5.5,5.6-5.5l6,0V0.4C47.6,0.3,44,0,39.8,0c-8.7,0-14.6,5.3-14.6,15v8.4h-9.8v11.4h9.8V64H37z" 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data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.3.0.3.0.0.0.0.0.0"></path></g></svg></div></div></div></a><span class="sharebox-content" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.3.0.4"><input type="text" class="sharebox-content-link" readonly="" value="https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147005/democrats-daca-leverage-disappeared" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.1.0.0.3.0.4.0"/></span></div></div></div></div></article><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.2"></span><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$8.3"></span></div><div class="" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9"><div class="minutes-header-wrap" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.0"><div class="minutes-header-grid" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.0.0"><div class="minutes-header-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.0.0.0"><h2 class="minutes-secondary-header" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.0.0.0.0.0">February 08, 2018</span></h2></div></div></div><article id="minute-147002" class="minute minute-first" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1"><div class="minute-grid" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0"><div class="minute-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0"><header class="minute-header" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.0"><div class="minute-author" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.0.0.0"></span><h3 class="minute-byline" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.0.0.1"><a class="author-sarah-jones author-link" itemprop="author" title="Sarah Jones" href="/authors/sarah-jones" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.0.0.1.0">Sarah Jones</a></h3></div><div class="minute-meta" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.0.1.0"></span><a class="" href="/minutes/147002/cnn-inviting-nazis-shows" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.0.1.1"><time property="dc:date dc:created" itemprop="datePublished" content="2018-02-08" datetime="2018-02-08" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.0.1.1.0">6 days ago</time></a></div></header><div class="minute-image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.1"><div class="image" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.1.0"><div class="img-responsive-wrapper" style="padding-bottom:53.97048489107519%;" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.1.0.0"><img src="//images.newrepublic.com/328fc38ef569b8e8cae66a730ebd7d5f4959a996.png?w=600&amp;q=65&amp;dpi=1&amp;h=324" class="img-responsive-img" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.1.0.0.0"/></div></div><div class="article-image-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.1.1"><div class="photo-credit" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.1.1.0">Youtube</div></div></div><div class="minute-combined" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.2"><h1 class="minute-title" itemprop="title" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.2.0"><span data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.2.0.0">Why is CNN inviting Nazis on its shows?</span></h1><div class="minute-content" itemprop="articleBody" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.2.1"><div class="content-body" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.2.1.0"><p>CNN allowed correspondent Alisyn Camerota to bring Arthur Jones, American Nazi Party leader and Republican candidate for local office in Illinois, on air. It went about as well <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-camerota-confronts-literal-nazi-running-for-gop-congressional-seat-in-insane-interview/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">as anyone could have expected:</a></p><blockquote><p>Camerota noted that Jones dresses in Nazi garb and celebrates Hitler’s birthday.</p><p>“You’re a Nazi,” she charged.</p><p>Things then started to get heated when Camerota said that Jones’s website is “filled with the most vile, rancid rhetoric I think I’ve ever read.”</p><p>“It’s not vile and rancid it’s the truth!” Jones shot back. “You jews media, you’ve gone absolutely nuts!”</p></blockquote><p>What did we learn from this enlightening exchange? Not much, unless you weren’t quite sure that the leader of the American Nazi Party is, well, a Nazi. </p><p>Journalists covering the extreme right have to walk a careful line. Their activities are newsworthy, but they shouldn’t simply be handed a megaphone to spread hate. Though Camerota challenged Jones, the entire segment has the feel of performance, designed to make Camerota look like a hard-hitting journalist. <span>There are several ways to cover Jones’s candidacy, and this is just about the stupidest one. </span></p></div></div></div><div class="sharebox sharebox-minute" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.3"><div class="sharebox-inner" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.3.0"><a href="#" title="Share on Facebook" class="sharebox-cell" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.3.0.0"><div class="sharebox-item sharebox-item-facebook" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.3.0.0.0"><div class="icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0"><div class="svg-wrapper svg-wrapper-icon" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0"><svg version="1.1" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 64 64" class="svg-svg" data-reactid=".1ew6rxvkjew.2.3.0.$9.1.0.0.3.0.0.0.0.0.0"><path class="icon-path icon-facebook" 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    <script>window.__dataPacket={"childQueries":{"wasServerRendered":true,"minute":{"id":"fe19d971-1c3a-4924-99d4-44dc6fab905a","title":"Yes, politicize Hurricane Harvey\u2014just not like this.","cleanTitle":"Yes, politicize Hurricane Harvey\u2014just not like this.","body":"<p>The <i>Washington Post<\/i> has done it: they\u2019ve found the only bad way to politicize Hurricane Harvey, the ongoing catastrophe that has already proved to be one of the most devastating storms in American history. <\/p><figure class=\"article-embed\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Analysis: How many votes could Hurricane Harvey cost Trump in Texas? <a href=\"https://t.co/pSJaImDSGY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://t.co/pSJaImDSGY<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Washington Post (@washingtonpost) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/902533937267953665\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">August 29, 2017<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<script async=\"\" src=\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/figure><p>Don\u2019t get me wrong. The <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/29/how-many-votes-could-hurricane-harvey-cost-trump-in-texas/?utm_term=.dedde2b964fe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">article<\/a>\u2014written by three political science experts\u2014contains interesting, even useful research on how natural disasters can sway American presidential elections. But the timing is just . . . stunningly bad. Right now, Harvey is still an active tropical cyclone, dumping billions of gallons of water on the fourth largest city in America. The death toll is still <a href=\"http://www.thedailybeast.com/harvey-death-toll-climbs-as-floodwaters-rise\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">rising<\/a> and will not be fully known until floodwaters recede, which could take weeks. People are still <a href=\"http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/29/us/harvey-houston-texas-louisiana/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">trapped<\/a> in submerged homes; shelters are <a href=\"http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/28/as-harvey-rescues-rise-in-houston-shelters-became-overpopulated.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">overcrowding<\/a>; vulnerable fence-line communities are breathing <a href=\"https://t.co/4eSvAXGhpn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">toxic fumes<\/a>. Harvey is doing a lot of truly awful things at this very moment. And you want to talk about how it could impact an election in three and a half years?<\/p><p>I am all for politicizing storms in the correct context. Politicization must serve to hold public officials accountable for decisions they\u2019ve made that contributed to deadly results. Did your congressperson ignore warnings that sea-level rise would make storm surges worse? Did your mayor <a href=\"https://qz.com/1064364/hurricane-harvey-houstons-flooding-made-worse-by-unchecked-urban-development-and-wetland-destruction/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">greenlight major development in a floodplain<\/a> and destroy wetlands that could have absorbed flood waters? Did your president refuse to fund <a href=\"http://time.com/money/4918458/trump-budget-targest-disaster-response/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">disaster preparation<\/a> or emergency response agencies? Does your political party <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/8/28/16213268/harvey-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">deny climate change<\/a>, and continue to do so even as extreme weather events batter America? If the answer is yes, politicization is not only appropriate, but <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2017/08/28/harvey-didnt-come-out-of-the-blue-now-is-the-time-to-talk-about-climate-change/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">necessary<\/a>. <\/p><p>As my former colleague Natasha Geiling <a href=\"https://thinkprogress.org/hurricane-harvey-climate-politics-bc26ca7afa9f/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">wrote in <i>ThinkProgress<\/i><\/a><i> <br><\/i>this week: \u201cThe smart thing to do isn\u2019t to pretend that disasters like Harvey don\u2019t have political underpinnings; the smart thing would be to take a look at the policies that helped make Harvey a costly and deadly disaster, and make better choices in the future.\u201d Hopefully the <i>Post<\/i> makes better choices too, namely by holding off on 2020 analysis until the floodwaters recede.<\/p>","type":"MINUTE","nid":144604,"url":"/minutes/144604/yes-politicize-hurricane-harveyjust-not-like-this","urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/144604/yes-politicize-hurricane-harveyjust-not-like-this","status":"PUBLISHED","publishedAt":"2017-08-29T15:41:06.000Z","updatedAt":"2017-08-29T16:07:33.535Z","displayAt":null,"ledeImageCaption":"Alex Wong/Getty","meta":{"wordCount":357,"social":{"facebook":{"description":"This is the only bad politicization of the storm. "}}},"tags":[{"id":"5601ca11-d30e-4631-9c17-81f0cd8b27e1","label":"Hurricane Harvey","slug":"hurricane-harvey"},{"id":"53b863ea-bac8-4f4a-845c-19f01f8923fd","label":"Climate Change","slug":"climate-change"},{"id":"3046ee55-25d3-43cb-8491-58b17f8004d3","label":"Politics","slug":"politics"},{"id":"6bfcc676-2945-4226-b5fc-20eec068ca24","label":"Media","slug":"media"},{"id":"fd807cf4-c8ac-4218-8ba6-ad73bafa74d6","label":"The Washington Post","slug":"the-washington-post"},{"id":"9ecbca02-2681-4228-b2cb-f9f19cda9fc9","label":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump"},{"id":"125d7c6a-623d-4502-89c0-7eb263e059e3","label":"Election 2020","slug":"election-2020"},{"id":"7fd642a7-866f-4cf4-b596-1ee666f9acc7","label":"Texas","slug":"texas"}],"ledeImage":{"id":"4afacc1f-2e21-46e4-8dd2-f91ec7672c2d","hash":"bbbf21e7f4b3ee270bc3b0cb25f2bc6e899fb777","width":3000,"height":2000,"format":"JPEG","isAnimated":false,"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/bbbf21e7f4b3ee270bc3b0cb25f2bc6e899fb777.jpeg","meta":{}},"authors":[{"id":"d83f60c1-62f5-48f4-b5e9-9281280189da","slug":"emily-atkin","name":"Emily Atkin","title":null,"blurb":"<p>Emily Atkin is a staff writer at <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","bio":"<p>Emily Atkin is a staff writer at <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","status":"INACTIVE","UserId":null,"meta":{"twitter":"emorwee"},"headshotImage":{"id":"d19bac1e-b6f0-4d54-968a-bd2db2bf05d9","hash":"7d319d3b0a7275ecb7c40273c3615f60ea62c30d","width":1320,"height":880,"format":"JPEG","isAnimated":false,"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/7d319d3b0a7275ecb7c40273c3615f60ea62c30d.jpeg","meta":{}}}]},"minutes":[{"sponsor":null,"deck":null,"bylines":null,"nid":147073,"urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147073/new-polling-suggests-democrats-need-stronger-economic-message","title":"New polling suggests that Democrats need a stronger economic message.","body":"<p>A new poll produced by Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC, reveals that Donald Trump\u2019s standing is beginning to rise. That could spell trouble for Democrats, <a href=\"http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article199812624.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><i>McClatchy<\/i> reports<\/a>: <\/p><blockquote><p>According to internal polling by the super PAC, President Trump\u2019s approval rating climbed to 44 percent in the first week of February, compared to 53 percent who disapprove. That mirrors Trump\u2019s improving position in public polls.<\/p><p>In November, the same survey found his approval rating at 40 percent, with 54 percent disapproving. <span>The group\u2019s survey also showed the Democratic Party\u2019s generic ballot advantage had shrunk, with 46 percent preferring Democrats to 42 percent for Republicans.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote><p>The same report identifies the reason for Trump\u2019s relative success: Democrats started focusing less attention on health care and the economy. It also recommended a shift in party priorities ahead of the all-important midterm elections. That shouldn\u2019t be difficult for a progressive party\u2014yet Democrats often don\u2019t seem to know who they are or who they represent. They still aren\u2019t united on single-payer health care, or on any other kind of health care reform. Senate Democrats signed a spending agreement with Republicans without ensuring protections for Dreamers. Democrats like <a href=\"https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/joe-manchin-iii/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">West Virginia\u2019s Joe Manchin<\/a> and <a href=\"https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/doug-jones/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Alabama\u2019s Doug Jones<\/a> frequently vote in line with the Trump administration. The party\u2019s overarching failure to decide on an economic message doesn\u2019t just hurt their chances against the GOP; it also betrays their vulnerable base. Their only path to viability is to repeatedly draw the starkest possible distinctions between their policies and the policies of Donald Trump. <br><\/p>","type":"MINUTE","cleanTitle":"New polling suggests that Democrats need a stronger economic message.","createdAt":"2018-02-13T18:52:49.589Z","displayAt":null,"id":"f178cf45-716b-419e-9591-80ae54033537","bodySource":"<p>A new poll produced by Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC, reveals that Donald Trump\u2019s standing is beginning to rise. That could spell trouble for Democrats, <a href=\"http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article199812624.html\"><i>McClatchy<\/i> reports<\/a>: <\/p><blockquote><p>According to internal polling by the super PAC, President Trump\u2019s approval rating climbed to 44 percent in the first week of February, compared to 53 percent who disapprove. That mirrors Trump\u2019s improving position in public polls.<\/p><p>In November, the same survey found his approval rating at 40 percent, with 54 percent disapproving. <span>The group\u2019s survey also showed the Democratic Party\u2019s generic ballot advantage had shrunk, with 46 percent preferring Democrats to 42 percent for Republicans.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote><p>The same report identifies the reason for Trump\u2019s relative success: Democrats started focusing less attention on health care and the economy. It also recommended a shift in party priorities ahead of the all-important midterm elections. That shouldn\u2019t be difficult for a progressive party\u2014yet Democrats often don\u2019t seem to know who they are or who they represent. They still aren\u2019t united on single-payer health care, or on any other kind of health care reform. Senate Democrats signed a spending agreement with Republicans without ensuring protections for Dreamers. Democrats like <a href=\"https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/joe-manchin-iii/\">West Virginia\u2019s Joe Manchin<\/a> and <a href=\"https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/doug-jones/\">Alabama\u2019s Doug Jones<\/a> frequently vote in line with the Trump administration. The party\u2019s overarching failure to decide on an economic message doesn\u2019t just hurt their chances against the GOP; it also betrays their vulnerable base. Their only path to viability is to repeatedly draw the starkest possible distinctions between their policies and the policies of Donald Trump. <br><\/p>","signal":null,"slug":"new-polling-suggests-democrats-need-stronger-economic-message","updatedAt":"2018-02-13T19:44:32.653Z","homepageTitle":null,"publishedAt":"2018-02-13T19:44:32.000Z","homepageSubheadline":null,"url":"/minutes/147073/new-polling-suggests-democrats-need-stronger-economic-message","ledeImageCaption":"Mark Wilson/Getty Images","galleries":[],"status":"PUBLISHED","meta":{"wordCount":269},"ledeImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/978eab4e207713abdd6e64a7c70753650c90356b.jpeg","width":3000,"format":"JPEG","id":"0088d37e-db82-4d1e-9947-feb6f2460105","isAnimated":false,"hash":"978eab4e207713abdd6e64a7c70753650c90356b","height":2134,"meta":{}},"tags":[{"id":"3046ee55-25d3-43cb-8491-58b17f8004d3","label":"Politics","slug":"politics"},{"id":"1b50fbb5-bc50-43aa-8c0a-204bb7269986","label":"Economics","slug":"economics"},{"id":"9724122e-7078-4289-947a-9a84a4ca8d1a","label":"Democratic Party","slug":"democratic-party"},{"id":"9ecbca02-2681-4228-b2cb-f9f19cda9fc9","label":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump"}],"lock":{"createdAt":"2018-02-13T20:01:05.394Z","modelId":"f178cf45-716b-419e-9591-80ae54033537","UserId":"3391f40f-5dcb-4c33-9529-d52c635b6883","isLocked":true,"model":"Article","id":"d28cb1ab-a6ae-4fef-9beb-8b6b10cb3afc","updatedAt":"2018-02-13T20:01:05.394Z","user":{"cover":null,"createdAt":"2017-09-25T13:53:07.346Z","name":"Irene Hsu","id":"3391f40f-5dcb-4c33-9529-d52c635b6883","avatar":null}},"authors":[{"UserId":"4e9b38ad-758d-4bd6-a1d9-739acd09583c","name":"Sarah Jones","bio":"<p>Sarah Jones is a staff writer for <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","id":"efdd737e-7651-44bd-a23a-1ab30ac3ba1f","title":"Staff Writer","blurb":"<p>Sarah Jones is a staff writer for <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","slug":"sarah-jones","status":"INACTIVE","headshotImage":null,"meta":{"twitter":"onesarahjones"}}]},{"sponsor":null,"deck":null,"bylines":null,"nid":147060,"urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147060/white-houses-rob-porter-problem-getting-worse","title":"The White House\u2019s Rob Porter problem is only getting worse.","body":"<p>In the wake of <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/07/politics/rob-porter-ex-wives-white-house/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">reporting<\/a> that revealed that former White House staff secretary Rob Porter had been accused of abusing two ex-wives and a girlfriend, the Trump administration has insisted that it acted quickly to remove Porter. Chief of Staff John Kelly, who has received the brunt of criticism for failing to take the allegations against Porter seriously, told staff that Porter <span>\u201cwas gone 40 minutes\u201d after Kelly learned of the extent of his abuse. But there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that the White House\u2019s timeline of events is inaccurate. <\/span><\/p><p>On Tuesday, <i>Politico <\/i><a href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/13/kelly-porters-scandal-white-house-407242\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">reported<\/a> that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders organized an off-the-record briefing with Porter and four reporters from <i>The New York Times, The Washington Post<\/i>, <i>The Wall Street Journal<\/i>, and <i>Axios<\/i> in the hours after <i>The Daily Mail <\/i>published photographs of one of Porter\u2019s ex-wives with a black eye. While it\u2019s unclear if Kelly was aware of the briefing, it clearly contradicts the White House\u2019s primary claim, which is that Porter was removed immediately after evidence of his abuse surfaced. Instead, it now seems clear that the Trump administration was still working to protect Porter even after <i>The Daily Mail<\/i> published its story. <\/p><p>Kelly reportedly informed President Donald Trump that he would be willing to resign last week, and is, in <i>Politico<\/i>\u2019s words, \u201cincreasingly isolated\u201d in the West Wing. The Porter story has undermined his credibility and his reputation as someone who could impose order on the chaotic White House. But, as the <i>Politico <\/i>story shows, the rot extends beyond Kelly. The chief of staff may take the fall, but the entire White House shares responsibility for its failure to take action against Porter. <\/p>","type":"MINUTE","cleanTitle":"The White House\u2019s Rob Porter problem is only getting worse.","createdAt":"2018-02-13T14:53:08.695Z","displayAt":null,"lock":null,"id":"45fef981-7409-4fac-aec4-a5c2e34514e6","bodySource":"<p>In the wake of <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/07/politics/rob-porter-ex-wives-white-house/index.html\">reporting<\/a> that revealed that former White House staff secretary Rob Porter had been accused of abusing two ex-wives and a girlfriend, the Trump administration has insisted that it acted quickly to remove Porter. Chief of Staff John Kelly, who has received the brunt of criticism for failing to take the allegations against Porter seriously, told staff that Porter <span>\u201cwas gone 40 minutes\u201d after Kelly learned of the extent of his abuse. But there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that the White House\u2019s timeline of events is inaccurate. <\/span><\/p><p>On Tuesday, <i>Politico <\/i><a href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/13/kelly-porters-scandal-white-house-407242\">reported<\/a> that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders organized an off-the-record briefing with Porter and four reporters from <i>The New York Times, The Washington Post<\/i>, <i>The Wall Street Journal<\/i>, and <i>Axios<\/i> in the hours after <i>The Daily Mail <\/i>published photographs of one of Porter\u2019s ex-wives with a black eye. While it\u2019s unclear if Kelly was aware of the briefing, it clearly contradicts the White House\u2019s primary claim, which is that Porter was removed immediately after evidence of his abuse surfaced. Instead, it now seems clear that the Trump administration was still working to protect Porter even after <i>The Daily Mail<\/i> published its story. <\/p><p>Kelly reportedly informed President Donald Trump that he would be willing to resign last week, and is, in <i>Politico<\/i>\u2019s words, \u201cincreasingly isolated\u201d in the West Wing. The Porter story has undermined his credibility and his reputation as someone who could impose order on the chaotic White House. But, as the <i>Politico <\/i>story shows, the rot extends beyond Kelly. The chief of staff may take the fall, but the entire White House shares responsibility for its failure to take action against Porter. <\/p>","signal":null,"slug":"white-houses-rob-porter-problem-getting-worse","updatedAt":"2018-02-13T15:41:26.077Z","homepageTitle":null,"publishedAt":"2018-02-13T15:41:26.000Z","homepageSubheadline":null,"url":"/minutes/147060/white-houses-rob-porter-problem-getting-worse","ledeImageCaption":"Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images","galleries":[],"status":"PUBLISHED","meta":{"wordCount":290},"ledeImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/f2dcdc1b07516615b79658f3d75e2ecb677a809f.jpeg","width":2816,"format":"JPEG","id":"60329ce1-3743-475c-85d6-d49433c18546","isAnimated":false,"hash":"f2dcdc1b07516615b79658f3d75e2ecb677a809f","height":1877,"meta":{}},"tags":[{"id":"3046ee55-25d3-43cb-8491-58b17f8004d3","label":"Politics","slug":"politics"},{"id":"b15f1a02-d5d9-4837-975e-5e9b901c2b00","label":"John Kelly","slug":"john-kelly"},{"id":"9ecbca02-2681-4228-b2cb-f9f19cda9fc9","label":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump"},{"id":"73f670a6-efdd-4d48-b897-4a2acc627d80","label":"Rob Porter","slug":"rob-porter"}],"authors":[{"UserId":"d1f2f3b1-af3d-47f5-8045-64e68cbe3e4c","name":"Alex Shephard","bio":"<p>Alex Shephard is a staff writer at <i>The<\/i> <em>New Republic<\/em>.<\/p>","id":"e61b5030-b42b-4794-913c-2f8b208019ef","title":null,"blurb":"<p>Alex Shephard is a staff writer at <i>The <\/i><em>New Republic<\/em>.<\/p>","slug":"alex-shephard","status":"INACTIVE","meta":{"twitter":"alex_shephard"},"headshotImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/a06b59d5987812d80a023c5513ab30c2e93123db.jpeg","width":235,"format":"JPEG","id":"919f7560-cd43-442a-9879-c9e61751fa3c","isAnimated":false,"hash":"a06b59d5987812d80a023c5513ab30c2e93123db","height":235,"meta":{}}}]},{"sponsor":null,"deck":null,"bylines":null,"nid":147058,"urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147058/white-house-believes-poor-people-dont-deserve-choose-eat","title":"The White House believes poor people don\u2019t deserve to choose what they eat. ","body":"<p>Trump\u2019s budget, released on Monday, proposes drastic cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in addition to a change in the way food aid is delivered to low-income families. The administration\u2019s innovation: Blue Apron, but for poor people.<br><\/p><p>\u201cWhat we do is propose that for folks who are on food stamps, part\u2014not all, part\u2014of their benefits come in the actual sort of, and I don\u2019t want to steal somebody\u2019s copyright, but a Blue Apron-type program where you actually receive the food instead of receive the cash,\u201d said <span>Mick Mulvaney, director of the <\/span><span>Office of Management and Budget<\/span><span>. \u201cIt lowers the cost to us because we can buy [at wholesale prices] whereas they have to buy it at retail. It also makes sure they\u2019re getting nutritious food. So we\u2019re pretty excited about that.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p>Blue Apron, as<i> The Washington<\/i> <i>Post<\/i> <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/12/trump-wants-to-slash-food-stamps-and-replace-them-with-a-blue-apron-type-program/?utm_term=.095defddee48\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">points out<\/a>, costs about $10 per serving, while food stamps provide roughly $1.37 in food per person. Blue Apron also allows customers to choose their meals for the week; the American poor, however, will not enjoy such liberties. <span>Though there are already restrictions on how food stamps may be used, the so-called America\u2019s Harvest Box represents a significantly more restrictive approach to food aid. <\/span><span>The SNAP boxes would contain peanut butter, shelf-stable milk, juice, grains, cereals, pasta, and canned beans and meat. No word on what SNAP recipients should do if they have dietary restrictions for medical reasons, or if they keep a religious diet. The boxes also will not contain any fresh fruit or vegetables.<\/span><\/p><p>But the White House is less concerned with nutrition than saving money\u2014and in the process, they\u2019ve revealed the truth behind Republican rhetoric about choice and personal liberty. On food stamps, two conservative beliefs combine: The first is that the average poor person is poor because they don\u2019t work, and the second is that personal liberty is a privilege. The <span>America\u2019s Harvest Box proposal implies that<\/span><span> SNAP recipients haven\u2019t earned the right to choose their own meals. Talk about a nanny state.<\/span><\/p>","type":"MINUTE","cleanTitle":"The White House believes poor people don\u2019t deserve to choose what they eat. ","createdAt":"2018-02-13T14:28:28.217Z","displayAt":null,"lock":null,"id":"e823de68-1443-493f-a9a7-d1b0ce862d32","bodySource":"<p>Trump\u2019s budget, released on Monday, proposes drastic cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in addition to a change in the way food aid is delivered to low-income families. The administration\u2019s innovation: Blue Apron, but for poor people.<br><\/p><p>\u201cWhat we do is propose that for folks who are on food stamps, part\u2014not all, part\u2014of their benefits come in the actual sort of, and I don\u2019t want to steal somebody\u2019s copyright, but a Blue Apron-type program where you actually receive the food instead of receive the cash,\u201d said <span>Mick Mulvaney, director of the <\/span><span>Office of Management and Budget<\/span><span>. \u201cIt lowers the cost to us because we can buy [at wholesale prices] whereas they have to buy it at retail. It also makes sure they\u2019re getting nutritious food. So we\u2019re pretty excited about that.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p>Blue Apron, as<i> The Washington<\/i> <i>Post<\/i> <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/12/trump-wants-to-slash-food-stamps-and-replace-them-with-a-blue-apron-type-program/?utm_term=.095defddee48\">points out<\/a>, costs about $10 per serving, while food stamps provide roughly $1.37 in food per person. Blue Apron also allows customers to choose their meals for the week; the American poor, however, will not enjoy such liberties. <span>Though there are already restrictions on how food stamps may be used, the so-called America\u2019s Harvest Box represents a significantly more restrictive approach to food aid. <\/span><span>The SNAP boxes would contain peanut butter, shelf-stable milk, juice, grains, cereals, pasta, and canned beans and meat. No word on what SNAP recipients should do if they have dietary restrictions for medical reasons, or if they keep a religious diet. The boxes also will not contain any fresh fruit or vegetables.<\/span><\/p><p>But the White House is less concerned with nutrition than saving money\u2014and in the process, they\u2019ve revealed the truth behind Republican rhetoric about choice and personal liberty. On food stamps, two conservative beliefs combine: The first is that the average poor person is poor because they don\u2019t work, and the second is that personal liberty is a privilege. The <span>America\u2019s Harvest Box proposal implies that<\/span><span> SNAP recipients haven\u2019t earned the right to choose their own meals. Talk about a nanny state.<\/span><\/p><p><br><br><\/p><p><br><br><\/p>","signal":null,"slug":"white-house-believes-poor-people-dont-deserve-choose-eat","updatedAt":"2018-02-13T15:11:38.700Z","homepageTitle":null,"publishedAt":"2018-02-13T15:11:38.000Z","homepageSubheadline":null,"url":"/minutes/147058/white-house-believes-poor-people-dont-deserve-choose-eat","ledeImageCaption":"Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images","galleries":[],"status":"PUBLISHED","meta":{"wordCount":354},"ledeImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/3cbc0267df66a92bd836d85731e9c4acc3910c1c.jpeg","width":3000,"format":"JPEG","id":"5416c541-397b-4c78-9e61-78e414f09dc4","isAnimated":false,"hash":"3cbc0267df66a92bd836d85731e9c4acc3910c1c","height":2000,"meta":{}},"tags":[{"id":"3046ee55-25d3-43cb-8491-58b17f8004d3","label":"Politics","slug":"politics"},{"id":"51ffb300-73d2-4313-b191-657fd093964d","label":"Welfare","slug":"welfare"},{"id":"5998bcc8-1ab0-494e-9a30-01e581f24f22","label":"Poverty","slug":"poverty"},{"id":"c1931aff-5f58-4bed-9002-0baeaa247841","label":"Food Stamps","slug":"food-stamps"},{"id":"9ecbca02-2681-4228-b2cb-f9f19cda9fc9","label":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump"},{"id":"0b8d4f68-8e22-419e-8e5b-e67cfc9a5349","label":"Mick Mulvaney","slug":"mick-mulvaney"},{"id":"ecbd5d3f-d9ac-41d1-a360-cb12dc7f67a6","label":"Budget","slug":"budget"}],"authors":[{"UserId":"4e9b38ad-758d-4bd6-a1d9-739acd09583c","name":"Sarah Jones","bio":"<p>Sarah Jones is a staff writer for <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","id":"efdd737e-7651-44bd-a23a-1ab30ac3ba1f","title":"Staff Writer","blurb":"<p>Sarah Jones is a staff writer for <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","slug":"sarah-jones","status":"INACTIVE","headshotImage":null,"meta":{"twitter":"onesarahjones"}}]},{"sponsor":null,"deck":null,"bylines":null,"nid":147049,"urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147049/jeff-sessionss-anglo-american-remark-wasnt-inherently-racist","title":"Jeff Sessions\u2019s \u201cAnglo-American\u201d remark wasn\u2019t inherently racist.","body":"<p>The attorney general received some attention on Monday for referencing \u201cthe Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement\u201d during a speech to the National Sheriffs\u2019 Association.&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/sessions-touts-anglo-american-heritage-of-sheriffs-office\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CNN<\/a><span>&nbsp;and <\/span><a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/sessions-touts-anglo-american-heritage-of-sheriffs-office\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Daily Beast<\/a><span> took note of the phrase without drawing any conclusions, while other outlets made their point more clearly. Splinter\u2019s Emma Roller, for example,&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https://splinternews.com/jeff-sessions-let-his-racism-peek-through-a-little-more-1822927819\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">concluded<\/a><span> that Sessions \u201clet his racism peek through a little more than he may have intended to.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span>The quote wasn\u2019t included in<\/span><span>&nbsp;Sessions\u2019s&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-sessions-delivers-remarks-national-sheriffs-association\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">prepared remarks<\/a><span>, where he describes the sheriff\u2019s historical origins and community role as part of \u201cour legal heritage.\u201d<\/span><\/p><blockquote><p><span>I want to close by reiterating my deep appreciation and profound thanks to all the women and men of law enforcement\u2014federal, state, local, and tribal.&nbsp; I want to thank every sheriff in America. Since our founding, the independently elected Sheriff has been seen as the people\u2019s protector, who keeps law enforcement close to and amenable to the people. The Sheriff is a critical part of our legal heritage.<\/span>\ufeff<br><\/p><\/blockquote><p>Sessions deviated from that phrasing in the speech he actually gave, largely by substituting in \u201cAnglo-American\u201d and more forcefully defending the institution itself.<\/p><blockquote><p>Since the founding, the independently elected sheriff has been the people\u2019s protector, who keeps law enforcement close to and accountable to people\u2014to the elected process. The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement. We must never erode this historic office.<\/p><\/blockquote><p>Some observers took \u201cthe Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement\u201d to be a reference to officers\u2019 ethnic heritage. But the context of his speech suggests it was a clumsy reference to the American criminal-justice system\u2019s cultural heritage.<\/p><p>Sheriffs, for example, can be traced back to the medieval English institution of the same name.&nbsp;<span>Even after independence, early Americans continued to draw upon English common law and initially kept colonial institutions of justice intact. Judges and lawyers frequently note this continuity and its impact on modern American law. Justice Anthony Kennedy\u2019s habit of writing in sweeping phrases makes him especially prone to this. He\u2019s invoked the \u201cAnglo-American legal tradition\u201d in matters ranging from <\/span><a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/548/05-7053/concur.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">a 2006 dispute<\/a><span> about the duress defense in criminal law to&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/564/09-1476/opinion.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">a 2011 case<\/a><span> about the First Amendment\u2019s Petitions Clause.<\/span><\/p><p>But Kennedy is hardly alone. Justice Samuel Alito complained in <a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/569/11-564/dissent5.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">a 2013 dissent<\/a> that the majority\u2019s decision was \u201cbased on a putative rule of trespass law that is nowhere to be found in the annals of Anglo-American jurisprudence.\u201d It\u2019s not just the Court\u2019s conservatives, either. In <a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/553/06-1195/concur.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">a 2008 Guantanamo Bay-related case<\/a>, Justice David Souter wrote a concurring opinion, joined by justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens, that pointedly reminded the decision\u2019s dissenters about \u201c<span>a basic fact of Anglo-American constitutional\nhistory\u201d involving habeas&nbsp;corpus.<\/span><br><\/p><p>Sessions\u2019s policy preferences on&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/jeff-sessions-1924-immigration/512591/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">immigration<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-sessions-0516-20170515-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">criminal justice<\/a>&nbsp;don\u2019t incline liberals to give him the benefit of the doubt, and understandably so. But&nbsp;in the context of legal history, his choice of words doesn\u2019t necessarily convey racist sentiment\u2014and given his <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/21/us/jeff-sessions-fast-facts/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">decades of experience in the law<\/a>, he\u2019s surely familiar with that history.<\/p>","type":"MINUTE","cleanTitle":"Jeff Sessions\u2019s \u201cAnglo-American\u201d remark wasn\u2019t inherently racist.","createdAt":"2018-02-12T18:33:05.109Z","displayAt":null,"lock":null,"id":"45fd5f84-ee4e-4ad8-8a35-76bca8622a93","bodySource":"<p>The attorney general received some attention on Monday for referencing \u201cthe Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement\u201d during a speech to the National Sheriffs\u2019 Association.&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/sessions-touts-anglo-american-heritage-of-sheriffs-office\">CNN<\/a><span>&nbsp;and <\/span><a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/sessions-touts-anglo-american-heritage-of-sheriffs-office\">The Daily Beast<\/a><span> took note of the phrase without drawing any conclusions, while other outlets made their point more clearly. Splinter\u2019s Emma Roller, for example,&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https://splinternews.com/jeff-sessions-let-his-racism-peek-through-a-little-more-1822927819\">concluded<\/a><span> that Sessions \u201clet his racism peek through a little more than he may have intended to.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span>The quote wasn\u2019t included in<\/span><span>&nbsp;Sessions\u2019s&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-sessions-delivers-remarks-national-sheriffs-association\">prepared remarks<\/a><span>, where he describes the sheriff\u2019s historical origins and community role as part of \u201cour legal heritage.\u201d<\/span><\/p><blockquote><p><span>I want to close by reiterating my deep appreciation and profound thanks to all the women and men of law enforcement\u2014federal, state, local, and tribal.&nbsp; I want to thank every sheriff in America. Since our founding, the independently elected Sheriff has been seen as the people\u2019s protector, who keeps law enforcement close to and amenable to the people. The Sheriff is a critical part of our legal heritage.<\/span>\ufeff<br><\/p><\/blockquote><p>Sessions deviated from that phrasing in the speech he actually gave, largely by substituting in \u201cAnglo-American\u201d and more forcefully defending the institution itself.<\/p><blockquote><p>Since the founding, the independently elected sheriff has been the people\u2019s protector, who keeps law enforcement close to and accountable to people\u2014to the elected process. The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement. We must never erode this historic office.<\/p><\/blockquote><p>Some observers took \u201cthe Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement\u201d to be a reference to officers\u2019 ethnic heritage. But the context of his speech suggests it was a clumsy reference to the American criminal-justice system\u2019s cultural heritage.<\/p><p>Sheriffs, for example, can be traced back to the medieval English institution of the same name.&nbsp;<span>Even after independence, early Americans continued to draw upon English common law and initially kept colonial institutions of justice intact. Judges and lawyers frequently note this continuity and its impact on modern American law. Justice Anthony Kennedy\u2019s habit of writing in sweeping phrases makes him especially prone to this. He\u2019s invoked the \u201cAnglo-American legal tradition\u201d in matters ranging from <\/span><a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/548/05-7053/concur.pdf\">a 2006 dispute<\/a><span> about the duress defense in criminal law to&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/564/09-1476/opinion.pdf\">a 2011 case<\/a><span> about the First Amendment\u2019s Petitions Clause.<\/span><\/p><p>But Kennedy is hardly alone. Justice Samuel Alito complained in <a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/569/11-564/dissent5.html\">a 2013 dissent<\/a> that the majority\u2019s decision was \u201cbased on a putative rule of trespass law that is nowhere to be found in the annals of Anglo-American jurisprudence.\u201d It\u2019s not just the Court\u2019s conservatives, either. In <a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/553/06-1195/concur.pdf\">a 2008 Guantanamo Bay-related case<\/a>, Justice David Souter wrote a concurring opinion, joined by justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens, that pointedly reminded the decision\u2019s dissenters about \u201c<span>a basic fact of Anglo-American constitutional\nhistory\u201d involving habeas&nbsp;corpus.<\/span><br><\/p><p>Sessions\u2019s policy preferences on&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/jeff-sessions-1924-immigration/512591/\">immigration<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-sessions-0516-20170515-story.html\">criminal justice<\/a>&nbsp;don\u2019t incline liberals to give him the benefit of the doubt, and understandably so. But&nbsp;in the context of legal history, his choice of words doesn\u2019t necessarily convey racist sentiment\u2014and given his <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/21/us/jeff-sessions-fast-facts/index.html\">decades of experience in the law<\/a>, he\u2019s surely familiar with that history.<\/p>","signal":null,"slug":"jeff-sessionss-anglo-american-remark-wasnt-inherently-racist","updatedAt":"2018-02-12T20:23:50.927Z","homepageTitle":null,"publishedAt":"2018-02-12T19:54:20.000Z","homepageSubheadline":null,"url":"/minutes/147049/jeff-sessionss-anglo-american-remark-wasnt-inherently-racist","ledeImageCaption":"BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images","galleries":[],"status":"PUBLISHED","meta":{"wordCount":528},"ledeImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/da2ea0a02a134440452eeeb7d60ef8961d0d3269.jpeg","width":4928,"format":"JPEG","id":"048a1a4d-07b8-4881-9f00-2ebd339d8337","isAnimated":false,"hash":"da2ea0a02a134440452eeeb7d60ef8961d0d3269","height":3280,"meta":{}},"tags":[{"id":"a883dd76-b8ae-4296-bc73-265eab9a4b60","label":"Law","slug":"law"},{"id":"3046ee55-25d3-43cb-8491-58b17f8004d3","label":"Politics","slug":"politics"},{"id":"d38569ec-25be-44bb-aa18-cefefd284de2","label":"Jeff Sessions","slug":"jeff-sessions"},{"id":"2cb04760-b740-4665-b0de-ce1e71606aea","label":"History","slug":"history"},{"id":"6cca3957-b7cf-46fc-be94-47539a225d85","label":"Anthony Kennedy","slug":"anthony-kennedy"}],"authors":[{"UserId":"97d58d71-6f33-490c-9c21-23b0db50c653","name":"Matt Ford","bio":"<p>Matt Ford is a staff writer at <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","id":"eff49e00-668e-42cf-91b6-ce08b0cdfbd6","title":"Staff Writer","blurb":"<p>Matt Ford is a staff writer at <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","slug":"matt-ford","status":"INACTIVE","headshotImage":null,"meta":{"twitter":"fordm"}}]},{"sponsor":null,"deck":null,"bylines":null,"nid":147046,"urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147046/new-obama-portraits-gorgeous-alone-combine-strangely","title":"The new Obama portraits are gorgeous alone, but combine strangely.","body":"<p>The official portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama were unveiled today at the National Portrait Gallery. Amy Sherald painted Michelle, and Kehinde Wiley took on Barack. Both portraits are large-scale and make important use of color in framing each subject. Their palettes do not blend well together side by side, but as individual portraits, each painting is a great achievement.<\/p><p>Both painters are African American, and both are known for working with African American subjects. Wiley\u2019s style is to place his subject against a busy, patterned background. Those backgrounds have a wallpaper-like repetition to them, and they have the effect of elevating the person in the foreground into a kind of icon. The skin of a Kehinde Wiley subject tends to glow as if reflecting a strong light source.&nbsp;<\/p><p>The Obama portrait is a good example of the style. The president is seated against a backdrop of foliage, dotted with flowers that symbolize the subject\u2019s rich heritage: jasmine for Hawaii, blue lilies for Kenya, chrysanthemums for Chicago. The leaves twine around his feet, compromising the foreground/background distinction with a playful decorativeness that nonetheless feels organic. Especially during his second term, Obama was often photographed as a tired man. Wiley has given him a bright face and a portrait full of life and energy.<\/p><p>Sherald\u2019s subjects are not as bright as Wiley\u2019s, either in skin tone or in light source. She tends to paint human skin with a mutedness that approaches grayscale. That fading of the skin makes her subjects seem dreamy, almost mythological, as opposed to Wiley\u2019s iconicity. But her portraits often also feature big pops of color in her subject\u2019s clothing, and flat\u2014also dreamlike\u2014backgrounds.<\/p><p>It\u2019s a shame that, side by side, Kehinde Wiley\u2019s vivid style makes Sherald\u2019s portrait look especially quiet. If I had to choose, I\u2019d say that Sherald\u2019s vision of Michelle Obama is the slightly better work. The pose and the placement of the hands expresses a gestural sense of the subject\u2019s self that flows right into the dress: Michelle Obama is a&nbsp; wearer of clothes and an owner of arms and a woman who looks right at you, this painting says.&nbsp;<\/p><p>Both paintings use backgrounds that are abstracted away from the subjects, and so each painting does place their respective Obama into the canonical space of history (rather than some specific room). But neither is overly serious. Neither is bogged down by the pressure and duty of the occasion, instead rising to it with joy and personality. I just hope they don\u2019t hang them side by side.<\/p>","type":"MINUTE","cleanTitle":"The new Obama portraits are gorgeous alone, but combine strangely.","createdAt":"2018-02-12T17:10:25.742Z","displayAt":null,"id":"5af3feda-2b8e-4998-a328-15fc209172fc","bodySource":"<p>The official portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama were unveiled today at the National Portrait Gallery. Amy Sherald painted Michelle, and Kehinde Wiley took on Barack. Both portraits are large-scale and make important use of color in framing each subject. Their palettes do not blend well together side by side, but as individual portraits, each painting is a great achievement.<\/p><p>Both painters are African American, and both are known for working with African American subjects. Wiley\u2019s style is to place his subject against a busy, patterned background. Those backgrounds have a wallpaper-like repetition to them, and they have the effect of elevating the person in the foreground into a kind of icon. The skin of a Kehinde Wiley subject tends to glow as if reflecting a strong light source.&nbsp;<\/p><p>The Obama portrait is a good example of the style. The president is seated against a backdrop of foliage, dotted with flowers that symbolize the subject\u2019s rich heritage: jasmine for Hawaii, blue lilies for Kenya, chrysanthemums for Chicago. The leaves twine around his feet, compromising the foreground/background distinction with a playful decorativeness that nonetheless feels organic. Especially during his second term, Obama was often photographed as a tired man. Wiley has given him a bright face and a portrait full of life and energy.<\/p><p>Sherald\u2019s subjects are not as bright as Wiley\u2019s, either in skin tone or in light source. She tends to paint human skin with a mutedness that approaches grayscale. That fading of the skin makes her subjects seem dreamy, almost mythological, as opposed to Wiley\u2019s iconicity. But her portraits often also feature big pops of color in her subject\u2019s clothing, and flat\u2014also dreamlike\u2014backgrounds.<\/p><p>It\u2019s a shame that, side by side, Kehinde Wiley\u2019s vivid style makes Sherald\u2019s portrait look especially quiet. If I had to choose, I\u2019d say that Sherald\u2019s vision of Michelle Obama is the slightly better work. The pose and the placement of the hands expresses a gestural sense of the subject\u2019s self that flows right into the dress: Michelle Obama is a&nbsp; wearer of clothes and an owner of arms and a woman who looks right at you, this painting says.&nbsp;<\/p><p>Both paintings use backgrounds that are abstracted away from the subjects, and so each painting does place their respective Obama into the canonical space of history (rather than some specific room). But neither is overly serious. Neither is bogged down by the pressure and duty of the occasion, instead rising to it with joy and personality. I just hope they don\u2019t hang them side by side.<\/p>","signal":null,"slug":"new-obama-portraits-gorgeous-alone-combine-strangely","updatedAt":"2018-02-12T17:42:51.187Z","homepageTitle":null,"publishedAt":"2018-02-12T17:42:51.000Z","homepageSubheadline":null,"url":"/minutes/147046/new-obama-portraits-gorgeous-alone-combine-strangely","ledeImageCaption":"Mark Wilson/Getty Images","galleries":[],"status":"PUBLISHED","meta":{"wordCount":439},"ledeImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/331c008a2f425f4eb4f0bdb1ea57e26f5ce2f50b.jpeg","width":3000,"format":"JPEG","id":"b347768c-9853-48ba-b1e3-776c2a27e5ef","isAnimated":false,"hash":"331c008a2f425f4eb4f0bdb1ea57e26f5ce2f50b","height":2000,"meta":{}},"tags":[{"id":"f6bb3de2-0f7d-43e5-ae25-77b26a6603e0","label":"Culture","slug":"culture"},{"id":"bb80cc9c-0723-4005-bd96-880f071d279c","label":"Painting","slug":"painting"},{"id":"81b82f3e-62a8-44b5-8698-6aeab233ca6a","label":"President Obama","slug":"president-obama"},{"id":"2267312c-68a9-4993-9535-2b7ced436922","label":"Michelle Obama","slug":"michelle-obama"},{"id":"c5ea401e-b01a-444f-bb84-2fa4ee77092d","label":"Kehinde Wiley","slug":"kehinde-wiley"},{"id":"19b3c008-5122-4ff0-8f0c-2f53e37f6ffa","label":"Amy Sherald","slug":"amy-sherald"}],"lock":{"createdAt":"2018-02-12T17:40:03.733Z","modelId":"5af3feda-2b8e-4998-a328-15fc209172fc","UserId":"b94fc86d-c3d4-4040-8a03-bf3aef3e23f4","isLocked":true,"model":"Article","id":"156e50c9-0219-4a90-8aa1-42d5d9032d8a","updatedAt":"2018-02-12T17:40:03.733Z","user":{"cover":null,"createdAt":"2018-01-24T15:43:57.519Z","name":"Sacha Zimmerman","id":"b94fc86d-c3d4-4040-8a03-bf3aef3e23f4","avatar":null}},"authors":[{"UserId":"ae399735-a7e4-40f6-8427-c18aef679e3a","name":"Josephine Livingstone","bio":"<p>Josephine Livingstone is the culture staff writer at <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","id":"ba34a191-a1c9-4f16-8760-1aac5c133a72","title":null,"blurb":"<p>Josephine Livingstone is the culture staff writer at <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","slug":"josephine-livingstone","status":"INACTIVE","meta":{"twitter":"Jo_Livingstone"},"headshotImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/9d98bed9482f3e4ebe20add4202972c87c5355c8.jpeg","width":3000,"format":"JPEG","id":"64353f38-d100-4d30-8a49-b5e7e5da4426","isAnimated":false,"hash":"9d98bed9482f3e4ebe20add4202972c87c5355c8","height":4000,"meta":{}}}]},{"sponsor":null,"deck":null,"bylines":null,"nid":147038,"urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147038/will-infrastructure-week-different","title":"Will this Infrastructure Week be any different?","body":"<p>Over the course of 2017, the Trump administration <a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/infrastructure-week-is-always-next-week/552047/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">repeatedly claimed<\/a> that it was \u201cInfrastructure Week,\u201d the week in which the administration would finally unveil its long-promised infrastructure plan. But Infrastructure Week, it turned out, was really just a state of mind, or at least had little or nothing to do with infrastructure at all. While the administration would occasionally release a cocktail-napkin plan, most infrastructure weeks were notable for the non-bridge-and-road-related drama that accompanied them. In early June, when the administration released its sketched out plan, for instance, Trump instead spent most of the week <a href=\"http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/337046-trumps-infrastructure-week-goes-off-the-rails\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">feuding with James Comey<\/a>: <\/p><figure class=\"article-embed\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">James Comey better hope that there are no \"tapes\" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!<\/p>\u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/863007411132649473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">May 12, 2017<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<script async=\"\" src=\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/figure><p>These diversions turned Infrastructure Week into a giant joke. <span>However, on Monday the White House finally <\/span><a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/INFRASTRUCTURE-211.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">unveiled<\/a><span> its $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, which promises to rebuild America\u2019s deteriorating infrastructure and \u201caddress unmet rural infrastructure needs, empower State and local authorities, and train the American workforce of the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span>There are roadblocks ahead. Some Republicans are grumbling about the <\/span><a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/politics/trump-budget-deal-administrative-state.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">cost of the budget deal<\/a><span> they passed last week, suggesting that a large spending bill may meet resistance, particularly among House conservatives. That would require votes from Democrats. <\/span><span>But this plan, which relies heavily on <\/span><a href=\"/article/138674/beware-donald-trumps-infrastructure-plan\">public-private partnerships<\/a><span>, has little in it that most Democrats would support without drastic changes. Among those changes is the amount of federal money involved. Right now, the plan places the funding burden primarily on the states, rather than the federal government.<\/span><\/p><p><span>The Trump administration may have finally unveiled its infrastructure proposal, but it\u2019s no closer to passing a comprehensive plan than it was the last time it was Infrastructure Week.<\/span><\/p>","type":"MINUTE","cleanTitle":"Will this Infrastructure Week be any different?","createdAt":"2018-02-12T15:26:46.049Z","displayAt":null,"lock":null,"id":"1282de94-4264-4cd6-bd33-a5c82a85ef62","bodySource":"<p>Over the course of 2017, the Trump administration <a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/infrastructure-week-is-always-next-week/552047/\">repeatedly claimed<\/a> that it was \u201cInfrastructure Week,\u201d the week in which the administration would finally unveil its long-promised infrastructure plan. But Infrastructure Week, it turned out, was really just a state of mind, or at least had little or nothing to do with infrastructure at all. While the administration would occasionally release a cocktail-napkin plan, most infrastructure weeks were notable for the non-bridge-and-road-related drama that accompanied them. In early June, when the administration released its sketched out plan, for instance, Trump instead spent most of the week <a href=\"http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/337046-trumps-infrastructure-week-goes-off-the-rails\">feuding with James Comey<\/a>: <\/p><figure class=\"figure-active swap-embed\" data-code=\"&amp;#60;&amp;#98;&amp;#108;&amp;#111;&amp;#99;&amp;#107;&amp;#113;&amp;#117;&amp;#111;&amp;#116;&amp;#101;&amp;#32;&amp;#99;&amp;#108;&amp;#97;&amp;#115;&amp;#115;&amp;#61;&amp;#34;&amp;#116;&amp;#119;&amp;#105;&amp;#116;&amp;#116;&amp;#101;&amp;#114;&amp;#45;&amp;#116;&amp;#119;&amp;#101;&amp;#101;&amp;#116;&amp;#34;&amp;#32;&amp;#100;&amp;#97;&amp;#116;&amp;#97;&amp;#45;&amp;#108;&amp;#97;&amp;#110;&amp;#103;&amp;#61;&amp;#34;&amp;#101;&amp;#110;&amp;#34;&amp;#62;&amp;#60;&amp;#112;&amp;#32;&amp;#108;&amp;#97;&amp;#110;&amp;#103;&amp;#61;&amp;#34;&amp;#101;&amp;#110;&amp;#34;&amp;#32;&amp;#100;&amp;#105;&amp;#114;&amp;#61;&amp;#34;&amp;#108;&amp;#116;&amp;#114;&amp;#34;&amp;#62;&amp;#74;&amp;#97;&amp;#109;&amp;#101;&amp;#115;&amp;#32;&amp;#67;&amp;#111;&amp;#109;&amp;#101;&amp;#121;&amp;#32;&amp;#98;&amp;#101;&amp;#116;&amp;#116;&amp;#101;&amp;#114;&amp;#32;&amp;#104;&amp;#111;&amp;#112;&amp;#101;&amp;#32;&amp;#116;&amp;#104;&amp;#97;&amp;#116;&amp;#32;&amp;#116;&amp;#104;&amp;#101;&amp;#114;&amp;#101;&amp;#32;&amp;#97;&amp;#114;&amp;#101;&amp;#32;&amp;#110;&amp;#111;&amp;#32;&amp;#38;&amp;#113;&amp;#117;&amp;#111;&amp;#116;&amp;#59;&amp;#116;&amp;#97;&amp;#112;&amp;#101;&amp;#115;&amp;#38;&amp;#113;&amp;#117;&amp;#111;&amp;#116;&amp;#59;&amp;#32;&amp;#111;&amp;#102;&amp;#32;&amp;#111;&amp;#117;&amp;#114;&amp;#32;&amp;#99;&amp;#111;&amp;#110;&amp;#118;&amp;#101;&amp;#114;&amp;#115;&amp;#97;&amp;#116;&amp;#105;&amp;#111;&amp;#110;&amp;#115;&amp;#32;&amp;#98;&amp;#101;&amp;#102;&amp;#111;&amp;#114;&amp;#101;&amp;#32;&amp;#104;&amp;#101;&amp;#32;&amp;#115;&amp;#116;&amp;#97;&amp;#114;&amp;#116;&amp;#115;&amp;#32;&amp;#108;&amp;#101;&amp;#97;&amp;#107;&amp;#105;&amp;#110;&amp;#103;&amp;#32;&amp;#116;&amp;#111;&amp;#32;&amp;#116;&amp;#104;&amp;#101;&amp;#32;&amp;#112;&amp;#114;&amp;#101;&amp;#115;&amp;#115;&amp;#33;&amp;#60;&amp;#47;&amp;#112;&amp;#62;&amp;#38;&amp;#109;&amp;#100;&amp;#97;&amp;#115;&amp;#104;&amp;#59;&amp;#32;&amp;#68;&amp;#111;&amp;#110;&amp;#97;&amp;#108;&amp;#100;&amp;#32;&amp;#74;&amp;#46;&amp;#32;&amp;#84;&amp;#114;&amp;#117;&amp;#109;&amp;#112;&amp;#32;&amp;#40;&amp;#64;&amp;#114;&amp;#101;&amp;#97;&amp;#108;&amp;#68;&amp;#111;&amp;#110;&amp;#97;&amp;#108;&amp;#100;&amp;#84;&amp;#114;&amp;#117;&amp;#109;&amp;#112;&amp;#41;&amp;#32;&amp;#60;&amp;#97;&amp;#32;&amp;#104;&amp;#114;&amp;#101;&amp;#102;&amp;#61;&amp;#34;&amp;#104;&amp;#116;&amp;#116;&amp;#112;&amp;#115;&amp;#58;&amp;#47;&amp;#47;&amp;#116;&amp;#119;&amp;#105;&amp;#116;&amp;#116;&amp;#101;&amp;#114;&amp;#46;&amp;#99;&amp;#111;&amp;#109;&amp;#47;&amp;#114;&amp;#101;&amp;#97;&amp;#108;&amp;#68;&amp;#111;&amp;#110;&amp;#97;&amp;#108;&amp;#100;&amp;#84;&amp;#114;&amp;#117;&amp;#109;&amp;#112;&amp;#47;&amp;#115;&amp;#116;&amp;#97;&amp;#116;&amp;#117;&amp;#115;&amp;#47;&amp;#56;&amp;#54;&amp;#51;&amp;#48;&amp;#48;&amp;#55;&amp;#52;&amp;#49;&amp;#49;&amp;#49;&amp;#51;&amp;#50;&amp;#54;&amp;#52;&amp;#57;&amp;#52;&amp;#55;&amp;#51;&amp;#63;&amp;#114;&amp;#101;&amp;#102;&amp;#95;&amp;#115;&amp;#114;&amp;#99;&amp;#61;&amp;#116;&amp;#119;&amp;#115;&amp;#114;&amp;#99;&amp;#37;&amp;#53;&amp;#69;&amp;#116;&amp;#102;&amp;#119;&amp;#34;&amp;#62;&amp;#77;&amp;#97;&amp;#121;&amp;#32;&amp;#49;&amp;#50;&amp;#44;&amp;#32;&amp;#50;&amp;#48;&amp;#49;&amp;#55;&amp;#60;&amp;#47;&amp;#97;&amp;#62;&amp;#60;&amp;#47;&amp;#98;&amp;#108;&amp;#111;&amp;#99;&amp;#107;&amp;#113;&amp;#117;&amp;#111;&amp;#116;&amp;#101;&amp;#62;&amp;#10;&amp;#60;&amp;#115;&amp;#99;&amp;#114;&amp;#105;&amp;#112;&amp;#116;&amp;#32;&amp;#97;&amp;#115;&amp;#121;&amp;#110;&amp;#99;&amp;#32;&amp;#115;&amp;#114;&amp;#99;&amp;#61;&amp;#34;&amp;#104;&amp;#116;&amp;#116;&amp;#112;&amp;#115;&amp;#58;&amp;#47;&amp;#47;&amp;#112;&amp;#108;&amp;#97;&amp;#116;&amp;#102;&amp;#111;&amp;#114;&amp;#109;&amp;#46;&amp;#116;&amp;#119;&amp;#105;&amp;#116;&amp;#116;&amp;#101;&amp;#114;&amp;#46;&amp;#99;&amp;#111;&amp;#109;&amp;#47;&amp;#119;&amp;#105;&amp;#100;&amp;#103;&amp;#101;&amp;#116;&amp;#115;&amp;#46;&amp;#106;&amp;#115;&amp;#34;&amp;#32;&amp;#99;&amp;#104;&amp;#97;&amp;#114;&amp;#115;&amp;#101;&amp;#116;&amp;#61;&amp;#34;&amp;#117;&amp;#116;&amp;#102;&amp;#45;&amp;#56;&amp;#34;&amp;#62;&amp;#60;&amp;#47;&amp;#115;&amp;#99;&amp;#114;&amp;#105;&amp;#112;&amp;#116;&amp;#62;&amp;#10;\" contenteditable=\"false\"><p class=\"color-me-badd\">&lt;blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"&gt;&lt;p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"&gt;James Comey better hope that there are no &amp;quot;tapes&amp;quot; of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) &lt;a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/863007411132649473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"&gt;May 12, 2017&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"&gt;&lt;/script&gt; <\/p><\/figure><p>These diversions turned Infrastructure Week into a giant joke. <span>However, on Monday the White House finally <\/span><a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/INFRASTRUCTURE-211.pdf\">unveiled<\/a><span> its $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, which promises to rebuild America\u2019s deteriorating infrastructure and \u201caddress unmet rural infrastructure needs, empower State and local authorities, and train the American workforce of the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span>There are roadblocks ahead. Some Republicans are grumbling about the <\/span><a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/politics/trump-budget-deal-administrative-state.html\">cost of the budget deal<\/a><span> they passed last week, suggesting that a large spending bill may meet resistance, particularly among House conservatives. That would require votes from Democrats. <\/span><span>But this plan, which relies heavily on <\/span><a href=\"https://newrepublic.com/article/138674/beware-donald-trumps-infrastructure-plan\">public-private partnerships<\/a><span>, has little in it that most Democrats would support without drastic changes. Among those changes is the amount of federal money involved. Right now, the plan places the funding burden primarily on the states, rather than the federal government.<\/span><\/p><p><span>The Trump administration may have finally unveiled its infrastructure proposal, but it\u2019s no closer to passing a comprehensive plan than it was the last time it was Infrastructure Week.<\/span><\/p>","signal":null,"slug":"will-infrastructure-week-different","updatedAt":"2018-02-12T16:10:42.081Z","homepageTitle":null,"publishedAt":"2018-02-12T16:10:41.000Z","homepageSubheadline":null,"url":"/minutes/147038/will-infrastructure-week-different","ledeImageCaption":"Bloomberg/Getty","galleries":[],"status":"PUBLISHED","meta":{"wordCount":297},"ledeImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/e8e1000ea32001ef1d54931fd6e767192903e831.jpeg","width":4500,"format":"JPEG","id":"6ffee5e5-06ef-4aca-b1ad-99081683242e","isAnimated":false,"hash":"e8e1000ea32001ef1d54931fd6e767192903e831","height":2953,"meta":{}},"tags":[{"id":"3046ee55-25d3-43cb-8491-58b17f8004d3","label":"Politics","slug":"politics"},{"id":"9ecbca02-2681-4228-b2cb-f9f19cda9fc9","label":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump"},{"id":"e37d0e63-a15a-4a63-88e1-7ac04e3ec9e7","label":"Cngress","slug":"cngress"},{"id":"215a3bc3-71a3-4ddf-be33-f45c9e1469f8","label":"Infrastructure Week","slug":"infrastructure-week"}],"authors":[{"UserId":"d1f2f3b1-af3d-47f5-8045-64e68cbe3e4c","name":"Alex Shephard","bio":"<p>Alex Shephard is a staff writer at <i>The<\/i> <em>New Republic<\/em>.<\/p>","id":"e61b5030-b42b-4794-913c-2f8b208019ef","title":null,"blurb":"<p>Alex Shephard is a staff writer at <i>The <\/i><em>New Republic<\/em>.<\/p>","slug":"alex-shephard","status":"INACTIVE","meta":{"twitter":"alex_shephard"},"headshotImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/a06b59d5987812d80a023c5513ab30c2e93123db.jpeg","width":235,"format":"JPEG","id":"919f7560-cd43-442a-9879-c9e61751fa3c","isAnimated":false,"hash":"a06b59d5987812d80a023c5513ab30c2e93123db","height":235,"meta":{}}}]},{"sponsor":null,"deck":null,"bylines":null,"nid":147014,"urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147014/trump-sympathizes-alleged-abuser-rob-porter","title":"Trump sympathizes with alleged abuser Rob Porter. ","body":"<p>In his first public remarks since the White House aide resigned over domestic-abuse allegations, President Donald Trump stopped just short of defending his former staffer. \u201cHe worked very hard,\u201d he said. \u201cI found out about it recently, and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well. It\u2019s a ... obviously tough time for him. He did a very good when he was in the White House, and we hope he has a wonderful career. Hopefully he will have a great career ahead of him. But it was very sad when we heard about it. Certainly he\u2019s also very sad. Now, <span>he also, as you probably know, says he\u2019s innocent, and I think you have to remember that.\u201d (The BBC <\/span><a href=\"http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43010912\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">has full video of Trump\u2019s remarks<\/a><span>.)<\/span><\/p><p><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/top-white-house-officials-knew-of-abuse-allegations-against-top-aide-for-months/2018/02/08/2faddcf2-0ce9-11e8-95a5-c396801049ef_story.html?utm_term=.e763f9fdd7db\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><i>The Washington Post<\/i> reports<\/a> that the White House has actually known about the abuse accusations for months and that White House counsel Don McGahn chose to keep Porter on staff anyway. Porter, for his part, denies the accusations, despite graphic evidence to the contrary, and that was apparently enough to persuade McGahn, Chief of Staff John Kelly, and other White House staff. <\/p><p>Trump, meanwhile, may have chosen an alternative target to blame. <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/09/politics/rob-porter-donald-trump-reince-priebus/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">According to CNN<\/a>, he reportedly blames Hope Hicks for the administration\u2019s botched response to the allegations. Hicks has been in a relationship with Porter:<\/p><blockquote><p>Trump was not consulted when Hicks and several other aides drafted a White House statement defending Porter, and he is under the impression that Hicks has let her romantic relationship with Porter cloud her judgment, a source familiar said. <\/p><p><span>In the aftermath, Trump has told associates he feels that Hicks put her own priorities ahead of his. However, there is little to indicate that Hicks\u2019 standing is in jeopardy.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote><p><a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/what-about-the-19-women-who-accused-trump/547724/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Nineteen women <\/a>have accused Trump of sexual assault. He, too, denies allegations of abuse. But it\u2019s difficult not to wonder what he feels he may have in common with Porter. <br><br><\/p>","type":"MINUTE","cleanTitle":"Trump sympathizes with alleged abuser Rob Porter. ","createdAt":"2018-02-09T19:02:30.855Z","displayAt":null,"lock":null,"id":"578caa39-d058-4117-b532-f0558fe8a705","bodySource":"<p>In his first public remarks since the White House aide resigned over domestic-abuse allegations, President Donald Trump stopped just short of defending his former staffer. \u201cHe worked very hard,\u201d he said. \u201cI found out about it recently, and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well. It\u2019s a ... obviously tough time for him. He did a very good when he was in the White House, and we hope he has a wonderful career. Hopefully he will have a great career ahead of him. But it was very sad when we heard about it. Certainly he\u2019s also very sad. Now, <span>he also, as you probably know, says he\u2019s innocent, and I think you have to remember that.\u201d (The BBC <\/span><a href=\"http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43010912\">has full video of Trump\u2019s remarks<\/a><span>.)<\/span><\/p><p><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/top-white-house-officials-knew-of-abuse-allegations-against-top-aide-for-months/2018/02/08/2faddcf2-0ce9-11e8-95a5-c396801049ef_story.html?utm_term=.e763f9fdd7db\"><i>The Washington Post<\/i> reports<\/a> that the White House has actually known about the abuse accusations for months and that White House counsel Don McGahn chose to keep Porter on staff anyway. Porter, for his part, denies the accusations, despite graphic evidence to the contrary, and that was apparently enough to persuade McGahn, Chief of Staff John Kelly, and other White House staff. <\/p><p>Trump, meanwhile, may have chosen an alternative target to blame. <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/09/politics/rob-porter-donald-trump-reince-priebus/index.html\">According to CNN<\/a>, he reportedly blames Hope Hicks for the administration\u2019s botched response to the allegations. Hicks has been in a relationship with Porter:<\/p><blockquote><p>Trump was not consulted when Hicks and several other aides drafted a White House statement defending Porter, and he is under the impression that Hicks has let her romantic relationship with Porter cloud her judgment, a source familiar said. <\/p><p><span>In the aftermath, Trump has told associates he feels that Hicks put her own priorities ahead of his. However, there is little to indicate that Hicks\u2019 standing is in jeopardy.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote><p><a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/what-about-the-19-women-who-accused-trump/547724/\">Nineteen women <\/a>have accused Trump of sexual assault. He, too, denies allegations of abuse. But it\u2019s difficult not to wonder what he feels he may have in common with Porter. <br><br><\/p>","signal":null,"slug":"trump-sympathizes-alleged-abuser-rob-porter","updatedAt":"2018-02-09T19:59:21.201Z","homepageTitle":null,"publishedAt":"2018-02-09T19:46:05.000Z","homepageSubheadline":null,"url":"/minutes/147014/trump-sympathizes-alleged-abuser-rob-porter","ledeImageCaption":"Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press","galleries":[],"status":"PUBLISHED","meta":{"wordCount":329},"ledeImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/4f5fcdc01b22f5277470fbe4ea1035c9a84b8e43.jpeg","width":4500,"format":"JPEG","id":"5a72d5ca-d966-4cf3-ad92-4323f7eb5e88","isAnimated":false,"hash":"4f5fcdc01b22f5277470fbe4ea1035c9a84b8e43","height":2961,"meta":{}},"tags":[{"id":"3046ee55-25d3-43cb-8491-58b17f8004d3","label":"Politics","slug":"politics"},{"id":"9ecbca02-2681-4228-b2cb-f9f19cda9fc9","label":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump"},{"id":"533cd7b2-1586-4278-a4f0-cf9ae63ef232","label":"Misogyny","slug":"misogyny"},{"id":"d00f30ad-6001-4d1c-8c99-9730f2a02452","label":"Domestic Violence","slug":"domestic-violence"}],"authors":[{"UserId":"4e9b38ad-758d-4bd6-a1d9-739acd09583c","name":"Sarah Jones","bio":"<p>Sarah Jones is a staff writer for <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","id":"efdd737e-7651-44bd-a23a-1ab30ac3ba1f","title":"Staff Writer","blurb":"<p>Sarah Jones is a staff writer for <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","slug":"sarah-jones","status":"INACTIVE","headshotImage":null,"meta":{"twitter":"onesarahjones"}}]},{"sponsor":null,"deck":null,"bylines":null,"nid":147006,"urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147006/budget-deal-throws-lifeline-two-nuclear-energy-reactors-built-america","title":"The budget deal throws a lifeline to the only two nuclear energy reactors being built in America.","body":"<p>Early this morning, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/us/politics/congress-budget-deal-vote.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">President Donald Trump signed<\/a> the budget deal struck in Congress just hours before, reopening the federal government after it shut down briefly overnight. The deal will increase spending by $300 billion, and includes \u201cprovisions that help a broad array of industries and sectors, including energy, health care and education,\u201d <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/us/politics/senate-spending-bill-taxes-medicare.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">according to <i>The New York Times<\/i><\/a>. It also <a href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1892/text#toc-HCB7A80B28E184774841A11A4FE3AF60E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">includes<\/a> a tax credit extension to save a nuclear reactor project in Georgia that\u2019s been delayed and over budget <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/climate/georgia-vogtle-nuclear.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">for years<\/a>.<\/p><p>In the past two decades, only one nuclear energy project has been finished in the U.S., due in part to \u201csoaring construction costs and competition from cheaper natural gas and renewable energy,\u201d <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/business/georgia-vogtle-nuclear-reactors.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">the <i>Times<\/i> reports<\/a>. The two nuclear reactors being built at Georgia Power\u2019s Vogtle station, near Augusta, are the only reactors currently under construction in the country. Without an extension of the tax credit, which was due to expire in 2020 and is <a href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/02/09/budget-agreement-includes-tax-credits-for-plant.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">helping<\/a> the company cover construction costs, <span>the project would have been all but dead. <\/span><span>The Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates the state\u2019s energy sector,<\/span><span> <\/span><a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/climate/georgia-vogtle-nuclear.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">told the <i>Times<\/i> in December<\/a><span> <\/span><span>that, should the tax credit not be extended, the commission \u201c<\/span><span>may reconsider the decision to move forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span>Georgia Power has already raised the cost estimate from $14 billion to $23 billion, and the reactors, which<\/span><span> <\/span><span>were supposed to be completed by now,<\/span><span> <\/span><span>are now estimated to be online by<\/span><span> <\/span><span>2021 or 2022.<\/span><\/p>","type":"MINUTE","cleanTitle":"The budget deal throws a lifeline to the only two nuclear energy reactors being built in America.","createdAt":"2018-02-09T15:53:23.852Z","displayAt":null,"lock":null,"id":"6621dec5-fcd2-4008-b0d8-f310026cb3e0","bodySource":"<p>Early this morning, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/us/politics/congress-budget-deal-vote.html\">President Donald Trump signed<\/a> the budget deal struck in Congress just hours before, reopening the federal government after it shut down briefly overnight. The deal will increase spending by $300 billion, and includes \u201cprovisions that help a broad array of industries and sectors, including energy, health care and education,\u201d <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/us/politics/senate-spending-bill-taxes-medicare.html\">according to <i>The New York Times<\/i><\/a>. It also <a href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1892/text#toc-HCB7A80B28E184774841A11A4FE3AF60E\">includes<\/a> a tax credit extension to save a nuclear reactor project in Georgia that\u2019s been delayed and over budget <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/climate/georgia-vogtle-nuclear.html\">for years<\/a>.<\/p><p>In the past two decades, only one nuclear energy project has been finished in the U.S., due in part to \u201csoaring construction costs and competition from cheaper natural gas and renewable energy,\u201d <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/business/georgia-vogtle-nuclear-reactors.html\">the <i>Times<\/i> reports<\/a>. The two nuclear reactors being built at Georgia Power\u2019s Vogtle station, near Augusta, are the only reactors currently under construction in the country. Without an extension of the tax credit, which was due to expire in 2020 and is <a href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/02/09/budget-agreement-includes-tax-credits-for-plant.html\">helping<\/a> the company cover construction costs, <span>the project would have been all but dead. <\/span><span>The Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates the state\u2019s energy sector,<\/span><span> <\/span><a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/climate/georgia-vogtle-nuclear.html\">told the <i>Times<\/i> in December<\/a><span> <\/span><span>that, should the tax credit not be extended, the commission \u201c<\/span><span>may reconsider the decision to move forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span>Georgia Power has already raised the cost estimate from $14 billion to $23 billion, and the reactors, which<\/span><span> <\/span><span>were supposed to be completed by now,<\/span><span> <\/span><span>are now estimated to be online by<\/span><span> <\/span><span>2021 or 2022.<\/span><\/p>","signal":null,"slug":"budget-deal-throws-lifeline-two-nuclear-energy-reactors-built-america","updatedAt":"2018-02-09T18:50:26.620Z","homepageTitle":null,"publishedAt":"2018-02-09T17:23:49.000Z","homepageSubheadline":null,"url":"/minutes/147006/budget-deal-throws-lifeline-two-nuclear-energy-reactors-built-america","ledeImageCaption":"Flickr/NRCGOV","galleries":[],"status":"PUBLISHED","meta":{"wordCount":241},"ledeImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/211cc7fe0c67f0dda42107880c710ef94799bf94.jpeg","width":2048,"format":"JPEG","id":"99ce0c9c-6068-412e-b7bb-1023f3f941eb","isAnimated":false,"hash":"211cc7fe0c67f0dda42107880c710ef94799bf94","height":1225,"meta":{}},"tags":[{"id":"3046ee55-25d3-43cb-8491-58b17f8004d3","label":"Politics","slug":"politics"},{"id":"94b0610e-b0da-4c8b-8b15-fe41a09b229a","label":"Nuclear Energy","slug":"nuclear-energy"},{"id":"de2b03d3-a3f8-4b0b-99c3-c1ff02d66a72","label":"Congress","slug":"congress"},{"id":"02a1b9c9-0297-42fa-a56a-6045dce2302f","label":"Government Shutdown","slug":"government-shutdown"},{"id":"31b7d99d-7fdc-4d0f-ad47-80a11718dab5","label":"Georgia","slug":"georgia"},{"id":"9ecbca02-2681-4228-b2cb-f9f19cda9fc9","label":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump"},{"id":"07e3821b-c081-4e8c-91b7-8921ea3d1edb","label":"energy","slug":"energy"}],"authors":[{"UserId":null,"name":"Sharon Zhang","bio":"<p>Sharon Zhang is an editorial intern at <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","id":"ad37b60c-6f16-4287-aee0-a481697832c8","title":null,"blurb":"<p>Sharon Zhang is an editorial intern at <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","slug":"sharon-zhang","status":"INACTIVE","headshotImage":null,"meta":{}}]},{"sponsor":null,"deck":null,"bylines":null,"nid":147005,"urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147005/democrats-daca-leverage-disappeared","title":"The Democrats\u2019 DACA leverage has all but disappeared.","body":"<p>When the last government shutdown <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/us/politics/government-shutdown.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">ended a month ago<\/a> with no deal to protect the hundreds of thousands of immigrants covered by the <span>soon-to-expire Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals<\/span><span> program, Democrats reassured their base by insisting that they had preserved their leverage. Government funding would run out a month later, after all. The Senate would pass a budget that would require dozens of Democratic votes in the House, which could then be translated into a deal on both immigration and spending. When House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi embarked on an eight-hour filibuster on Thursday, in which she demanded that House Speaker Paul Ryan take action on DACA, it seemed to be a part of this plan: House Democrats would hold out support for a budget deal until Ryan agreed to hold a vote that would ultimately provide legal protections to those covered by DACA. <br><\/span><\/p><p>Early Friday morning, Congress passed a <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/08/politics/budget-vote-congress-shutdown/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">two-year budget<\/a>, which President Donald Trump then <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/us/politics/congress-budget-deal-vote.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">signed<\/a> into law, ending a brief government shutdown. No progress was made on DACA. In retrospect, Pelosi\u2019s filibuster now looks like it came from <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/pelosi-launches-hours-long-filibuster-style-speech-in-bid-to-force-immigration-votes-in-the-house/2018/02/07/b98a25f4-0c33-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html?utm_term=.41489afd0320\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">a place of weakness<\/a>, rather than strength. After she and others in Democratic leadership had made assurances to their base and rank-and-file members that they had the upper hand, it was clear that they simply couldn\u2019t (or wouldn\u2019t) tie the budget negotiations to DACA once again. <\/p><p>DACA expires on March 5. Trump has suggested that people covered by the program shouldn\u2019t worry about being deported or losing work permits, but the administration is already<a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2018/1/28/16932234/trump-daca-deport-dreamers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"> taking action<\/a> against some. And while the threat of a government shutdown has been taken off the table, there\u2019s no indication that Republicans won\u2019t continue using people covered by the program as hostages as they demand changes to legal immigration, funding for a border wall, and other measures. The dynamic for Republicans hasn\u2019t changed, in other words. But Democrats have lost a key piece of leverage. <\/p>","type":"MINUTE","cleanTitle":"The Democrats\u2019 DACA leverage has all but disappeared.","createdAt":"2018-02-09T15:35:23.615Z","displayAt":null,"lock":null,"id":"ce283e3e-019f-4a6f-9bfd-ce0976f2a131","bodySource":"<p>When the last government shutdown <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/us/politics/government-shutdown.html\">ended a month ago<\/a> with no deal to protect the hundreds of thousands of immigrants covered by the <span>soon-to-expire Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals<\/span><span> program, Democrats reassured their base by insisting that they had preserved their leverage. Government funding would run out a month later, after all. The Senate would pass a budget that would require dozens of Democratic votes in the House, which could then be translated into a deal on both immigration and spending. When House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi embarked on an eight-hour filibuster on Thursday, in which she demanded that House Speaker Paul Ryan take action on DACA, it seemed to be a part of this plan: House Democrats would hold out support for a budget deal until Ryan agreed to hold a vote that would ultimately provide legal protections to those covered by DACA. <br><\/span><\/p><p>Early Friday morning, Congress passed a <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/08/politics/budget-vote-congress-shutdown/index.html\">two-year budget<\/a>, which President Donald Trump then <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/us/politics/congress-budget-deal-vote.html\">signed<\/a> into law, ending a brief government shutdown. No progress was made on DACA. In retrospect, Pelosi\u2019s filibuster now looks like it came from <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/pelosi-launches-hours-long-filibuster-style-speech-in-bid-to-force-immigration-votes-in-the-house/2018/02/07/b98a25f4-0c33-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html?utm_term=.41489afd0320\">a place of weakness<\/a>, rather than strength. After she and others in Democratic leadership had made assurances to their base and rank-and-file members that they had the upper hand, it was clear that they simply couldn\u2019t (or wouldn\u2019t) tie the budget negotiations to DACA once again. <\/p><p>DACA expires on March 5. Trump has suggested that people covered by the program shouldn\u2019t worry about being deported or losing work permits, but the administration is already<a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2018/1/28/16932234/trump-daca-deport-dreamers\"> taking action<\/a> against some. And while the threat of a government shutdown has been taken off the table, there\u2019s no indication that Republicans won\u2019t continue using people covered by the program as hostages as they demand changes to legal immigration, funding for a border wall, and other measures. The dynamic for Republicans hasn\u2019t changed, in other words. But Democrats have lost a key piece of leverage. <\/p>","signal":null,"slug":"democrats-daca-leverage-disappeared","updatedAt":"2018-02-09T16:13:36.279Z","homepageTitle":null,"publishedAt":"2018-02-09T16:13:36.000Z","homepageSubheadline":null,"url":"/minutes/147005/democrats-daca-leverage-disappeared","ledeImageCaption":"Chip Somodevilla/Getty","galleries":[],"status":"PUBLISHED","meta":{"wordCount":334},"ledeImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/253afe5dbb97bd0eacd7d2e3561e8c28c9e88dfc.jpeg","width":3000,"format":"JPEG","id":"6fe90283-6d57-49f7-afc7-5dbba8b87d14","isAnimated":false,"hash":"253afe5dbb97bd0eacd7d2e3561e8c28c9e88dfc","height":2000,"meta":{}},"tags":[{"id":"3046ee55-25d3-43cb-8491-58b17f8004d3","label":"Politics","slug":"politics"},{"id":"b428a6ba-4a28-47fb-903d-217d8a3c9ed6","label":"Nancy Pelosi","slug":"nancy-pelosi"},{"id":"a1391e8f-c056-46c8-82b5-9dd601a96114","label":"Chuck Schumer","slug":"chuck-schumer"},{"id":"cc1c0399-c6d6-48f8-b487-1122bb47b4e4","label":"DACA","slug":"daca"},{"id":"83e43f34-ff71-4f81-beb2-b058fc55cb8e","label":"Immigration","slug":"immigration"},{"id":"ecbd5d3f-d9ac-41d1-a360-cb12dc7f67a6","label":"Budget","slug":"budget"},{"id":"370cff1a-31d7-428e-9ed2-547d8625f1ba","label":"-newsletter","slug":"newsletter"}],"authors":[{"UserId":"d1f2f3b1-af3d-47f5-8045-64e68cbe3e4c","name":"Alex Shephard","bio":"<p>Alex Shephard is a staff writer at <i>The<\/i> <em>New Republic<\/em>.<\/p>","id":"e61b5030-b42b-4794-913c-2f8b208019ef","title":null,"blurb":"<p>Alex Shephard is a staff writer at <i>The <\/i><em>New Republic<\/em>.<\/p>","slug":"alex-shephard","status":"INACTIVE","meta":{"twitter":"alex_shephard"},"headshotImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/a06b59d5987812d80a023c5513ab30c2e93123db.jpeg","width":235,"format":"JPEG","id":"919f7560-cd43-442a-9879-c9e61751fa3c","isAnimated":false,"hash":"a06b59d5987812d80a023c5513ab30c2e93123db","height":235,"meta":{}}}]},{"sponsor":null,"deck":null,"bylines":null,"nid":147002,"urlFull":"https://newrepublic.com/minutes/147002/cnn-inviting-nazis-shows","title":"Why is CNN inviting Nazis on its shows?","body":"<p>CNN allowed correspondent Alisyn Camerota to bring Arthur Jones, American Nazi Party leader and Republican candidate for local office in Illinois, on air. It went about as well <a href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-camerota-confronts-literal-nazi-running-for-gop-congressional-seat-in-insane-interview/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">as anyone could have expected:<\/a><\/p><blockquote><p>Camerota noted that Jones dresses in Nazi garb and celebrates Hitler\u2019s birthday.<\/p><p>\u201cYou\u2019re a Nazi,\u201d she charged.<\/p><p>Things then started to get heated when Camerota said that Jones\u2019s website is \u201cfilled with the most vile, rancid rhetoric I think I\u2019ve ever read.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s not vile and rancid it\u2019s the truth!\u201d Jones shot back. \u201cYou jews media, you\u2019ve gone absolutely nuts!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><p>What did we learn from this enlightening exchange? Not much, unless you weren\u2019t quite sure that the leader of the American Nazi Party is, well, a Nazi. <\/p><p>Journalists covering the extreme right have to walk a careful line. Their activities are newsworthy, but they shouldn\u2019t simply be handed a megaphone to spread hate. Though Camerota challenged Jones, the entire segment has the feel of performance, designed to make Camerota look like a hard-hitting journalist. <span>There are several ways to cover Jones\u2019s candidacy, and this is just about the stupidest one. <\/span><\/p>","type":"MINUTE","cleanTitle":"Why is CNN inviting Nazis on its shows?","createdAt":"2018-02-08T15:05:55.857Z","displayAt":null,"lock":null,"id":"61f50334-bc87-4cdf-87ae-edca83157a9f","bodySource":"<p>CNN allowed correspondent Alisyn Camerota to bring Arthur Jones, American Nazi Party leader and Republican candidate for local office in Illinois, on air. It went about as well <a href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-camerota-confronts-literal-nazi-running-for-gop-congressional-seat-in-insane-interview/\">as anyone could have expected:<\/a><\/p><blockquote><p>Camerota noted that Jones dresses in Nazi garb and celebrates Hitler\u2019s birthday.<\/p><p>\u201cYou\u2019re a Nazi,\u201d she charged.<\/p><p>Things then started to get heated when Camerota said that Jones\u2019s website is \u201cfilled with the most vile, rancid rhetoric I think I\u2019ve ever read.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s not vile and rancid it\u2019s the truth!\u201d Jones shot back. \u201cYou jews media, you\u2019ve gone absolutely nuts!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><p>What did we learn from this enlightening exchange? Not much, unless you weren\u2019t quite sure that the leader of the American Nazi Party is, well, a Nazi. <\/p><p>Journalists covering the extreme right have to walk a careful line. Their activities are newsworthy, but they shouldn\u2019t simply be handed a megaphone to spread hate. Though Camerota challenged Jones, the entire segment has the feel of performance, designed to make Camerota look like a hard-hitting journalist. <span>There are several ways to cover Jones\u2019s candidacy, and this is just about the stupidest one. <\/span><\/p><p><br><\/p>","signal":null,"slug":"cnn-inviting-nazis-shows","updatedAt":"2018-02-08T15:47:43.123Z","homepageTitle":null,"publishedAt":"2018-02-08T15:47:42.000Z","homepageSubheadline":null,"url":"/minutes/147002/cnn-inviting-nazis-shows","ledeImageCaption":"Youtube","galleries":[],"status":"PUBLISHED","meta":{"wordCount":194},"ledeImage":{"baseUrl":"//images.newrepublic.com/","src":"//images.newrepublic.com/328fc38ef569b8e8cae66a730ebd7d5f4959a996.png","width":1423,"format":"PNG","id":"b0ee34d7-0146-470f-9207-2065d2987f47","isAnimated":false,"hash":"328fc38ef569b8e8cae66a730ebd7d5f4959a996","height":768,"meta":{}},"tags":[{"id":"3046ee55-25d3-43cb-8491-58b17f8004d3","label":"Politics","slug":"politics"},{"id":"6bfcc676-2945-4226-b5fc-20eec068ca24","label":"Media","slug":"media"},{"id":"cdfdab98-0393-4c58-a68b-9d8bc4df2d8a","label":"Nazis","slug":"nazis"},{"id":"bbd72f62-7c36-4b80-8e92-8bacfa1a5e11","label":"CNN","slug":"cnn"},{"id":"bc4b10d2-6349-4f16-94f4-11bed99fd1c1","label":"GOP","slug":"gop"},{"id":"370cff1a-31d7-428e-9ed2-547d8625f1ba","label":"-newsletter","slug":"newsletter"}],"authors":[{"UserId":"4e9b38ad-758d-4bd6-a1d9-739acd09583c","name":"Sarah Jones","bio":"<p>Sarah Jones is a staff writer for <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","id":"efdd737e-7651-44bd-a23a-1ab30ac3ba1f","title":"Staff Writer","blurb":"<p>Sarah Jones is a staff writer for <i>The New Republic<\/i>.<\/p>","slug":"sarah-jones","status":"INACTIVE","headshotImage":null,"meta":{"twitter":"onesarahjones"}}]}]},"session":{}}</script>
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