Weeks 7 & 8 start off with two big BANGs!
The first bang came on Saturday morning, March 4, when President Trump took to Twitter to suggest former President Obama had Trump Tower “wiretapped” in October 2016, during the presidential election.
Needless to say, this series of tweets set off a firestorm among democrats, media and even republicans. After two weeks, it has been determined that there is no evidence to support Trump’s claim. But what is clear is that:
- there are dangerous, politically-driven leaks within in the intelligence community,
- the media in an attempt to tie Trump to Russians was overzealous in its reporting
- the democrats, after eight years of sloppily handling the country’s secrets, now are finally serious about cyber security
The second bang came the evening of Monday, March 6, when Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republican leadership dropped the bill to Repeal & Replace Obamacare into the public realm. For the last 2 weeks, the sausage making has been typical of Washington DC.
Several conservative groups, Americans for Prosperity and Club for Growth, have come out against the bill. Senators Mike Lee, Tom Cotton, and Rand Paul have also come out against the bill as it stands and have encouraged the House to make some changes before sending it to the Senate. Because no democrat senators will support this bill, republicans must use the reconciliation process which only requires 51 votes. This limits the types of changes which can be made.
What is noteworthy is that President Trump has been engaged in the process. He has held public rallies, hosted legislators to the White House and expects to visit Capitol Hill.
Never a dull moment…
