Category Archives: Ronald Reagan
Dossier Doozy
In 1980 Ronald Reagan debated George H W Bush in the New Hampshire primary. The debate was sponsored by the Nashua Telegraph. But the FEC ruled it violated election regulations. So the Reagan Campaign took over sponsorship of the debate.
When the day of the event arrived chairs were only arranged for Reagan, Bush and a moderator. Four other candidates stood awkwardly onstage. Reagan demanded they be included. Editor Jon Breen, the moderator, asked the sound tech to cut off Reagan’s mic. The crowd booed.
The Gipper angrily responded, “I’m paying for this microphone, Mr. Green.” His name was Breen but, whatever. The crowd went nuts.
Dossier
In 2016 Hillary Clinton paid for a dossier on Donald Trump. Among other things, the document claimed Trump paid Russian prostitutes to pee on a bed where Barack and Michelle Obama had slept in Moscow.
Journalists were aware of the dossier but considered it sketchy, unverified and un-newsworthy. At least most did.
The big questions were: Who paid for the dossier and did its allegations contribute to the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Trump for Russian Collusion?
The Washington Post broke the story Tuesday night that the Clinton Campaign and the DNC paid for it. They used the law firm Perkins Coie to hire the opposition research firm Fusion GPS. That way Fusion GPS could claim attorney client privilege when questions were asked. Fusion GPS then subcontracted with British spook Christopher Steele to compile the Dossier.
A Republican donor initially engaged Fusion GPS but dropped out after Trump won the primary.
Update: The Hill reports The Washington Free Beacon hired Fusion GPS first.
Tax Reform Rescue Mission
During a week of inspiring rescues, President Trump introduced his tax reform plan. The U.S. has the world’s highest corporate tax rate at 39%. As a result, over two trillion dollars is parked overseas in low tax countries like Ireland. Trump proposes a 15% corporate rate as ransom to rescue that cash and bring it home. Which in return will lead to growth.
Tax Reform
Of course Democrats don’t see it that way. To them it’s all just an elitist gift to the rich. Maybe, but Kimberly Strassel points out in the WSJ that Trump is an ideal pitchman for the plan. He’s rich but he’s also seen as a populist outsider:
Mr. Trump has defined himself as the protector of America’s forgotten man, an outsider to the swamp, an America Firster. The result is that he is uniquely qualified to sell a tax plan decried as “elitist” to average Americans.
In Missouri, Mr. Trump busted up the left’s class-warfare model. He didn’t make tax reform about blue-collar workers fighting corporate America. Instead it was a question of “our workers” and “our companies” and “our country” competing against China. He noted that America’s high tax rates force companies to move overseas. He directly and correctly tied corporate rate cuts to prosperity for workers, noting that tax reform would “keep jobs in America, create jobs in America,” and lead to higher wages.
Presidential Trump and The Donald
On August 26, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto invited both American presidential candidates down for a visit.
Presidential Trump
Donald Trump jumped on the offer and met with the president last Wednesday. Trump Looked presidential. And they talked about presidential stuff, including “the wall.” But Trump says they didn’t discuss who would pay for it.
The Donald
That afternoon Trump gave a speech in Phoenix. And he looked, well, like The Donald. He blustered that he would make Mexico pay for the wall.
Being an actual president, Enrique Peña Nieto heard about this. He was not pleased. So he tweeted that the first thing he told Trump in their private meeting was there’s no way he’ll pay for the wall.
On Monday, September 5, Hillary got around to RSVPing President Peña Nieto’s invitation to her.
She declined.
