The shutdown drags on, and the swamp grows swampier.
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JANUARY 17, 2019
A NOTE FROM FRED
 

The partial government shutdown is now in its record 27th day.

This is beyond irresponsible.

The person responsible, President Trump, told the world that he would be “proud to shut down the government for border security.” Trump then changed his mind about shutting down the government, and then he had his mind changed for him again.

This calls to mind the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. In this case, the Cowardly Lion folded on ending the shutdown after two right-wing ideologues challenged him in the media – Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh.

This shutdown has turned out to be one of the biggest political mistakes of the Trump Presidency. The latest polls and his own comments show that he is paying a very big price for it.

Trump reportedly told his chief of staff, “We are getting crushed” over the shutdown.

According to Bloomberg News, “[S]ix surveys taken since the partial government closure began last month tell a consistent story – half or more Americans believe Trump and his party are responsible for the shutdown, while one-third or fewer point the finger at Democrats.”

A series of recent polls have the President at very low average approval ratings of 38 percent.

And perhaps Trump’s most dangerous poll result came from a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released today. The poll found that "57 percent of registered voters said that they would definitely not support Trump in 2020, and would instead ‘vote against’ the president by supporting one of his announced opponents."

House Speaker Pelosi, however, may have delivered the coup de grace to the shutdown when she withdrew Trump’s invitation to give his State of the Union address in the House on January 29.

This is now the moment of truth for Trump: will he screw up his courage to tell Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh to “get lost” or will he give up his opportunity to speak to the nation from the House on January 29?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

H.R. 1 and democracy reform “is going to be injected into the 2020 presidential campaign and the 2020 House and Senate campaigns. … If we get a more responsive president in 2021, we’ll be on the doorstep; if not, we’ll go on to 2022.”
 
-- D21 President Fred Wertheimer, via Roll Call.
MUST READS

TRUMP & FRIENDS
 
50 Moments That Define An Improbable Presidency, via The Atlantic.
 
Federal Agency Ignored Constitutional Questions About Trump Hotel Lease, via The New York Times.
 
Judge Orders Trump Administration To Remove 2020 Census Citizenship Question, via National Public Radio.
 
Trump’s Inauguration: $10,000 for Makeup, Lots of Room Service, And More Than $1.5M To The Trump Hotel
“In 72 days, [the Trump inaugural committee] laid out about $100 million, roughly twice as much or more than was raised by Barack Obama or George W. Bush for their first and second presidential inaugurations,” via The New York Times.
 
EPA Nominee Andrew Wheeler Showcases How Trump Keeps Failing To Drain The Swamp, via USA Today editorial board.
🤔 "DRAINING" THE SWAMP OF THE WEEK  🤔

T-Mobile Announced A Merger Needing Trump Administration Approval. The Next Day, 9 Executives Had Reservations At Trump’s Hotel.
 
THE HISTORIC SHUTDOWN
 
Shutdown 2019: State, Local Officials Feel The Pinch. “We Are At Ground Zero,” via USA Today.
 
The Nation’s Longest Shutdown … Thousands of struggling, unpaid federal workers head to local food banks (National Public Radio) … Enforcement, safety inspections, and fraud cases shut down (Politico) … Pilots warn of airline safety and security risks (Business Insider) … Cybersecurity at risk (Mother Jones) … Trump’s economists admit the shutdown’s effects on the economy are far worse than they anticipated (PBS NewsHour).
 
The Shutdown Is Hurting Trump’s Approval Rating. But Will It Hurt Him In 2020? via FiveThirtyEight.
HOMETOWN HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
 
McConnell Doesn’t Have The Guts To Stand Up To Trump And End Shutdown
 
THE INVESTIGATIONS
 
Barr Defended Mueller’s Investigation. But A Fight Over The Final Report Could Get Ugly, via PBS NewsHour.
 
9 Takeaways From William Barr’s Confirmation Hearing, via The Washington Post.
 
Barr And Why Democrats Shouldn’t Expect This Era To Be Anything Like Watergate, via The New Yorker.
 
Transcripts Detail How FBI Debated Whether Trump Was “Following Directions” Of Russia, via CNN.
 
Trump and Putin Have Met Five Times. What Was Said Is a Mystery, via The New York Times.
 

2020 ELECTIONS
 
Supreme Court Declines To Take Up Montana Campaign Finance Case
In declining to take up the case, the high court left in place Montana’s voter-approved limits on contributions to political campaigns in state elections, upholding the Court of Appeals’ ruling “that the limits are a reasonable way to try to prevent corruption and still allow candidates to raise enough money to run campaigns,” via Associated Press.
 
Voting Problems Are Predictable And Avoidable. Here’s How To Fix Them Before 2020, opinion via USA Today.
 
Is This The Year For A Redistricting Revolution?
“Arnold Schwarzenegger and Barack Obama don’t agree on much—but they’ve both turned redistricting reform into their main political cause for the years ahead,” via The Atlantic.
 
A Dilemma For Democratic Hopefuls: Run To — Or Away From — Big Donors?
“Mega-checks, once the lifeblood of a candidacy, are now a source of angst for the politicians best positioned to reel them in,” via Los Angeles Times.
 
New Members, Meet The “Slush Fund”
Leadership PACS “are not subject to the same restrictions on personal spending as individual campaign committees, leading to numerous examples of alleged misuse,” via Roll Call.
 
Women Fuel Democrats’ 2020 Hopes — With Money, via Center for Public Integrity and NBC News.
By: Fred Wertheimer, Diane Alexander, and Jackie Howell. Follow Fred and Democracy 21 on Twitter @FredWertheimer.
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