Sunday, March 26, 2017

Trumpcare Vote & GSEs, a Nexus??



First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Socialist.
because I was not a Trade Unionist.
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.

******************************************************

Benjamin Franklin: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”






DJT’s Defeat, Good for the Nation?



That thudding “in-your-face-Donald” Trumpcare defeat at the hands of the House Republican party—abandoning him in his virgin major legislative effort--might have been the best thing to happen to Donald Trump and the nation since he was inaugurated.

Of course, he will pretend he’s above rebuke and spend the next several weeks blaming everyone but himself. He’ll bear grudges against Paul Ryan, GOP moderates, the Freedom Caucus, Democrats, his aides, his son in law, the media, maybe Reince Priebus and "Goebbels" Bannon, anyone not named President Donald J. Trump.

He’ll ignore that Barack Obama passed the original bill with just Democrat votes, meaning Obama did a better job when his party was in the majority than Trump did last week, with the GOP controlling the House (and Senate).

Here’s hoping it makes him wiser and less vengeful. It could make him realize that Washington political deal-making is not like buying land or developing golf courses, and it could make him respect some of what came before his election, relative to the needs of all of the American people whom he claims to represent.

But, make no mistake, politically, President Trump took one in the chops last Friday when House Republicans refused to vote for “his” Obamacare replacement bill and the proposal was pulled from the floor. 

Don’t be derailed by the WH’s post defeat spin. It was DJT’s bill, even though he implied it belonged to its House architect Speaker Paul Ryan.

Once President Trump and his WH staff (VP Spence, CoS Reince Priebus, Counselor Steve Goebbels Bannon, HHS Secretary Tom Price, and OMB Director Mick Mulvaney), and others, took over negotiating with House R conservatives and moderates, it was his package--with Trump’s political DNA all over it—that bought the farm for lack of GOP support.

Post-facto, we hear GOP grumblings, already, that Trump didn’t understand the legislation or know the workings of the US healthcare system, but his effort didn’t sink because he wasn’t a healthcare expert. It was—as usual in DC—because of the politics

(Worth noting how Democrats and Obama handled their healthcare bill, the work and the challenges.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/health-care-republicans-repeal-obamacare_us_58d81295e4b03787d3598bf6?0r&

The President can explain it anyway he wants but the political reality was neither he, Speaker Ryan, nor the rest of Trump’s troops, could cajole enough of the House GOP to back the entire bill.

Having seen this kind of internecine political standoff before, personally, I credit Trump for wading, albeit inartfully, into the morass and using personal influence to try and secure his objectives (although I didn’t care for his final legislative package). I hope this result doesn’t scare him off.

The last days of wheeling and dealing on legislation-- promising all sorts of related and unrelated individual Member priorities, is very common and hardly unique to the GOP. But, the President, his WH staff and cabinet, and the House R leadership, couldn’t do it successfully—although I expect/hope he will get another opportunity, if his setback educates and doesn’t leave him risk adverse.

This episode, certainly, will weigh against his other legislative priorities, tax reform, immigration, infrastructure spending, and more, but the nation needs him to show sharp emotional and intellectually recuperation, plus some humility.

Likely, the President will retreat to Mar-a-Lago for some more taxpayer supported rounds of golf, sulk, nurse his wounds, try and shed the setback like last year’s snakeskin, Tweet some untruths, and vow revenge, etc. etc.

But, if the President is as smart as he claims--and has any sense of how his new office truly works, as well as his capacity to “lead, not follow”--he might look at the political and systemic benefits of Obamacare, which exist despite Steve “Goebbels” Bannon’s protestations, and cobble improvements to that existing law. Build D&R allies and come back with a stronger healthcare proposal that will get a majority of votes in both chambers.

It’s not like the current Obamacare is without flaws. The Congressional Budget Office says it works, but it could work even better. If DJT would take the socks from his ears and engage some serious national health experts, not just right wing ideologues, he could turn this defeat into an eventual win. 

In the Senate his climb is steep because the Democrats have some additional clout. That won’t make his chore any easier, but it certainly is doable, if he tries for bipartisan backing. 

Despite the WH threats and claims, Trumpcare isn’t dead although the package which almost made it to the House will get sheared if/when they start considering it in the Senate. The chamber works differently.

With 48 Democrats and enough Senate R’s caught between their own GOP moderates and hardliners, a thoughtful alternative could incubate.

Donald Trump defied most every element of the Washington Politics 101 book, so if the President considers a softer, bipartisan approach it might not be beyond him to effectively work across the aisle and produce viable healthcare legislation

My Only Russian Comment this week… 


…is an old one. It’s clear that the House R Keystone Cops can’t put together any kind of independent investigation of Russian tampering in the US presidential election, without running to the President with every jot and tittle. An Independent Counsel/Special Prosecutor must be appointed to answer these questions, assure our nation that the Russians did not interfere in our last presidential election, and if they did, they were not invited in to do so by the Trump campaign or its allies. 

Anything short of that congressional response will be the equivalent of the Warren Commission report on the John F. Kennedy assassination, meaning a document forever disputed.

Putin and Russia cannot be trusted. Russians have been our nation’s jealous enemies/rivals since before the end of WWll and won’t change under their current leaders.

For decades, their culture and society have been ones of shortages: never having enough freedom, food, consumer goods, and democracy. To make up for it, they lie, steal, bully, and resort to thuggery, at home, abroad, wherever they post their flag.

The FBI sees it as do others in our intelligence community, but not some of the Capitol Hill thickheads charged with looking for it. 
______________________________________________

GSE Fix; Hope for DJT & the Nation?

“Watch but Don’t Bet”


A few things are moving in GSE-world this week (and at the end of last).

As the month of March winds down this week and Fannie and Freddie get ready to shop $10 Billion to the Treasury’s General Fund, we could see the Treasury tell  Mr. Watt’s FHFA to order the GSEs to keep the money and build their capital with it!! (Although the Joe Btfsplk in me says it won’t happen.)

Again, as written about before, the Trump Administration will need money to pay for Obamacare or Trumpcare, just like the previous folks did and there is precedent for using the GSE revenue.

But, here’s hoping Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and his team prove me wrong and have bigger and better ideas than the Obama Admin’s.

IMO, Obama and team certainly embraced the worst idea, i.e. doing away with Fannie and Freddie and giving the nation’s largest banks new ways to plunder our national mortgage markets and financially mug would be mortgagors.

****************************************************************

Friday “Surprise,” Patrick Collins Case,
Hope or More Legal BS for GSE Advocates?

Is the “Patrick Collins GSE case,” challenging the Treasury’s 2012 earnings sweep, just a tiny, hopeful GSE light at the end of the tunnel or is it another roaring diesel ready to barrel over and through Fannie and Freddie, their allies, investors, and friends?

I have no idea.

But, let’s recount what happened for those who missed late Friday’s development.

Last Friday night, the Treasury Department informed Southern District of Texas federal Judge Nancy Atlas—hearing the Collins GSE case-- that Treasury no longer supports as constitutionally viable the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the GSE regulatory agency created by HERA in 2008.

It’s the same position the Trump Treasury/DoJ recently took in a plaintiffs’ challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The issue here is the CFPB (of which I am a great fan) and the FHFA (of which I am not) both are structured with a single director at the top, as opposed to the more common regulatory format a group or board of commissioners, etc.

Seeking maximum latitude to shuffle off regulatory execs it doesn’t support, i.e. Charles Cordray at CFPB, the Trump Admin now considers both agencies—structurally—to  be unconstitutional, because their Director(s) only can be removed for “cause” and not at the “will” of the President.

The Trump position—potentially not actually, yet—calls into legal question a lot of what those agencies have done in the past.

It’s at this juncture I’ll stop speculating over what Treasury’s new consistency means for edicts from the two regulatory agencies, since the result could be vast or marginal. I’ll let the lawyers among you do that.

Again—since it just happened and was overshadowed by the House Trumpcare vote--we’ll read more about this late Treasury submission in the coming weeks, although GSE Links has some current story ties.

However, this non-lawyer hopes some court exposes the fact that FHFA, in conjunction with the Obama Treasury, violated common sense, common law, and—possibly—the Constitution with its 2012 “profit sweep” actions and, possibly, other GSE promulgations.

(Before anyone gets too worked up and starts buying more GSE shares because of a flip/flop, I must note that some of my more knowledgeable GSE buddies don’t see any help for the cause in the Treasury Friday communication.)

*************************************************************


Post-Trumpcare GSE Advice to “Nooch” and DJT—Grab Some Low Hanging Fruit Without Congress

The Admin already has laid out its coming legislative plans, tax reform, immigration, infrastructure, etc.

Secretary Mnuchin should tussle diligently, behind the scenes, to convince the President that DJT can have a relatively easy win—with respect to the fights imbedded in his other agenda items—if he OKs existing Mnuchin regulatory authority to release and recap the GSEs, explaining to the nation why that is a fabulous contribution to the home owning aspirations of millions of low, moderate and middle income families, who can manage the financial requirements.

And, it doesn’t need any formal approval from Congress!

Don’t pout Mr. President, get right back on that horse and ride with a GSE resurrection which, properly explained, will have broad appeal to those people who voted for you and also be part of the job stimulus effort you consider desirable and inherent in other initiatives.

I am certain you and your team can pitch reviving Fannie and Freddie to the nation as a signature Trump achievement and make it stick, since Secy. Mnuchin already has nailed the substance.

Let me repeat the best reason to do it.

It doesn’t need any formal approval from Congress!

Don’t get PO’d Mr. President, Get GSE’d



Maloni, 3-27-2017

Monday, March 20, 2017

Happy Spring to All

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— 
because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.


Benjamin Franklin: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”


GSE News and Trump Antics


I’m back in the frigid East after a week of sunny California weather. I missed most of the constant media coverage of the very strange Administration and its leader, President Donald Trump.

Here’s a brief GSE activities review. Later, I’ll get to the national and international politics segment—but, for Fannie and Freddie, it’s all Mnuchin and the courts, still.

ICBA

Hooray for the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) for its 2017 legislative agenda supports a GSE capital restoration plan to free the GSEs and return them to their more traditional role of supporting lenders in a variety of ways, as well as Realtors, homebuilders, and most importantly the public with the copious amounts of mortgage liquidity they provide, albeit still operating with the equivalent of federal manacles.

The major housing trades—like the Realtors, Builders, and MBA—all have jello-like or weasel worded GSE endorsements. None are simple and say what they truly think, feel, and want, as the small bankers decidedly have.

The housing industry big guys have the caveats and “Yes, but…” explanations, which invariably mean, “It’s all about the GSEs market control and revenue, which we want to diminish going forward.”

Yet and still, the MBA is leading the other two trades by their association noses.


The GSE Court Cases


--Anyone reading the available mortgage media—which I didn’t last week—knows more than I do about what’s happening on this important front.

The Administration’s opposition last week to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), claiming its structure is unconstitutional has relevance for the GSE regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), structured similarly, to face the same charge from the Trump Administration.



Selfishly, I'd hate to secure a GSE victory at the expense of the nation losing CFPB, which I think stands alone in its ability and willingness to support the many financial, credit, and product hassles the US buying public faces.

--It would be a surprise if the GSE plaintiffs in the Appeals Court decision seek and “en banc” review from the entire Court, having lost out with Judges Ginsburg and Millett, as solid as Judge Brown’s minority opinion was.

That leaves the Supreme Court, with its current 8 members who could just split, suggesting plaintiffs might want a full slate of Justices present if the highest court is willing to take up their appeal, meaning waiting for Judge Gorsuch to win his Senate approval.

--The Collins case in Texas and the Hindes-Jacobs case before Judge Sleet in Delaware are could produce some positive GSE news but my sense--absent something dramatic form Secretary Mnuchin--investors are getting tired of the wait, the constant DoJ opposition—which we all hoped the Trump Admin/DoJ would cease—and the tone of the budget discussions which suggest there will be lots of pressure to reduce some very popular federal programs (which work in Red states, too) and husband federal revenues.

The other slice of history I share this week is my belief that nothing ever happens on any schedule GSE advocates want; dates slip, court procedures--which seem sure things--aren’t; bold talk about the importance of GSEs and housing to jobs and economic recovery, disappears into the atmosphere—and GSE investors confuse their hopes and beliefs with the cold, cruel world of political and legal calculus!!

I believe that’s why GSE stocks are so soft and in fact are down in recent sessions. Some investors are war weary, losing faith, and want out at any price close to what they paid. (That also could be a wonderful buying opportunity for some but I wouldn’t treat it as such, because of the uncertainty which most of us have witnessed.)

--I loved the Gretchen Morgenson article from last week (reading it two days after it appeared!) and she’s right, those pending dates might reveal something of the Admin’s GSE plans—if they exist--but they also could quickly pass by with the last set of dividends being swept and AG Sessions’ DoJ still fiddling, if not opposing, release of some 10,000 documents, which many people think merely expose the clay feet and dodgy and possibly illegal behavior of the Obama Treasury and Justice Department. (Makes one wonder why this White House would withhold any and not drown Judge Sweeney’s Claims Court in those documents?)

(BTW. Keep reading David Fiderer’s ongoing work on these matters, available on GSE Links. It’s first rate and insightful.)

The last thing on my GSE agenda is lessening the worry that any future tax cut will narrow the value of the remaining GSE DTAs and make current matters worse. I don’t buy that and would look for this issue to be factored in—when and if—Mr. Mnuchin offers a recap plan.

With the DTA matter getting resolved in discussions with Treasury and the GSE plaintiffs. DTA tax changes won’t stop/slow/sink the GSE ship IF Secy. Mnuchin re-launches it.



President Trump; a 3 Month Perspective; Problems not Solutions, Lies not Truths


Since his inauguration, the world has seen President Trump’s office display wild insecurity and administrative disorganization, proffer several weird allegations, the POTUS’s thinner skin displayed more often, more conspiracy allegations than a year of “X-Files” broadcasts, and lots of GOP confusion and unhappiness, while just flummoxing those who didn’t vote for him.

Is this a preview of the coming Trump years? I am not a Trump fan, as noted, but hoped for far more cohesion from him and his short staffed team.

In the past two weeks, alone, DJT accused Barack Obama and others of wiretapping his Trump Towers political HQ, despite the rejection of those claims by the House and Senate GOP Intelligence Committees, the FBI, and many prominent congressional Republicans; issued his second “immigration plan” to keep “undesirables” out of the United States--which once proudly described itself as a “nation of immigrants”—and this one, like the first, shot down by federal judges; showed his rude/crude ass to Germany’s Andrea Merkel, despite her nation being a solid US ally in Central and Eastern Europe (maybe DJT's pissed because Germany kicked out his grandfather for refusing to do his military service, i.e. like grandfather like son?); embarrassed himself by accusing the British government of being party to his fantasized non-existent  wiretapping which never happened, according to all of those GOP sources (not including Sean Spicer and “Kellyanne Conwoman,” who insist it happened because “The Donald” said it); and then---there is his first Budget.

Anyone surprised that the Billionaire’s first budget  went after many programs benefiting the poor and elderly, when  he wants to boost military deficit spending, despite no true evidence that the latter needs all of that growth?

Candidate Trump railed against escalating drug costs, so where is his effort there? He campaigned for massive infrastructure spending because our community facilities are falling apart, but where is his plan for that? He talked about support for the elderly but he’s cutting “Meals on Wheels.”

I like Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio—two major Trump budget victims—but buy two less fighter aircraft he wants and pay for a year or more of each of PBS and NPR, plus more meals delivered to the elderly.


Ditto close one of those dozens of unneeded US military facilities--which the DoD doesn’t want, but local politicians do--and we’ll save those three programs and maybe the Women’s Infant and Children healthy baby nutrition funds, also due to be slashed.

He campaigned against “Obamacare” and said his “Trump care” would be better, fairer, and less expensive, but it looks like it actually will knock millions off the medically insured lists and drive up costs for those lower income families still eligible? (But, the insurance companies should do very well, thank you.)


Interesting to note that his new OMB Director, Mick Mulvaney admitted, DJT’s campaign promise of “insurance for everyone” will not happen, since Trumpcare won’t offer universal coverage. Jot down one more prevarication.


Last week, when the “non-partisan” Congressional Budget Office—with executives all hired by the House and Senate GOP majority leaders—pointed out those Trumpcare unhappy political facts, the President,  Sean Spicer. OMB Director Mulvaney, et al, began institutionally trashing the CBO, using Chapter 1 of Trump’s playbook, “If you can’t beat them, lie about them.”

In the GOP's eyes, why was the CBO resolute and responsible in the past--when it dumped on Obama initiatives--but suddenly, incompetent now, when it points out Trumpcare flaws?

Vladimir Putin couldn’t have paid any other human being enough to do so much damage to US domestic and foreign relations, as well as slander so many of our societal institutions, as “the Donald” has… and he’s barely been in office three months.

I know a lot of people like our President and remain optimistic, but my hope is that he will level with the American people and explain—in some kind of cogent and sustained detail—his budget objectives, his foreign policy plans, his belief that his “Wall” will keep people out, and—finally--discuss what’s in it for the American people if the Russians suddenly are his and the GOP’s new “besties?”

As the US President, rather than Donny Jr's and Eric’s father, I believe DJT is better off assuming Russia's government and its leaders are pariah and have nothing the US needs or wants, even if Trump Inc. hopes to build hotels, resorts, and casinos in Putin-land.

******************************************************************

Trump the presidential campaigner:

"I'm going to be working for you; I'm not going to have time to go play golf," Trump said during a 2016 event in Virginia.

Trump the President:

CNN reports President Trump plays at least 10 rounds of golf in his first 60 days on the job.


Sure he can golf, occasionally, but these Mar-a-Lago golf rounds are costing taxpayers millions every weekend DJT –who reportedly watches lots of television during the week--visits Florida with his family and friends.

Maloni, 3-20-2017

Friday, March 10, 2017

Headed to California to see kids and grandkids..no new blogs until I return.

Enjoy the peace; but keep your eyes on the Russians, Putin, and their fellow travelers. They are dangerous!!

Monday, March 6, 2017

Frustrated/Angry DJT taps Uncle Sam $$ for Mar-a-Lago trips

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.



GSE Cats and Dogs; Yay Jeff, Boo Jeff


I cannot get excited over a right wing radio jock Alex Jones’ “proof” –the research/writing of Dr. Jerome Corsi--the Obama Administration used GSE dividends to pay for the Obama Healthcare initiative. Big whoop!!!


Where the GSE money went—since once it goes to the Treasury it becomes fungible along with billions of dollars in other revenue and can be used for any federal expenditure—is less important than unwinding the dubious government justification which allowed the GSE earnings to be Treasury-swept.


The world still awaits the first federal judge to rule against the government for that expropriation of shareholders’ money.


Do you think this GOP Congress would be concerned if the “drop in the bucket” GSE quarterly dividends paid for DJT’s Mexican Wall, more combat SEALS, bigger Navy ships, corporate tax cuts, or massive infrastructure works??


Mnuchin’s Treasury and OMB—which will be looking for money all over town—and the Republican-controlled Congress (just as the Democrats did before them) won’t give a major fig who's money goes to cover what will be major deficit spending.

Anyone who thinks, because Alex Jones is a super conservative, his GSE words will have serious weight with the congressional Republicans lives in a naïve political realm and doesn’t grasp federal budgeting.

If the Hill believed in the GSE model, of course they would use Corsi-Jones support evidence, but since they don’t, they won’t.

DC just doesn’t work that way.

Now, if someone wants to spend a few million dollars and pummel the local airwaves with TV and radio advertising, supplemented by newspaper op-eds and full page ads, drawing a direct line between the “sweep” and Dr. Corsi’s charge regarding Obama’s use of the GSEs’ money, a GOP eye or two might arch upwards, but until that happens…..nada, especially when it sinks in for most of the R Congress that it will need unorthodox revenue methods to pay for Trump’s proposed budget.

Oh the Corsi work will come up--and has in other venues--but it won’t amount to a hill of beans. Think Judge Douglas Ginsburg or Judge Patricia Millett and decide whether either could be flipped by the Corsi/Jones revelation?

As I remind my hopeful friends, “There are no GSE silver bullets.”
________________________________________


“Can Carney, now at Breitbart, Do Damage?”

Here was my answer to that question asked of me last week.


“I am sure Carney will have some anti-GSE influence with some in the Trump Admin, but--ironically--if the Trump Admin/Treasury moves on a GSE resolution, my first thought is that it will be some version of making Mnuchin's "release them appropriately capitalized," meaning it will be a systemic mortgage market decision not ideological based on Mnuchin's experience.”

The opposition still will be there and doing whatever they can do to frustrate it, but that hasn't changed (with Carney’s move).
 
__________________________________________


Five Stars--Professor Richard Epstein (ICYMT)

Speaking of Judge Ginsburg (and Judge Millett) Richard Epstein flays their Appeals Court decision in this superb and well-argued article. As I have found with all of Epstein’s columns, it is a wonderful read and hopefully graces the ears of some legal panel (only two judicial apple bites left, unfortunately) and gets through to their cranial decision making apparatus.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardepstein/2017/03/03/d-c-circuit-
refuses-to-see-limits-to-government-power-and-inexcusably-upholds-the-net-worth-sweep/#4b4a169a4167 


__________________________________________

My Quick GSE summation; again, I’m not a lawyer and--as always--I could be as wrong as Hell, but...!!


Things to watch and question.

We lost the appeals ruling to some degree of Ginsburg perfidy or just the same-o, same-o height and depth of the GSE Shit Wall.

There remains a handful of other GSE cases and in all preceding ones, Judges have pretty much ruled like Lamberth; but as long as those other cases remain, there is some hope that plaintiffs can find a Judge who will read the law and consider, deeply, what their lawyers (read Epstein, again) have been saying.

The next big play is Mnuchin’s vow to get the GSEs out of government control, properly capitalized, and privately owned. Right now, the Treasury Secretary seems caught up in a half dozen other government matters elbowing Fannie and Freddie out of the way. 

While we still will be serenaded by Capitol Hill’s “atomize the GSEs” and its echo-responding media Amen chorus, I don’t think that noise will interfere with whatever Mnuchin/Trump want to do, although the congressional, trade, and business bad guys will bleat and issue threatening press releases.

One worrisome possibility to watch for is the next time—in the remaining GSE cases--a DoJ lawyer proposes some delay or throws  sand in the legal gears. Then, we have to loudly ask why/how DJT/Sessions/Mnuchin are letting those things occur?

Or maybe Admin stalwarts, Ackman, Berkowitz, Paulson, Cohn, Icahn, and others can ask, “Who the *&^%$#@ is making GSE policy, why and where, and what’s their objective?”


***********************************************************


AG Jeff Sessions’ Recusal Isn't Enough;
The Nation Needs a Special Prosecutor;
And The President Should “Flynn” Jeff


Former Alabama Republican Senator and now Attorney General Jeff Sessions, probably lied to his old Senate colleagues/friends during his nomination hearing, when he said that he had no contact with Russian official during the Trump campaign (to which he was both a political advisor and early supporter).

The Department of Justice confirmed at least two meetings after several media outlets reported it.

Both meetings were with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, one in the Senator’s office and a second at a Heritage Foundation event. Kislyak reportedly is the senior most US-based Russian spy or one of its top agents.

(It’s laughable to me that a hack schlemiel like Sessions—made AG in a political payoff--thinks he can out con a Russian con man, extraordinaire. “Hey Serg, wanna bet that Rusky cotton ain’t as good as our’n in Alabammy?”)

Sessions lying doesn’t shock or surprise me, no matter how the White House tries to defend and spin it. Remember, it was GOP doubt and anger which drove the AG’s recusal.

The situation demands a Special Prosecutor and, hopefully, a Sessions removal.

_____________________________________________________________________ 

DJT Now Should do a “Flynn” on Sessions

Sessions likely will stay in his job—unless things get much hotter/tighter for him--since Trump will find it embarrassing to dump the first US Senator who supported him; but DJT could/should “Flynn” Sessions.

Trump’s first National Security Director Michael Flynn lied to VP Pence—about the same type of Russian meeting hijinks--and it cost Flynn his new job; Sessions lied to the Senate about his Russian meetings and it should cost him his.

It’s not as if Sessions is a top end legal mind. His intellect, character, and racial history fall short of what are desirable qualities in the nation’s top legal official. (Read Coretta Scott King’s 1986 Session’s letter in this W. Post article.)




 _________________________________________

Sour Note re Sessions?

Additionally—as many people in DC and elsewhere know or have heard—after DJT’s election, there were very disturbing rumors* swirling about Sessions’ personal behavior in Alabama in the 1970’s and 1980’s, which—if true—should have disqualified him from any appointed office, let alone being named Attorney General.

(*I’ll call it rumor unless it gets substantiated. Until then, it’s just an ugly story that hopefully is not accurate.)

_______________________________________

For several reasons, Sessions is shaky and looks like a political problem-magnet.


If President Trump—and his advisers—were smart, they would use his “lies to the Senate” as an excuse to drop Sessions and replace him with someone more up to the Attorney General’s job, possibly one of the other judges DJT had his short list for the SCOTUS, when he nominated Judge Gorsuch.

Using Mike Flynn’s clumsy Russian treatment as the rationale to bring in H.R. McMaster, somebody arguably a better fit, the President could do the same thing with Jeff Sessions.

Dropping Sessions like a hot rock because, embarrassingly he lied to the Senate, allows Trump to bring in someone better (laying the blame understandably on Sessions), plus facilitate getting Sessions a cushy well-paying job somewhere in the GOP business world, making everyone happy.

__________________________________________

Russia Needs More/Better US Scrutiny

One last point on Congress, Russia and President Trump.

Again, my Putin views are well known but I can’t believe many on Capitol Hill, in either political party, see the Russians as anything but obdurate obstructionists, anti-US wannabes, not friendly to US global friends or interests, all around butt holes, and a government sitting near the top of its US enemies list.

Yet our President, his family, some of his cabinet Secretaries and closest advisers have had multiple contacts with Russia and, as a presidential candidate, rump couldn’t’ say enough good things about Vlad Putin.

Trump Inc., managed by sons Eric and Donny Jr, is hot to do business over there and, if you believe Eric, already has made lots of money from Russia.

And the GOP Congress yawns in their DJT stupor.

Is it because DJT’s a Republican and/or the R Congress doesn’t believe Russia/Putin are threats any longer? Or is it because they ignore history and fool themselves and think Russians are just like minded White Europeans, who share US domestic aspirations?

What if Trump Inc. had extensive business contacts with Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan, Saudi Arabia? (Can anyone on Capitol Hill claim Trump Inc. doesn’t have them since nobody in Trump world will discuss in detail its comprehensive international business connections?)

Would Congress be any more vexed, if the Trump family was doing business with “them Muslim Arab guys?” Probably not.

As I noted earlier, the entire smarmy Russian mess screams for a “Special Prosecutor.

The SC is needed not to put people in jail but to reach and get at facts and records with no political interference.

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Connect the dots.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/03/04/why-charles-schumer-meeting-vladimir-putin-doesnt-prove-president-trump-innocent/?utm_term=.bc7b5f7681cd



Maloni, 3-6-2017