They started around 3 p.m. when I got home from high school, as I remember it.

The repugs are making sure these hearings are on at 10 a m. while everyone is at work.

Or am I wrong?

Does anyone know how the time was arrived at?

SPECIAL REPORT: Russian elite invested nearly $100 million in Trump buildings
NATHAN LAYNE, NED PARKER, SVETLANA REITER, STEPHEN GREY AND RYAN MCNEILL
Mar 19th 2017 2:44PM


MIAMI/MOSCOW, March 17 (Reuters) - During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump downplayed his business ties with Russia. And since taking office as president, he has been even more emphatic.

"I can tell you, speaking for myself, I own nothing in Russia," President Trump said at a news conference last month. "I have no loans in Russia. I don't have any deals in Russia."

But in the United States, members of the Russian elite have invested in Trump buildings. A Reuters review has found that at least 63 individuals with Russian passports or addresses have bought at least $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida, according to public documents, interviews and corporate records.

The buyers include politically connected businessmen, such as a former executive in a Moscow-based state-run construction firm that works on military and intelligence facilities, the founder of a St. Petersburg investment bank and the co-founder of a conglomerate with interests in banking, property and electronics.

People from the second and third tiers of Russian power have invested in the Trump buildings as well. One recently posted a photo of himself with the leader of a Russian motorcycle gang that was sanctioned by the United States for its alleged role in Moscow's seizure of Crimea.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/03/19/s...

Holy balls.

Wonder if this will come up in the hearings tomorrow?

Watergate redux.

The White House unveiled its much anticipated budget proposal today. It shows deep cuts to important agencies, including a more than $6 billion decrease in funding to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). More than 75 percent of the agency’s budget goes to helping families pay their rent. Thus, these cuts would have a negative impact on thousands upon thousands of poor and working class households.........

A new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows that the private sector is not capable of providing decent homes to a large proportion of poor and working class households on its own. The report finds that the nation has a shortage of more than 7 million affordable homes for extremely low-income households. This means that two out of three extremely low-income households pay a very large proportion of their income on housing. Indeed, more than 70 percent of these households pay more than half their income on rent and utilities. Every household that loses its rental voucher is at risk of becoming homeless.

Public housing and homeownership

The Post also reported that the preliminary budget called for big cuts to public housing across the nation. Like vouchers, public housing serves those on the edge of homelessness. Public housing projects have been underinvested in for decades leading to many thousands of units being taken out of service. Making public housing units habitable is a very affordable way to increase the housing supply for low-income households. Failing to do so is also a sure way to increasing the homeless population.

The budget out today shows a cut of more than $1 billion to what the White House calls “lower priority programs,” including the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Choice Neighborhoods, and the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program. These programs provide vital housing assistance on the local, state, and national levels.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-budget/324211-how-trumps-budget-cuts-could-affect-housing-for-thousands


Wish I had some good news to post, but there doesn't seem to be any.

Many believe (and many hope) that President Trump will not complete his first term and will be impeached at some point during his tenure. And odds on his impeachment have maintained great popularity with bettors these past months.

Irish gambling operator Paddy Power should be mentioned as the bookmaker to have dedicated the most attention to President Trump, his policies, his family, and other aspects of his presidency and life in a special Donald Trump odds section.

The operator is currently offering several betting options related to the top official’s possible impeachment. Paddy Power has priced 2017 as the most likely year for President Trump’s impeachment. Odds are at 3/1 that the US House of Representatives passes an impeachment vote by the end of the year.

Ladbrokes, another gambling powerhouse with a Donald Trump Specials section, has too been offering odds on the official’s year of impeachment; 2017 is priced at 7/2 as the likely year for him leaving his post after an impeachment vote.

http://www.casinonewsdaily.com/2017/03/16/bookmakers-unleash-wave-trump-impeachment-odds/

Source: Washington Post

Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign as national security adviser amid controversy over his contacts with Russia’s ambassador, collected nearly $68,000 in fees and expenses from Russia-related entities in 2015, a higher amount than was previously known, according to newly released documents.

The records show that the bulk of the money, more than $45,000, came from the Russian government-backed television network RT, in connection to a December 2015 trip Flynn took to Moscow. Flynn has acknowledged that RT sponsored his trip, during which he attended a gala celebrating the network’s 10th anniversary and was seated near Russian President Vladi­mir Putin. His speakers bureau took a cut of the fee.

The newly released documents show that Flynn was also paid $11,250 that year by the U.S. subsidiary of a Russian cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky Lab, and another $11,250 by the Russian charter cargo airline Volga-Dnepr Airlines. The cyberfirm said the payment came for a speech Flynn delivered in Washington. A spokesman for Flynn said the Volga-Dnepr payment also came for a Washington speech; a spokesman for the company did not respond to a request for comment.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/new-details-released-on-russia-related-payments-to-flynn-before-he-joined-trump-campaign/2017/03/16/52a4205a-0a55-11e7-a15f-a58d4a988474_story.html

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"Oh, what a tangled web we weave..."

Source: Politico

Lindsey Graham lacks the resources and access that the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have to investigate Russias meddling in the presidential election.

But his Senate Judiciary subcommittee has something the intelligence panels dont: a Republican chairman viewed not as a Donald Trump ally but as a fierce critic, who has no qualms with bucking party leaders to unravel the mystery of Russias interference in the election.



Graham and his Democratic partner, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, will seize the spotlight Wednesday during a public hearing on Russias election interference, to be held by Grahams Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which has jurisdiction over the FBI.

Graham and Whitehouse plan to use their perch to help ensure the public gets a full accounting of Russias intrusion and any possible ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/lindsey-graham-trump-russia-236043Link to source

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This isn't going away.

Source: The Hill

A Senate Democrat says he'll back President Trump's pick to lead the Labor Department.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) will vote for Labor Secretary nominee Alex Acosta, who hails from his home state of Florida, a spokesperson for the senator said Tuesday.

The fight over filling the Labor secretary position has been heated in Washington. Last month, the president's first choice, restaurant executive Andrew Puzder, flamed out following accusations that he mistreated his workers, questions about his divorce and the revelation he employed an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper.

Trump followed up by nominating Acosta, a former member of the National Labor Relations Board, who is seen as a more neutral pick.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/regulation/labor/323990-trumps-labor-nominee-picks-up-dem-vote%3Famp

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Posted without comment.

"I hold that in this country there must be complete severance of Church and State; that public moneys shall not be used for the purpose of advancing any particular creed; and therefore that the public schools shall be non-sectarian and no public moneys appropriated for sectarian schools." Theodore Roosevelt, Address, New York, October 12, 1915

On the evening of February 27, a colossal projection of Woody Guthrie appeared on the north side of the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City. Standing several stories tall, and hovering on a white canvas that covered current construction scaffolding, the late musician’s guitar that famously was emblazoned with “This Machine Kills Fascists” asked instead, “How Did It Come to This.”

The resurrection of the activist in his home state was the work of artist Jack Fowler with the technical collaboration of Stephen Tyler. Fowler had initially hoped to return and feature crowdsourced #WoodysGuitar messages on the capitol’s façade. The day after the action, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services issued a statement, shared by the Oklahoman, that although they “appreciate the creativity and ingenuity displayed by local artists” it’s “important to note that projecting images onto the state Capitol is prohibited without the necessary permits.” On an attempted return, Fowler was met by state troopers and threatened with arrest and the seizure of his equipment. ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel told news station KFOR: “They’re communicating to other Oklahomans that may be interested in stepping out and using their voice to communicate a political message, that if you do this, you do so under threat of arrest or having your property seized.”


http://hyperallergic.com/364138/this-projection-art-kills-fascists/