Tag: George W. Bush

Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush will deliver eulogies on Senator John McCain's request, sending a message to the country. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports.

GOP speechwriter, Peter Wehner, who served in three Republican administrations joins Ari Melber to discuss a blistering new op-ed, in which he calls out the “Full-spectrum corruption of Donald Trump”. Wehner comments on the recent passing of Senator John McCain,…

Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter expressed condolences after the passing of Senator John McCain.

Former White House Ethics Lawyer for Pres. George W. Bush, Richard Painter, reacts to Pres. Trump's increasingly long list of legal woes. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC is the premier destination for in-depth analysis of daily headlines, insightful…

Still, it is not easy to speed up a $20tn economy, even by running a budget deficit of nearly $1tn, as Trump’s administration is doing. | Hans-Werner Sinn Read more In a cantankerous political environment, it is not easy to think about the long term. Ronald Reagan’s massive tax cuts in the 80s helped restore US growth in the ensuing decades – but also exacerbated inequality trends. And Barack Obama’s efforts (and before him George W Bush’s) to contain the damage from the 2008 financial crisis underpin the strong economy for which Trump wants to take full credit. What will be the cumulative effect of Trump’s economic policies on the economy 10 years from now? The end-of-2017 corporate tax reform was one of those rare instances where the US Congress comprehensively streamlined and improved the US’s byzantine tax system, though the corporate tax rate should have been set at 25%, not 21%. Trump’s efforts to scale back regulation, particularly on small and medium-size businesses, are probably also a plus for long-term growth, reversing some excesses that crept in at the end of Obama’s term (though Trump is throwing out good regulations with bad ones). Many of the regulations that Trump is targeting ought to be strengthened, not eliminated But while the Trump administration has strengthened the US economy’s long-term growth potential in some ways, the other side of the ledger is rather grim. Recovery from the damage Trump is inflicting on institutions and political culture in the US may take years; if so, the economic costs could be considerable. On the other hand, neutering existing legislation without putting anything adequate in its place sets the stage for another financial crisis.

These are the images you've never seen from one of the most suspenseful nights in our nation's history.

Michael Chertoff, Former Secretary of Homeland Security under George W. Bush, gives his insight on 2020: will there be similar attempts from Russia to interfere? "There’s going to be efforts to meddle and interfere. As far as the influence operations…

He served under Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton, examining the suicide of Vincent W. Foster Jr., the deputy White House counsel, and drafting parts of the report that led to Mr. Clinton’s impeachment. After seven years at Yale, where he went to college and law school, he returned here for a varied career that included stints in the Justice Department, the independent counsel’s office, a private law firm and the White House before joining the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. “Whatever the opposite of a Georgetown cocktail party person is, that’s what Judge Kavanaugh is,” said Justin Walker, a law professor at the University of Louisville who worked as a law clerk for both Judge Kavanaugh and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Where Kavanaugh, Trump’s Nominee, Might Fit on the Supreme Court President Trump’s selection, Brett M. Kavanaugh, is a Washington insider who appears unlikely to drift left as other conservative justices have. No Supreme Court justice has had more than one former law clerk join the court. You’ve got to go home.’ But he would never listen to me.” Judge Kavanaugh’s only appearance as a lawyer before the Supreme Court was an attempt to obtain the notes of a lawyer for Mr. Foster. “My chief takeaway from working in the White House for five and a half years — and particularly from my nearly three years of work as staff secretary, when I was fortunate to travel the country and the world with President Bush — is that the job of president is far more difficult than any other civilian position in government,” he wrote. Judge Kavanaugh’s first nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stalled in the Senate, but he was confirmed after Mr. Bush renominated him in 2006. In his opinions, Judge Kavanaugh has often been skeptical of government regulations, notably in the area of environmental law, and he has argued in favor of greater judicial power in reviewing the actions of administrative agencies on major questions. If we do this, we can’t.” He has also been open to using the First Amendment to strike down government regulations.

Dahlia Lithwick, legal correspondent and senior editor for Slate.com, talks with Rachel Maddow about Brett Kavanaugh's political past and legal history that will all be brought to bear in his confirmation process. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC is…

You see, he wasn’t just protecting the environment. I believe that same providence brought me into your service.” You can believe in the science of climate change if you like. So what does it say about the wizard’s strength now that Saint Scott is gone? If Trump magic can’t protect someone saving our president’s soul through the power of providence, then who is safe in Trumpland? It’s almost like there’s some invisible hand steering this bizarre sequence of hirings and firings, but we can’t figure out what the hand is trying to do. No, the enduring scar left by Scott Pruitt is the political dismantling of the EPA itself. As if by magic, the fossil fuel industry has taken over the agency that was supposed to protect our environment from the worst effects of that industry. But their new man is enough of a Washington insider to avoid the personal scandals that brought down his old boss. EPA administrator. And may providence protect whatever survives your EPA.