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The Tap: Thursday, August 11, 2016

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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #29 of The Tap, which was published on August 13, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

  • The federal government rejected a proposal to declassify marijuana as an illegal Schedule I drug and to allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that marijuana has not been proven scientifically to be medically safe or effective; therefore, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could not allow the drug to be declassified. Currently, in opposition to the federal law, 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes, which has led to enforcement uncertainty. Marijuana was classified as a Schedule I drug in 1970 as part of the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA ruling did allow for more facilities to grow marijuana for research purposes, but proponents of legal medical use of marijuana said the ruling did not go far enough.
  • A group of more than 70 Republicans, including former members of Congress and Republican National Committee (RNC) staffers, sent an open letter to RNC Chair Reince Priebus requesting that the party’s resources be spent on Senate and House races rather than on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. “We believe that Donald Trump’s divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide, and only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck,” they wrote.
  • Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt called on Donald Trump to clarify remarks he made the day before saying that President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were the founders of ISIS. Hewitt said, “You meant that he [Obama] created the vacuum, he lost the peace.” Trump said, “No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way, Hillary Clinton.” On Friday morning, Trump tweeted that his comments were “sarcasm.” In another tweet, he continued, “I love watching these poor, pathetic people (pundits) on television working so hard and so seriously to try and figure me out. They can't!”
  • House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) said on Thursday that last year’s hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which included the private email accounts of some party officials, was “an electronic Watergate.” She told reporters, “The Russians broke in. Who did they give the information to? I don't know. Who dumped it? I don't know. But I do know that this is a Watergate-like electronic break in. And anyone who would exploit for the purpose of embarrassment or something like that is an accomplice to that."
  • Hillary Clinton delivered an economic policy speech in Michigan aimed at rebutting Donald Trump’s new economic proposals. She criticized his plan to reduce the top personal tax rate to 33 percent and to tax pass-through income at 15 percent for small businesses, calling it “the Trump loophole.” She charged, "It would allow him to pay less than half the current tax rate on income from many of his companies. He'd pay a lower rate than millions of middle class families.” On trade, Clinton sought to reassure progressives in her party, saying, “I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I oppose it now. I’ll oppose it after the election. And I’ll oppose it as president.”
  • Donald Trump added nine new members to his economic advisory team, including eight women, bringing some gender balance to the team, which was previously comprised of 13 men. “Many of the new additions are donors, including Anthony Scaramucci, a top Republican fundraiser and New York investor; Diane Hendricks, a Republican fundraiser who is active in the Koch political network, which has refused to back Trump's campaign; and Liz Uihlein, who is a major party donor. One of the members, Judy Shelton, has been an outspoken advocate for the gold standard. Another, former New York lieutenant governor Betsy McCaughey, suggested in 2009 that the Affordable Care Act included a provision that would ‘absolutely require’ seniors on Medicare to attend a panel every five years on how to end their lives sooner,” The Washington Post reported.
  • In an interview with The Miami Herald, Donald Trump said that he would accept American civilians suspected of terrorism being tried by a military tribunal in Guantánamo. “I would say they could be tried there, that would be fine,” he said.
  • Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) announced that he was supporting Donald Trump. “I think governing and campaigning are two different things. How you campaign is not necessarily how you're going to govern and vice versa. Again, he's never run for office before, so he doesn't have that traditional way of doing it,” Herbert said.
  • Jill Stein released the first two pages of her 2015 tax return on her campaign website. She and her husband reported income of approximately $349,000.
  • Intelligence assessments approved by senior leaders at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) from the middle of 2014 to the middle of 2015 consistently presented a more optimistic representation of what was happening on the ground in the fight against the Islamic State, according to a report released by a House Republican task force. The investigation revealed that CENTCOM leaders regularly disseminated intelligence that was inconsistent with the judgments of many senior, career CENTCOM analysts. The task force launched its investigation in December 2015 after a whistleblower filed a complaint in May 2015 stating that senior leaders "violated regulations, tradecraft standards, and professional ethics by modifying intelligence assessments to present an unduly positive outlook on CENTCOM efforts to train the ISF [Iraqi Security Forces] and combat ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]." Additionally, the report found that "many CENTCOM press releases, public statements, and congressional testimonies were also significantly more positive than actual events," which led Republican members of the task force to suggest that CENTCOM officials may have influenced senior U.S. policymakers' understanding of how the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, was progressing. House Democrats, who are conducting their own investigation, agreed that CENTCOM officials manipulated intelligence reports but said that they "found no evidence of politicization of intelligence in this case” or collaboration with the White House. Investigations are ongoing.
  • The Pentagon has refused to say how many members of the U.S. military are on the ground in Iraq and Syria fighting ISIS despite multiple requests from reporters. Currently, there are 3,825 full-time troops on the ground in Iraq and 300 in Syria, but those figures do not include individuals who are there on temporary deployments or defense contractors. A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs said that it is difficult to explain how many troops are on the ground in Iraq and Syria at a given time because temporary deployments change frequently. The Office of the Defense Secretary and U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday that the total number of individuals fighting ISIS will not be released. According to The Hill, “Some worry that officials are hiding the deepening U.S. involvement in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.” The Hill estimates that anywhere from to 8,252 to 10,152 troops and Defense Department personnel could be involved in the fight against ISIS. While military officials say that the use of defense contractors and temporary deployments is necessary due to the cap on U.S. troops in Iraq, some say that the practice puts individuals at risk. House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said, “If you are rotating people in every 30 days or whatever it is to keep below the troop caps then the people who are rotating in are not going to have time to get acclimated to the environment and may be at increased risk.”
  • In a letter to members of Congress, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said that $81 million in funds will be shifted away from programs that research cures for cancer and diabetes, a program that supplies heating oil subsidies for low-income families, and substance abuse programs. The funds will be used to fight the Zika virus. She said that the funding will only last through next month and requested that Congress act on legislation to fully fund research efforts to continue the development of a Zika vaccine. Congress left for its summer recess without passing a Zika funding bill. The Senate rejected legislation that proposed providing $1.1 billion to fight Zika. Democrats opposed the bill because it would have denied new funding to Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico for birth control, and it would have eased the requirements on spraying pesticides to kill mosquitoes. The House passed the legislation on June 23, 2016.
  • A Morning Consult poll revealed a slight increase in support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP) and a slight increase in voters' knowledge of it since Morning Consult’s March 2016 poll. The poll, conducted August 8-10, 2016, found that 10 percent of those polled “Strongly support” the TPP and 25 percent “Somewhat support” the trade deal, while 13 percent “Somewhat oppose” the deal and 9 percent “Strongly oppose” it. Forty-three percent said that they were unsure whether they supported or opposed the deal or said that they had no opinion about it. Sixty-two percent of those polled said that they know "not much" or "nothing at all" about the 12-nation agreement, a 10 percent decrease from the March 2016 Morning Consult poll.

State

  • The Alabama State Board of Education selected Michael Sentance to be the new superintendent of education. Sentance was chosen from a pool of six finalists as the permanent replacement of former Superintendent Tommy Bice, who resigned to pursue a career in the private sector. Philip Cleveland had been serving as interim superintendent since April 14, 2016. Interestingly, Sentance previously served as Massachusetts secretary of education from 1991 to 1996 under former Gov. Bill Weld and is a longtime resident of Massachusetts. His out-of-state status generated some controversy from critics who questioned Sentance’s ability to understand the needs of the Alabama education system.
    • Especially among appointed positions, it is not uncommon for a former state executive official to hold public office in another state. In a recent example, former Colorado Commissioner of Education Rich Crandall, who served from January 2016 to May 2016, was also the director of the Wyoming Department of Education from 2013 to 2014. Some former statewide officials have also run for election to public offices in different states, often with less success: Weld made a failed bid for governor of New York in 2006 after nearly 20 years of public service in Massachusetts. To date, the only person to win a governorship in two states is Sam Houston, who was elected governor of Tennessee in 1827 and governor of Texas in 1859.


Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #28 of The Tap, which was published on August 6, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.


Local

  • The Alabama Board of Education is expected to meet and select a new superintendent of education. The post has been held by interim Superintendent Philip Cleveland since April 14, 2016; he was appointed to the position after Superintendent Tommy Bice resigned in order to pursue a career in the private sector. Under Alabama law, Cleveland is ineligible to be considered for the position of superintendent as he is currently serving as the interim officeholder. The board identified six potential candidates on July 12, 2016, including research fellow Bill Evers, education consultant Michael Sentence, secretary of the Department of Early Childhood Education Jeana Ross, and district superintendents Dee Fowler, Craig Pouncey, and Janet Womack.



The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.
March: 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
April: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
May: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
June: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
July: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
August: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
September: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
October: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7• 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
November: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30
December: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 31
January: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31
February: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17
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