The Tap: Thursday, September 15, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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 #34 of The Tap, which was published on September 17, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.
Federal
- Donald Trump revealed an economic plan which he said would create 25 million new jobs and grow the economy at an annual rate of at least 3.5 percent. Describing his plan in a speech before the Economic Club of New York as “the most pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-family plan put forth perhaps in the history of our country,” Trump said, “My economic plan rejects the cynicism that says our labor force will keep declining, that our jobs will keep leaving and that our economy can never grow as it did once before.” The plan includes reductions in non-defense spending, lower taxes, penalties for companies that move overseas, fewer environmental regulations, and a renegotiation of NAFTA.
- Jason Miller, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, released a statement saying that Donald Trump “believes that President Obama was born in the United States.” The statement opens by saying that Hillary Clinton first raised the issue “in her very nasty, failed 2008 campaign.” In 2011, the statement goes on to say, Trump compelled Obama to release his birth certificate, which Miller called a “great service” to the country. “Inarguably, Donald J. Trump is a closer. Having successfully obtained President Obama’s birth certificate when others could not, Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States,” the statement reads. In an interview with The Washington Post the same day, Trump avoided the issue. When asked if he believed Obama was born in Hawaii, he said, “I’ll answer that question at the right time. I just don’t want to answer it yet.”
- On Friday, Trump addressed Obama’s birthplace at a campaign event, saying, “Hillary Clinton in her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. Now we all want to get back to making America strong and great again.”
- In response, Clinton said that Trump owes Obama and the American people an apology. “For five years, he has led the birther movement to delegitimize our first black president. His campaign was founded on this outrageous lie. There is no erasing it in history. Just yesterday, Trump, again, refused to say with his own words that the president was born in the United States. … He's feeding into the worst impulses, the bigotry and bias that lurks in our country. Barack Obama was born in America, plain and simple. And Donald Trump owes him and the American people an apology,” said Clinton.
- Trump’s physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, released a letter saying that Trump “is in excellent physical health.” The letter outlined details of Trump health including his height and weight, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood sugar, and the results of an EKG and chest X-ray from April 2016. In December 2015, Bornstein released a letter saying that Trump “would be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” Trump also discussed his health in an interview on The Dr. Oz Show. Trump said, “I think when you're running for president, I think you have an obligation to be healthy. I just don't think you can do the work if you're not healthy.” He added that he would like to lose weight.
- Also in the interview with Dr. Oz, Trump said that birth control “should not be done by prescription.” He said, “I think what we have in birth control is, you know, when you have to get a prescription, that’s a pretty tough something to climb. And I would say it should not be a prescription, it should not be done by prescription. … you have women that just aren’t able to go get a prescription. So and [sic] more and more people are coming out and saying that, but I am not in favor of prescription for birth control.”
- See also: Trump on Healthcare
- Paul Ryan suggested that Donald Trump should release his tax returns. Referring to his vice presidential run with Mitt Romney in 2012, Ryan said, “I released mine. I think he should release his. I know he is under an audit and he has got an opinion about when to release those. I will defer to him on that.” Trump has faced repeated criticism from Hillary Clinton’s campaign and Democrats over his decision not to release his tax returns. Clinton released her 2015 tax returns in August. Trump son, Donald Trump Jr., commented on his father’s tax returns in an interview on Wednesday, saying, “Because he’s got a 12,000-page tax return that would create … financial auditors out of every person in the country asking questions that would detract from [his father's] main message.”
- The Libertarian Party has formally requested that Gary Johnson receive national security briefings. In a letter to the General Services Administration, Libertarian Party National Chairman Nicholas Sarwark wrote, “Three tickets will be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, but only two are receiving taxpayer-funded national security briefings. That is just wrong, and we urge the GSA to provide the same information to Governor Johnson that is being given to Mr. Trump and Sec. Clinton.” The Presidential Transition Act of 1963, which allowed for presidential candidates to receive national security briefings, requires candidates to be able to demonstrate “a significant level of public support in national public opinion polls, so as to be realistically considered among the principal contenders for President or Vice-President of the United States.”
- Two federal judiciary nominees were reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. These nominations now head to the full U.S. Senate for a final confirmation vote. The nominees are Lucy H. Koh, a nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Florence Y. Pan, a nominee to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Currently, Ballotpedia counts 32 nominees to the federal judiciary who are awaiting a final confirmation vote before the full U.S. Senate.
- For more, see Ballotpedia’s Federal Vacancy Warning System
- The pro-Clinton Correct the Record PAC launched an initiative called TrumpLeaks to pay anonymous sources for previously unpublished audio and video of Donald Trump making provocative statements. Correct the Record head David Brock defended the project, saying, "I understand the prohibition on press paying for stories, but we're not the press.”
- During a radio interview, Hillary Clinton indicated that she would not request that President Barack Obama withdraw his nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court if she were elected president in November. "I’m going to let this president serve out his term with distinction and make the decisions that he thinks are right," she said. Clinton added, “If I have the opportunity to make any Supreme Court appointments I’m going to look broadly and widely for people who represent the diversity of our country, who bring some common-sense, real-world experience."
- For more, see 2016 presidential candidates on the Supreme Court vacancy.
Congressional legislation
- Key vote: The Senate passed S 2848—the Water Resources Development Act of 2016—by a vote of 95-3. The $9.4 billion package proposes providing funding for water-related infrastructure projects, water conservation projects, and emergency funding for Flint, Michigan, and other cities with lead-contaminated water.
- Key vote: The House passed HR 5351—To prohibit the transfer of any individual detained at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba—by a vote of 244-174. The legislation proposes prohibiting the use of federal funding to transfer or release any individual detained at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
- Veto threat: The Office of Management and Budget released the following statement explaining that President Barack Obama would veto the bill if it reaches his desk: “This bill represents an effort not only to extend the facility's operation — as have the other unwarranted legislative restrictions on transfers — but to bring to a standstill the substantial progress the administration has made in safely and securely reducing the facility's population. If the president were presented with H.R. 5351, his senior advisors would recommend he veto the bill.”
State
- Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen announced that the state will appeal a ruling from Superior Court Judge Thomas G. Moukawsher that ordered an overhaul of the public education system. The judge gave the state 180 days to revise its system of school funding, establish tougher graduation requirements, and create new teacher evaluation metrics. Although Jepsen agreed that there are “profound educational challenges that remain” and urged the legislature to act “without delay,” he argued that the ruling exceeded the court’s authority. The case will be appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court.
- Kansas officials are attempting to identify voters affected by a September 10 court ruling blocking the state, along with Georgia and Alabama, from requiring proof of citizenship from people registering to vote using a federal form. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said the state’s voter database does not differentiate between registrations via federal or state form, so officials must physically go through the paperwork of those who tried to register since January. The ruling came from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which reversed the ruling of the lower court. Under the appeals court’s ruling, Kansas can no longer require people to show proof of citizenship when registering using the federal form and must allow anyone who registered after January 29 to vote regardless of whether they provided proof of citizenship.
Local
- Corpus Christi council member Mark Scott resigned from his position and announced his intent to run for mayor in 2018. Scott would have termed out at the end of 2016 after nearly eight years of service on the council. Mayor Nelda Martinez (D) is running for re-election this year and will face challenger Dan McQueen in the general election on November 8, 2016. Corpus Christi is the 60th-largest city in the United States by population and the eighth-largest in Texas.
Preview of the day
The excerpts below were compiled from issue #33 of The Tap, which was published on September 10, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.
Federal
- The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting to vote on reporting two federal judicial nominees out of committee and to the full Senate for final consideration and approval. Those nominees are:
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