Peter Schorsch
A frenzied week winds down in Washington
What a week.
Over the past five days, news has broken on serious policy matters, investigations, political intrigue, bipartisan cooperation, and partisan votes all crammed into a four-day period.
Early in the week, the back-and-forth between President Donald Trump, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Miami Gardens Democrat Frederica Wilson surrounding a fallen hero continued.
This sorry spectacle started to fade after Sgt. La David Johnson was laid to rest, but Thursday brought reports that Wilson remained in Florida for the week due to threats against her.
On Monday, the House Intelligence Committee announced it would be looking into new revelations surrounding a 2010 deal that allowed Russia to purchase U.S. uranium. Ponte Vedra Republican Ron DeSantis said the committee “will be focusing on how the interagency process worked in this. We don’t think that it worked out very well.
On Wednesday a gag order on an FBI informant, reportedly with knowledge of the deal, was lifted, which will allow that person to testify before the committee. According to Fox News, Trump himself gave the order to free the informant from the gag order.
Late Tuesday The Washington Post broke the story that what is known as the “Trump Dossier” was funded by the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The significance of this news is yet to be determined, but no one at the DNC, past or present, seems to know anything about its funding.
DNC Chairman Tom Perez said he only became aware of the dossier recently. The spokesman for Weston Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schulz, who was DNC chair at the time the dossier was commissioned, said: “she was not aware of anything related to this research arrangement.”
Wednesday saw two GOP Senators, Tennessee’s Bob Corker and Arizona’s Jeff Flake, take aggressive verbal swings at fellow Republican Trump. Flake took to the Senate floor to berate the president, while also announcing he would not seek re-election. Corker is also retiring.
Though he has had his differences with the president, Sen. Marco Rubio did not join his GOP colleagues. He said the party is “going through a moment of realignment internally.”
Known recently for his tweets of bible verses, Rubio took to Twitter to perhaps explain his silence by using the book of Proverbs.
“Whoever meddles in the quarrel of another is one who grabs a passing dog by the ears.”
On Thursday, the House passed the Senate’s version of the budget by a vote of 216-212. With a budget now in place, Congress can soon pass tax reform with simple majorities, which has lately been difficult in the Senate.
All Democrats voted against the measure while 20 Republicans opposed. The only Florida Republican to vote “no” was Matt Gaetz of Fort Walton Beach, who referred to it as a “liberal Senate budget.”
Also on Thursday, the House voted 423-2 to impose additional sanctions on Iran for their pursuit of ballistic missiles. Later that same day, Trump declared the opioid crisis a “public health emergency,” and the IRS admitted it took improper delaying actions against Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status (see item below).
It was a week to remember. No fake news here.
Nelson, Rubio demand fixes for Puerto Rico’s roads and bridges
Florida’s senators are demanding that the administration come up with short-term fixes for Puerto Rico’s broken roads and bridges, which could take months to rebuild following the devastation from Hurricane Maria, writes Melanie Zanona of The Hill.
Puerto Rico’s infrastructure problems have prevented critical aid and other supplies from getting distributed around the island, especially in remote and rural areas.
“During our recent visits to Puerto Rico, we witnessed the devastation this storm caused to the island’s infrastructure, including numerous bridges that were damaged or completely destroyed,” the senators wrote Tuesday in a letter to the DOT and FEMA. “The hurricane hit rural communities in Puerto Rico’s mountainous interior especially hard, effectively cutting them off from the rest of the island.”
The two senators have asked the DOT and FEMA to identify their plans to ensure aid is getting delivered; whether any interim solutions can be enacted to restore transportation to remote communities quickly; and how the agencies plan to help rebuild and repair the island’s roads and bridges.
“It is critical that FEMA and DOT work together to quickly reconnect isolated communities to the rest of the island, and begin the larger task of helping Puerto Rico rebuild its transportation infrastructure,” they said.
Rubio introduces bill to increase small businesses
Florida’s junior senator has aligned with Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican, to introduce legislation designed to encourage new small businesses. The Spurring Business in Communities Act would allow more Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC) to form and invest in Florida and other under-licensed states.
“I want Florida’s entrepreneurs and investors to be able to stay and invest here in Florida’s economy, instead of being shoehorned into Wall Street and Silicon Valley jobs away from home,” Rubio said in a release. “Our bill will help reduce America’s investor gap by removing regionally biased obstacles investors face when applying to become a licensed Small Business Investment Company.”
This legislation would increase the ability of the Small Business Administration to provide widespread geographic support and enhance the SBA’s accountability to Congress. Specifically, it would exempt SBIC applicants from under-licensed states from full capital requirements, give priority to new applicants from under-licensed and underfinanced states, and establish annual reporting requirements on the SBA’s progress toward increasing the geographic dispersion of SBICs.
“SBICs are primarily located in large urban and finance centers of the U.S., which only further concentrates lending and investment activity,” said McMorris Rodgers, the fourth-ranking member of House leadership. “This legislation will change that by easing the process for SBICs to form in our state, invest in people in our community, grow our local economy, and create jobs.”
Poll: Nelson/Scott tied; half have no opinion on incumbent
While still a hypothetical race — for now — a new poll from the University of North Florida says a contest between the three-term Senator and Florida’s two-term governor is a dead heat.
In a statewide, live-dial poll of 838 registered voters, Bill Nelson was the choice of 37 percent of respondents, Scott of 36 percent, while 20 percent were unsure.
The party split: likewise similar, with 66 percent of Democrats saying they’d vote for Nelson and 68 percent for Scott. Nelson also had a 4 point edge (32 to 28) with NPA voters.
“The one major concern for Democrats has to be the public’s lack of awareness of Nelson. When a three-term sitting U.S. senator has almost half of the sample unable to assess his job approval, you have a problem,” observed UNF polling director Michael Binder.
Nelson seems to be the invisible man in this poll, with 35 percent approval, 15 percent disapproval, and a full 49 percent with no opinion — making him potentially easy prey to be defined by a Republican opponent and associated political committees.
Scott’s approval numbers, in what is a sharp contrast to much of the Republican Governor’s tenure, look impressive at 59 percent approval — including 40 percent of Democrats.
The poll was conducted between Oct. 11 and Oct. 17. There is a 3.39 point margin of error.
Richard Berman: Florida lawmakers must support the Employee Rights Act
The 2018 election cycle is already underway. By next November, big bucks will be spent on dozens of House and Senate campaigns around the country. Experts estimate more than $3 billion will be spent on political advertisements alone.
If history is any indication, labor unions will be intimately involved. From 2012 to 2016, America’s unions sent nearly $765 million in member dues to the Democratic Party and liberal special interest groups. This is in addition to funds spent directly on candidate support. CUF estimates that, since 2010, unions have contributed more than $1 billion to liberal groups without prior member approval.
Despite the lopsided political preferences of union officials, 40 percent of union household members vote Republican in any given election cycle. In 2016, 43 percent of union household voters supported Trump. Union leadership continues to disregard them and bankroll the anti-Trump resistance.
Union officials can spend member dues on political advocacy without ever receiving affirmative consent from their dues-paying members. And they do so to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
In many cases, union members see their hard-earned dues spent on political causes they oppose. Imagine being a Republican and seeing a portion of your monthly paycheck used to fund a left-wing political agenda or vice versa.
The solution to this injustice is the Employee Rights Act (ERA). Reintroduced in the 115th Congress, the ERA would require union officials to obtain permission from their members before spending dues money on political advocacy. This would prevent union elites from turning their backs on members and playing politics against employees’ own interests.
Fortunately, most of Florida’s Republican delegation is on board … From Sen. Marco Rubio on down, Floridians in Washington are some of the ERA’s most dedicated champions. Unfortunately, Reps. Carlos Curbelo, Mario Diaz-Balart, and other lawmakers have yet to show their support for pro-employee labor reform.
The ERA is the only bill in Congress with 80 percent bipartisan support. It’s an idea whose time has come.
Richard Berman is the executive director of the Center for Union Facts.
Bipartisan House leadership group to tour hurricane-damaged areas
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, are leading a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers to storm-devastated regions of the country, including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Florida Keys.
The lawmakers arrived Thursday in Miami, where they received a briefing at the Coast Guard Air Station on the response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria. After a tour of the Virgin Islands, they will fly to Las Piedras, Puerto Rico to meet with residents and help distribute food and water.
The last stop will be in Marathon to tour the damage and receive a briefing on recovery efforts in Key West. The group will be joined by Rep. Carlos Curbelo.
McCarthy said in a statement that the trip “will underscore the bipartisan commitment to immediate and long-term support for our fellow citizens.”
“I remain committed to ensuring that the federal government is providing every available resource to assist those in need and help those communities rebuild,” Hoyer said.
Gaetz wants Trump to OK medical marijuana
First-year Congressman Gaetz is quickly becoming “one of the House’s foremost leaders working to reform federal marijuana policies,” writes Tom Angell in Forbes. Between pushing to protect state laws on medical marijuana to supporting ng the Justice Department’s reclassification to allow further study on the drug’s effects, the North Florida Republican has been working on several fronts.
One problem, Angell says: Gaetz may be an outlier within the GOP congressional ranks.
Stymied by congressional Republicans, most cannabis amendments did not receive a vote, even ones — many of them either sponsored or co-sponsored by Gaetz — “to shield state laws from federal interference, to remove research roadblocks and even to allow military veterans increased access to medical marijuana.”
“We need presidential leadership,” Gaetz told Forbes in an interview this week. “President Trump made a commitment during the campaign to support medical marijuana, and we need the president to continue to be a force for good on this issue.”
Gaetz added: “Many millennials voted for the president because they believed he was a new type of Republican on the marijuana issue … The most dispositive factor in determining whether or not someone is likely to support cannabis reform is their age, not their party affiliation. It’s hard to find Republicans under the age of 40 that oppose medical marijuana research.”
Veterans bill sponsored by North Florida colleagues advances
On Wednesday, the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity voted to advance the Veterans Armed for Success Act.
The bill is co-sponsored by Jacksonville Republican John Rutherford and Al Lawson, a Democrat from Tallahassee.
“This vote is great news for our veterans,” Rutherford said. “It’s the first step to passing a bill that will give them greater opportunities to transition into stable, long-term employment which will strengthen families, build a stronger local workforce, and improve the mental health of our veterans.”
If enacted, HR 3965 would appropriate $5 million for job-related training and “transition assistance” for military veterans. Those funds would go to eligible organizations in the form of federal matching funds, defraying up to 50 percent of costs.
“I am proud to work beside my friend and colleague Rep. Rutherford on an issue that extends beyond partisan politics and works to create a better quality of life for all American veterans, said Lawson.”
NRCC backs both Murphy opponents in District 7; Barreiro to succeed Ros-Lehtinen
So far, the Winter Park Democrat has two Republican challengers for re-election, but national Republicans aren’t taking sides in the primary. The National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) announced Thursday it is backing both state Rep. Mike Miller and his primary challenger Scott Sturgill in the race to take on Murphy in Florida’s 7th Congressional District.
The NRCC announced it was including both Miller and Sturgill in its “On the Radar” level of support, among 31 candidates nationally thus designated Thursday.
The announcement by the National Republican Congressional Committee adds fuel to Sturgill’s campaign, signaling a clear race in what many initially had considered was Miller’s.
Miller, a two-term representative from Winter Park, entered the race in late June and had grabbed some big-name endorsements including those of U.S. Sen. Rubio and former U.S. Sens. Mel Martinez of Orlando and Connie Mack III of Fort Myers.
Yet Sturgill, a small-business owner from Sanford who entered the race in mid-July, loaned his own campaign $100,000, and with that raised more money than Miller, $206,000 to $156,000, through the end of September reporting period. He also grabbed the endorsement of Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera.
Murphy, a first-term Democrat, has raised more than $1 million for her re-election and had $700,000 cash on hand as of September 30.
The NRCC also named Bruno Barreiro in Florida’s 27th Congressional District, where there is a scramble on to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Barreiro, a Miami-Dade County commissioner, is one of three Republicans and a half-dozen Democrats making serious runs in CD 27.
“These 31 candidates are formidable competitors against the liberal agenda of Nancy Pelosi and the left,” NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers stated in a news release. “We look forward to working with these candidates to grow our Republican majority and enact policies that help hardworking Americans.”
Buchanan gains well-heeled opponent for re-election bid
Florida Republicans smirked when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee placed Vern Buchanan second on its “2018 Republican Retirement Watchlist.”
They were equally amused when the DCCC listed the Sarasota Republican’s 16th Congressional District as one of 79 around the nation for targeting next year.
Whether they’ll still be delighted a year from now is unclear, but Florida Democrats appear pleased to have a viable candidate to challenge Buchanan in personal injury attorney David Shapiro.
“I think right now there’s a sense of frustration among a large population that this is not working,” Shapiro says of Washington. “We have to work together. No one party has the monopoly over every good idea, and no one party can get their way.”
Shapiro is among three Democrats running to unseat Buchanan, 6-term incumbent who sits on a $2 million war chest, the largest in the Florida Congressional delegation.
“I need to have enough money to give the voters an informed choice, that’s how I’ll see it,” Shapiro said.
Also running is Jan Schneider and Calen Cristiani.
Deutch, colleagues call out European Union on terror stance
The Boca Raton Democrat, along with several of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, is calling out the European Union (EU) for not labeling the entire Hezbollah structure as a terrorist organization. The EU does classify the group’s military wing as terrorists, but not the political side, prompting the bipartisan group to file a resolution urging the EU to join the U.S. in that regard.
“More can be done to counter the Iranian proxy Hezbollah,” Deutch said on the House floor. “And that begins with calling them what they are — a terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Israel and undermining the values and the interests of the United States and — our EU friends must acknowledge as well — the values and interests of Europe.”
He described the EU’s lack of action as making “a false distinction.” On Thursday, the House unanimously passed the resolution.
Joining Deutch in sponsoring the resolution was a bipartisan group that included Palm Harbor Republican Gus Bilirakis and Miami Republican Ros-Lehtinen. Ros-Lehtinen, who also brought attention to EU inaction (see below), and Deutch are the subcommittee’s chair and ranking member, respectively.
Ros-Lehtinen talks Iran deal and looming dangers
Two weeks ago, the Miami Republican supported President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would not certify the Iran nuclear agreement. While that did not kill the deal, it set in motion a process where the U.S. can seek modifications and enhancements.
“I think it is a sound strategic decision that also allows us an opportunity to address some of the concerns we have with our allies like the lack of EU (European Union) designations against Iran for non-nuclear related illegal illicit activity,” she said during a Wednesday meeting of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.
Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the committee, expressed other concerns in addition to those expressed about the EU. Since the agreement was signed, some of the assurances given by former Secretary of State John Kerry did not come about as pledged.
In addition to the lack of promised “24/7, anytime access,” the agreement contains, despite assurances by Kerry to the contrary, “dangerous sunset provisions … which will more than certainly make the region even more dangerous.”
The hearing was entitled was billed as a discussion of a “window of opportunity to strengthen Iran deal and leverage partners to address [the] totality of Iranian threats.” Ros-Lehtinen succinctly framed the situation.
“As we move forward, we must assess what is best for our national security interests, the security of our friend and ally, Israel, our allies in the Gulf, and the safety and security of the region.”
DOJ settles IRS lawsuits over Tea Party targeting; interim commissioner named
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday that the Justice Department is settling class action lawsuits brought by more than 400 conservative groups who said they were “improperly” delayed, “targeted” was their word, when seeking tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service.
“The IRS’ use … of heightened scrutiny was wrong and should never have occurred,” Sessions said. “It is improper for the IRS to single out groups for different treatment based on their names or ideological positions.”
Justice Department lawyers represented the IRS. The groups brought legal action following disclosures about the delays during the Obama administration that prompted the resignation of the IRS’ top official, Lois Lerner, at the time, along with other officials tied to the matter.
In court filings, the IRS admitted to putting the conservative groups through extra rigorous screening, which brought about the lawsuits. The agency expressed regret for doing so.
“The IRS expresses its sincere apology,” read one of those filings.
Conservatives, including Freedom Caucus members from Florida and around the country, unsuccessfully sought to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen and bring charges against Lerner for her role in the controversy.
Lerner left long ago, and Republicans will get their wish to see Koskinen depart. At almost the same time the IRS settlement was announced on Thursday, the Treasury Department announced David Kautter will become interim IRS chief when Koskinen’s term ends Nov. 12.
A permanent replacement will be announced at a later date.
47 years later, Army medic honored for bravery
It came four decades late, but an American war hero has finally received the honor and recognition he deserves. This week, Army Capt. Mike Rose received the Medal of Honor from President Donald Trump at a White House ceremony.
Rose served as a medic in Vietnam and is credited with saving numerous soldiers and treating as many as 50 during Operation Tailwind in September 1970. He often ran through gunfire during that four-day operation, during which Rose was also injured.
“For many years the story of Mike’s heroism has gone untold,” Trump said before awarding Rose the medal. “But today we gather to tell the world of his valor and proudly present him with our nation’s highest military honor.”
Rose had previously earned the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor. During the ceremony, he remembered the men in his unit.
“This is our medal, not mine,” he said. “We all earned it.”
