Talk Media News

Victoria Jones created and edits Quick Morning News. She is chief White House correspondent with Washington DC-based Talk Media News, where her insight and analysis are made available to over 400 news talk radio stations around the country and internationally.

Morning Jumpstart

  • Trump: Economic speech today
  • Did Sec Clinton bring jobs to New York? Wellll…
  • Trump: Clinton “totally unhinged”
  • ISIS in Afghanistan: We have US military kit
  • Congress: 5 things to watch
  • Rio roundup: Phelps wins 19th gold
  • Russia paralympics tam banned from Rio

 

Trump: Economic Speech Today (Reuters, me)
• Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will propose allowing parents to deduct spending on childcare from their income taxes in a speech today meant to challenge the economic policies of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, an anonymous campaign aide said. “We don’t want it to be an economic disadvantage to have children,” the aide said (can the babies cry?)

 

• Trump will say that, unlike Clinton, his business policies would encourage companies to remain in the U.S., a concern of blue collar workers he has tried to court, the aide said. In his speech, to business leaders of the Detroit Economic Club, Trump will also propose stronger protections for American intellectual property and a temporary moratorium on new regulations

 

• Seeking to move beyond a disastrous week of disputes with GOP leaders and the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq – plus a crying baby, Trump will outline plans for trade, taxes, regulation and energy policy. His plans include proposing a 15% corporate tax rate, an idea that’s on his website. The current federal rate is 35% (bring in enough revenue with that?)

 

• Clinton on Thursday in Detroit lays out a plan for the “biggest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II,” her campaign said. Clinton will be buoyed by figures released on Friday showing U.S. employment rose more than expected for a second month in a row in July and wages picked up, bolstering expectations of faster economic growth

 

• Clinton has pledged that no family should pay more than 10% of its income on childcare. She has called for a tax cut to help middle class parents cope with rising childcare costs and an expansion of a federally funded program that provides education and health services to low-income families with young children (she’ll also slam whatever Trump says today)

• Japan’s revered Emperor Akihito said today, in his second-ever televised address, that he fears age and deteriorating health mean he’s finding it difficult to continue in his role. While he didn’t use the word “abdicate,” he strongly indicated that he wishes to hand over his duties. PM Shinzo Abe said the govt would take the remarks “seriously.” Crown Prince Naruhito is next in line (BBC)

Did Sen Clinton Bring Jobs to New York? Not So Much (WaPo, me)

• In her presidential bid, Hillary Clinton has made job creation a centerpiece of her platform, casting herself as a pragmatist who would inspire “the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.” Her argument has focused on her time in the Senate, when she took on the mission of creating jobs in chronically depressed upstate New York

• But nearly eight years after Clinton’s Senate exit, there’s little evidence that her economic development programs had a significant impact on upstate employment. Despite Clinton’s efforts, upstate job growth stagnated overall during her tenure, with manufacturing jobs plunging nearly 25%, according to jobs data (scramble scramble in ClintonWorld this morning)

•  Clinton was unable to pass the big-ticket legislation she introduced to benefit the upstate economy. She turned to smaller-scale projects, but some of those fell flat after initial glowing headlines, a WaPo review shows. Many promised jobs never materialized and other migrated to other states as she turned to her first presidential run, said former officials (translate: lost interest)

• Clinton’s self-styled role as economic promoter also showcases an operating style that has come to define the political and money-making machine known to some critics of the former first couple as Clinton Inc. Some of her pet economic projects involved loyal campaign contributors, who also supported the Clinton Foundation, the Post review shows (translate: money talks)

 

Trump Claims “Thousands” of Jobs, But –

• Republican opponent Donald Trump claims he’s created “thousands and thousands of jobs” as an international developer and knows better how to stimulate the economy. Most of the jobs Trump created were construction and management jobs for projects early in his career, when he was building heavily in New York City and other locations (translate: not much lately)

• Clinton’s pledge to help upstage New York amid an early 2000s recession was risky, experts say. “To her credit, she really did focus on economic development upstate as a focus and as a purpose,” said David Shaffer, former president of the Albany-based Public Policy Institute, which compiles New York jobs data

• Clinton’s backers say the unfulfilled jobs promise pales in comparison to her work on the Sept 11, 2001 recovery and protecting New York military installations. All told, Clinton aides have said, she helped to secure more than $1 billion in federal assistance for New York, not including $20 million in post-Sept 11 funds

• Clinton spox Glen Caplin said Clinton “worked hard” to create jobs. “Facing the stiff head winds of the [George W.] Bush economy, she never gave up and never stopped fighting for New York jobs,” he said (translate: blame W. Trump will have some fun with this story today, should think)

 

How Many Jobs Did Clinton Create? Unknown

• A day after announcing her 2000 candidacy, then-first lady Clinton vowed to infuse more than a half billion dollars into the upstate economy. After she won, in March 2001, she introduced seven bills to stimulate the upstate economy. None of the measures passed. (to be fair, that’s not her fault) Clinton shifted to federal grants and other assistance

• The campaign declined to estimate how many jobs Clinton created. Campaign officials cited a line from a chart produced by the New York State Dept of Labor, showing “Upstate New York” gaining 117,000 jobs during Clinton’s first term. The Post was unable to confirm that number (her normally very wonky campaign seemed a bit vague about this)

• The most authoritative numbers are widely considered to be those from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Multiple analyses of its New York data show that upstate actually lost jobs during Clinton’s first term. The nonpartisan Public Policy Institute in Albany – BLS data – reported the region lost more than 31,000 payroll jobs between Oct 2001 and Dec 2006

• Clinton was re-elected in Nov 2006 and left the Senate to become SecState in Jan 2009. During her overall tenure, according to the institute, upstate jobs rose 0.2% overall, but manufacturing jobs fell 24.1% – the WaPo piece goes into some detail of specific jobs efforts with particular companies and individuals over several pages

• Today is 8 August. Election Day is 8 November. Here’s FiveThirtyEight’s election forecast three months’ out: Hillary Clinton – 83.4% to Donald Trump 16.5% – but we’re still earlier than Labor Day, we haven’t had the debates, and we don’t know what else could be leaked. In addition, there are external factors, the candidates, third parties +++… Sooo much yet in play

Trump: Clinton “Totally Unhinged” (WaPo, WaPo, Hill, me)

 

• Donald Trump unleashed a series of insults and personal attacks against Hillary Clinton during a campaign rally in Windham NH. “She is a totally unhinged person. She’s unbalanced,” he said. “She will cause – if she wins, which hopefully she won’t – the destruction of our country from within.” (spoken like an expert on the subject)

 

• “I think the people of this country don’t want somebody that’s going to short-circuit up here,” Trump said, pointing to his head. “Not as your president, not as your president.” “Now you tell me she looks presidential, folks. I look presidential,” he said in another instance (what does that even mean…)

 

• Trump said Clinton is a “dangerous liar” – one man in the crowd started barking like a dog while others chanted “lock her up” – and accused her of failing to achieve anything during her long career in public service – except, he said, avoiding criminal charges for using a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state

 

• The FBI cleared Clinton of criminal wrongdoing but nonetheless sharply criticized her handling of classified info over email. She was blasted by reporters for recently mischaracterizing FBI director James Comey’s comments about whether her public statements about the emails were truthful (and rightly so – she can’t afford to “short-circuit it” on this particular subject)

• Former acting director of the CIA, Michael Morell, who isn’t a member of a political party, will vote for Clinton. He wrote a devastating op-ed in NYT (I think the most powerful piece I’ve read) – called Trump an “unwitting agent” of Russia. Sunday night, Trump tweeted that Morell was a “lightweight” who had made “serious bad calls” (can he even name one?)

 

• Clinton explained during a Q&A session in Washington before a black and Hispanic journalists’ conference that she had “short-circuited it” when giving the initial response, a phrase which Trump repeatedly parodied Saturday – leaving out the “it.” “Honestly, I don’t think she’s all there,” Trump told the crowd in Windham, implying she had “short-circuited”

 

• What Clinton said to the conference last week was: “So I may have short-circuited it and for that I, you know, will try to clarify because I think – you know, Chris Wallace and I, we’re probably talking past each other be – because, of course, he could only talk to what I had told the FBI and I appreciated that.” (wouldn’t go so far as say she “appreciated” it)

 

• At a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday, Trump called Clinton “unstable.” “The legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, chaos and weakness. She’s weak. She’s a weak person. I know her,” Trump said. “In one way, she’s a monster, in another way, she’s a weak person. She’s actually not strong enough to be president.” (a weak monster? – who can cause death, destruction, chaos?)

 

• Trump also floated a conspiracy theory that the NSA had the 33,000 deleted emails from Clinton’s account – there is no record, report or indication that this is true. “Does NSA have them? I don’t know,” said Trump. “Some people have been saying that, that the NSA has them.” (this is bizarre. who has said that? maybe nutcase websites. this is a new line of attack)

 

• Hillary Clinton has released a video questioning Donald Trump’s ties to Russia. Ominous music plays as the video says, “We don’t know why Trump praises Putin,” – and then it  pretty much goes on to say, well, yeah, we sort of do know, and it’s because he’s probably in bed with the Russians, but we can’t actually say that, so we’re just suggesting it in a creepy way

 

ISIS in Afghanistan: We Have US Military Kit (Reuters, me)
• Militants linked to ISIS in Afghanistan have released photos that purport to show a portable rocket launcher, radio, grenades and other equipment that belonged to American soldiers and were captured by the group in Eastern Afghanistan. They also showed close up views of ID cards for U.S. Army soldier, Specialist Ryan Larson (but they didn’t show him – or pics of him)

 

• U.S. military command in Kabul denied any suggestion the soldier had been captured, saying “he has been accounted for and remains in a duty status within his unit.” American special ops troops have been fighting alongside Afghan forces in a renewed offensive against militants who claim allegiance to ISIS in Nangarhar Province, which borders Pakistan

 

• “SPC Larson was attached to a unit conducting a partnered [operation] with Afghan Forces,” U.S. military spox Commander Ron Flasvig said in an emailed statement Sunday. “The soldier’s ID and some of the equipment were left behind after the [operation.] The loss of personal identification is unfortunate.” (so how much on the ground fighting is going on by US troops?)

 

• In July, U.S. commanders said at least five special forces were injured in fighting in the province. The website that published the photos speculated that the equipment and weapons were left behind during that engagement, but Flesvig said American officials are still trying to determine exactly when and how it was lost (why was it left behind? did they leave in a hurry? why?)

 

• The push in Nangarhar came after President Obama cleared American troops to take a more active role in fighting militants in Afghanistan. Besides advising work and special operations missions, American aircraft deployed at least 545 weapons in the first six months of 2016

 

• Shahram Amiri, an Iranian scientist who provided the U.S. with info about the country’s nuclear program, has been hanged for treason, the Iranian govt confirmed. Amiri disappeared in Saudi Arabia and resurfaced a year later in the U.S., where he claimed to have been abducted and interrogated by the CIA. He later returned to Iran and was given a 10-year prison sentence (BBC)
Congress: 5 Things to Watch (Roll Call, me)

• Five issues to watch this fall before lawmakers hit the campaign trail.

• Zika Funding: They’re unlikely to cut into their vaycays to address funding for the Zika virus, even with local transmissions in Miami. The GOP-led House passed a $1.1 billion bill – but with poison pills. Senate Democrats have blocked it twice and are likely to do so again when leadership brings it up for a vote (#fail)

• Appropriations/Continuing Resolution: The biggie this fall: How to fund the govt beyond the end of the fiscal year, 30 Sept? The House has passed five appropriations bills and the Senate three – out of twelve, sooo it’s likely continuing resolution time again. But until December – this admin – or March – the new admin? House GOPers are trying to decide (betting on who will win)

• Gun Control Politicking: Expect House Democrats to keep fighting for votes to keep people on terrorist watch lists from buying guns and to expand background checks, although it’s unlikely they’ll succeed. Could be disruptive. Unclear whether Republicans will reintroduce their GOP-backed bill – which failed – or simply try to ignore the issue. Senate’s likely to do nothing (#fail)

• Criminal Justice Overhaul: House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis) said in July that the House will take up legislation to overhaul the criminal justice system in September. The Senate is unlikely to get its measure to the floor. Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill)  said he thinks Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) is “afraid of it.” (#likelyfail)

• IRS Commissioner Impeachment: Hard right House Freedom Caucus members are likely to again attempt to force a vote to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen through a privileged resolution. Ryan said the House GOP Conference would discuss the IRS issue in September since many members aren’t familiar with it. House Democrats think it’s ridiculous (#ultimatefail)

Rio Roundup: Phelps Wins 19th Gold (BBC, NYT, BBC, NYT, Guardian, ESPN, me)

 

• Michael Phelps won a record 19th gold medal as the U.S. clinched the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay title in Rio. He has now won 23 medals at five Games. “On the block, I thought my heart was going to explode,” he said. American Katie Ledecky crushed her own world record in the 400m freestyle to win gold. Briton Adam Peaty won gold in the 100m breaststroke

 

• Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten, 33, was involved in a horrific crash Sunday afternoon during the women’s road race final as she led the race for gold. On a downhill decline, she tried to turn right around a bend and her tires appeared to skid out. She suffered three small vertebrae fractures and a severe concussion – but has tweeted from the hospital (see Deadspin)

 

• Serena and Venus Williams lost for the first time in in 16 Olympic doubles matches. “We played terrible,” said Serena. They lost to Czech Republic’s Lucia Safarova and Barbora Strycova. Top seed Novak Djokovic was beaten in the first round by Argentine Juan Martin del Potro. Djokovic was in tears as he left the court (i think it’s exciting that underdogs win – prefer it)

 

• History will be made this morning as U.S. team member Ibtihaj Muhammad becomes the first American to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab. She will fence at 11 am. Swimmer Yusra Mardini, competing under the Olympic flag, and who survived a harrowing sea crossing to Europe from Syria a year ago, won her preliminary heat in butterfly 100m, but didn’t qualify

• Want to watch the Olympics live? Here are a few ways to do it… (qz.com) Want to see videos you might not otherwise be able to watch, like Phelps’s crucial turn or van Vleuten’s crash? Deadspin could be the place to go

 

Russia Paralympics Team Banned From Rio
• The entire Russia team was banned from competing in the upcoming Paralympic Games as punishment for the country running a doping operation that polluted sports by prioritizing “medals over morals. The situation is about “a state-run system that is cheating the athletes,” said International Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven (sad – but good – has to happen)

 

• Kosovo won its first ever Olympic gold medal as Majlinda Kelmendi triumphed in the women’s 52kg judo. Questions surround Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, who knocked nearly two seconds off the 400m individual medley in swimming. Because of her husband’s very tough coaching regime and because doping in Eastern Europe, fellow competitors and coaches are suspicious

 

• Meanwhile, in the face of soaring crime, the state govt has deployed a security force of 85,000 in Rio, among them 32,000 soldiers who stand sentinel at busy intersections or cruise the streets in military jeeps, their weapons aimed menacingly at the sidewalks

 

• Even so, the chief of security for the opening ceremony was mugged at knife point on Friday night as he left the Olympic Stadium; a stray bullet landed in the equestrian arena’s media tent on Saturday; and on Saturday night, Portugal’s education minister was assaulted as he strolled along Rio’s upscale lagoon, site of the rowing competition (not much rowing – high winds)

 

• A shirtless Canadian PM Justin Trudeau keeps popping up in pics in Canada – and causing an international sensation. Most recently, he photobombed a couple getting married on a Tofino, British Columbia, beach, while he was standing nearby – shirtless – taking a break from surfing

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__________________
Victoria Jones – Editor
News is news
Comments are mine

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