Russian efforts to boost Trump campaign jolt political world | MSNBC

Trump‘s transition team issued a statement on Friday night that read, in its entirety, “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great … Read more

Carl Bernstein: Donald Trump’s Disdain For Facts Worse Than Nixon | The Huffington Post

“Trump lives and thrives in a fact-free environment. No president, including Richard Nixon, has been so ignorant of fact and disdains fact in the way that this president-elect does,” Bernstein said on CNN’s Reliable Sources. “It has something to do with the growing sense of authoritarianism that he and his presidency are projecting and the … Read more

Top House Republican Unveils Plan To Gut Social Security | The Huffington Post

Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Social Security, released a plan Thursday to reform Social Security that would drastically reduce benefits. Johnson would make Social Security’s benefit formula less generous for all but the lowest earners, rapidly raise the retirement age and reduce the annual cost-of-living adjustment … Read more

Ivanka used the prime minister of Japan to bolster a business deal—and Republicans bet no one cares

It’s no accident that what we learned about Trump‘s call to Argentina came via an Argentinian journalist. What we learned about India came from an Indian news article. Trump intends to tell Americans nothing about his massive and ongoing conflicts of interest. Except, of course, when a photo op can be turned into profit. Like how … Read more

Cartoon: If social justice movements tried not to offend anyone

When you hear someone throwing around the suddenly-ubiquitous term “identity politics,” it’s useful to try substituting the words “civil rights” and “equality.” “Identity politics” can easily be used as a frame that trivializes bedrock progressive values — as though fighting, say, voter suppression is the frivolous agenda of a special interest group.  Do some people take their idealism too far? Of course. But the … Read more

GOP congresswoman gets surprise on Facebook after asking constituents for Obamacare horror stories

just a small sample of the hundreds or even thousands of comments left on her Facebook page. It is damn clear that her constituents are loving the Affordable Care Act. Will she take their comments to heart and abandon attempts to take insurance coverage away from her constituents? Source: GOP congresswoman gets surprise on Facebook … Read more

Trump’s transition team crafting a new blacklist—for anyone who believes in climate change

Newt Gingrich urged Trump to revive Joseph McCarthy’s HUAC Committee, but it appears Trump means to do better than that. The Trump transition team is already building a blacklist at the Department of Energy. The transition team has asked the agency to list employees and contractors who attended United Nations climate meetings, along with those who helped … Read more