Highlands Bunker – E41 – Finger on the Scale

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Ed Note: This is going to get lost in the blizzard of news that is coming down. That's a shame because Paul Baumbach is a solid legislator with some great insights.
Highlands Bunker - E41 - Finger on the Scale
 
State Representative Paul Baumbachjoins RE Vanella in the bunker to talk about how he got into politics, some of the issues that he has worked on in his career in Dover, and the parts of Delaware politics that need to change.
 
 

Trump’s legal argument for keeping his taxes secret seems weak

I'm no lawyer but this seems like a weak argument for keeping Trump's taxes secret:
“(Absent a ruling in his favor from the Supreme Court) That the Constitution would empower thousands of state and local prosecutors to embroil the president in criminal proceedings ...” Mr. Trump’s lawyers wrote.
That's dumb on its face. I mean, I suppose that could happen if the some future president committed crimes in thousands of jurisdictions. But who could conceive of a president up to his neck in financial crimes in thousands of jurisdictions? The appeals court that unanimously the President's taxes shouldn't be secret put it like this.
”We note that the past six presidents, dating back to President Carter, all voluntarily released their tax returns to the public," Judge Katzmann wrote for the panel. "While we do not place dispositive weight on this fact, it reinforces our conclusion that the disclosure of personal financial information, standing alone, is unlikely to impair the president in performing the duties of his office."

Republican memories are as weak as Republican critical thinking

A mistake too many make is thinking Republicans - elected, voters, all of them - actually care about the things they claim to care about. (And yet) Republican concerns are treated in our discourse as genuine and serious while concerns of The Left, defined so broadly, are not. When Donald Trump decides Medicare For All has been the Republican policy all along, they will all get behind it. No I don't think that's going to happen, but hopefully you get the point. The MAGA base basically needs to feel like they're Owning The Libs with a healthy dose of racism. Medicare for Everyone But Black People would poll at 700% favorable. "Donald Trump supports Medicare for All, do you?" would get a strong majority. - Eschaton
This also applies to support for Trump himself. When he is gone Republicans will all cheer, "Never liked the guy!" Two months later it will be "Trump who?" Remember Sarah Palin? Nobody does. She was an important conservative once.