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President Donald Trump must provide the American people, not just the Senate Intelligence Committee, with proof of his claims that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, and if he doesn't have the proof, he needs to retract his statements, Sen. John McCain said Sunday. "If his predecessor violated the law, President Obama violated the law, we've got a serious issue here, to say the least," McCain told CNN's "State of the Union" program, while pointing out that he himself has no reason to believe the allegations are true.

PolitickerNJ has learned that Comedian-Actor-Radio Host Joe Piscopo summoned Tony Perry to his residence in Hunterdon County last weekend. Perry is the Chief of Staff to State Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Middletown). Piscopo, the morning drive time host on AM970, became highly associated with the Garden State via his Paulie Herman character (“I’m from Jersey”) and Frank Sinatra impressions on Saturday Night Live. He has been frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for governor this year, either as a Republican or Independent. According to a source in Monmouth County Republican politics, no specific political roles were discussed at the meeting, which...

They screwed us and I am ANGRY!!!!! The Republicans gave us 123 pages of changes to a 12,000 page healthcare atrocity forced on us by Obama and the Democrats. Call your Representative and Senator and demand they go back and start from scratch. If they give us this, then the Republicans will own it with the Democrats. KILL OBAMACARE and start from scratch!!!!

George W. Bush heaped praise on Jimmy Kimmel for his anti-Trump opening monologue at the Oscars on Thursday night, telling the comedian enthusiastically that his performance was “damn good”. In a rare and lighthearted television appearance, Bush steered clear of mentioning the current president by name but was led into several subtle jabs at him by his mischievous host. Among the slights was a compliment for Kimmel’s decidedly anti-Trump debut at the Academy Awards. “I saw your opening. I thought it was damn good!” he enthused, adding later that Kimmel was a “funny guy”. […] But Bush didn’t stop there...

Sen. John McCain slammed President Donald Trump's attacks on the media this week by noting dictators "get started by suppressing free press." It was a startling observation from a sitting member of Congress against the President of the United States, especially considering McCain is a member of Trump's party. "I hate the press," the Arizona Republican sarcastically told NBC News' Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press." "I hate you especially. But the fact is we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It's vital."

A group of Republican senior statesmen is pushing for a carbon tax to combat the effects of climate change, and hoping to sell their plan to the White House. Former Secretary of State Jim Baker is leading the effort, which also includes former Secretary of State George Shultz. In an opinion piece published Tuesday night in The Wall Street Journal, they argued “there is mounting evidence of problems with the atmosphere that are growing too compelling to ignore.” […] Carbon taxes are designed to raise the cost of fossil fuels to bring down consumption. Baker and Shultz detailed in the...

A coalition of conservative groups is urging Congress to pass “pro-growth” tax reform in 2017 — sooner rather than later. In a letter dated Feb. 6, addressed to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), the coalition says significant progress should be made in the first hundred days of the Trump administration: “Given the importance of this issue, we believe it is imperative that the House of Representatives make significant progress in the first hundred days of the Trump administration toward passing comprehensive, pro-growth tax reform,” said the letter addressed to House Speaker Paul...

One day after Iran defied Trump with a new missile tests and threatened enemies with "roaring missiles" following Friday's Iran sanctions, confirming our Friday report, House Speaker Paul Ryan said that despite the troubling escalation in sanctions, the Iran Nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration is likely to remain in place. "A lot of that toothpaste is already out of the tube. I never supported the deal in the first place. I thought it was a huge mistake, but the multilateral sanctions are done," Ryan said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" airing Sunday. Speaker Paul...

Over a dozen Republicans in Congress are expressing skepticism about President Donald Trump’s plan to construct an “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall” along the 1,954-mile-long border between the United States and Mexico. Some of the GOP lawmakers say they will vote against any legislation funding a wall unless its potentially steep cost is wholly offset by cuts in spending elsewhere, reports CNN. Other Republicans in Congress say that the wall, if built, will fail to stem the tide of illegal immigration from Mexico as well as Central America. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker counts himself among the legislators...

We should not allow Dreamers to forget that this is a nation of law and they received mercy. On June 15, 2012, President Obama signed an executive order to protect those who arrived illegally to the United States as minors. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals provides a two-year window to shield these people from deportation and allow them to work. They must have been under 16 when they arrived, be in school or have completed school, and have no criminal record. The order produced consternation on two fronts. First, the nature of the action. Many feel that immigration policy, legal...

I just finished listening to The Rush POD CAST. Rush is correct. Just where is all the Republicans? Trump CANNOT do all the good work alone. He needs help and strong assistance. Where is it? I see that Sessions and McCain are so quick to stab him in the back. I see some bozo (fake) conservatives want to "reach across the isle" and pen "moderate" legislation with the losing progressives. What is all this nonsense???? Trump needs our help. This is not the time to sit on the sidelines and let one man do all the heavy lifting. He needs...

But Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert revealed Ryan pledged to him he would not to move on either of those fronts. Breitbart reports: “House Speaker Paul Ryan and I had two substantive private discussions on the legislative agenda for the 115th Congress and came to an understanding,” Gohmert told Breitbart News. One Ryan promise that won his vote, said Gohmert, was Ryan’s support for the Hastert Rule, which forbids the House Republican leadership from holding votes on bills that are not supported by the majority of the House Republican Conference. That rules prevents the GOP leadership from quietly working with Democratic...

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Wednesday called WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a “sycophant for Russia,” as Mr. Assange reiterated this week that Russia was not the source for internal communications from Democratic officials during the presidential campaign.

Republicans’ grip on all levers of power stands as a mandate to the GOP-led Congress, which will move swiftly to try to undo eight years of outgoing President Barack Obama’s agenda. With Republican President-elect Donald Trump weeks away from assuming office, GOP lawmakers plan to open the 115th Congress on Tuesday and immediately take steps to repeal Obama’s health care law. Beyond that, they’ll look at a tax overhaul, reversing Obama-era environmental regulations and other conservative priorities. Republicans will face some obstacles. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says Democrats “stand ready to fight vigorously” to protect health care and other...

Link Only: https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-12-12/mcconnell-warning-of-dangerous-debt-wants-tax-cut-offsets

DEC 9 2016 Is Trump Softening on Young Immigrants? Senators Hope So, Offer Bill by SUZANNE GAMBOA WASHINGTON - Seizing on President-elect Donald Trump's "encouraging" comments in a Time interview, two U.S. senators are pushing for a stopgap protection from deportation for young immigrants who arrived or stayed in the country illegally as children. Senate Minority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., partnered to introduce legislation Friday that would protect the young immigrants should Trump repeal the executive action before Congress takes up immigration reform. The protection would be temporary to keep them from being deported while...

<p>Lisa Mascaro.</p> <p>President-elect Donald Trump promised this week to "work something out" for the Dreamers, and on Friday, two senators served up a possible solution.</p> <p>Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will introduce legislation Friday to give young immigrants three years of protection from deportation under a new program allowing them to work, go to school or the military, and remain in the U.S. if they are otherwise lawful.</p>

Ronna Romney McDaniel is expected to be Donald Trump’s pick to be the next chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), according to two sources with direct knowledge of the deliberations. ADVERTISEMENT McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, is expected to attend Trump's rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., Friday night. The Hill has not been able to confirm, however, whether the president-elect will announce his support for her at the event. McDaniel is the favored choice of current RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, according to two sources with direct knowledge of Priebus's thinking. Trump has told Priebus that he...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Congress will act early next year to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law but delay the changes as Republicans try to come up with an alternative. […] Speaking in Louisville, McConnell cautioned that the law’s critics “can’t just snap your fingers and go from where we are today to where we’re headed.” He said a replacement to the health care law will be done in a “phased-in way.” …

ohn Kasich was the recipient of a tidal wave of Twitter hate Monday, as countless users blamed the Ohio governor for Monday’s horrific attack on Ohio State University’s campus.