The Democrat Party's Worst Enemy Is Its Own Progressive, Hate-Trump Elite

PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS RATTLED THE PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS -- seriously rattled them. • • • LOCAL DEMOCRAT LEADERS ARE WORRIED. A recent Harvard-Harris poll shows the risks the Democrats take in focusing on Russia. The survey found that while 58% of voters said they’re concerned that Trump may have business dealings with Moscow, a whopping 73% said they’re worried that the ongoing investigations are preventing Congress from tackling issues more vital to them. Harvard-Harris co-director Mark Penn says : “While the voters have a keen interest in any Russian election interference, they are concerned that the investigations have become a distraction for the president and Congress that is hurting rather than helping the country.” So, it's not so surprising that many Democrats said they’re going out of their way to focus on the economy, and downplay the Russia saga, when they’re at home -- which can only help Trump and the GOP. TheHill reported Saturday that "frustrated Democrats hoping to elevate their election fortunes have a resounding message for party leaders : Stop talking so much about Russia." • We are all sick and tired of the ProgDem dead-horse-beating over Russia's interference in the 2106 presidential election. Democrat leaders have made the ongoing probes into the Trump administration’s potential ties to Russia and its supposed effort to turn the election for Trump into a true "witch hunt" as the President rightly calls it. ProgDems highlight the Russia tale at every media appearance. They delay congressional work on real issues to hold long, laborious hearings on every nuance of Trump's life and bank accounts, and force floor votes on Trump's tax returns designed to uncover any business dealings the President might have with Russian figures. All that has as yet produced No Evidence. No need to go into it again. • • • THE DEMOCRAT BASE IS NOT HAPPY. Now, another group is complaining. Rank-and-file Democrats say the Russia-Trump narrative is a non-issue with district voters, who are much more worried about bread-and-butter economic concerns like jobs, wages and the cost of education and healthcare. The string of special-election defeats has led an increasing number of Democrats to call for different party messages that erase the focus on Russia and pivot to the economy. The outcome of the 2018 elections, they say, hinges on how well the Democrats manage that shift. • When MSNBC interviewed Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio, who opposed Nancy Pelosi for the minority House leadership position last January, he said : “We can't just talk about Russia because people back in Ohio aren't really talking that much about Russia, about Putin, about Michael Flynn. They're trying to figure out how they're going to make the mortgage payment, how they're going to pay for their kids to go to college, what their energy bill looks like. And if we don't talk more about their interest than we do about how we're so angry with Donald Trump and everything that's going on, then we're never going to be able to win elections.” • TheHill says Ryan is "among the small group of Democrats who are sounding calls for a changing of the guard atop the party’s leadership hierarchy following Tuesday’s special election defeat in Georgia -- the Democrats’ fourth loss since Trump took office." And, Ryan is not alone in urging party leaders to at least change their 2018 message. Representative Tim Walz of Minnesota has been paying particularly close attention to voters’ concerns because he’s running for governor in 2018, says TheHill, and the Russia-Trump investigation, according to Walz, isn’t on their radar : “I did a 22-county tour....Nobody’s focusing on that. That’s not to say that they don’t think Russia and those things are important, [but] it’s certainly not top on their minds.” When TheHill talked to Representative Peter Welch of Vermont, he offered a similar message, saying his constituents are most concerned with two things : dysfunction in Washington and the Republicans’ plans to repeal ObamaCare. The controversies surrounding Trump, he said, don’t tally : "We should be focused relentlessly on economic improvement [and] we should stay away from just piling on the criticism of Trump, whether it’s about Russia, whether it’s about Comey. Because that has its own independent dynamic, it’s going to happen on its own without us piling on. We’re much better off if we just do the hard work of coming up with an agenda. Talking about Trump and Russia doesn’t create an agenda.” • Democrat leaders defend their focus on the Trump-Russia affair, arguing that it’s not a distraction from the local economic issues that resonate in their districts. Representative Linda Sanchez of California, vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus, said Wednesday : “We can walk and chew gum at the same time.” But the Democratic Caucus Chair, Representative Joseph Crowley of New York, says : “As much as I think people in Washington tend to focus on the issues of Russia, and the President and the Republicans’ inability to get much of anything accomplished, ...we need to focus on the local issues. That’s what gets Democrats elected.” • Even MSNBC's Joe Scarborough is warning the Democrats about 2108. Scarborough said Jon Ossoff's loss in the Georgia special House race should be a "wake-up call" for Democrats : "This should be a wake-up call for the Democratic Party, who has been doing nothing but losing since 2010 in these legislative races. I heard last night Ossoff say, 'we've started something great.' No, you lost. At some point, the time for moral victories is over. Sometimes winning is just about winning." • • • NANCY PELOSI JUST DOESN'T GET IT. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has used her press briefings and cable news appearances to raise questions about Trump’s “political, personal and financial” ties to Moscow, asking : “What do the Russians have on Donald Trump?” And, last Tuesday's Democrat defeat in the 6th Georgia congressional district and the frontal attacks levied on Pelosi as leader of the Democrat pack didn't phase her. On Thursday in her Capitol Hill press briefing, she delivered a defiant message to those Democrats calling for her ouster following the string of special-election defeats : “When it comes to personal ambition and having fun on TV, have your fun. I love the arena; I thrive on competition; and I welcome the discussion. But I am honored by the support.” • Some Democrats, most of them younger members, had tried to oust Pelosi last year after President Trump won the White House, and those lawmakers revived their effort following Tuesday’s special election in Georgia, where Democrat Jon Ossoff was defeated by Republican Karen Handel in the most expensive House race in the nation’s history. Pelosi’s critics say the Georgia defeat is just the latest evidence that Pelosi’s place at the top of the party is a liability as the Democrats seek to pick up the conservative-leaning seats they’ll need to win back the House majority in 2018. Pelosi, a San Francisco liberal despised by conservatives, has long been the subject of GOP attack ads on Democratic candidates, and the Georgia race was no exception. Representative Tim Ryan said : “Those are still effective ads that hurt our candidate. We’d better take a good, long, strong look in the mirror and realize that the problem is us, it’s the party.” • But Pelosi argued at her press briefing that the GOP attack ads were motivated by her ability to push major legislation through Congress during the Obama era, including the healthcare law and Wall Street reform : “Usually they go after the most effective leaders, because they want to diminish the opportunity that we have." Pelosi called herself “a master legislator” and a “strategic, politically astute leader,” adding : “I am proud of the unity that we have had and, frankly, my leadership in terms of keeping everybody together. I think I’m worth the trouble.” • Republicans were quick to seize on Pelosi’s “trouble” comment. The National Republican Congressional Committee shot out a one-line email just minutes afterwards : “We couldn't agree more!” • Not every Democrat in the House agrees with Pelosi's self-serving personal job critique. Representative Kathleen Rice of New York told CNN and MSNBC : “We need leadership change. It's time for Nancy Pelosi to go, and the entire leadership team. I sat in a meeting the other day, and I listened to a rationale as to how we should be happy as a caucus because we didn't lose as badly this past two days ago as we did a year ago. But, we're still losing. And that's my concern. We need to find a different path. We need to have a vision....her time has come and gone. She's a great fundraiser, but if the money we're raising through her leadership is not helping us win elections, we have to have this difficult conversation now.” • Young Democrats in the House have a point. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan is 47. Pelosi is 77. Her top two deputies are 78-year-old House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and 76-year-old Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn. The Pelosi grip at the top of the party has led to constant grumbling among younger members that the party’s top brass should move on to make room for a new generation of leaders. But, Thursday, without singling out any Democratic detractor by name, Pelosi suggested they were promoting themselves at the expense of the party. She also gave a warning to those trying to push her out : “I respect any opinion that my members have,” she said. “But my decision about how long I stay is not up to them.” • THOSE are the words of the arrogant, undemocratic ProgDem Elite. • • • NEWT GINGRICH WANTS PELOSI TO STAY. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Fox News last Thursday that he hopes Pelosi stays right where she is : "I hope they keep Nancy for 10 more years. I want her there for at least another decade. We know exactly how to run against the Nancy Pelosi-run party. We have no questions in 2018 [if it's] Nancy Pelosi versus Paul Ryan, and I hope that the Democrats keep her right where she is for a long, long time. At least a decade." Gingrich who once held the House seat from the 6th Georgia district, said that Georgia's special election marked the largest Republican turnout ever, leading Karen Handel to a win over Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff to replace Tom Price, who left his congressional seat after becoming Health and Human Services Secretary. Gingrich said : "Handel was a good candidate who got better, while Ossof did not live in the district where he was running....They had a debate, and each got to ask one question. She turned and said 'who are you going to vote for in the election?' He couldn't answer because he wasn't allowed to vote in his own election." • The media was right that the special election in Georgia, and to a lesser degree, in South Carolina, was a referendum on Trump, says Gingrich : "The problems with the news media is they can't come to grips with the fact that in five different specials, the Republicans have won, and that sort of says maybe he is doing a lot better in America than he is in the news media." • • • ARE THE DEMOCRATS HELPING THEIR OWN CAUSE? Let's start with this. • Blabber Buzz reported last Friday that California's attorney general has just blocked state-funded travel to Texas and three other states in response to what he considers anti-LGBT rights laws enacted this year. Democratic Attorney General Xavier Becerra added Texas, Alabama, South Dakota and Kentucky to the list of places where state employee travel is restricted. Lawmakers passed legislation last year banning non-essential travel to states with laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. North Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee were already on the list. California taxpayer money "will not be used to let people travel to states who chose to discriminate," Becerra said. The practical effect California's travel ban is unclear because the state law contains exemptions for some trips, such as travel needed to enforce California law and to honor contracts made before 2017. Travel to conferences or out-of-state trainings are examples of trips that could be blocked. Becerra's office couldn't provide information about how often state employees have visited the newly banned states. Texas was blacklisted because of a law that lets child welfare organizations deny services and adoptions to families because of "sincerely held religious beliefs" -- Becerra's office says that would allow LGBT discrimination. Similar laws were enacted in Alabama and South Dakota. Kentucky's new law could allow LGBT discrimination in schools, according to Becerra's office. The spokesman for Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, a Republican, said : "California may be able to stop their state employees, but they can't stop all the businesses that are fleeing over taxation and regulation and relocating to Texas." And, Fresno State, a public California university, is scheduled to play football against the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa this fall. A request for a legal opinion on whether public university sports' travel is exempt from the ban has been filed with Becerra's office, but no ruling has been issued. This is more nonsense from the state Americans like to call "the Left Coast." • In another Democrat non-starter, joining Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, two far-left ProgDem Senators, former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton went full throttle in a tweet Friday, saying if Senate Republicans pass their current healthcare bill, they will become the “death party.” Clinton’s post referenced an article from the Center for American Progress -- the advocacy arm of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, both key cogs in the left-wing policy and message machine of Progressive One-Worlder George Soros and set up by John Podesta, the Soros protégé who was the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, and Obama’s Presidential Transition director, as well as Hillary's campaign director. The CAP cite used by Hillary was about Harvard researchers saying “the Senate bill could result in 18,000 to 28,000 deaths in 2026.” Hillary tweeted on Friday : "Forget death panels. If Republicans pass this bill, they're the death party." Hillary's tweet followed on her tweet urging her supporters to "speak out against" the bill. Earlier, Hillary had quoted Barack Obama, who, in a Facebook post on Thursday, offered his take on the bill, saying : "if there’s a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a family -- this bill will do you harm." Not to be outdone, former Vice President Joe Biden also tweeted his opinion of the GOP health care bill on Friday evening : "The Senate health bill isn't about health care at all -- it's a wealth transfer: slashes care to fund tax cuts for the wealthy & corporations." • • • EVEN JILL STEIN CANNOT SUPPORT THE PROGDEM POSITIONING. And with goods reason. She may be the next target of the ProgDem effort to blame everyone but themselves for whatever influence Russia had in their 2016 loss. Stein called it a "pathetic" excuse by Democrats to claim her presidential campaign was used as a tool of Russian influence during the 2016 presidential race. In an interview with Politico, Stein, the Green Party 2016 nominee, said : “I consider it a great honor that the party and our prior campaign for President is suddenly being attacked outside of an election season,” she told Politico. She also said she is "not aware of any ties whatsoever, financial or otherwise," between her, her campaign or the Green Party and Russian entities. • What was Jill Stein's crime?? Representative Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, questioned why Stein was at a 2015 Moscow gala thrown by a Russian state-owned media outlet, RT. Schiff said : “We're certainly interested in any efforts the Russians made to influence our election.” Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, added : “There have been public reports, I think, that Jill Stein was also in Russia attending the RT function [that General Michael Flynn attended], so we’re going to need to look at any efforts the Russians made through whatever means to influence our elections." So, the ProgDems are even going after the Green Party that usually sides with them in their frenzied effort to find an excuse, any excuse, as to why the Democrats lost the presidential race. Could it have been their candidate Hillary?? Nah, that's too simple --- and too true. • • • AND WHY DO THE DEMOCRATS KEEP LOSING? Besides Hillary and Pelosi, they just seem to be on the wrong side of the majority of Americans on most issues. • Take refugees and immigrants. The number of refugees who entered the US during President Trump’s first three months compared to the last three months of President Obama’s term was cut nearly in half, according to statistics released Friday by the Department of Homeland Security. Statistics show that a total of 13,000 refugees were admitted to the US in the past three months, compared to 25,000 under Obama a year ago, according to the Los Angeles Times. The most popular countries of origins remained the same under Trump : Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Myanmar. Obama set the ceiling of 110,000 refugee arrivals across the US. President Trump cut that number to 50,000 this year. Congress has approved a budget for 75,000 for this fiscal year. A US State Department spokesman said the US is now resettling 900 refugee arrivals weekly, to remain within that budget. The flow from terror-ridden countries would already be stopped if federal court rulings had not blocked Trump's executive orders suspending arrivals from nations with high terrorist activity. Trump is moving ahead to significantly reduce the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States, even though his bid to temporarily suspend admissions is stalled. Statistics also show that the Obama administration made an effort to increase the number of refugees before Trump was sworn in by 86%. • • • ONE PROGRESSIVE LIKES TRUMP. But, he's not American. Well, he is really -- it is Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who told a crowd on Thursday that -- contrary to public perception -- President Trump does in fact listen to opposing views. After the crowd in Toronto stopped laughing, Trudeau continued : "No, I can understand the laughter but there's a lot of politicians who have a deep, vested interest in being right all the time and therefore close themselves off sometimes to facts or evidence or differing opinions. What I’ve found from this President is he will listen to arguments made. He will look at the ensemble of facts and proposals of impacts you put together, and he will be open to shifting his position.” Trudeau appears to show a willingness to engage in meaningful dialog with President Trump, who much earlier had tweeted : "I will renegotiate NAFTA. If I can’t make a great deal, we’re going to tear it up. We’re going to get this economy running again." Trudeau made the comments in Toronto at an event co-sponsored by the New York Times, so he may now be on the NYT hit list, too. The most important issue facing the two countries are Trump's plans for NAFTA. Trump has called the deal "the worst" trade deal in history. Trudeau told the audience that he is “100 percent” certain that NAFTA will be in place by 2018 : “NAFTA will remain a hugely important and successful trade deal for both our countries.” Brian Mulroney, the former Canadian prime minister, said in an interview in February that he believes that Trump and Trudeau will have a fine relationship : “I know both of them. I know their skills and some of their attributes and their talents. I think they are going to find a lot to be happy about.” • • • And, DEAR READERS, last but by no means least, one American politician has already predicted a Trump win in 2020. Michael Bloomberg. Yes, the former New York mayor, who followed in Rudy Giuliani's footsteps and did an excellent job as mayor until his liberal side got the best of him and he tried to control soft drink cup sizes, said President Trump is likely to win re-election in 2020 because Democrats will be hamstrung by the deep fissures between the liberal and moderate wings of the party. Speaking last Tuesday before Republican Karen Handel claimed victory over Democrat John Ossoff in a special House election in Georgia, Bloomberg stood by his previous statement that Trump has a “55 percent” chance of winning reelection, telling CNN: “The incumbent always has an advantage. And the Democratic Party is going to be torn apart by the left and the centralists. Now, the Republican Party is also being torn apart between the centralists and the hard right, but they've rented a candidate. The candidate has rented a party, and they will probably without much fuss get behind Donald Trump, I would assume, assuming he runs for reelection.” • Faint praise, but not too far from the truth -- and, #NeverTrump Republicans would be fools to desert Trump if their election results in 2018 are as good as they seem to be headed for. Democrats are struggling to find any unified voice against Trump. And, when they attack him on any policy or dreamt-up wrondoing, Trump just turns the topic to the Obama administration, which has sufficient deeply unconstitutional and serious faults to keep the ProgDems off-balance for several election cycles. For example, getting to the bottom of Fast & Furious, IRS harassment, Benghazi, Obamacare, the Iran deal and cash payments, political use of Intel surveillance -- the list is too long to ever be complete in one writing. But, President Trump has the list in his head, and he knows how and when to use it.