How the Democrats Can Beat Trump on Tax Reform: 3/1

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Harold Meyerson says it’s time for the Democrats to move beyond simply saying “no” to Trump and challenge him with alternative tax proposals that would really help working-class people. Meyerson is executive editor of The American Prospect.

Plus: The New York Times has published two articles suggesting that Ivanka will save us from her father. Needless to say, Amy Wilentz doesn’t agree.

Also: This week we are celebrating the 90th birthday of Harry Belafonte—he’s been a central figure behind the scenes of the civil-rights movement since the 1950s, and he did some amazing things on TV in the crucial year of 1968. Joan Walsh explains.

Will Ivanka Save Us? Amy Wilentz on Trump Watch

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Amy Wilentz reviews recent reports that Ivanka has checked her father’s worst impulses, especially on LGBTQ rights, and maybe on the National Endowments of the Arts and Humanities. Amy’s cover story about Ivanka appeared in The Nation last week.

And John Nichols reviews Trump’s first month — and answers the question, ‘What is Trump’s biggest achievement thus far?’  His answer: creating the biggest opposition movement in 100 years.

 Jane Mayer: Dark Money and Donald Trump: Start Making Sense 2/21

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The Koch brothers, the GOP’s biggest donors, didn’t support Trump for president—but he’s supporting their pro-business and anti-environmental agenda now. Jane Mayer of The New Yorker explains; her book Dark Money is out now in paperback.

Plus: What Trump has actually done that matters, not just what he’s tweeted, during his first month: George Zornick reports.

Also: Who’s the political figure in our history most different from Donald Trump? The answer is easy: Eleanor Roosevelt. Blanche Wiesen Cook comments—the third and final volume of her biography of Eleanor is out now.

“The leaks were real but the stories are fake”: TrumpWatch Podcast 2-16

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John Nichols comments on Trump’s first press conference as president.  Paul Ryan must have been tearing his hair out: he waited eight years to get a Republican in the White House, and now Trump has squandered his “honeymoon period” and is spending more time talking about CNN than about GOP plans on taxes, trade, immigration, and Obamacare.

 The West Coast Is Leading the Resistance Against Trump: “Start Making Sense” 2/16

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California, Oregon, and Washington are leading what could become the largest resistance movement against federal policy in more than a century. Sasha Abramsky reports.

Also: Are evangelical Christians hypocrites for supporting Trump? Katha Pollitt says they understand how politics works; now it’s payback time for the president.

Plus: Almost two dozen lawsuits have been filed against Trump’s Muslim travel ban—is that too many? David Cole, national legal director of the ACLU, says that lots of judges ruling against the president is a good thing.

Our Insane Clown President: Matt Taibbi on TrumpWatch 2-9

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Matt Taibbi says “Trump made idiots of us all.” He covered the campaign for Rolling Stone—and his new book is “Insane Clown President.”

Also: suing the president: it’s not easy. But Erwin Chemerinsky has found a way to do it–under the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. Erwin is Dean of the law school at UC Irvine.

Keith Ellison: How the Democrats Can Win. “Start Making Sense,” 2/9

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The Democrats need to “champion working families and give voters a reason to show up at the polls in 2018 and beyond”—that’s what Representative Keith Ellison says. The Nation has endorsed him for chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Also: What can Ivanka possibly do for women who work? Amy Wilentz examines the website of our de facto first lady to find some answers.

And historian Eric Foner talks about another time in our past when the federal government was as vicious as Trump wants it to be: the 1850s, when the Fugitive Slave Act was the law of the land.

The First Trump Watch Podcast: Harold Meyerson, Jane Mayer, Amy Wilentz – KPFK 2/2

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Today in Trump World: For that we turn to HAROLD MEYERSON, with the story of Trump’s efforts to recruit leaders of the construction trades.  Harold ouf course is executive editor of The American Prospect and a regular contributor to the LA Times op-ed page and other publications.

Plus: JANE MAYER of the New Yorker reports on Dark Money and Donald Trump – the big money donors, especially the Koch brothers, didn’t want him, but he won anyway – what does that tell us?  Her book Dark Money is out now in paperback.

And AMY WILENTZ will talk about Ivanka, our de-facto First Lady — what can she possibly do for women who work?  Amy has the cover story in The Nation, about Ivanka.

 

How Far Outside the Legal Mainstream is Neal Gorsuch? David Cole on “Start Making Sense” 2/2

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David Cole, the national legal director of the ACLU, discusses Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, and its implications for constitutional rights and liberties in the Trump era and beyond. Cole also says that last weekend’s demonstrations against Trump’s Muslim ban were crucial to the court victories the ACLU has won so far against the executive order.”

Also, Zoë Carpenter reports on what Trump has actually done in his first days in office, as opposed to what he has tweeted.

Plus, John Nichols takes the long view, explaining the significance of recent victories against gerrymandering in Wisconsin.

Trump and the Women’s March: Harold Meyerson and Katha Pollitt on KPFK 1/26

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KATHA POLLITT talks about the Women’s March last Saturday, and why it was so great — starting with the Pussy Hats.

And Harold Meyerson reviews the situation in Washington –Trump’s first week has been a lively one.  Harold of course is Executive Editor of The American Prospect.

Also, Alan Minsky explains what’s happening with Trump and Trade after the TPP and with NAFTA after the blow-up with the Mexican president.