Politico:
What’s going on? Partisanship often overrides religious or moral values in Alabama—which largely accounts for the divergent responses to Moore’s scandal in the state versus the rest of the country. But that also makes Moore’s case an interesting litmus test for Alabama, amid a national outing of sexual abusers in entertainment, government and the media. Will the state stand by a man who promises policies that much of the electorate wants and who holds similar religious views, or will it abandon him?
JMC Analytics (.pdf):
Jason Johnson/The Root had a terrific piece back in May:
Do they believe he’ll build that wall? Do they believe he’ll bring back jobs? Do they believe he’ll really “Make America great again”? Of course not. Trump voters don’t believe in what Trump says. They don’t care, and they don’t have to. Trump voters already think that America is done, finished, final, a fatality; they figured that out a long time ago. They didn’t elect Donald Trump to fix America; they elected Donald Trump to make sure that as America falls, white folks go down swinging.
WaPo:
Former U.S. intelligence officials: Trump being ‘played’ by Putin
“By not confronting the issue directly and not acknowledging to Putin that we know you’re responsible for this, I think he’s giving Putin a pass,” former CIA director John Brennan said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think it demonstrates to Mr. Putin that Donald Trump can be played by foreign leaders who are going to appeal to his ego and try to play upon his insecurities, which is very, very worrisome from a national security standpoint.”
Appearing on the same program, former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said he agrees with that assessment.
Jennifer Rubin/WaPo:
Russia’s mark: A dangerous fool for a president
Trump and his followers are willing to believe anything because they want to believe anything that confirms their counterfactual world. Anyone who sides with their alternative universe (Sebastian Gorka, Vladimir Putin, Bill O’Reilly, Roy Moore) is a hero and a victim of those pro-immigrant, globalist, anti-Christian elites. Anyone who presents cold, hard facts (the mainstream media, scientists, allied governments, Democrats, #NeverTrumpers) that explode their dearly held myths is an enemy of the people.Yes, that’s the mental universe in which Trump and his ilk reside. It renders Trump susceptible — eager, even — to believe our enemies, even — especially! — at the expense of American values, security and interests. He’s putty in the hands of wily autocrats. He’s therefore the type of target that counterintelligence operatives dream of — an arrogant fool.
Atlantic:
The Republican Tax Bills Are About to Shrink
Both plans are over-budget and can’t pass the Senate on a party-line vote without major changes, analysts say.
The proposal House Republicans approved in the Ways and Means Committee last week meets the first test but not the second: Steep cuts to the corporate and individual tax rates would cost more money than the government would bring in through the elimination of popular deductions and exemptions, even when accounting for economic growth.
The Senate “has an even bigger problem,” said Ed Lorenzen, a senior adviser for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The bill released on Thursday differs from the House proposal in a number of respects. While it completely eliminates the deduction for state and local taxes, it maintains the mortgage interest tax deduction and a few other expensive tax breaks. The Senate bill also reduces the income tax rate paid by the wealthiest earners, while the House bill does not. “The Senate bill on a permanent ongoing basis has a much larger cost, a much larger deficit than the House bill,” Lorenzen told me.
Josh Kraushaar/National Journal:
Tax Reform Won’t Save the GOP in the Midterms
Republicans warn that they’ll face an epic landslide if the tax bill doesn’t get congressional approval. The tough reality: Their political fortunes are bleak whether it passes or not.