Trump fights football players
After a protest against police brutality by National Football League players spread, United States President Donald Trump weighed in and decried the action as unpatriotic. In a series of tweets spread over several days, Trump demanded the head of the NFL Roger Goodell “[t]ell them to stand!” Meanwhile, the protests haven’t appeared to stop, even as apparent counter-protests have appeared to manifest on Twitter.
Cassidy-Graham collapses
The Cassidy-Graham bill offered by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R–LA) and Lindsay Graham (R–SC) collapsed under a series of opposition moves by GOP senators, including John McCain (R–AZ) and Rand Paul (R–KY). The U.S. Senate will now move on to a tax reform bill offered by Senate Republicans.
HHS Secretary priced out
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned Friday after it was revealed that he spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on flights to and from personal engagements. Price, long an opponent of government waste, was quick to rush for the exits when Trump made it clear the bad press was a liability.
Strange things are afoot in Alabama
Alabama’s sitting U.S. Sen. Luther Strange lost the GOP runoff primary to former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, a hard core ideologue that many see as unable to win in the upcoming general election. Among Moore’s weaknesses are a penchant for saying things like, “Homosexual conduct should be illegal” and claiming that the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 were divine punishment. Strange was endorsed by President Trump, who campaigned for him in the last days of the race.
ICE targets sanctuary cities
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers announced that they have arrested 450 undocumented individuals in “Operation Safe City.” Federal agents bragged about arresting 33 undocumented immigrants on a variety of different charges.
According to Willamette Week, however, ICE’s story changed within two days and admitted to detaining 4 people in Portland instead of 33. In the original statement made by ICE, the agency claims the sweeps were necessary because they were unable to get the cooperation of local officials.
Oregon Secretary of State speaks his mind
In a wide-ranging Oregon Public Media interview, Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson admitted to not having black friends and to believing that LGBTQ Oregonians are immoral. While he said he was working on outreach to the black community, and that he respected the “humanity” of the LGBTQ community, he nevertheless did not walk back his comments.
TriMet would like a dollar, please
Next year you might be voting on a modest bond measure that would pay for major transit projects in the region. The idea is that, with Trump’s lack of willingness to fund anything that isn’t a car, cities are going to have to pony up a little bit to fill the gap. According to the Oregonian, details are thin, but given the clearly adversarial position the Trump administration has taken against transit, we might have to go it alone.
THIS WEEK AT PORTLAND CITY COUNCIL
Post Office site plan gets a vote Take 2, 2 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 4
Last week was apparently a trial run, and it’s actually this week that sees a vote.
DACA resolution, Hispanic Heritage Month resolution 2 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 5
City Council plans to pass resolutions honoring Dreamers, DACA and Hispanic Heritage Month. Testimony of one hour and forty five minutes for the two resolutions will be allotted, one for DACA, forty five minutes for Hispanic Heritage Month.
