| President-Elect Trump embarked on a victory tour yesterday. The "Thank You" tour kicked off in Cincinnati, where Trump referred to himself in the third person and assured voters that the straight-talking, unconventional, not PC (read: racist, misogynist, Islamophobe) Trump they remember from the campaign is the Trump that will serve as president. | | In between spewing false statistics like the fact that violent crime is at a 45-year high (it's actually at a 51-year low), Trump reiterated his promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act, stop immigration from countries with a history of terrorism, lower taxes, and, of course, "drain the swamp." We put together a map showing how trump's campaign promises—from implementing private school vouchers to deporting millions of unauthorized immigrants—will impact the states. Check out the interactive map here. | | The Warrior Monk. That's one of the nicknames for Trump's reported pick for secretary of defense, General James Mattis. Unlike many of Trump's other cabinet picks, Mattis's strong track record of military service and leadership could position him as a much-needed check against Trump's worst instincts and inexperience, especially when it comes to issues like torture and maintaining America's alliances abroad. One big problem, though: it's currently illegal for recently retired military officers to serve as secretary of defense, and Congress would need to change the law to allow Mattis to serve. But that law exists to preserve civilian control of the military, a cornerstone of American democracy, and appointing a general so recently retired from active service to be secretary of defense is a serious matter, no matter how qualified that general may be for the position. | | Rex T. Trump is reportedly considering Rex Tillerson the CEO of ExxonMobil for Secretary of State. You may remember Tillerson from a few months ago when he said he believes climate change is real and "warrants serious action." This was a big deal because his company has been in the hot seat lately since it was discovered that Exxon knew the science behind human-caused climate change as early as the 1970s (way before most people) but deliberately misled the public about it. Nevertheless, Tillerson and Trump would clash on many environmental issues, from the existence of climate change to the Paris agreement to a carbon tax. Be sure to check our Transition Tracker for more info as Trump's nominations keep coming. | | Jobs. The economy added 178,000 jobs in November. That's 222.5 times more than the 800 Carrier jobs Donald Trump saved by giving Carrier a $7 million tax break. And the unemployment rate is down to 4.6 percent. This means Trump is going to be inheriting a much stronger economy than the one Obama was given, so he better be saying #ThanksObama. | | Family Values. Far too many workers aren't getting paid leave, partly because of restrictive family definitions that may not meet the needs of LGBTQ parents, extended families, or single moms. But everyone deserves (or "should have"?) time off work to recover from an illness or care for a family member. That's why our hats are off to the states and cities who gave 7 million workers paid sick leave with inclusive family definitions this year. Now it's time for all the states to follow suit. Check out a new CAP report, which lays out best practices to make paid leave work for every family in every state, here . | | "On your right!" Now a caution for more than just bikers. Yesterday, Francois Hollande announced that he's not going to run for reelection next year. He's the first French president not to seek a second term in almost 60 years. He's also the least popular French president ever, according to Reuters. In France, like much of the world, voters are looking to the right at candidates like Marine Le Pen who never would have been taken seriously until Brexit happened and then Trump happened. Now people are taking far-right populist campaigns a lot more seriously. Speaking of right-wing national populist movements, Hungary should serve as a cautionary tale. | | "Science." The House Science Committee tweeted a Breitbart News article yesterday, suggesting that cold weather is proof that climate change is not real. Breitbart—and many Republicans on the House Science Committee for that matter—have a long history of climate denial and "blatant climate science misinformation." Media Matters sets the record straight. | | Take Backs. That's what some Trump voters are apparently saying about repealing the Affordable Care Act. A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that only 1 in 4 people wants Trump to repeal the ACA. Also noteworthy—just a month ago 69 percent of Republicans said they wanted the law completely repealed, but that number has since dropped significantly to 52 percent. More here. | | Please Don't Go. Congressional Republicans are telling health insurance companies, if we repeal Obamacare will you still be there? GOP lawmakers are planning to repeal the Affordable Care Act basically as soon as possible, so now they're trying to bribe insurance companies into not bailing completely out of the system altogether after ACA repeal. The Republican repeal plan will likely include a delay period, but that won't be enough to stop the market from unraveling even before full repeal takes effect. | | Pharma Bro. Remember Martin Shkreli, the guy who raised the price of a life-saving drug to $750, a 5000% price increase? Well a group of high school students recreated the drug Pharma Bro price-jacked for a fraction of the price—$2 per pill to be exact. Way to go kids. | |
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