Professor John Banzhaf, Rep. Mac Thornberry and Montgomery County Councilmember Hans Riemer joined WMAL on Wednesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Hosts: Brian Wilson and Larry O’Connor

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C DRIVE AT FIVE INTERVIEW – SUSAN FERRECHIO – Washington Examiner

• Should We Have Impeached The IRS Commissioner?

5am – D         Anti-Trumpers Traumatized By The Election:

• Wash Post: Trump’s election stole my desire to look for a partner. (Stephanie Land) — In August, I went on six dates in one week. I had decided that I was ready to look for a partner. Enough of this dating unavailable men a half-decade younger than me. They’d never seriously consider a relationship with me, my two children and our needy dog. No. I wanted to find an equal. A man who wouldn’t feel the need to step in and rescue me. I didn’t need rescuing. But I knew deep down that was only partially true. I often felt the sort of loneliness that settled in my stomach, starting from a chaotic afternoon with my children, lasting well into the night when I pulled covers tight around my chin.
• The Post-Trump Haircut. (NY Mag) — George Washington University teaching instructor Dr. Kristian Henderson had been battling with her hair for years, but after the election, she finally took off her weave and cut it all off. “The election results felt like an attack on minorities, women, and marginalized people in general. Having long hair was my attempt to fit into society, so after the election, I felt a need to exert my ‘uniqueness’ and not tie my femininity to the length of my hair,” she says. Vegan chef Mya Zeronis — who says she’s “a minority in almost every way possible: immigrant woman of color and LGBQT person” — clipper-cut her brown hair on November 18 “to send a message to the Trump presidency.” But it’s not just liberals making female-empowerment smoke signals at the hair salon. “I have clients who were so heavily criticized for not voting for the ‘right’ candidate, so they came in for a big change,” remarks Georgetown Salon & Spa’s Moore. “The way they style their hair is a message they can control.” Julianna Evans likes the narrative she’s commanding, and says she’s keeping her goth look, though her stylist has added some more natural lowlights. “You have to live here to understand that we are immersed in politics every day,” the mother of two explains. “For many of us, with this election, it’s like your boyfriend dumped you in a really shocking way with no explanation and then moved in next door.” She is resigned to fighting against what she sees as a mandate for sexism through her own style choices. “Now, I feel like my hair says you can’t bring me down. This misogyny will not persevere. The bumper sticker for me is, ‘I am woman, hear me roar.’”

5am – E         Former Sen. Bob Dole had a lot to do with Trump’s call with Taiwan. A phone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen was arranged with the help of former GOP senator and presidential nominee Bob Dole, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday night. The Journal cited an unnamed Trump transition official with the news of Dole’s involvement in the controversial call last Friday – one the Journal reported may signal the start of a more adversarial relationship between the United States and China. Dole told the Journal the law firm he’s affiliated with does work with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States – and that the firm played a role in arranging the phone call. “It’s fair to say that we may have had some influence,” Dole told the Journal. According to the Journal, the 12-minute phone call wasn’t simply congratulatory, as Vice President-elect Mike Pence declared two days later, but instead was a conversation in which Trump stressed to Tsai that his top priority is the U.S. economy.

6am – A/B/C DC lawmakers approve generous paid family leave benefit. WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers in the District of Columbia voted Tuesday to impose a new tax on businesses to provide more than half a million workers with eight weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, one of the nation’s most generous paid family leave programs. Tuesday’s 11-to-2 vote by the liberal D.C. Council came despite concerns that the leave program would harm small businesses and cost some workers their jobs. Although three states guarantee paid family leave, all of them fund the benefit in part through employee contributions. Advocates hailed the vote as a landmark, noting that the United States is alone among fully industrialized nations in failing to provide paid leave for new mothers and fathers. Supporters packed the council chamber, several with infants in strollers and baby carriers. “Especially in the era of (Donald) Trump, I think that the only way to make progress on policies that are going to benefit working families is going to be at the state and local level,” said independent Council member Elissa Silverman, who has led the push for the bill. “What I’m really proud of is that the District is leading the way.” While Silverman and the council’s progressive wing sought to distance themselves from the president-elect — who has advocated a more limited form of paid family leave — Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser traveled to New York on Tuesday to meet with him. Bowser has not said whether she would sign the bill, but the 11-to-2 margin would be veto-proof if it holds when the council votes again in two weeks. Her allies on the council cited the program’s costs, its uncertain effect on businesses and the fact that more than 60 percent of those who would get the benefits live in Maryland and Virginia.

6am – D         Highlights: Obama’s Last National Security Speech

6am – E         Bowser meets with Trump; says president-elect is DC ‘supporter’ / WASHINGTON — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser met Tuesday with President-elect Donald Trump for a “wide-ranging” conversation that included federal action to improve the area’s beleaguered Metro system and a push to make D.C. the 51st state, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters last month. Speaking to reporters from the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan after her meeting with the president-elect, Bowser declined to discuss many of the specifics of her conversation. “The one thing that I know emphatically that he said is that he is a supporter of the District of Columbia,” Bowser said. “He’s familiar with the District of Columbia and he wants to be supportive.” Bowser said she stressed to Trump that D.C. is not totally dependent on the federal government for its funding.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – PROFESSOR JOHN BANZHAF – Professor of Public Interest Law, George Washington University Law School

• DC university professor calls student protest groups’ demands ‘political correctness run amok.’ WASHINGTON – A George Washington University professor is crediting school administrators for standing up to student protest groups and and not giving in to their “outrageous demands.” The Progressive Student Union and several other on-campus student organizations have made a list of demands in a three-page later to school administrators calling on them to make a public acknowledgement that white privilege exists in the country and for the university to create a “sanctuary” for Muslim refugees fleeing the Middle East. Other demands include asking the university to take steps to re-channel its resources and money to protect students from racism and sexism. They also want the university to divert students’ tuition money to fund homeless facilities, job training and community centers. These groups also believe that the Fraternal Order of Police’s endorsement of Trump is an “act of violence” against them and are threatening their safety when they provide security at their protests. In an op-ed piece penned by George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf, he credits the school for taking a stand to stop what Banzhaf has termed “political correctness run amok” that has overtaken college campuses across the country. Banzhaf said if these demands were agreed to, it would have let “the inmates run the asylum.”

7am – B         Congress News:

• House rebukes Freedom Caucus effort to oust IRS chief.  The House squelched a resolution to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in a bipartisan rebuke of conservative House Freedom Caucus efforts. Lawmakers voted 342-72 to kick the resolution back to the Judiciary Committee, averting a floor vote on outright impeachment after outgoing House Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan introduced a privileged resolution on Tuesday to impeach Koskinen. Had the impeachment push succeeded, Koskinen would have been the first appointed executive-branch official to meet that fate in 140 years. Some top Republicans suggested that impeachment was unnecessary, given that the IRS chief serves at the pleasure of the president. Koskinen, whose term ends in November 2017, has said he’ll step aside if Trump doesn’t want him in the role, and GOP lawmakers said Tuesday they expected that to be the case.
• Senate GOP to move quickly to repeal health act; Schumer pushes back. (Newsday) — WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reaffirmed on Tuesday that the first order of business for Congress next year will be to take up the repeal of the Affordable Care Act — but Democrats said that’s a promise that will be hard to keep. “When we come back Jan. 3, we’ll be moving to the Obamacare replacement resolution,” McConnell told the media-packed hall outside of the Senate chamber. “The Obamacare repeal resolution will be the first item up in the new year.” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Policy Committee, said he hoped that Democrats would join in the effort to “provide relief for those suffering under the Obama health care law,” saying, “I would hope that the new minority leader works closely with us.” But when Democrats took their turn talking to the media, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the next Senate minority leader, promised a battle and told Republicans to “bring it on.”
• Pelosi warns GOP not to put Mattis waiver language in CR. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., warned Republicans Tuesday not to put language in a continuing spending resolution that gives retired Gen. James Mattis a waiver from current law that requires officers to be out of the military for seven years before they take on the role as secretary of defense. Republicans are rumored to be considering adding that language to the CR, which was expected to be released on Thursday. But House aides said Tuesday that no decision has been made. Pelosi argued that Republicans need to drop the idea. “Civilian leadership of the military has been a cornerstone of our democracy since the founders, and for good reason,” she said. “In the whole history of the Department of Defense, the only Defense secretary ever given a waiver was then-secretary of State, General George Marshall — who was provided an individual waiver in a stand-alone bill approved by the Congress.” Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., encouraged Republicans to follow regular order if they are determined to circumvent the law that prevents recently active military leaders from running the Pentagon.

7am – C         ‘Tinder for air travel’ sets up mile-high hookups. (NY Post) — A new dating app functions like Tinder in the sky, connecting air travelers for in-flight flirting and possible mile-high hookups. The free app, AirDates, encourages fliers to post their itineraries before trips so they can meet up with potential lovers mid-air. Users “check in” at the airport, chat using a special Internet-free connection, and then search for love. New York City travelers were excited to try it out. “I am looking for a girl on a plane who has things in common with me, like movies,” said Felipe Elyas Gomes, 22, of Brazil, who was flying to his home country Tuesday from JFK Airport. “I’d talk to the girl, say, ‘Hey, how are you? Why are you traveling? We’d see where it goes — and head to the bathroom,” he said.

7am – D         Pres.-elect Trump on Boeing Air Force One contract: “The plane is totally out of control.”

• Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 20h20 hours ago: Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!
• Trump interjects himself in Air Force One, business deals. FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump, a political newcomer who touts his corporate skills, turned businessman-in-chief Tuesday, first demanding the government cancel a multibillion-dollar order for new presidential planes and then hailing a Japanese company’s commitment to invest billions in the U.S.  “We will defend American jobs. We have to look at it almost like a war,” Trump thundered in North Carolina, vowing to keep companies from moving overseas during the second stop of his “thank you” tour to salute his supporters. “We want the next generation of innovation and production to happen right here in America.”

7am – E         TIME Person of the Year for 2016 is President-elect Donald Trump. (Today) — President-elect Donald Trump, the real estate businessman and political novice whose election campaign made the entire world take notice, has been selected as TIME’s 2016 Person of the Year. The magazine revealed its choice Wednesday on TODAY.

“To be on the cover of Time as Person of the Year is a tremendous honor,” Trump told Matt Lauer in an interview after the reveal. Every year, TIME editors select the person — or idea — who has most influenced the news and the world in the past year, for good or ill. “So which is it this year: Better or worse? The challenge for Donald Trump is how profoundly the country disagrees about the answer,” TIME managing editor Nancy Gibbs wrote in a magazine essay. Trump beat out 10 other finalists, including his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. TIME declared Clinton their runner-up, and she was also the top pick among TODAY viewers.  This will be Trump’s 10th time on the magazine’s cover, and all but one have been since August 2015. His first appearance on TIME was in 1989.

8am – A         INTERVIEW – REP. MAC THORNBERRY (R-TX) – House Armed Services Committee chairman

• PENTAGON: Pentagon buries evidence of $125 billion in bureaucratic waste
• MATTIS: Dems seek to quash quick Mattis confirmation. Pelosi warns GOP not to put Mattis waiver language in CR.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW — HANS RIEMER — (pronounced REEM-er) — At-large Councilmember at Montgomery County Council

• Speed limits could drop in Montgomery Co.  WASHINGTON — Montgomery County residents can weigh in this week on bills that would drop speed limits on certain county roads. Montgomery County Council member Hans Riemer has been working with several state delegates from the county to introduce legislation during the 2017 General Assembly session. Public hearings are scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday to get community feedback on various bills, but Riemer told WTOP he believes Wednesday is the night to weigh in on the speed limit bills. One bill would drop the top speed on county roads with no posted limits from 30 to 25 miles per hour. The second would allow 20 miles per hour to be the lowest possible speed limit in Montgomery County. If this bill passes, it would not mean an automatic speed limit decrease on county roads. “When I had originally proposed it, I had just requested that here be no particular floor and that we should just be allowed to set the county road speeds at whatever we would like,” Riemer said. “However after some negotiations, we came to agreement that we would just set a new floor of 20, rather than 25, which is the current floor.”

8am – D         Pearl Harbor: Nation Marks 75th Anniversary of Japan’s Attack. The nation on Wednesday will mark the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, an assault that left 2,403 Americans dead and propelled the country into World War II. It was a sunny Sunday morning when the attack began at around 7:55 a.m. By the time the attacks on Pearl Harbor and other military bases were over, 21 ships were sunk or damaged and more than 300 aircraft were damaged or destroyed. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously declared Dec. 7 “a date which will live in infamy” in an address to the nation the following day, during which he asked Congress for a declaration of war. Around 4,000 people are expected to attend the commemoration ceremony at Pearl Harbor, NBC affiliate KHNL in Honolulu reported. At Wednesday’s ceremony, a moment of silence will be held to mark the time that Japanese planes hit their first target in the harbor. Ceremonies will be held at Kilo Pier and at Hickam Air Force Base to commemorate the attack on Hickam Field.

8am – E         Precious Snowflake News:

• San Francisco airport introduces first ‘therapy pig.’ In December, 2013 San Francisco International (SFO) joined the growing list of airports where handlers walk trained therapy dogs through the terminals to greet passengers and reduce the stress of travel. But today SFO’s Wag Brigade get its first non-canine team member: a small, spotted Juliana pig named LiLou, who turns two on Dec. 15 and who has her own Instagram account lilou_sfpig. LiLou is the first pig to be certified in the Animal Assisted Therapy Program of the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  She has a variety of costumes, including a Wag Brigade “Pet Me!” vest.  And, according to the stats on LiLou’s Wag Brigade trading card, she also performs a variety of tricks, including greeting people with her snout or a wave, twirling and standing up on her back hooves, and playing a toy piano — with a proper, post-performance bow.
• A napping center could be coming to the University of Maryland thanks to an SGA proposal. The mid-afternoon crash hits, and the coffee just isn’t cutting it. There’s no time to make it back to the dorm or apartment for quick nap until after evening classes. The solution may be a campus “napping station.” The Student Government Association will revisit a bill next semester that, if passed, would support a pilot program for this type of facility in Stamp Student Union. “A Resolution Supporting a Napping Station” was scheduled for a vote at the SGA’s Nov. 30 meeting, but its sponsor, outlying off-campus representative Christian Coello, withdrew the bill with the plan of developing it further and re-introducing it in the spring. Coello said he and the Committee on Student Affairs did not want to rush the bill at the end of this semester and run the risk of having the legislature oppose it. Students who live off the campus are at a disadvantage if they need to take a nap during the day but cannot head home, said Coello, a commuter and a freshman engineering major. A.J. Pruitt, SGA vice president of student affairs, said students who rely on public transportation schedules have limited opportunities for midday rest.