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Mornings on the Mall

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Hosts: Mary Walter and Hans Von Spakovsky

5am – A/B/C Federal workers poised to overtake salaries of senators, DC gets highest pay raise (Washington Examiner) The top paychecks of federal workers are set to grow again next year to a six-figure number that rivals the $174,000 salaries of America’s 535 House and Senate members. Under a new federal order, salaries for most bureaucrats in the General Service will rise next year when the cap on top pay hits $164,000. And for the upper reaches of the government, senior executive service employees will be allowed to earn a maximum of $189,600.

5am – D Where’s the party? No state dinner in Trump’s first year (Yahoo) Trump has yet to reciprocate, making him the first president in almost a century to close his first year in office without welcoming a visiting counterpart to the U.S. with similar trappings. Trump spoke dismissively of state dinners as a candidate, when he panned President Barack Obama’s decision to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping with a 2015 state visit. Such visits are an important diplomatic tool that includes a showy arrival ceremony and an elaborate dinner at the White House. “I would not be throwing (Xi) a dinner,” Trump said at the time. “I would get him a McDonald’s hamburger and say we’ve got to get down to work.” Last month it was Xi’s turn to literally roll out the red carpet. The Chinese leader poured on the pageantry as he welcomed Trump to Beijing on what was billed as a “state visit, plus.” Trump also made state visits to South Korea and Vietnam. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said there is no “singular reason” why Trump hasn’t extended a state visit invitation yet, but added that the administration hopes to schedule a visit early in 2018.

5am – E  Friends for 60 years find out they’re biological brothers An Oahu family got a life-changing surprise just in time for the holidays. A man searching for his father ended up finding out that his best friend since grade school was actually his brother. The men are 15 months apart in age and have known each other for decades. They tell KHON2 they learned they were related through a family history and DNA website. Alan Robinson and Walter Macfarlane have been the best of friends for 60 years. “Let’s see, well we love to play cribbage. We’ve been playing cribbage all our lives,” Macfarlane said.

6am – A/B/C NBC orders staff to rat out misbehaving colleagues or be fired (Page Six) NBC has issued strict new anti-sexual harassment rules to employees — including that staffers must snitch on any misbehaving colleagues — in the wake of the firing of disgraced “Today” show host Matt Lauer. A source tells Page Six that NBC employees have been ordered to report any inappropriate relationships in the workplace — and if they fail to do so, they could be fired for covering up for colleagues. Detailed rules also have been issued about conduct in the office, including how to socialize and even how to hug colleagues. A source says, “Romantic relationships at work are not exactly unusual, but now NBC says it is taking a zero-tolerance approach. Staffers have been told that if they find out about any affairs, romances, inappropriate relationships or behavior in the office, they have to report it to human resources, their superior or the company anti-harassment phone line. Staffers are shocked that they are now expected to snitch on their friends.

6am – D  VA POLITICS: Indicted congressional candidate denies ‘any wrongdoing’ (Daily Press) Appearing with her attorney Friday, accused congressional candidate Shaun Brown vehemently denied any wrongdoing in response to federal fraud charges against her, vowed to fight the charges and said she expects to be fully exonerated. Brown, 58, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2nd Congressional District seat next year, was indicted Thursday on three counts of fraud, embezzlement and theft allegedly occurring in 2012. Virginia delays tie-breaking drawing in House of Delegates race (CNN) The tie-breaker to settle a dramatic race for a seat in Virginia’s House of Delegates has been delayed, after lawyers representing Democratic candidate Shelly Simonds filed a motion asking a trio of circuit court judges to reconsider their decision to allow a controversial ballot to be counted as a vote cast for her Republican opponent David Yancey. The decision to count the controversial ballot toward Yancey turned the race, which a recount panel had declared a one-vote victory for Simonds, into a tie.

6am – E  Government pleads with Prince Harry not to invite Barack Obama to his wedding (The Sun) The 33-year-old prince has become good friends with the Obamas since bonding with them during the Invictus Games. But Britain’s relations with Trump’s White House have sunk to their lowest ebb since his election last year. The young Royal couple’s dislike of the new president is well known. Meghan made disparaging comments about him on social media during his election campaign last year. There are deep fears among senior Foreign Office and No10 officials that another perceived national snub will make it impossible for Theresa May to meaningfully engage with Trump. A senior government source said: “Harry has made it clear he wants the Obamas at the wedding, so it’s causing a lot of nervousness. “Trump could react very badly if the Obamas get to a Royal wedding before he has had a chance to meet the Queen.

6am – F  North Korea soldier found to have anthrax antibodies (UPI) One of the North Korean soldiers who defected to the South in 2017 was found to have antibodies in his bloodstream, a sign Pyongyang possesses anthrax, the acute disease caused by bacteria. South Korean authorities did not identify the soldier, who was either exposed to or vaccinated for anthrax, but did confirm he had developed immunity to the deadly disease before he defected, local news network Channel A reported Tuesday.

7am – A/ B /C Neighbors regret talking to neighbors instead of going to police. (Washington Post)  Do you talk to your neighbors to handle disputes or do you immediately call the police? Neighbors said the display of hate in a Lorton, Va., community was as large as it was shocking: a swastika roughly 40 feet across mowed into the grass of a community field. Tire marks from a riding mower ran from the lot and up a road to the home of a teen who was known as troubled in the neighborhood, leaving little mystery as to the perpetrator, a neighbor said. Residents of Gunston Manor were soon debating how to handle the situation: go to police or talk to the teen’s family directly? The latter plan won out — and now some regret that decision. The incident came roughly two months before the 17-year-old allegedly shot and killed the parents of his 16-year-old girlfriend in their Reston home Friday.

7am – D INTERVIEW: Jim Swift – deputy online editor of The Weekly Standard

Topic: political predictions for 2018 

• predictions for the coming year along four vectors: politics, sports, entertainment, and foreign policy.

7am – E Property Tax Prepayment Now Accepted in MoCo, but Concerns Linger (WMAL) Montgomery County is joining other parts of the region, including Fairfax, Arlington, and Howard counties in allowing residents to pay their 2018 property taxes in 2017, in order to take advantage of deductions that will be going away when the new federal tax law takes effect on Jan. 1. Councilmembers cut their vacations short in order to hold the rare special session, compressing a normally months-long process into a few hours to introduce the bill, hold a public hearing on it, and pass it. “What we’ve done will give (residents) hopefully one more year of modest relief,” Council President Hans Riemer said. The move is in response to a provision in the federal tax law that caps local, state, and property tax deductions at $10,000. As it goes into effect on Jan. 1, any taxes paid before then would qualify for deductions under the previous tax provisions. “The decision by Republicans in Congress to shred this bargain is a direct attack on blue-state communities like ours where the cost of living is high,” Riemer said. County staff immediately got to work on a frantic outreach campaign, as tax payments, in full, must be postmarked by the time the New Year’s ball drops on Sunday night, a mere five days after the bill was passed.

8am – A INTERVIEW: J. Christian Adams – President and General Counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation and  founder of the Election Law Center

Topic: Appeals court rejects challenge to Trump voter fraud panel

• A S. appeals court on Tuesday rejected a legal challenge to President Trump‘s voter fraud panel.
• In a S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit opinion, Judge Stephen Williams wrote that the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) does not have legal standing to sue the voter fraud commission for alleged violations of the 2002 E-Government Act.

8am – B Big league 2018 goal: Trump hopes for bipartisan infrastructure deal (CNN) President Donald Trump, looking ahead to a critical election year where his record will be on the ballot alongside Republican lawmakers, plans a major push on infrastructure in January, aides said this week. Before decamping to his Florida estate for the holiday, Trump predicted his effort to repair the country’s roads, airports and bridges would garner bipartisan support with ease. But his plan of winning over Democrats — critical to passing such a spending package — remains a long shot, given the President’s own divisive politics, the details of his proposal and the pending midterm election. Despite promising a $1 trillion infrastructure bill during the campaign, Trump’s plan is shaping up differently. A White House official said on Tuesday the current proposal — set to be unveiled in the middle of January — would propose spending at least $200 billion on infrastructure projects over the next decade, with the hopes of spurring an additional $800 billion in state and local funding.

8am – C  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Instructs Staff to Sever Ties With U.S. (Breitbart) The Palestinian Authority’s rift with the U.S. is growing deeper, according to Israeli media outlets. PA President Mahmoud Abbas president has come to see U.S. President Donald Trump as “a lost cause,” according to the Tims of Israel. The PA leader reportedly instructed his staff to sever all ties with US diplomatic officials at every level, including relations between the Palestinians and American diplomats posted at the U.S. Consulate in East Jerusalem. The White House is reportedly looking for a Palestinian liaison other than Abbas.

8am – D INTERVIEW: Roger Berliner- Councilmember from Montgomery County MD 

Topic: bill allowing prepayment of property taxes in Montgomery County

• Montgomery County is joining other parts of the region, including Fairfax, Arlington, and Howard counties in allowing residents to pay their 2018 property taxes in 2017, in order to take advantage of deductions that will be going away when the new federal tax law takes effect on Jan. 1

8am – E Amid sales drop, Harley-Davidson wants to teach more to ride (Fox News) Harley-Davidson is placing a renewed emphasis on teaching people to ride as part of its efforts to attract more customers. The Milwaukee-based company’s decision to expand the number of dealerships with a Harley “Riding Academy” comes as the industry grapples with years of declining sales and an aging customer base. The program launched in 2000 with about 50 locations and now 245 dealerships in the U.S. offer the three- or four-day course. The company says about a quarter of those launched since 2014. Harley sold 124,777 new motorcycles through nine months in 2017, down from 135,581 during the same period the previous year, according to the company’s most recent earnings report. The Motorcycle Industry Council says the median age of motorcycle owners increased from 32 to 47 since 1990. About 46 percent of riders are over 50; only about 10 percent are 30-34.