Craig Shirley, ProEnglish’s Stephen Guschov, OMB’s Wesley Denton, Jamie Shupe and Cato’s Mike Tanner joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!      

5am – D         Trump releases budget seeking billions for border wall, work requirements for welfare programs. (Fox News) – President Trump kicked off a new battle with Congress on Monday by releasing his fiscal 2020 budget plan seeking billions more in funding for a border wall and controversial work requirements for Americans collecting a variety of welfare benefits. Both proposals are sure to face resistance from Democrats, especially coming off a partial shutdown triggered by a border wall dispute that only ended when Trump declared a national emergency over immigration — a step being litigated in the courts and challenged in Congress. The requests are part of the president’s $4.7 trillion budget plan. Escalating Trump’s pursuit of wall funding, the White House in the new budget requested an additional $8.6 billion to build the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border—seeking $5 billion from Congress, plus $3.6 billion from the military construction budget, for fiscal 2020. Meanwhile, the budget aims to implement new welfare requirements — namely, that Americans 18-65 years old work at least 20 hours a week in a job, a job training program or a community service program to secure a range of benefits and aid. According to the administration, the work requirement would apply to federal programs like food stamps, Medicaid, and federal housing, but would come with a hardship exemption. Last year, the administration opened the door for states to impose work requirements for Medicaid recipients. This part of the budget proposal would bring those work requirements to the federal level. The proposal would represent an expansion of work requirements, though some already are in place. For the past several administrations, able-bodied recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) have mostly had to work at least 80 hours a month — while recipients of traditional welfare known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) have also faced work requirements.

5am – E         Report: Trump Could Save Billions by Ending ‘Press 2 for Spanish’ President Donald Trump could save billions by eliminating a Clinton-era program that asks Americans to “Press 2 for Spanish” when seeking documents and services from the government, according to a new report. “The government must stop placing this onerous and costly translation and interpretation burden on Americans, and President [Donald] Trump has the ability to do so on a speedy basis via a new executive order,” Stephen Guschov, executive director of ProEnglish, an organization advocating for English as the United States’ official language, told The Washington Times. President Bill Clinton began the program in August 2000 with an executive order, requiring that federal agencies implement a system to allow people with limited English-speaking skills to access services. During President George W. Bush’s first term, the Office of Management and Budget set the cost of the service at $2 billion annually, meaning that some $30 billion has been spent if the price hasn’t changed. In addition, millions more is spent for military and intelligence agency contractors, and the cost has gone up after the 9-11 attacks. Trump has said often that speaking English is important for immigrants, and Vice President Mike Pence, while in Congress, was a five-time co-sponsor of the English Language Unity Act. The bill has been introduced again this year by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.

6am – A/B/C Pelosi says she’s opposed to impeaching Trump: ‘He’s just not worth it.’ (Fox News) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., revealed she’s opposed to the impeachment of President Donald Trump in the absence of evidence that is “compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan.” “I’m not for impeachment,” Pelosi told The Washington Post in an interview published Monday. “Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he’s just not worth it.” The speaker’s remarks ran counter to sentiments expressed by some freshman members of her caucus, most notably Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who vowed to Democratic activists that she would help “impeach the motherf—er” hours after she was sworn in this past January.

• DEM DISSENSION OVER TRUMP IMPEACHMENT PUSH: It appears the old guard in the Democratic Party does not see eye-to eye with its radical, progressive new guard in the push to impeach President Trump … In an interview with the Washington Post on Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., revealed she’s opposed to impeachment in the absence of evidence that is “compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan” and because it would divide the country. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said she would introduce articles of impeachment against Trump later this month. She and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, last month signed a “pledge” to impeach Trump. When asked about Pelosi’s reluctance to impeach in a Washington Examiner interview, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez replied: “I happen to disagree with that take.” The congresswoman added, “But you know, she’s the speaker. … I think we’ll see.” When asked about Democrats’ disagreements on impeaching Trump, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland hit back at the three most outspoken freshman Democratic lawmakers, saying, “We’ve got 62 new (Democratic) members. Not three.” He also conceded that anything the House might attempt would die in the Senate, which requires 67 years to convict and remove the president.

6am – D         INTERVIEW _ CRAIG SHIRLEY – Reagan historian and author “Last Act: The Final Years and Emerging Legacy of Ronald Reagan” @CraigSBPA

• TOPIC: AOC vs Craig Shirley on Reagan’s legacy:
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Reagan Used ‘Racist’ Caricatures to Divide Americans
• Craig Shirley  @CraigSBPA: There is no evidence of @AOC  ever picked up a book on President Reagan. so she would not know he was the president who signed the order creating the Dr. Martin Luther King national holiday.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ‏AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Retweeted Craig Shirley: Ok great, now talk about Reagan and: – Iran-Contra + – The gutting of our mental health system + – The explosion of homelessness under his watch +- The crack epidemic.. Maybe instead of insinuating I’ve never read a book, be open to the idea that we’ve read different ones.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC: – HIV/AIDS crisis and demonization of LGBT+ community… – Union-busting… – Ending the Fairness Doctrine, which launched the polarized media environment we’re suffering from today.. Why are we not supposed to talk about these things?
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC: Yup. Quite a few Republicans lauded now fought MLK Day and participated / were complicit in denouncing MLK as communist. There is a long history of smearing progressives, particularly activists of color, as communist. It’s called Red-baiting & it’s the GOP’s main strategy today.

6am – E         Maryland Democratic official takes heat for calls to ‘dox’ gun rights activists. (Fox News) — A Democratic Party leader in Maryland is facing criticism for last month posting on Facebook a call to “dox” gun rights activists. Maryland Democratic Party Secretary Robbie Leonard took to social media to post photos from a Maryland House Judiciary Committee meeting in late February, where gun rights activists wore “We Will Not Comply” shirts during the hearing on additional gun control measures, along with a message calling the advocates “homegrown terrorists” and calling on his followers to “dox” them. “I hope the FBI runs the name of every witness who is wearing a t-shirt that says ‘We Will Not Comply,’ Leonard said in one Facebook message. “They’re a bunch of terrorists in the making.” In another message, Leonard posted a photo of a protestor along with the comment: “Time to dox some homegrown terrorists.” Doxing is a practice of researching and broadcasting over the Internet the personal and private information of an individual or organization, normally with malicious intent. Gun rights groups and lobbyists were quick to condemn Leonard for his comments on social media, pointing out that Maryland’s criminal code prohibits doxing and that the gun rights activists are protected under the First Amendment.

6am – F         I Was America’s First ‘Nonbinary’ Person. It Was All a Sham. (By Jamie Shupe / @NotableDesister / Daily Signal) – (Daily Signal) — Four years ago, I wrote about my decision to live as a woman in The New York Times, writing that I had wanted to live “authentically as the woman that I have always been,” and had “effectively traded my white male privilege to become one of America’s most hated minorities.” Three years ago, I decided that I was neither male nor female, but nonbinary—and made headlines after an Oregon judge agreed to let me identify as a third sex, not male or female. Now, I want to live again as the man that I am. I’m one of the lucky ones. Despite participating in medical transgenderism for six years, my body is still intact. Most people who desist from transgender identities after gender changes can’t say the same.  But that’s not to say I got off scot-free. My psyche is eternally scarred, and I’ve got a host of health issues from the grand medical experiment. Here’s how things began: After convincing myself that I was a woman during a severe mental health crisis, I visited a licensed nurse practitioner in early 2013 and asked for a hormone prescription. “If you don’t give me the drugs, I’ll buy them off the internet,” I threatened. Although she’d never met me before, the nurse phoned in a prescription for 2 mg of oral estrogen and 200 mg of Spironolactone that very same day. The nurse practitioner ignored that I have chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, having previously served in the military for almost 18 years. All of my doctors agree on that. Others believe that I have bipolar disorder and possibly borderline personality disorder. I should have been stopped, but out-of-control, transgender activism had made the nurse practitioner too scared to say no.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – Stephen Guschov, Executive Director, ProEnglish @StephenDGuschov

• Report: Trump Could Save Billions by Ending ‘Press 2 for Spanish.’ President Donald Trump could save billions by eliminating a Clinton-era program that asks Americans to “Press 2 for Spanish” when seeking documents and services from the government, according to a new report. “The government must stop placing this onerous and costly translation and interpretation burden on Americans, and President [Donald] Trump has the ability to do so on a speedy basis via a new executive order,” Stephen Guschov, executive director of ProEnglish, an organization advocating for English as the United States’ official language, told The Washington Times.

7am – B         White House announces press briefing after record six weeks without one. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders briefed reporters on Monday afternoon, ending the longest period without an official White House media briefing since President Donald Trump took office. Sanders appeared alongside acting budget director Russell Vought at 2 pm. ET. The administration released its budget proposal for fiscal year 2020 earlier in the day.

• Reporter Q: “Does he (President Trump) really believe Democrats hate Jews?”  White House press secretary Sarah Sanders: “I think that’s a question you oughta ask the Democrats”
• CNN’s Acosta: “Democrats don’t hate Jewish people that’s just silly. It’s not true.” PressSec: “They should call out their members by name.”  CNN’s Jim Acosta rushes to the defense of the Democratic Party after Trump says they are anti-Israel and anti-Jewish Acosta falsely states that Trump suggested after Charlottesville that “there are very fine people in the Nazis” Trump condemned neo-Nazis and White Supremacists. Sanders wasn’t having it.
• Trump calls Democrats ‘anti-Israel’ and ‘anti-Jewish’ party after House vote on hate. President Donald Trump on Friday said Democrats have become an “anti-Israel” and “anti-Jewish” party after they overwhelmingly passed a House resolution Thursday rejecting not just anti-Semitism but hate and racism across the board.  “The Democrats have become an anti-Israel party. They’ve become an anti-Jewish party. I thought that vote was a disgrace and so does everybody else if you get an honest answer”
• Trump allegedly told RNC donors that “Democrats hate Jewish people”: report. President Trump reportedly told a group of Republican National Committee (RNC) donors Friday night that he’d poll at 98 percent if he ran be Israel’s next prime minister.  Axios, citing three unnamed sources who heard Trump’s comments, reported Sunday that the president made the statement while speaking to a group of RNC donors at Mar-a-Lago. Axios, citing three unnamed sources who heard Trump’s comments, reported Sunday that the president made the statement while speaking to a group of RNC donors at Mar-a-Lago. Trump also reportedly took aim at Democrats during his speech, allegedly saying that he didn’t understand how any Jewish person could vote for a Democrat. “The Democrats hate Jewish people,” Trump allegedly said when discussing the controversy surrounding Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) comments about Israel and the Democratic Party’s response.

7am – C         Lady Luck: Richmond woman wins Virginia Lottery 30 times in one day. (WTVR) – RICHMOND, Va. — Some people have all the luck. On February 11, 2019, that person was Deborah Brown. Brown won the Virginia Lottery 30 times that day. She initially bought 20 Pick 4 tickets with the numbers: 1-0-3-1. She said she just had a feeling. “A couple of times during the day, I saw those numbers,” she explained. Later that day, she bought 10 more tickets with the same numbers. Sure enough, that night the winning numbers were: 1-0-3-1. “I nearly had a heart attack!” she said. Each of her 30 plays won the $5,000 top prize. She recently picked her check for $150,000.

7am – D         INTERVIEW – Wesley Denton – Senior Advisor to the Director – ‎Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – discussed the president’s budget.

• Trump releases budget seeking billions for border wall, work requirements for welfare programs. (Fox News) – President Trump kicked off a new battle with Congress on Monday by releasing his fiscal 2020 budget plan seeking billions more in funding for a border wall and controversial work requirements for Americans collecting a variety of welfare benefits. Both proposals are sure to face resistance from Democrats, especially coming off a partial shutdown triggered by a border wall dispute that only ended when Trump declared a national emergency over immigration — a step being litigated in the courts and challenged in Congress. The requests are part of the president’s $4.7 trillion budget plan. Escalating Trump’s pursuit of wall funding, the White House in the new budget requested an additional $8.6 billion to build the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border—seeking $5 billion from Congress, plus $3.6 billion from the military construction budget, for fiscal 2020.

7am – E         It’s Official: DNC To Host Annual Convention In A Place Hillary Passed Over. It’s official: Milwaukee has bested contenders Houston and Miami to host the 2019 Democratic National Convention. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez is expected to announce the decision Monday from Milwaukee. Some noted that Wisconsin, once a Democratic stronghold, was one of the key states that delivered the White House to President Donald Trump. The DNC’s decision to go there may be an effort to prevent that from becoming a trend. The Associated Press’ Scott Bauer explained, “The Democratic National Committee’s decision will take the party to the heart of the working-class upper Midwest that delivered President Donald Trump to the White House. Before 2016, Republicans hadn’t won Wisconsin since 1984.”

8am – A         INTERVIEW – JAMIE SHUPE –  a retired United States Army soldier who, in 2016, became the first person in the United States to have their sex legally declared as non-binary  @NotableDesister

• I Was America’s First ‘Nonbinary’ Person. It Was All a Sham. (By Jamie Shupe / @NotableDesister / Daily Signal) – (Daily Signal) — Four years ago, I wrote about my decision to live as a woman in The New York Times, writing that I had wanted to live “authentically as the woman that I have always been,” and had “effectively traded my white male privilege to become one of America’s most hated minorities.” Three years ago, I decided that I was neither male nor female, but nonbinary—and made headlines after an Oregon judge agreed to let me identify as a third sex, not male or female. Now, I want to live again as the man that I am. I’m one of the lucky ones. Despite participating in medical transgenderism for six years, my body is still intact. Most people who desist from transgender identities after gender changes can’t say the same.  But that’s not to say I got off scot-free. My psyche is eternally scarred, and I’ve got a host of health issues from the grand medical experiment. Here’s how things began: After convincing myself that I was a woman during a severe mental health crisis, I visited a licensed nurse practitioner in early 2013 and asked for a hormone prescription. “If you don’t give me the drugs, I’ll buy them off the internet,” I threatened. Although she’d never met me before, the nurse phoned in a prescription for 2 mg of oral estrogen and 200 mg of Spironolactone that very same day. The nurse practitioner ignored that I have chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, having previously served in the military for almost 18 years. All of my doctors agree on that. Others believe that I have bipolar disorder and possibly borderline personality disorder. I should have been stopped, but out-of-control, transgender activism had made the nurse practitioner too scared to say no.

8am – B/C     INTERVIEW – MIKE TANNER – Cato Institute Senior Fellow and heads research into a variety of domestic policies including health care, social welfare, and Social Security. @MTannerCato

• TOPIC: Trump Admin Proposes Using Social Media To Catch Social Security Disability Fraud: On Disability and on Facebook? Uncle Sam Wants to Watch What You Post. (NY TIMES) – The Trump administration has been quietly working on a proposal to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to help identify people who claim Social Security disability benefits without actually being disabled. If, for example, a person claimed benefits because of a back injury but was shown playing golf in a photograph posted on Facebook, that could be used as evidence that the injury was not disabling.

8am – D/E     TUCKER RESPONDS TO MOB:

• ‘WE’LL NEVER BOW TO THE MOB’ – “Since the day we went on the air, they’ve been working hard to kill this show. We haven’t said much about it in public. It seemed too self-referential. The point of this show has never been us. But now it’s obvious to everyone. There’s no pretending it’s not happening. Going forward we’ll be covering their efforts to make us be quiet. For now, just two points. First, Fox is behind us, as they have been since the first day. Toughness is a rare quality in a TV network, and we’re grateful for that. Second, we’ve always apologized when we’re wrong, and we will continue to. That’s what decent people do. But we will never bow to the mob. Ever. No matter what.” – Tucker Carlson, on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” responding to Media Matters highlighting comments he made in interviews on “Bubba the Love Sponge” more than 10 years ago.