There goes Michael Flynn. In what has long seemed likely, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser is expected to plead guilty today to charges he lied to the FBI about conversations with a Russian ambassador.
Here’s a rundown from Vice about the falsehoods the FBI says he told.
It’s big news, but do not be dissuaded from the tax abomination that Republicans appear on the verge of birthing. The Senate delayed a possible vote yesterday, but leaders are looking confident they can pass something in the chamber—effectively meaning it’s passed altogether (they’d still have to reconcile their version with the House). In order to slash taxes on corporations, Republicans are about to add $1 trillion to the deficit. They won’t admit it, but the actual people paid to figure out what effects the plan will have say that’s the case.
For a sense of how insidious the plan would be, this NYT piece is a good start. “The result is a behemoth piece of legislation that could widen American economic inequality while diminishing the power of local communities to marshal relief for vulnerable people…” We already reported this week that one provision approved by the House would be disastrous for affordable housing production nationwide.
Portland City Council likes congestion pricing. In a unanimous vote yesterday, the council voted to support studying tolling not only on local freeways, but also applying new strategies that could cut congestion on city streets. City staffers now have the green light to look into policies like London’s famous tolling scheme. It’s a potentially big deal, but some advocates are disappointed. They wanted Commissioner Dan Saltzman to push for tolling I-5 and I-205 before the state breaks ground on a $450 million highway-widening project—something Saltzman had said he supported, but has since backed off on.
Joe Walsh is suing again. The 75-year-old frequently berates city council members at meetings, and in 2015 convinced a judge that the city’s practice of excluding him for months at a time was illegal. Now Walsh—once again representing himself—is asking a court to prevent the city from using “chemical warfare” on citizens after he says he was attacked by police during a massive June 4 protest. He also wants half a million dollars.
FINALLY: The Eagle Creek Fire has finally been 100 percent contained nearly three months after it was set by a teen callously throwing fireworks into a parched forest.
Looks like Rex Tillerson might be out as secretary of state. At least, those are the whispers coming out of the White House. Whatever you’ve thought about him, Tillerson had the clarity of mind to at least (allegedly) call Trump a “moron.” So who’d replace him as the country’s top diplomat? A hawkish former Tea Party congressman who now leads the CIA. Makes sense!
For months, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been appearing around the country (including here), using the case of a woman shot on a San Francisco pier as a prime example why the country should be deporting undocumented immigrants. The undocumented immigrant who fired the gun in Sessions’ pet case was acquitted on a murder charge yesterday.
Clackamas County should know by mid-December whether it’s able, under zoning code, to establish a tiny house village for homeless veterans in Oregon City.
Joe Biden was in town last night. That’s all.
Joe Walsh cares about one subject: Joe Walsh.
He’s insane. He’s also an asshole. Plenty of mentally ill people aren’t also assholes. Joe is both. He brings nothing to any meeting but bad prop comedy and very loud noises.
It’s terrifying for some people to face old age and the inevitability of death. Joe fights that reality in the most logical and thoughtful way: shouting people down in the public square, so that he can be the star of the Joe Walsh show. City and county governments exist only to provide him indoor places to sit and scream into his bullhorn.
Results of protest are not important to Joe. Actually creating any kind of change or allowing average people who wouldn’t otherwise participate in their government to do so is beside the point — that point being Joe Walsh gets to be the boss of everyone while wearing fun t-shirts and yelling loud things at people who aren’t allowed to kick his ass. Other citizens of Oregon don’t exist, there is no Oregon, only Joe. There are no other issues in Portland, there are only the issues that Joe is interested in. The right to petition government for redress is only Joe’s right, as he is loud, and the Constitution was obviously written by the winner of the First Constitutional Screaming The Same Thing Over and Over Again Contest of 1789, so make sure to defer to Joe and his precious bullhorn.
One day, when Portland finally admits to itself that it’s a major metropolitan area instead of a cutesy quirky tiny-town theme park, maybe they’ll be able to screen out dirtbags like Walsh from public meetings about serous, substantial issues, enabling people who don’t live on the steps of City Hall to participate in their city’s future, without having to buy a ticket to the circus of the totally deranged.