Jonathan Chait reveals the shocking fact that under the G.O.P. tax plan, the richest Americans get most of the benefits. Is there a human being on this planet who didn't think that would be the case? Seriously? If there's a bedrock policy in the Republican party today, it's that the government exists to serve the wealthiest people first and everyone else as necessary.
Kevin Drum meanwhile notes that the Republican plan also takes from those who vote Democratic and gives to those who vote Republican. Yeah, that's going to bring us all together.
Drum also notes a new report on how Russians sure did their darnedest to help Trump defeat Hillary. It's amazing how many people who voted for Trump because they felt he'd be tougher on Russia aren't bothered by that.
Donald Trump seems to be amazed and frustrated that the powers of the presidency do not permit him to order his political opponents be jailed or even prosecuted. As Ezra Klein notes, one of the things working against this man is that he seems broadly incompetent to use the powers he does have. And we can only imagine the Republican outcry if Barack Obama had wished aloud for the dictatorship that Trump wishes he was commanding.
Daniel Larison wonders if Congress has the guts to limit Trump's war powers, especially with regard to North Korea. I would say the answer to that in on a sliding scale somewhere between Absolutely Not and Definitely Not.
And lastly for now, we have Jeff Goodell on "The Climate Report President Trump Thinks You're Too Stupid to Read." Well, maybe Trump feels that way but it seems to me that what he believes is that there are enough people in America who don't want to believe Climate Change is happening to sustain his core principle that nothing should ever get in the way of a company making money. Those people don't really care what experts say. For them, a homeless guy screaming on the street corner that it's all a Liberal Hoax cancels out any number of actual researchers. Reality can be whatever you want it to be if you only listen to those who tell you what you want to hear.