Donald Trump escapes chill of Washington for Florida holiday
President Donald Trump escaped the chill of Washington and his impeachment on Friday to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s in sunny Florida with family and friends. One thing he isn’t celebrating is the delay in his Senate impeachment trial. It’s got him “mad as hell,” according to one ally. The Senate adjourned until January with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer unable to agree on trial procedure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she wants to know how the trial will be handled before she sends two House-passed articles of impeachment against Trump to the Senate. Trump, who flew to his private Palm Beach resort late Friday, has been looking forward to a trial in the friendlier Republican-controlled Senate and is riled up about the delay, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican-South Carolina, who is close to the president. “He’s mad as hell that they would do this to him and now deny him his day in court,” Graham said in an interview on Fox News Channel after meeting with Trump at the White House on Thursday night. A likely avenue for Trump to vent his frustration over being impeached — though he has said he doesn’t feel like he has been — will be his scheduled address Saturday to conservative student activists attending the Turning Point USA conference in West Palm Beach. The House voted Wednesday to impeach Trump for withholding military aid while pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who served on the board of a gas company there while the elder Biden was vice president. The House also said Trump sought to obstruct its investigation. Republished with the Permission of the Associated Press.
Unemployment rate down to record 2.7 percent
Alabama’s unemployment rate is down to a record-low 2.7 percent, the state said Friday. A statement from Gov. Kay Ivey’s office said the seasonally adjusted jobless rate for November was one-tenth of a percent better than the October rate of 2.8 percent. It was also well below the national unemployment rate of 3.5 percent. November was the seventh straight month for the state to reach a record low for unemployment. The rate represented 2.2 million people who were employed compared to about 62,000 who were unemployed. The state’s economy has gained more than 50,000 jobs since this time last year, the statement said. Wages also increased, with average weekly earnings in November at $863.11, up $1.06 from October. The November number was an increase of $21.56 from November 2018. About 1.7 million people are working in service industries, and manufacturing employment rose to 273,700. “Manufacturing employment in Alabama is at its highest level in 11 years,” Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington said in the statement. “Other sectors are currently experiencing their highest levels of employment in history. Employers are hiring, and people are finding work.” Shelby County in metro Birmingham had the lowest jobless rate at 1.8 percent while Wilcox County in rural west Alabama was highest at 6.3 percent. Republished with the Permission of the Associated Press.
Martha Roby: Sharing the joy of Christmas
The holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year, and it is easy to get caught up in all the responsibilities that come along with it. These obligations can be quick to distract us from the true meaning behind the Christmas season. With everything happening across our country and around the world, it is inevitable that our attention is focused elsewhere. As we gather with family and friends this year to celebrate, I pray that we do not forget the reason behind this special holiday: the birth of Jesus Christ and His message of hope in a troubled world. This powerful message rings as true today as it did centuries ago for the shepherds and watchmen who gathered to bear witness to Jesus’ birth. Although it is easy to get caught up in the stress and chaos of our promises and commitments, the nativity story and this important holiday serve as reminders that there is always a source of hope, no matter the circumstances. Jesus lived his life on earth displaying love, kindness, and joy to all, regardless of their situation or struggles, and we are called to follow His example and do the same. Many of us are fortunate enough to celebrate in the company of our loved ones. Let’s do our best to ensure that everyone in our communities enjoy the Christmas holiday by remembering those who are not as fortunate. My thoughts are with those who are suffering: those who are battling illnesses, fighting financial struggles, or spending Christmas in the absence of loved ones. Many mothers and fathers selflessly serve in our military, and they will not be able to celebrate Christmas at home with their children. We owe much gratitude to these devoted service members for sacrificing time with their family to protect our country. In the spirit of the holiday, I am encouraged by all those who are able to reach out to those in their community who may need a helping hand. Whether you decide to donate toys to children in need, write letters to soldiers overseas, collect food for local food banks, or bake delicious Christmas treats for your neighbors, every heartfelt action makes a difference. Each bit of compassion makes the world brighter. Let’s spread kindness with every opportunity that comes our way. Joy is contagious, and our efforts will have a positive impact across our communities. I am extremely honored to represent the people of the Second Congressional District in Congress. It has been a blessing to have so many unique opportunities over the years to dedicate my efforts to serving the needs of my constituents. I hope that we will all remember to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and spread joy this holiday season. From the Roby family to yours, we wish you a wonderful and Merry Christmas. Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District. She lives in Montgomery, Alabama, with her husband Riley and their two children.
Takeaways from the democratic presidential debate
Democratic presidential candidates offered two very different debates during their final forum of 2019. In the first half, they spent much of their time making the case for their electability in a contest with President Donald Trump. The second half was filled with friction over money in politics, Afghanistan and experience. MONEY TALKED The candidates jousted cordially over the economy, climate change and foreign policy. But it was a wine cave that opened up the fault lines in the 2020 field. That wine cave, highlighted in a recent Associated Press story, is where Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, recently held a big-dollar Napa Valley fundraiser, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren — who along with Sen. Bernie Sanders has eschewed fundraisers in favor of small-dollar grassroots donations — slammed him for it. “Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the United States,” Warren said. Buttigieg struck back, noting that he was the only person on the stage who was not a millionaire or billionaire. He said that if Warren donated to him he’d happily accept it even though she’s worth “ten times” what he is. He also added that Warren had only recently sworn off big money donations. “These purity tests shrink the stakes of the most important election,” Buttigieg snapped. It was an unusually sharp exchange between Warren and Buttigieg. The two have been sparring as Warren’s polling rise has stalled out and Buttigieg poached some of her support among college-educated whites. And Warren was not the only one going after Buttigieg. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota hit him on another front, namely what she said was his lack of experience compared to her Senatorial colleagues on stage. Still, the divide is about more than Warren and Buttigieg. It’s about the direction of the party — whether it should become staunchly populist, anti-corporate and solely small-dollar funded, or rely on traditional donors, experience and ideology. IMPEACHMENT AS PROXY The first question in the debate was about impeachment. But the answer from the Democratic candidates was about electability. Most candidates had no answer to their party’s biggest challenge — getting Trump’s voters to abandon him over his conduct. Warren talked about one of her favorite themes, “corruption” in Washington. Sanders talked about having to convince voters Trump lied to them about helping the working class. Klobuchar, a former prosecutor, laid out the case against Trump as if she were giving the opening statement in his Senate trial. Buttigieg said the party can’t “give into that sense of hopelessness” that the GOP-controlled Senate will simply acquit Trump because Republican voters aren’t convinced. But Buttigieg didn’t provide any other hope. Only businessman Andrew Yang gave an explanation for why impeachment hasn’t changed minds. “We have to stop being obsessed about impeachment, which strikes many Americans like a ball game where you know what the score will be.” Instead, Yang said, the party has to grapple with the issues that got Trump elected — the loss of good jobs. BIDEN STEADY Former Vice President Joe Biden has held steady throughout the Democratic race as one of the top two or three candidates by almost any measure. He has done that with debate performances described as flat, uneven, and uninspired. He had a better night Thursday, even on a question about of one of his views that causes fellow Democrats to groan: that he can work with Republicans once he beats Trump in November. “If anyone has reason to be angry with the Republicans and not want to cooperate it’s me, the way they’ve attacked me, my son, my family,” Biden said, a reference to Trump’s push to investigate his son Hunter that led to the president’s impeachment. “I have no love. But the fact is we have to be able to get things done and when we can’t convince them, we go out and beat them.” Unlike others on the stage, he said pointedly that he doesn’t believe it’ll be impossible to ever work together with the other party. “If that’s the case,” Biden said, “we’re dead as a country.” He came close to trouble by initially saying he would not commit to a running for a second term, them quickly said that would be presumptuous to presume a first one. AMERICAN ROLE IN THE WORLD Is the greatest danger to America’s foreign interests and alliances coming from within the White House? Democratic presidential candidates faulted Trump on multiple fronts for his failure to lead in key disputes and areas of international friction, including in the Middle East and China. Buttigieg said Trump was “echoing the vocabulary” of dictators in his relentless attacks on the free press. Klobuchar said the president had “stood with dictators over innocents.” And Tom Steyer warned against isolating the U.S. from China, saying the two nations needed to work together on climate change. On Israel, Biden argued that Trump had played to fears and prejudices and stressed that a two-state solution was needed for peace to ever be achieved. The former vice president said Washington must rebuild alliances “which Trump has demolished.’” With China, “We have to be firm. We don’t have to go to war,” Biden said. “We have to be clear, “This is as far as you go, China,” he added. YANG’S PRO MOVES In June, Yang was a political punchline. During the first few Democratic debates, the entrepreneur, who has never before run for office, looked lost onstage, struggling to be heard over the din of nine other candidates. But on Thursday night, Yang looked like a pro. When the candidates debated complex foreign policy, Yang talked about his family in Hong Kong, the horror of China’s crackdown there and how to pressure them to respect human rights. When some candidates equivocated over whether nuclear energy should be used to combat climate change, Yang had the last word when he said: “We need to have everything on the table in a crisis situation.” And when a moderator noted that Yang was
Donald Trump blasts Christian magazine that called for his removal
President Donald Trump is blasting a prominent Christian magazine that published an editorial arguing that he should be removed from office. Trump tweeted Friday morning that the magazine, Christianity Today, an evangelical magazine founded by the late Rev. Billy Graham, is a “far left“ publication, which “has been doing poorly and hasn’t been involved with the Billy Graham family for many years.” He adds that it “knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call,” a reference to his July call with the president of Ukraine that led to his impeachment. Trump claims the magazine would rather have “a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President.” In the editorial, titled, “Trump Should Be Removed from Office,” the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Mark Galli, writes that, “Democrats have had it out for” Trump “from day one.” But he says that, “the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.” He goes on to write that, whether Trump should be removed by the Senate or by popular vote in the 2020 election “is a matter of prudential judgment.” But, he says: “That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.” The editorial came one day after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives made Trump the third president in American history to be impeached. It charged him with abuse of power in pressuring Ukraine to announce investigations of his Democratic rival, and with obstructing Congress in the ensuring investigation. Trump is deeply popular among Evangelicals, with roughly 7 in 10 white evangelical Protestants saying they approve of the way he is handling his job as president, according to Pew Research Center polling from earlier this year. And many prominent Evangelicals have stood by him — despite a colored personal history, allegations of sexual misconduct, deeply divisive policies and profanity-laced comments. That includes Graham’s son, Rev. Franklin Graham. Indeed, Trump said in his tweets that, “No President has done more for the Evangelical community, and it’s not even close.” And he declared that he “won’t be reading ET again!” using the wrong initials to describe the publication. Asked Friday in an interview with CNN about the tweets, Galli said Trump’s characterization of the magazine as far left was “far from accurate,” but also said he is realistic about the impact of his words. “I don’t have any imagination that my editorial is going to shift their views on this matters,” Galli said of those who support the president. “The fact of the matter is Christianity Today is not read by the people, Christians on the far right, by evangelicals on the far right, so they’re going to be as dismissive of the magazine as President Trump has shown to be.” Republished with the Permission of the Associated Press.
