Hillary Clinton’s people are still upset that Bernie Sanders’ campaign “stole” lucrative information that thousands of field volunteers collected for free -- information, the campaign might add, that could be sold and used to pay for literally dozens of pointless consultants. Congress is girding itself for a big corporate tax fight next year, or, as we’re calling it, the Astroturf Olympics. And Lindsey Graham dropped out of the presidential race, saying, “I’ve hit a wall here," which is the sort of thing you say when you can’t figure out Ikea directions, not when you no longer seek the most powerful office in the world. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, December 21st, 2015:
VACATIONING OBAMA PAUSES TO DELIVER BURN - Julia Edwards: "U.S. President Barack Obama said his administration is open to some "legitimate criticism" for failing to adequately explain its strategy to counter Islamic State, though he chided Republican presidential candidates for criticizing his policy without offering an alternative. In a Dec. 17 interview set to air on NPR public radio at 5 a.m. ET (1000 GMT) on Monday, Obama attributed his low approval ratings for how he has handled terrorism to the saturation of Islamic State attacks in the media after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Obama noted that the United States has carried out 9,000 strikes against the Islamic State and taken back towns including Sinjar, Iraq from the militant group. 'When you ask them, 'well, what would you do instead?' they don't have an answer,' Obama said of Republican candidates he has observed in televised debates." [Reuters]
CONGRESS GEARING UP FOR TAX REFORM FIGHT - Alexander Bolton: "Lawmakers say passage of a major tax deal has increased the chances that Congress will tackle tax reform in 2017. The $680 billion tax bill approved last week gives hopes for reform a major boost, supporters say, by altering the budget baseline in a way that could make it easier to lower the 35 percent corporate tax rate -- one of the highest in the world...Reducing that rate has long been a goal for Republicans, who argue it makes the U.S. less competitive on the global stage. In addition, few corporations actually pay the 35 percent rate because of tax breaks. The new deal makes locks in a number of expensive tax breaks that could be traded as part of future legislation that lowers the corporate rate. Allowing the breaks to no longer expire makes it easier to lower the rate but not add to the budget deficit...Schumer has discussed with Ryan the possibility of moving legislation next year that would reform the tax code for overseas corporate income. The two had explored the possibility of moving such a package this year and using some of the revenue gained from the repatriation of overseas profits to pay for a multiyear highway bill." [The Hill]
WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW AUMF - Matt Fuller: "Speaker Paul Ryan has shown House lawmakers that he can change the little things. He oversaw a minor shakeup to the group of Republicans that elects committee chairmen. He's allowed more amendment votes. He's even trying to listen more...
Sure, why not (via Mashable).
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GRAHAM DROPS OUT, CANDIDATES SCRAMBLE FOR HIS 7 SUPPORTERS - You know you're in trouble when your biggest mega donor is your brother. Sam Levine: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who was a long shot to win the Republican presidential nomination but didn't really seem to mind, announced Monday that he is suspending his campaign. 'I’ve hit a wall here,' Graham told CNN's Kate Bolduan.
Graham, who is known for his hawkish foreign policy views but is more moderate than other Republicans on some issues, entered the campaign on June 1 in his hometown of Central, South Carolina. While he registered very little support in national polls, Graham did draw attention in the second undercard Republican primary debate, where he flashed his humor." [HuffPost]
Graham was the last candidate who, politically, didn't make Ronald Reagan seem like an Upper West Side resident who fled the city for Hudson to open a candle shop: "None of the 13 remaining Republican presidential candidates support comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, now that Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has dropped out of the race. Some of Graham’s policy stances were bold for a GOP presidential candidate, which is perhaps why he never rose above one or two percent in the polls. He frequently criticized businessman Donald Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric and went after Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas for his opposition to abortion ban exceptions. He publicly said that climate change is caused by human activity and said he was open to increasing taxes to reduce the national debt. The Republican field is a lot more conservative without the good-humored Graham, who also distinguished himself by being the field's only bachelor." [HuffPost's Samantha Lachman]
KEY INDICATOR SHIFTING AGAINST TRUMP - Though we predict nothing. We still wouldn't be surprised by a last-minute Pataki surge. Okay, that would surprise us. But nothing else would. Ariel Edwards-Levy: "Through most of the summer and fall, GOP primary voters, while divided on their choice of candidates, agreed that they wanted to elect a political outsider. Trump and fellow non-politician Ben Carson held the top two spots in national polls from August through the beginning of December. With Republicans miserably unhappy with their own party's leadership in Washington, anti-establishment sentiment seemed like a defining feature of the race. As the first primaries edge closer, however, the pendulum may be swinging back again. In a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, 51 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters say they'd prefer an outsider candidate -- still a majority, but a 10-point drop since November. Thirty-eight percent of those who'd prefer an outsider say that it'll be very important to their vote, while 59 percent say it'll be somewhat or not very important. The change in preference is concurrent with a similar shift in the polls. Although Donald Trump remains the national front-runner, his closest competition now comes from Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz. The other two most prominent "outsider" candidates have faded rapidly, with former neurosurgeon Ben Carson's campaign tanking sharply, and Carly Fiorina's campaign barely registering a pulse." [HuffPost]
RACISTS STILL LOVING TRUMP - Peter Holley and Sarah Larimer: "The Republican presidential candidate, [the KKK's Rachel] Pendergraft told The Post, has become a great outreach tool, providing separatists with an easy way to start a conversation about issues that are important to the dying white supremacist movement. 'One of the things that our organization really stresses with our membership is we want them to educate themselves on issues, but we also want them to be able to learn how to open up a conversation with other people,' Pendergraft said." [WashPost]
CLINTON CAMPAIGN TRYING TO MEASURE EXTENT OF DATA LEAK - Glenn Thrush and Annie Karni: "The Clinton campaign also wants to learn basic details of the narrative -- like why, for instance, Sanders’ campaign manager didn’t tell his candidate when he learned of the breach last Wednesday; Sanders was only looped in a day later, after DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called him personally with the news. Jeff Weaver, Sanders' campaign manager, told POLITICO on Saturday he withheld the information from Sanders because he at first believed the breach was a staff-level concern that could be dealt with in-house. 'My field director informed me,' he recalled. 'I said, ‘Let everyone know that no one is to do anything with the Clinton data.' It was not clear immediately there was any problem on our side.'...Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told one staffer in the hours before the debate that the breach was 'worse than if they stole $5 [million] to $10 million out of our bank account.'" [Politico]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here is a tiny, tiny puppy.
SANDERS KNOWS HE'S A LITTLE TOXIC - Scott Conroy: "For the next 20 minutes, Sanders opened up on a range of issues related to his underdog candidacy, declaring that he would be a better commander-in-chief than Hillary Clinton and revealing that he's already begun working on his inaugural address. The self-described democratic socialist refused to answer, however, when asked to name his favorite Republican in Congress. 'You want me to destroy somebody’s good reputation,' he declared. 'You want me to have a situation where his opponent will be running 30-second ads against him. You know what? For that reason, I’m not going to give you the answer.'" [HuffPost]
If Obama can't beat Sanders, how can we expect him to face Ahmadinejad? "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has broken the record for the number of individual contributions received at this point during a presidential campaign, his campaign announced Sunday. The Sanders campaign says it hit the 2.3 million contributions mark during Saturday evening's Democratic presidential debate. The major milestone breaks the record President Barack Obama set during his re-election campaign. Through Dec. 31, 2011, Obama reportedly had received about 2.2 million donations." [HuffPost's Matt Ferner]
COMFORT FOOD
- The old career of the old guy from "Home Alone."
- "The Force Awakens" trailer in Snapchat art.
TWITTERAMA
@emmaroller: I kind of liked Graham's idea of having a rotating First Lady, tbh
@joshgreenman:Weird that a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away they had spaceships and light sabers but no social media.
@MEPFuller: Just learned the NORAD Santa Tracker, unlike 2013, won't show jet fighters escorting Santa. Don't tell me budget cuts don't affect security.
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