Donald Trump
Finances
Kara Scannell, “Judge rejects Trump’s affidavit saying he doesn’t have documents sought by New York’s attorney general,” CNN, April 29, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/29/politics/trump-sworn-affidavit-new-york/index.html
Pennsylvania governor’s race
As a debate on Wednesday showed, the leading [Republican] candidates [for governor] largely agree on the issues. They say Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who is term-limited, badly mismanaged the pandemic, harming businesses and infringing on personal freedom. They want to eliminate no-excuse mail voting, enact new abortion regulations, drill for more natural gas, lower taxes, and expand access to charter schools and other alternatives to traditional public schools.[1]
The arch-Trumpist Doug Mastriano appears to be leading the race for the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania governor in a packed field, largely on name recognition and “trustworthiness.” But the party establishment worries that[2] his associations with extremist groups[3] will doom not only his own candidacy against likely Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro but Republican majorities in the state legislature and any chance in the U.S. Senate race,[4] where John Fetterman will likely win the Democratic primary.[5]
The suggestion here, really, is that Pennsylvania Republicans are more moderate than I have any reason whatsoever to believe they are. It still really, really looks to me like Mastriano wins the governorship in November in an increasingly more sharply polarized state, but in a context of abject, utter, and complete Democratic failure.[6] Pennsylvania will go, and the U.S. will go[7] in the direction of Victor Orban’s Hungary[8] and I still see no force that has both the capability and the willingness to stop it.
Andrew Seidman, “Doug Mastriano is leading the Pa. primary for governor and Republican insiders are trying to stop him,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 29, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/doug-mastriano-pennsylvania-republican-goverrnor-race-20220429.html
Havana Syndrome
Barry Meier, “Havana Syndrome’s Newest Mystery: Who Gets Paid?,” New York, April 29, 2022, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/04/havana-syndromes-newest-mystery-who-gets-paid.html
Student loans
Jeff Stein, “White House officials weigh income limits for student loan forgiveness,” Washington Post, April 30, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/04/30/white-house-student-loans/
- [1]Andrew Seidman, “Doug Mastriano is leading the Pa. primary for governor and Republican insiders are trying to stop him,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 29, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/doug-mastriano-pennsylvania-republican-goverrnor-race-20220429.html↩
- [2]Andrew Seidman, “Doug Mastriano is leading the Pa. primary for governor and Republican insiders are trying to stop him,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 29, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/doug-mastriano-pennsylvania-republican-goverrnor-race-20220429.html↩
- [3]Andrew Seidman, “A top GOP candidate for governor campaigned at an event promoting QAnon and conspiracy theories about 9/11,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 27, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/doug-mastriano-teddy-daniels-qanon-conference-gop-candidates-20220427.html↩
- [4]Andrew Seidman, “Doug Mastriano is leading the Pa. primary for governor and Republican insiders are trying to stop him,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 29, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/doug-mastriano-pennsylvania-republican-goverrnor-race-20220429.html↩
- [5]Gillian McGoldrick, “New Pa. U.S. Senate poll: John Fetterman pulling ahead as Democratic favorite, GOP race still wide open,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 14, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2022/04/14/fetterman-pulls-ahead-as-democratic-favorite-gop-pa-senate-race-still-wide-open-in-april-f-m-poll/stories/202204130138; Daniel Strauss, “Is Conor Lamb Collapsing Against John Fetterman in Pennsylvania?” New Republic, April 21, 2022, https://newrepublic.com/article/166164/conor-lamb-collapsing-john-fetterman-pennsylvania↩
- [6]David Benfell, “Democrats and contradiction,” Not Housebroken, January 20, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/11/18/democrats-and-contradiction/↩
- [7]David Benfell, “My 2024 forecast,” Not Housebroken, March 10, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/03/10/my-2024-forecast/↩
- [8]Jennifer Rankin, “ECJ dismisses Hungary and Poland’s complaints over rule-of-law measure,” Guardian, February 16, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/feb/16/ecj-dismisses-hungary-poland-complaints-eu-rule-of-law-measure; Ishaan Tharoor, “U.S. conservatives yearn for Orban’s Hungary,” Washington Post, August 4, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2021/08/04/american-conservatives-orban-hungary/↩