Today’s edition of quick hits:
* If we had the strongest economy of all time, this wouldn’t be necessary: “The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday for the third time since July, as fears mount that the global economic slowdown will begin to drag on U.S. growth.”
* California: “A new, wind-driven wildfire erupted outside Los Angeles early Wednesday, forcing an evacuation of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and threatening about 6,500 homes, officials said. At least 800 firefighters were battling the Easy fire in Simi Valley, about 50 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, a Ventura County dispatcher said.”
* Bolton’s name sure has come up a lot lately: “House impeachment investigators on Wednesday summoned John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, and two other top White House officials for depositions next week, according to a person familiar with the notices. The letters took the form of voluntary requests, rather than subpoenas.”
* Remember Livingston’s epic resignation in 1998? “Robert Livingston, a former Republican congressman turned lobbyist, repeatedly told a Foreign Service officer assigned to the White House that the American ambassador to Ukraine should be fired because of her association with Democrats, the officer told impeachment investigators on Wednesday.”
* ISIS’s dwindling leadership: “President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States had killed the ‘number one replacement’ to the Islamic State militant group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed in a U.S. raid over the weekend.”
* Not the vote the White House wanted: “The House voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to impose a series of sweeping sanctions on Turkey over its brutal assault on the Kurds in northern Syria, dealing its second bipartisan rebuke to President Trump this month for pulling back American forces to allow for the Turkish incursion.”
* The Perry angle: “Testimony from a senior White House official on Tuesday appeared to contradict Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s ardent denials that he ever heard former Vice President Joe Biden or his son Hunter discussed in relation to U.S. requests that Ukraine investigate corruption.” * Terrifying research: “Rising seas could affect three times more people by 2050 than previously thought, according to new research, threatening to all but erase some of the world’s great coastal cities.” * Remember when the right was preoccupied with states’ rights? “Last week, the Trump administration filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to hear United States v. California, a challenge to a California “sanctuary state” law that prevents state law enforcement officers from assisting federal immigration officers who seek to deport certain undocumented immigrants. The crux of the administration’s argument is that its immigration policies are immune to a long-standing Tenth Amendment doctrine that historically was championed by conservative justices.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
