Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The latest out of New York: “The Uzbek immigrant who turned a rented pickup truck into a killing machine had been planning the deadly attack on lower Manhattan for weeks and was following the Islamic State playbook ‘to a T,’ the New York City police department’s top anti-terrorism official said Wednesday.”
* A dreadful idea: “President Donald Trump’s Twitter demand Wednesday morning that a repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate be inserted in the Republican tax bill came out of the blue—and it’s going over like a lead balloon on Capitol Hill.”
* He signed it in private, suggesting he knows not to be proud of his actions: “President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the repeal of a banking rule that would have allowed consumers to join together to sue their bank or credit card company to resolve financial disputes.”
* The report was released this afternoon: “President Trump’s commission on the opioid crisis called Wednesday for a nationwide system of drug courts and easier access to alternatives to opioids for people in pain, part of a wide-ranging menu of improvements it said are needed to curb the opioid epidemic.”
* Seems like a good idea: “Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) wrote in a letter to the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday that Congress should make sexual harassment training mandatory for all new employees and those who have not received it.”
* Preventable collisions: “The Navy has determined that two deadly crashes involving destroyers earlier this year could have been prevented, according to a report released Wednesday.”
* White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a weird hypothetical story yesterday about buying beers in the hopes of selling tax cuts. A closer, more substantive look shows her story didn’t make sense. * On a related note, Sanders probably just misspoke, but she also suggested JFK and John F. Kennedy were different people — and some amusing reactions ensued. * And when Donald Trump claims he’s already turned around West Virginia’s economy, don’t believe him: “Taking credit for economic advances where no credit is due seems to be a habit for Trump. He should be more careful not to overstate the effect of his administration’s policies when praising economic gains across the country.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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
