Donald Trump pushes for GOP tax reform plan changes

On Monday, President Trump called for major changes to the tax plans currently working their way through Congress. In a tweet sent from Asia, Trump said he is "proud" of lawmakers for getting "close" to approving a tax bill but added that he wants to see more tweaks.

He urged Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act provision requiring most Americans to buy insurance or pay a penalty. By doing so, the GOP could then chop the top individual income tax rate to 35 percent with "all the rest going to middle income cuts," the president contended. 

Scrapping Obamacare's individual mandate would save the government $338 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office estimated this month, giving the GOP more room to chop rates. 

The House Ways and Means Committee already decided not to put the individual mandate repeal into its tax plan.  The panel approved a tax bill last week, and House Republicans want the full chamber to pass it this week. 

The Senate has proposed its own bill that it will mark up, or debate and amend, starting Monday. The Senate Republican tax bill differs in a lot of ways from the House version. And one chief difference is the deduction for medical expenses. It’s left alone in the Senate bill. House Republicans want it gone. Neither bill includes a repeal of the individual mandate. 

I do expect for the tax reform cuts or whatever you want to call it, to be passed, but there are going to be some tweaks in the Senate and then they go back and forth. They want to get it done by Thanksgiving, which is 10 days away, but I don't know if they're going to do that and have it signed by Christmas.

President Trump’s approval rating jumps to 46%

The Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 46% of likely U.S. voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-three percent (53%) disapprove. 

The latest figures include 30% who Strongly Approve of the way the president is performing and 44% who Strongly Disapprove.

Trump’s Trip to Asia comes to an end

President Trump said he has a "great relationship" with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, a controversial leader accused of human rights violations and who is overseeing a bloody drug war. 

Trump's comments came on Monday as he wraps up his 12-day trip to Asia by attending an economic conference in the Philippines, including a meeting with Duterte that the White House says touched only briefly on human rights.  

The two leaders focused on fighting the Islamic State, drug trafficking, and trade issues, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, adding: "Human rights briefly came up in the context of the Philippines’ fight against illegal drugs."  

Monday was supposed to have been the final day of the Asia trip for which Trump left the White House on Nov. 3. 

Trump extended the trip by a day to attend the East Asia Summit in the Philippines on Tuesday.

John Podesta Met With Fusion GPS Founder After Trump Dossier Was Published

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta met with the founder of the opposition research firm behind the Trump dossier just after the dirty document was published earlier this year, according to a new report in The New York Times. The meeting took place sometime after Jan 10. 

The revelation is significant because Podesta, a longtime Democratic operative, recently told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he did not know who paid the research firm, Fusion GPS, to produce the dossier, which BuzzFeed published on Jan. 10.

Podesta testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee before it was publicly revealed that the Clinton campaign and DNC had hired Fusion GPS. In that interview, Podesta denied knowing anything about who paid for the investigation. 

“I got to tell you, I have no idea how this is going to affect me or you or anybody. I just don't know. I do know that this Fusion GPS thing, I told you and told you and told you to keep an eye on this. This is going to be the biggest scandal.”

Media Matters Tries to Take Down Hannity

Left-wing activist group Media Matters is using scandalous allegations surrounding Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore as a new weapon in their months-long campaign to oust Fox News host Sean Hannity by pressuring sponsors into pulling their advertisements. 

Moore is accused of making sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl while he was a 32-year-old attorney, in addition to pursuing romantic (although not sexual) relationships with other teenage girls around the same time. 

Media Matters operatives are smearing Hannity to his sponsors, accusing him of defending child sex abuse. Hannity has explicitly said that anyone guilty of what Moore is accused of doing has no place in politics. 

Media Matters, the powerful left-wing organization, is ramping up a pressure campaign against the pro-Trump host’s advertisers. The front page of Media Matters’ website makes clear what the goal is: taking down Hannity. 

The site also prominently features a list of Hannity’s advertisers that states: “Sean Hannity is functioning as a propagandist in order to advance a political agenda in support of Donald Trump.” The list was last updated on Thursday, according to Media Matters.

Media Matters helped pressure several advertisers into pulling their ads from “Hannity” over the weekend. The coffee company Keurig announced that it would be pulling ads from Hannity’s show. 

Other sponsors targeted by Media Matters have announced that they would not be running ads on Hannity in the future are Realtor.com, 23andMe, Eloquii 

Guest: Justin Wallin is a “Marketing Concept” Strategist & CEO/Pollster at J. Wallin Opinion Research

Poll: Nearly half of white Southerners feel like they're under attack

Nearly half of white Americans living in the South feel like they’re under attack, a new Winthrop University poll found. 

Forty-six percent of white Southerners said they agree or strongly agree that white people are under attack in the U.S. More than three-fourths of black respondents said they believe racial minorities are under attack.

And 30 percent of all respondents in the poll agreed when asked if America needs to protect and preserve its white European heritage. More than half of respondents disagreed with the statement. 

Forty percent of respondents said they believed that Confederate statues should remain as is, while nearly a quarter said a plaque should be added to contextualize the statue. 

Twenty-seven percent of respondents said the statues should be moved to a museum. 

Nearly half of black respondents said the statues should be in museums, and a quarter said they should be completely removed. 

Southerners overall said that racism is the most important issue facing the U.S., and black respondents were twice as likely to say it is the most important issue.

Mail Time!

• “I agree a hundred percent about children and machines. My 15-year-old daughter just gave up her cell phone and said I'm addicted. She feels less anxious and more free without the phone.”

That's a miracle, Jennifer. Your 15-year-old daughter giving up voluntarily her cell phone. That's a miracle. How smart is she. Congratulations. It's brutal. It's brutal with the kids and the machines.

• "Just saw a commercial this morning that wants voters to sign a petition to impeach President Trump. They claim he's mentally unstable. I'm appalled. What chances does this have of working?"

Zero. As long as the Republicans control the House of Representatives, there's not going to be any of that.

• “O'Reilly, we bought tickets to see you and Miller in December. Are you still coming out to Anaheim, California?”
• Yes, we are, Honda Center. Huge crowd. Jerry, I wouldn't miss it, it's going to be a blast. It's December 16th. Saturday 3:00 p.m.

Word of the Day: Pawky