Fox News Channel finished the third quarter of 2017 as the most-watched cable news network across the board for the 63rd consecutive quarter, dating back to the first quarter of 2002.
Rupert Murdoch’s news network averaged 1.4 million total viewers and 2.2 million viewers during prime time to win both categories. FNC also won both categories among the key news demo of adults ages 25-54, averaging 298,000 total demo viewers and 436,000 from 8-11 p.m. ET.
FNC also was the top-rated basic cable network in both prime time and total day viewers, for the fifth straight quarter.
“The Rachel Maddow Show” became the first program in MSNBC history to finish as the most-watched show in cable news among both total viewers and the demo for an entire quarter. Maddow averaged 2.7 million total viewers and 606,000 viewers between ages 25-54.
Among total viewers, Maddow picked up a win for the first time ever. Among other cable news programs, Fox News had six of the Top 10 programs among total viewers, while MSNBC has three other programs finish among the 10 most-watched cable news shows. The most-watched show on the liberal CNN was ”Anderson Cooper 360,” which finished at No. 21, behind 13 different FNC programs.
Maddow finished atop the demo for the second consecutive quarter. Her new competitor, “Hannity,” finished second followed by “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “The Five.” CNN’s most popular show among younger viewers was Cooper, who finished sixth overall.
“Fox & Friends" dominated mornings, averaging 1.5 million viewers and 343,000 in the demo, compared to 1 million and 237,000 for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe." CNN’s “New Day” averaged only 643,000 viewers and 228,000 between ages 25-54.
FNC’s sister station, Fox Business Network, ended the third quarter as the No. 1 rated business network, marking the first time ever the network has outpaced rival CNBC in business day viewers for four consecutive quarters. FBN grew 26 percent from last year among business day viewers, while CNBC saw a 14 percent decline over the same time period.
*** [9/26/17]
O'Reilly gloats Hannity slaughtered Maddow
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Monday, September 25, 2017
will Trump reverse back into Paris climate agreement?
Will President Trump bring the country back into the Paris climate agreement? The bets are on, and this bet says he will.
After his call to ban transgender troops from serving in the armed forces, our military leaders pushed back, and Trump pulled back. Defense Secretary James Mattis is now tasked with devising a new policy months hence. Meanwhile, transgender people are re-enlisting.
What makes one think that Trump will follow a similar trajectory on the Paris climate deal? Several things.
One, and I hate putting this first because it should be the least consequential: his approval ratings. They've been inching up from the depths for three weeks in a row. Trump's moves toward moderation, which includes working with Democratic leaders, are surely playing a part. A rising applause meter lowers a reality TV star's blood pressure.
Two, and it's a shame this has to go second, is Emmanuel Macron. The French president excels in courting Trump's grandiosity. As other European leaders gave Trump a wide berth, Macron gallantly invited him to Paris for the Bastille Day parade.
At the Elysee Palace, Macron had Trump sitting on gilded chairs that the gilded chairs in Trump Tower wish they could be. Trump was so impressed by the Bastille Day spectacle that he's proposing a Fourth of July parade in Washington that would "top it."
After his call to ban transgender troops from serving in the armed forces, our military leaders pushed back, and Trump pulled back. Defense Secretary James Mattis is now tasked with devising a new policy months hence. Meanwhile, transgender people are re-enlisting.
What makes one think that Trump will follow a similar trajectory on the Paris climate deal? Several things.
One, and I hate putting this first because it should be the least consequential: his approval ratings. They've been inching up from the depths for three weeks in a row. Trump's moves toward moderation, which includes working with Democratic leaders, are surely playing a part. A rising applause meter lowers a reality TV star's blood pressure.
Two, and it's a shame this has to go second, is Emmanuel Macron. The French president excels in courting Trump's grandiosity. As other European leaders gave Trump a wide berth, Macron gallantly invited him to Paris for the Bastille Day parade.
At the Elysee Palace, Macron had Trump sitting on gilded chairs that the gilded chairs in Trump Tower wish they could be. Trump was so impressed by the Bastille Day spectacle that he's proposing a Fourth of July parade in Washington that would "top it."
Thursday, September 14, 2017
the Hawaii delegates
Capitol Priorities
With Congress back in session, we ask Hawaii's delegates about their top priorities and how they expect to make headway in such partisan times and with the fledgling Trump administration.
Mazie Hirono (Time Magazine)
For the near term, I will continue focusing on protecting Hawaii from further harm from this administration, and working across party lines to advance important priorities for Hawaii and the country.
Immigrants and minorities have been under near continuous attack from this administration, and I will continue to fight to protect them from discriminatory treatment.
This has become an even more urgent priority following the administration’s decision to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Tulsi Gabbard
For too long, our country’s leaders have refused to meet and negotiate directly with North Korea, and have held onto failed policies that resulted in a nuclear-armed North Korea with intercontinental ballistic missiles that put Hawaii and the mainland squarely within range. President Donald Trump needs to meet with Kim Jong Un to conduct direct negotiations without preconditions, in order to de-escalate and ultimately denuclearize the peninsula. Until then, we must also invest in cutting edge missile defense technology. We must always be willing to sit down with our adversaries, not just our friends, to pursue all avenues of peace.
Colleen Hanabusa
Congress has important work to accomplish during this 2017 fall session. As a member of the House Democratic Caucus, my priorities include issues important to the people of Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District and, of equal importance, resistance to Trump administration initiatives opposed by my constituency. In a broad sense, my top three priorities are: 1) People, 2) Budget, and 3) Defense.
Brian Schatz
We live in highly partisan times. But in the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, distrust and dislike for the other party is rare.
As a member of the committee, my No. 1 priority is to bring federal funds home, knowing that these dollars play a critical role in helping our state solve challenges and seize opportunities.
With Congress back in session, we ask Hawaii's delegates about their top priorities and how they expect to make headway in such partisan times and with the fledgling Trump administration.
Mazie Hirono (Time Magazine)
For the near term, I will continue focusing on protecting Hawaii from further harm from this administration, and working across party lines to advance important priorities for Hawaii and the country.
Immigrants and minorities have been under near continuous attack from this administration, and I will continue to fight to protect them from discriminatory treatment.
This has become an even more urgent priority following the administration’s decision to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Tulsi Gabbard
For too long, our country’s leaders have refused to meet and negotiate directly with North Korea, and have held onto failed policies that resulted in a nuclear-armed North Korea with intercontinental ballistic missiles that put Hawaii and the mainland squarely within range. President Donald Trump needs to meet with Kim Jong Un to conduct direct negotiations without preconditions, in order to de-escalate and ultimately denuclearize the peninsula. Until then, we must also invest in cutting edge missile defense technology. We must always be willing to sit down with our adversaries, not just our friends, to pursue all avenues of peace.
Colleen Hanabusa
Congress has important work to accomplish during this 2017 fall session. As a member of the House Democratic Caucus, my priorities include issues important to the people of Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District and, of equal importance, resistance to Trump administration initiatives opposed by my constituency. In a broad sense, my top three priorities are: 1) People, 2) Budget, and 3) Defense.
Brian Schatz
We live in highly partisan times. But in the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, distrust and dislike for the other party is rare.
As a member of the committee, my No. 1 priority is to bring federal funds home, knowing that these dollars play a critical role in helping our state solve challenges and seize opportunities.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Bernie Sanders to introduce Medicare for all
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will introduce legislation on Wednesday that would expand Medicare into a universal health insurance program with the backing of at least 15 Democratic senators — a record level of support for an idea that had been relegated to the fringes during the last Democratic presidency.
“This is where the country has got to go,” Sanders said in an interview at his Senate office. “Right now, if we want to move away from a dysfunctional, wasteful, bureaucratic system into a rational health-care system that guarantees coverage to everyone in a cost-effective way, the only way to do it is Medicare for All.”
Sanders’s bill, the Medicare for All Act of 2017, has no chance of passage in a Republican-run Congress. But after months of behind-the-scenes meetings and a public pressure campaign, the bill is already backed by most of the senators seen as likely 2020 Democratic candidates — if not by most senators facing tough reelection battles in 2018.
The bill would revolutionize America’s health-care system, replacing it with a public system that would be paid for by higher taxes. Everything from emergency surgery to prescription drugs, from mental health to eye care, would be covered, with no co-payments. Americans under 18 would immediately obtain “universal Medicare cards,” while Americans not currently eligible for Medicare would be phased into the program over four years. Employer-provided health care would be replaced, with the employers paying higher taxes but no longer on the hook for insurance.
Private insurers would remain, with fewer customers, to pay for elective treatments such as plastic surgery — a system similar to Australia, which President Trump has praised for having a “much better” insurance regime than the United States.
But the market-based changes of the Affordable Care Act would be replaced as Medicare becomes the country’s universal insurer. Doctors would be reimbursed by the government; providers would sign a yearly participation agreement with Medicare to remain with the system.
“When you have co-payments — when you say that health care is not a right for everybody, whether you’re poor or whether you’re a billionaire — the evidence suggests that it becomes a disincentive for people to get the health care they need,” Sanders said. “Depending on the level of the copayment, it may cost more to figure out how you collect it than to not have the copayment at all.”
As he described his legislation, Sanders focused on its simplicity, suggesting that Americans would be happy to pay higher taxes if it meant the end of wrangling with health-care companies. The size of the tax increase, he said, would be determined in a separate bill.
Sanders acknowledged that the plan would be costly but pointed to the experience of other industrialized countries that provided universal coverage through higher taxes. The average American paid $11,365 per year in taxes; the average Canadian paid $14,693. But the average American paid twice as much for health care as the average Canadian.
[9/14/17] Trump calls Sanders' plan a curse on the U.S.
“This is where the country has got to go,” Sanders said in an interview at his Senate office. “Right now, if we want to move away from a dysfunctional, wasteful, bureaucratic system into a rational health-care system that guarantees coverage to everyone in a cost-effective way, the only way to do it is Medicare for All.”
Sanders’s bill, the Medicare for All Act of 2017, has no chance of passage in a Republican-run Congress. But after months of behind-the-scenes meetings and a public pressure campaign, the bill is already backed by most of the senators seen as likely 2020 Democratic candidates — if not by most senators facing tough reelection battles in 2018.
The bill would revolutionize America’s health-care system, replacing it with a public system that would be paid for by higher taxes. Everything from emergency surgery to prescription drugs, from mental health to eye care, would be covered, with no co-payments. Americans under 18 would immediately obtain “universal Medicare cards,” while Americans not currently eligible for Medicare would be phased into the program over four years. Employer-provided health care would be replaced, with the employers paying higher taxes but no longer on the hook for insurance.
Private insurers would remain, with fewer customers, to pay for elective treatments such as plastic surgery — a system similar to Australia, which President Trump has praised for having a “much better” insurance regime than the United States.
But the market-based changes of the Affordable Care Act would be replaced as Medicare becomes the country’s universal insurer. Doctors would be reimbursed by the government; providers would sign a yearly participation agreement with Medicare to remain with the system.
“When you have co-payments — when you say that health care is not a right for everybody, whether you’re poor or whether you’re a billionaire — the evidence suggests that it becomes a disincentive for people to get the health care they need,” Sanders said. “Depending on the level of the copayment, it may cost more to figure out how you collect it than to not have the copayment at all.”
As he described his legislation, Sanders focused on its simplicity, suggesting that Americans would be happy to pay higher taxes if it meant the end of wrangling with health-care companies. The size of the tax increase, he said, would be determined in a separate bill.
Sanders acknowledged that the plan would be costly but pointed to the experience of other industrialized countries that provided universal coverage through higher taxes. The average American paid $11,365 per year in taxes; the average Canadian paid $14,693. But the average American paid twice as much for health care as the average Canadian.
[9/14/17] Trump calls Sanders' plan a curse on the U.S.
Tuesday, September 05, 2017
Trump administration to unwind Dreamer program
[9/5/17] The Trump administration announced Tuesday it would begin to unwind an Obama-era program that allows younger undocumented immigrants to live in the country without fear of deportation, calling the program unconstitutional but offering a partial delay to give Congress a chance to address the issue.
The decision, after weeks of intense deliberation between President Trump and his top advisers, represents a blow to hundreds of thousands of immigrants known as “dreamers” who have lived in the country illegally since they were children. But it also allows the White House to shift some of the pressure and burden of determining their future onto Congress, setting up a public fight over their legal status that is likely to be waged for months.
The Department of Homeland Security said it would no longer accept new applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which has provided renewable, two-year work permits to nearly 800,000 dreamers. The agency said those enrolled in DACA will be able to continue working until their permits expire; those whose permits expire by March 5, 2018 will be permitted to apply for two-year renewals as long as they do so by Oct. 5.
New applications and renewal requests already received by DHS before Tuesday will be reviewed and validated on a case-by-case basis, even those for permits that expire after March 5, officials said. Also, the agency said it will no longer issue "advanced parole" notices allowing DACA recipients to travel abroad and reenter the country.
Trump administration officials cast the decision as a humane way to unwind the program and called on lawmakers to provide a legislative solution to address the immigration status of the dreamers. Senior DHS officials emphasized that if Congress fails to act and work permits begin to expire, dreamers will not be high priorities for deportations — but they would be issued notices to appear at immigration court if they are encountered by federal immigration officers.
Trump had deliberated for weeks as pressure mounted on him to fulfill a campaign promise to end DACA, which he repeatedly called an abuse of executive authority by his predecessor. The president had equivocated since taking office, vowing to show “great heart” in his decision and saying dreamers could “rest easy.”
But a threat from Texas and several other states to sue the administration if it did not end DACA by Tuesday forced Trump to make a decision. Several senior aides, including Sessions, an immigration hard-liner who had said the administration would be unable to defend the program in court, lobbied the president to end DACA. Others, including Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, the former DHS secretary, cautioned that terminating the program would cause chaos for immigrants who enjoy broad popular support.
Sessions wrote a memo Monday calling DACA unconstitutional, leading acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke to issue a memo Tuesday to phase out the program.
“As a result of recent litigation,” Duke said in a statement, “we were faced with two options: wind the program down in an orderly fashion that protects beneficiaries in the near-term while working with Congress to pass legislation; or allow the judiciary to potentially shut the program down completely and immediately. We chose the least disruptive option.”
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), who last week had urged Trump not to end the program until Congress acted, said in a statement that DACA was a “clear abuse of executive authority” by Obama.
“It is my hope that the House and Senate, with the president’s leadership, will be able to find consensus on a permanent legislative solution that includes ensuring that those who have done nothing wrong can still contribute as a valued part of this great country,” Ryan said.
Immigrant rights groups quickly denounced Trump's decision. More than 150 immigration activists protested front of the White House Tuesday morning, calling the president a “liar” and a “monster." Javier Palomarez, president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, announced he was resigning from Trump's presidential diversity committee over the "disgraceful action."
In a tweet, former vice president Joe Biden wrote: "Brought by parents, these children had no choice in coming here. Now they'll be sent to countries they've never known. Cruel. Not America."
And in a sign of the political nature of the issue, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) quickly sent out a fundraising pitch to Democratic supporters, calling the decision “quite possibly the cruelest thing President Trump has ever done.”
The president was reportedly torn over the decision, according to White House officials, split between his desire to appear tough on illegal immigration and his personal feelings toward the dreamers, most of whom have lived in the United States most of their lives.
"We will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion – but through the lawful Democratic process," Trump said, "while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve."
The fight over the dreamers now shifts to Congress to act on a bill to grant them some form of permanent legal status. A bill called the Dream Act that would have offered them a path to citizenship failed in the Senate in 2010. Several new proposals have been put forward, including the Bridge Act, a bipartisan bill with 25 co-sponsors that would extend DACA protections for three years to give Congress time to enact permanent legislation.
*** [9/6/17]
Sessions told Trump he would not defend the DACA program in court. Kelly's solution was to delay the program's end by six months.
*** [9/14/17]
The top House and Senate Democrats said today they had reached agreement with President Donald Trump to protect thousands of younger immigrants from deportation and fund some border security enhancements — not including Trump’s long-sought border wall.
The decision, after weeks of intense deliberation between President Trump and his top advisers, represents a blow to hundreds of thousands of immigrants known as “dreamers” who have lived in the country illegally since they were children. But it also allows the White House to shift some of the pressure and burden of determining their future onto Congress, setting up a public fight over their legal status that is likely to be waged for months.
The Department of Homeland Security said it would no longer accept new applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which has provided renewable, two-year work permits to nearly 800,000 dreamers. The agency said those enrolled in DACA will be able to continue working until their permits expire; those whose permits expire by March 5, 2018 will be permitted to apply for two-year renewals as long as they do so by Oct. 5.
New applications and renewal requests already received by DHS before Tuesday will be reviewed and validated on a case-by-case basis, even those for permits that expire after March 5, officials said. Also, the agency said it will no longer issue "advanced parole" notices allowing DACA recipients to travel abroad and reenter the country.
Trump administration officials cast the decision as a humane way to unwind the program and called on lawmakers to provide a legislative solution to address the immigration status of the dreamers. Senior DHS officials emphasized that if Congress fails to act and work permits begin to expire, dreamers will not be high priorities for deportations — but they would be issued notices to appear at immigration court if they are encountered by federal immigration officers.
Trump had deliberated for weeks as pressure mounted on him to fulfill a campaign promise to end DACA, which he repeatedly called an abuse of executive authority by his predecessor. The president had equivocated since taking office, vowing to show “great heart” in his decision and saying dreamers could “rest easy.”
But a threat from Texas and several other states to sue the administration if it did not end DACA by Tuesday forced Trump to make a decision. Several senior aides, including Sessions, an immigration hard-liner who had said the administration would be unable to defend the program in court, lobbied the president to end DACA. Others, including Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, the former DHS secretary, cautioned that terminating the program would cause chaos for immigrants who enjoy broad popular support.
Sessions wrote a memo Monday calling DACA unconstitutional, leading acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke to issue a memo Tuesday to phase out the program.
“As a result of recent litigation,” Duke said in a statement, “we were faced with two options: wind the program down in an orderly fashion that protects beneficiaries in the near-term while working with Congress to pass legislation; or allow the judiciary to potentially shut the program down completely and immediately. We chose the least disruptive option.”
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), who last week had urged Trump not to end the program until Congress acted, said in a statement that DACA was a “clear abuse of executive authority” by Obama.
“It is my hope that the House and Senate, with the president’s leadership, will be able to find consensus on a permanent legislative solution that includes ensuring that those who have done nothing wrong can still contribute as a valued part of this great country,” Ryan said.
Immigrant rights groups quickly denounced Trump's decision. More than 150 immigration activists protested front of the White House Tuesday morning, calling the president a “liar” and a “monster." Javier Palomarez, president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, announced he was resigning from Trump's presidential diversity committee over the "disgraceful action."
In a tweet, former vice president Joe Biden wrote: "Brought by parents, these children had no choice in coming here. Now they'll be sent to countries they've never known. Cruel. Not America."
And in a sign of the political nature of the issue, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) quickly sent out a fundraising pitch to Democratic supporters, calling the decision “quite possibly the cruelest thing President Trump has ever done.”
The president was reportedly torn over the decision, according to White House officials, split between his desire to appear tough on illegal immigration and his personal feelings toward the dreamers, most of whom have lived in the United States most of their lives.
"We will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion – but through the lawful Democratic process," Trump said, "while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve."
The fight over the dreamers now shifts to Congress to act on a bill to grant them some form of permanent legal status. A bill called the Dream Act that would have offered them a path to citizenship failed in the Senate in 2010. Several new proposals have been put forward, including the Bridge Act, a bipartisan bill with 25 co-sponsors that would extend DACA protections for three years to give Congress time to enact permanent legislation.
*** [9/6/17]
Sessions told Trump he would not defend the DACA program in court. Kelly's solution was to delay the program's end by six months.
*** [9/14/17]
The top House and Senate Democrats said today they had reached agreement with President Donald Trump to protect thousands of younger immigrants from deportation and fund some border security enhancements — not including Trump’s long-sought border wall.
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