LePage's Scheme To Block Medicaid, A New Wrinkle For Arpaio, And Trump's Moscow Plans Tied To Sanctioned Banks

August 30th, 2017 Top Stories --------------------------------------------------------------- [LePage Tries To Block Medicaid Expansion In Maine By Labeling It ‘Welfare’]( The Gist: Mainers have until Friday to weigh in on the exact wording of a ballot initiative which, if it passes, would allow Maine to join the 30-plus states that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Conservative groups and state Republicans, led by Maine’s firebrand Gov. Paul LePage (R), are pushing for the Medicaid expansion to be characterized on the ballot as welfare in the hopes that people will then vote it down. [District Judge Won’t Throw Out Arpaio Conviction Without Oral Arguments]( The Gist: After President Donald Trump issued a pardon for former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the district court judge overseeing the case has approved Arpaio’s request to cancel his sentencing hearing. But Judge Susan Bolton hasn’t completely thrown out the conviction, Arizona Central reported. [Trump Explored Moscow Deal With Russian Firm Tied To Sanctioned Banks]( The Gist: President Donald Trump’s erstwhile lawyer, Michael Cohen, said this week in a statement provided to congressional investigators that Trump signed a letter of intent during the campaign to develop a tower in Moscow with a firm that appears to have partnered with two Russian banks under U.S. sanctions. From The Reporter's Notebook --------------------------------------------------------------- Katie Porter and Dave Min are the type of candidates House Democrats dreamed of recruiting in past cycles. Both are Harvard-educated law professors with impressive biographies, connections to powerful lawmakers and strong fundraising capabilities. The only problem? The colleagues at the University of California-Irvine are battling one another for the right to face Rep. Mimi Walters (R-CA) next fall. “On some level it’s bizarre,” [Min told TPM's Cameron Joseph](. “It’s unusual, obviously, that two members of a small faculty are doing this.” Their race is emblematic of the double-edged sword for a party to have a glut of candidates eager to run for office. Agree Or Disagree? --------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Marshall: "We have been told – not credibly – for more than a year that Donald Trump doesn’t have any properties or business interests in Russia. But for the first six months of his presidential campaign he was actively trying to secure a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow and in early 2016 a top Trump business executive solicited the assistance of one of Vladimir Putin’s top aides in making the deal happen. This, of course, was happening while Trump was singing Putin’s praises on the campaign trail. [This is, to put it mildly, a big deal]( Say What?! --------------------------------------------------------------- "What a crowd, what a turnout." - President Donald Trump [marveling at a crowd]( watching him speak in Corpus Christi on Tuesday during his first visit with hurricane victims in Texas. BUZZING: Today in the Hive --------------------------------------------------------------- From a TPM Prime member: "Read carefully. Not only does King think it's ok and effective law enforcement, he apparently thinks that if you just round up brown people to find all the illegals, the false positives will be few and far between. This is something I've mentioned before about their delusions and confabulations and total misperception of reality: When they look around and see all these brown folks that were never here in such numbers when they were growing up in that imaginary America of yesteryear that they've invented in their heads, they LITERALLY think the shifting demographics are a result of illegal immigration and that most of them are here illegally." Related: [GOP Rep. King Defends Arpaio, Says DACA Recipients Should Turn In Parents]( Have something to add? Become a [Prime]( member and join the discussion [here](. What We're Reading --------------------------------------------------------------- Harvey Is What Climate Change Looks Like ([Politico]( In The Trenches Of Trump’s Leak War ([Vanity Fair]( [unsubscribe from this list]( | [update subscription preferences]( | [view email in browser](