The Russia House: On a day when his political agenda should have been focused on getting his tax reforms through Congress, President Trump chose instead to accuse Russia, the FBI, and Democrats of conspiracy to discredit him.

The president wrote, “Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th. Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?”

It may be  an indication that Trump is feeling the heat of several investigations into Russian influence over the 2016 election. The “Fake Dossier” to which Trump refers is the infamous memo prepared by a former British intelligence agent that includes reference to Trump cavorting with hookers in a Moscow hotel and accepting Russian help with the election.  While not discredited as Trump claims, only some of the information in the dossier has been confirmed by the FBI.

Trump also yesterday levelled a major accusation that there been a cover-up of the controversial Russia uranium deal. “Uranium deal to Russia, with Clinton help and Obama Administration knowledge, is the biggest story that Fake Media doesn’t want to follow!”

A 2010 Obama-era deal gave the Russian government control of more than 20 percent of the US uranium supply. The Senate Judiciary Committee this week  opened a new investigation into the matter because it might have been the product of bribery.

The Tax Men: The Senate yesterday approved a 2018 budget that will increase the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. So much for fiscal conservatism.

President Trump said, “Frankly, I think we have the votes for the tax cuts, which will follow fairly shortly thereafter.”

As they did with their attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, Republican leaders have yet to show anyone their developing plan for a major overhaul of the federal tax code. They are keeping their cards close so there won’t be an uproar about their designs for a massive tax cut.

The Republicans also have yet to rectify the mathematics of their plans. While hoping to cut taxes, The White House wants to increase the defense budget by $55 billion and build the Southern border wall for something like $20 billion, all deepening the national deficit they have so fervently condemned.

In the House: Former President George W. Bush, the last Republican to hold the White House, took a swipe at its current occupant in a speech yesterday. Without naming Trump, Bush said, “We’ve seen nationalism distorted into nativism, forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America.” He said,  “We see a fading confidence in the value of free markets and international trade, forgetting that conflict, instability and poverty follow in the wake of protectionism. We’ve seen the return of isolationist sentiments, forgetting that American security is directly threatened by the chaos and despair of distant places.”

Former President Obama delivered similar remarks yesterday, but the Bush speech is a significant break in the Republican wall of defense around Trump.

General Defense: White House Chief of Staff  John Kelly gave an emotional briefing to the press yesterday about what happens when a service member is killed, attempting to defend President Trump’s phone call to the family of a Green Beret.  Kelly lost a son in Afghanistan and as a former Marine general, knows all the details.

Kelly said he briefed the President on what would be good to say to the family, and was stricken when he heard that a Florida congresswoman objected to Trump’s tone in a call she overheard. “I was stunned when I came to work yesterday morning, and brokenhearted at what I saw a member of Congress doing,” Kelly said.

The thing is, Trump may have followed Kelly’s advice in his own way, and expressed his thoughts in his typically tone-deaf style. Kelly did not say that he heard what Trump actually said to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson.

Rohingya Crisis: Drone footage released by the United Nations shows thousands of Rohingya refugees camped along rice paddies in Bangladesh after fleeing a campaign of rape, murder, and village-burning by the Myanmar military. Nearly 600,000 of the Rohingya minority have fled their own country in what appears to be a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

The Myanmar government, headed by the Nobel prize-winning human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi, claims the Rohingya have burned their own villages. She has done nothing to stop the crisis.

Human Rights Watch says 288 villages have been burned, and all indications are that it was done by the military, which Aung San Suu Kyi does not control.

Harvey: An unnamed Italian model/actress has accused movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of raping her in 2013. The LAPD is investigating because the time frame is within the statute of limitations. At least six women have accused Weinstein of rape.

Mighty Casey: The Los Angeles Dodgers trounced the Chicago Cubs 11-1 last night to enter the World Series for the first time since 1988.

The Wall: Eight 30-foot prototypes of President Trump’s proposed border wall are under construction. You can walk around all of them.

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