Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 -- Why politics will get worse * Maid trouble * Not The Onion * Washington's best restaurants
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2017 06:15:09 -0500 (EST)

Presented by The Boeing Company:

Why politics will get worse * Maid trouble * Not The Onion * Washington'= best restaurants

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Presented By The Boeing Company

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Feb 07, 2017

Good Tuesday morning. Thank you for reading,=and check out Axios' new "Today in Trump," posting at 5 p.m. ET each weekd=y on Apple News to make you smart fast on what happened while you worked. =/p>

1 big thing: Sorry! American politics will get worse

Photo illustration by Lazaro Gamio / Axios

In a bigthink piece leading the=Axios stream, Jim VandeHei argues that Trump "was a symptom, not t=e cause, of our cancerous politics — and the disease is metastasiz=ng":

In our politics: There is no market =or normal politics, much less compromise. Politicians respond to incentive=, and right now nearly every incentive calls for extreme, grand-act politi=s. ... With the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party extinguished, the min=rity party will be dominated — and defined — by a much mor= aggressive and formidable liberal uprising.

In our media:=/strong> All these flames will be fanned with even more fake news.
In our businesses: Companies have lost their ability to =itigate polarized, uncertain politics.

Why this matters:<=strong> Without these calming influences in politics, media and business, =here are no checks on the forces reshaping the national discourse.

2. Populist contagion

Financial Times lead story says French markets show rising fear o= a win by far-right leader Marine Le Pen, the female Trump, in April elect=ons:

"Traders have been on edge=/strong> after they failed to predict [Brexit and Trump], ... and investor= said the sharp moves on Monday were a sign they were steeling themselves =or more jolts this year."

Jame= Athey of Aberdeen Asset Management: "Markets underpriced the pol=tical risks in 2016 and they are determined not to do the same again ... I=vestors want greater rewards for the risks they see in French, Dut=h, German and possibly Italian elections this year to destabilise=the region."

Connecting the dots ... "The US moneyed and political elite is fighting back against Trump," by=Quartz Washington correspondent Steve LeVine: "From the Super Bowl to Sili=on Valley and federal court, the deplored American elite—corporate=heavyweights, billionaires, the old political establishment—is att=mpting to form a wall against what they regard as a threat to the way the =odern world works."

What's changed: "Trump's a=enda on immigration, trade, cyber security, tax reform and other issues ha= caused deep consternation in the tech industry. Before the travel ban, mo=t companies said they wanted to work with him and avoided any direct confr=ntations."

3. Not The Onion

NBC's "Saturday Night Live"

Trump claims reporters are covering up terroris= attacks.

Sean Spicer goes on the record to argue=the president do=sn't own a robe, after New York Times says he decampsexplodes with photos of Trump=in robes -- and countless reporters gleefully retweet them.

Politico, in a triple-bylined piece, says Trump was hacked of= at Spicer being imitated by a woman on SNL.

A Message From The Boeing Company

Economic growth starts here

With 90% of our workforce and footprint based in the United States, we a=e bolstering our economy and strengthening our communities.

Learn about our presence in you= state.

4. Phrase of the day

Mike Gerson column i= WashPost: "Republicans are on the horns of a bull in a china shop. ... [O=pposing Trump in public risks Twitter attacks and primary challenges. In T=ump's amoral, counterpunching ethic, even the mildest criticisms can resul= in massive retaliation. Trump has already succeeded in creating an atmosphere of intimidation in Washington."

5. Obama has to read this

Trump to O'Reilly, re Obama: "It's a very strange pheno=enon. We get along, I don't know if he'll admit this, but he likes me. ...=[I]t was a great inauguration -- loved every minute of it -- and I got alo=g with him. In fact, people were sort of surprised, I finished, I turned a=ound he was smiling, I was smiling, we were saying hello."

O=Reilly interjected: "I don't know if he was happy with that speec=."

Trump: "I don't know, but he seemed to be. But t=is isn't just a knock on him: We've been going down the wrong path for man= years beyond him."

6. Maid trouble

HuffPost's Ryan Grim reports that Andrew Puzder, Tr=mp's nominee for Labor, employed an undocumented immigrant as household he=p.

Statement via Puzder spokesm=n: "My wife and I employed a housekeeper for a few years, during =hich I was unaware that she was not legally permitted to work in the U.S. =hen I learned of her status, we immediately ended her employment and offer=d her assistance in getting legal status. We have fully paid back taxes to=the IRS and the State of California and submitted all required paperwork."=/p>
Grim: "The woman ... d=clined the offer, fearful that it would lead to detainment and deportation="

N.Y. Times' Alan Rappeport: "The revelation potentially could derail = nomination that has elicited controversy because of Mr. Puzder's views on=overtime pay, sick leave and automation."

Why it matte=s: Administration officials have long been worried about Puzder, =ho has just about every category of vulnerability a nominee can have, and =ecause most nominees have already had their hearings. A transition source =aid: "It's like when you separate a weak animal from the herd."

<=>Betsy DeVos, Trump's nominee for Education, is expected =o be approved around noon today "by the narrowest possible margin, with Vi=e President Pence expected to break a 50-50 tie," AP reports.=/p>

7. 100 days (ish)

GOP Hill sources tell me that putting all the "replace"=parts of health reform in place could take YEARS. CNN, Wall Street Journal= N.Y. Times all have stories about health reform taking longer than expect=d.

In his interview with Bill O'Reilly, which Fox =s spacing out over three nights, Trump hedges on deadlines for his agenda:=/p>

On whether Americans can expect a tax cut thi= year: "I think so, yes. And I think that before the end of the year I wou=d like to say yes."

On whether a new healthcare p=an will be rolled out by his administration this year: "Yes, in the proces= and maybe it'll take till sometime into next year ... I would like to say=by the end of the year at least the rudiments but we should have something=within the year and the following year."

In a Times fr=nt-pager, "Reality Chills Heated Wo=ds on Health Law," Mike Shear and Robert Pear say of that last quote: "Tha= admission is sure to be a serious disappointment for the president's most=fervent supporters, who sent him to Washington believing that he would mov= quickly to dispatch the health law."

Infrastructure wish li=ts ... In a process that began during the transition, governors f=om at least 44 states this week will sending the administration a wish lis= of 300 infrastructure projects, ranging from dredging to light rail to sa=e water to Interstate widening. McClatchy has 20 examples.

Risks of Trump infrastructure bank=... AP's Joan=Lowy and David Lieb: " [E]conomists and transportation experts warn th= government could end up rewarding investors in projects that would have b=en built even without credits."

8. Trump's next justice

N.Y. Times Supreme Court reporter Adam Liptak, in a pie=e on "How Trump Chose His Supreme Court Nomin=e," saves the best for last: "Trump's team is already looking down the roa=, weighing the choices should Justice Anthony M. Kennedy decide to step do=n."

The two: Sixth Circuit Judge Raymond Kethl=dge of Michigan, one of six other finalists who underwent interviews along=with Gorsuch, "would be a leading candidate, an official said, and so woul= Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the Federal Appeals Court in Washington. Both=judges, like Judge Gorsuch, once served as law clerks to Justice Kennedy."=

Clicking with Trump: "Gorsuch clinched his spot =n a meeting at Trump Tower on Jan. 14 with Mr. Trump and [now White House =ounsel] McGahn. Judge Gorsuch, who had represented corporate titans as a l=wyer in private practice, hit it off with the president."

9. Trending in business

"Disney CEO Iger [turns 66 on Friday] Seen Likely To E=tend Stay," per Wall Street Journal front-pager=/a>: "Few believe internal executives are poised to ascend and contend it =ould be tough for an outsider to take over in less than 16 months."

10. 1 fun thing

Washingtonian magazine's "100 Very Best R=staurants" (February cover; not online yet):

Pineapple and Pea=ls

Minibar

Komi (#2 last year)

Kinship

Fiola Ma=e (#1 la=t year)

Tail Up Goat

The Dabney

Bad Saint
=li>The Inn at Little Washington

Sushi Taro

Rasika and Rasi=a West End

Whaley's

Little Serow (#3 last year)

Mé=ier

All-Purpose

Maketto

Le Diplomate

The =ource

Garrison

Central Michel Richard

Rose's Luxu=y

Convivial

Marcel's

Estadio

Plume
Bindaas

Fiola

Blue Duck Tavern

Thank =ou for reading! Always appreciate your tips, links and rants: Jus= reply to this email -- it's my real address, and no one else sees it.

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