Subject: POLITICO Playbook, presented by PhRMA: WARREN BUFFETT’s WINDFALL: Berkshire Hathaway got 29 billion from tax reform
From: "Anna Palmer Jake Sherman Daniel Lippman" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2018 08:33:33 -0600
List-Id: <1376319.xt.local>

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Today's POLITICO Playbook presented by PhRMA 
            
By ANNA PALMER ([email-masked]; @apalmerdc), JAKE SHERMAN ([email-masked]; @JakeSherman) and DANIEL LIPPMAN ([email-masked]; @dlippman)
        
Listen to today's Audio Briefing
                  Driving the Day         
ALWAYS A FASCINATING READ -- WARREN BUFFETT'S ANNUAL LETTER -- TAX REFORM WORKED FOR BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY!: "The $65 billion gain is nonetheless real - rest assured of that. But only $36 billion came from Berkshire's operations. The remaining $29 billion was delivered to us in December when Congress rewrote the U.S. Tax Code." Read the entire letter http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a03104004202eedfb22d6ce958d9a8d9d5e207857be982bc95989bc0a8f2b8262a615c8d9adeed5275b9 

-- TURN TO PAGE 11 to learn about Buffett's famous bet, in which an S&P index fund beat a hedge fund over 10 years.

Good Saturday morning. HOT DOC: TRUMP'S PET PROJECT -- "Trump directs Pentagon to schedule military parade for Veterans Day," by Eliana Johnson: "President Donald Trump's plans for a White House-backed military parade are beginning to take shape. The president has directed the Department of Defense to organize a parade that would take place on Nov. 11 -- Veterans Day -- according to an unclassified Feb. 20 memo written by National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. The memo, which was summarized to POLITICO by a senior administration official, was sent from McMaster to Secretary of Defense James Mattis. It says that Trump wants Mattis to brief him on 'concepts of operation for this event.' The
 memo also said that the parade route should begin at the White House and end at the Capitol." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a0310357ee518a96785a8a1d154bde0bf705c283b9b531b69b0abf6cce999976473fce9cdc483a97cabb

-- ESTIMATES have pegged this parade at $30 million. What happened to the Republican Party that wanted to cut a dollar for each dollar the government spent?

THE FALL OF ERIC GREITENS ... FRONT PAGE OF THE ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH: "UNCERTAIN FUTURE: SPECIAL COMMITTEE EXPECTED TO INVESTIGATE GREITENS ... Governor resigns from national leadership post ... Process to begin as early as next week" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031191e7b7753bfec42fbfa868fc7c3a9f9a0c3d6d2fba2ec591b09ceeaf2e8f56555358f3b8c2da4f3 

THE LATEST IN FLORIDA ... 

-- WORTH A READ -- MIAMI HERALD: "'Filled with rage': How a scrawny misfit turned into Florida's worst school shooter," by Andres Viglucci, Nicholas Nehamas and Sarah Blaskey: "He was chronically depressed, beguiled by firearms and violence, an oddball ostracized by peers and prone to angry outbursts.

"He experienced, in rapid succession, blows of the sort that can send a disturbed, isolated young man hurtling into a spiral of instability: Forced to move out of his lifelong home, spurned by a girlfriend, bounced from school to school, then suddenly losing his mother, his closest companion, to a fatal illness.

"In the months before the teenage killer's mugshot and name were splashed across the nation's TV screens and newspaper front pages, he had posted messages online telegraphing his plans and told others about his deadly intentions -- warnings that police and federal agents, alerted by tipsters, did not heed." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a03125946fc53432632fd0413f31846542a60796d63308ee0b23c75cd7d072e694ca2a10224de433c757 

-- "FBI Tip-Line Caller Said Nikolas Cruz 'Is Going to Explode,'" by WSJ's Del Quentin Wilber: "A person close to the teenager accused of killing 17 people at a Florida high school warned the FBI she was concerned he would 'get into a school and just shoot the place up,' according to a transcript of her call with a bureau tip line operator more than a month before the massacre. The transcript, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, provides chilling detail about the woman's efforts on Jan. 5 to warn authorities about Nikolas Cruz's propensity for violence and his troubled past. The caller's identification was redacted from the transcript, but the tip-line operator called her 'ma'am.' 'You
 know, it's just so much,' she said on the call. 'I know he's-he's going to explode.' She said she was making the call because she wanted a 'clear conscience if he takes off and, and just starts shooting places up.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031b820ddd170123849a8d68df4a0b65075e96007a05d5e4140fc7b9e0d4bf5c83fa5563aa18f2aa924 ... Transcript of the call  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031b1e51499e1a2753e95fdeb665c836a13c214f338342ba01b2867b6a268e9fd04b54860c35a3ecc77 

THE MUELLER REPORT ... 

-- "New indictments revealed against Manafort after Gates pleads guilty," by Josh Gerstein and Darren Samuelsohn: "Flanked by his defense attorney, Thomas Green, [Rick] Gates stood at a courtroom lectern and spoke in quick bursts as he answered U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman] Jackson's questions about whether he understood the rights he was giving up and the possibility consequences of the plea. 'Did you in fact lie to the special counsel's office and the FBI on Feb. 1st of this year?' Jackson asked. 'Yes, your honor,' Gates said, offering similar answers as the judge summarized the other charges he was admitting to. At the end of the lengthy back and forth, the judge asked Gates,
 bluntly: 'What's your decision?' 'Guilty, your honor,' Gates replied. ... 

"At Friday's hearing, Mueller prosecutors Greg Andres and Andrew Weissmann outlined the scope of the scheme Gates was admitting to. ... In detailing the lobbying work that Manafort and Gates orchestrated for Ukraine, Weissmann offered the court some new details, alleging that Manafort was regularly in direct contact with the Ukrainian president at the time, Viktor Yanukovych. The prosecutor also said that in 2012 and 2013, Manafort and Gates 'secretly retained' a group of former European officials to cast Ukraine's government in a favorable light, including by holding a series of meetings with U.S. lawmakers and executive branch officials. 

"While the ex-officials posed as dispassionate observers, 'in fact, they were paid lobbyists for Ukraine,' Weissmann said. He said Manafort and Gates used offshore accounts to direct 2 million euros to pay the former officials, known as the Hapsburg Group. ... After the session concluded on Friday, Weissmann crossed the courtroom and gave Gates a firm handshake. The men appeared to talk cordially, with Green also chiming in." With cameos by Charlie Black, Barry Bennett, Mercedes Schlapp http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a0318d69841f1fd1afd95a322fde5eafa01c6bb51651ca1bd7cd83f8ff8941ce58a3f63aaaefccb00f34 ... The new indictment against Manafort  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031ef480b4d7decfa2cb1f87f26a943910d30839549020590a4d925ec885c4fc1917d3688c0bafc3e45 

****** A message from PhRMA: Middlemen, like PBMs and insurers, have been shifting more of the costs of your health care to you for years - with deductibles increasing 300% since 2006. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee67d3d4f6418444291170ff4e4581fd03532ce47c93818c41a8d2be0a0cbfecc6a053253a61178dab0af77e5551a39a ******

KUSHNER WATCH -- "Top Justice Dept. official alerted White House 2 weeks ago to ongoing issues in Kushner's security clearance," by WaPo's Carol Leonnig, Bob Costa and Josh Dawsey: "A top Justice Department official alerted the White House two weeks ago that significant information requiring additional investigation would further delay the security clearance process of senior adviser Jared Kushner, according to three people familiar with the discussion. 

"The Feb. 9 phone call from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein to White House Counsel Donald McGahn came amid growing public scrutiny of a number of administration officials without final security clearances. ... A week after the call from Rosenstein, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly announced that staffers whose clearances have not been finalized will no longer be able to view top-secret information - meaning that Kushner stood to lose his status as early as Friday." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031773ecd8e60878b27205967c6542dc2d48efec8825507c06dd468af6c6eccf74f383ea3d06114f44e

BERNIE IN HOT WATER -- "Sanders promoted false story on reporting Russian trolls," by Isaac Dovere with Daniel Lippman: "Bernie Sanders is taking credit for action to combat the Russian incursion into the 2016 election that he didn't have anything to do with - and didn't actually happen. Twice this week, in response to questions about whether he benefited from the Russian effort, as prosecutors allege, or did enough to stop it, Sanders said a staffer passed information to Hillary Clinton's aides about a suspected Russian troll operation.

"It turns out that the purported Sanders' staffer who said he tried to sound the alarm was a campaign volunteer who acted on his own, without any contact or direction from the Vermont senator or his staff. When the volunteer, John Mattes of San Diego, said he communicated with the Clinton campaign in local press accounts, he was confusing it for a super PAC supportive of Clinton. He also doesn't know why Sanders is taking all the credit. 'I'm going to send him a bill for my back pay,' Mattes joked. 'He could have called me,' Mattes added. 'He maybe doesn't have my phone number.'

"Mattes' claims, made in two phone interviews with POLITICO, came after Sanders and staffers offered numerous and conflicting answers in the span of a few hours on Wednesday about what he did about Russian meddling. Sanders and his top aide were at turns defiant and defensive during and after his interview with a Vermont radio station, even initially disputing special counsel Robert Mueller's finding in his indictment last week that the Russians backed his campaign." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a0314d6f22f3a2f74913cab4bb5e6d72be05f4f16e629cf684d8a642dd01a887b5b50bb1d8c08440b5a5

-- ERIC GELLER: "Russia fears have election vendors feeling the heat": "The furor over fake news and Russian bots is overshadowing another weak link in the security of U.S. elections - the computer equipment and software that do everything from store voters' data to record the votes themselves. Now the voting vendor industry is receiving increased attention from Congress and facing the prospect of new regulations, after more than a decade of warnings from cybersecurity researchers and recent revelations about the extent of Russian intrusions in 2016. ...

"'This industry is basically laying out a path to trouble,' said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a leading congressional voice on cybersecurity who has tried - and largely failed - to get answers from voting technology vendors about their ability to secure their products. 'You've got several of the biggest companies [that] won't answer questions - basic questions - about if and how they're securing their own computers and the voting machines that they sell to states,' he told POLITICO." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031a2b82841878191747955fcfb37c668f488e2744078bfb16aabe1e9677e6f9eb5f5b816d080a294e5

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "U.S. prepares high-seas crackdown on North Korea sanctions evaders - sources," by Reuters' Matt Spetalnick, Phil Stewart, and David Brunnstrom: "The Trump administration and key Asian allies are preparing to expand interceptions of ships suspected of violating sanctions on North Korea, a plan that could include deploying U.S. Coast Guard forces to stop and search vessels in Asia-Pacific waters, senior U.S. officials said. Washington has been talking to regional partners, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and Singapore, about coordinating a stepped-up crackdown that would go further than ever before in an attempt to squeeze Pyongyang's use of seagoing trade to feed
 its nuclear missile program, several officials told Reuters." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031ba90811ae62f850eeade66fb766705c4b6c89522cf3ca3e132e61a9a7a72e8556d544e4a08433a18

WASHINGTON INC. -- "'This is not normal': Glitches mar new tax law: Republicans want to make fixes, but Democrats aren't rushing to help them," by Brian Faler: "The glitches in the new tax law are starting to pile up. One inadvertently denies restaurants, retailers and others generous new write-offs for things like remodeling. Another would allow wealthy money managers to sidestep a crackdown on lucrative tax break that allows them pay lower taxes on some of their income than ordinary wage earners. A third creates two different start dates for new rules that make it harder for businesses to shave their tax bills. There are dozens of other snafus, hitting everything from real estate
 investments to multinational corporations to farmers." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031990999a103949a28ed05103af994b0cf98d0473e9b816c7995013596e14dca2605009bff437a767a

GEORGE W. BUSH in the WSJ -- "How Billy Graham Changed My Life: "I met him in 1985. His care and his teachings began my faith walk-and helped me quit drinking": http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a03110d524a0d0e5415782f3d4db8075a76f8670790fe10d721bb4cd03b2174c3ec915c85d9b21d60130

THE JUICE ... 

-- SPOTTED: JOHN BOEHNER last night smoking a cigarette outside Trattoria Alberto in Barracks Row. "He held the door open for two men who were walking in and said: 'I'm just out here, smoking a cigarette' and laughed," per a tipster.

-- THE AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL dropped $1.6 million on TV ads supporting Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).

CLICKER - "The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics," edited by Matt Wuerker - 15 keepers http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031628a9d6f615a5eeddf68816e50a6883cecd9eb928d039258f29c46ffc8d9d15bdc4959607e482025

          Playbook Reads         

PHOTO DU JOUR: Senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump holds Luke Shuster, son of skip John Shuster of the U.S. curling team next to athletes Cory Christensen and Rebecca Hamilton as she attends the Men's Gold Medal Curling match between Sweden and United States of America at Gangneung Curling Centre on Feb. 24 in Gangneung, South Korea. John Shuster and Team USA won America's first ever gold in the event. | Eric Gaillard-Pool/Getty Images

NYT'S MATT FLEGENHEIMER: "Linda McMahon Gets a Ringside Seat for TrumpMania" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a03158c1fa57aebc2c8c4cfecebb14a618f5484ac8a8b7a7a838f19a63c9bd96b95803fedb1712830629 

DHS DEPARTURE LOUNGE -- "Top Homeland Security official, who clashed with White House over immigration policy, to step down," by WaPo's Nick Miroff: "Elaine Duke, the second-highest-ranking official at the Department of Homeland Security, announced Friday that she will step down after serving less than a year in the job. A longtime Homeland Security official who ran the agency as acting secretary for more than four months last year, Duke, now deputy secretary, is a well-regarded figure at DHS and viewed as one of its most experienced managers. But Duke was largely sidelined after Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen took over in December and given a portfolio described as 'embarrassingly light,'
 according to people familiar with the matter." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a0316f577251a4745e9bb4ef33e54a7362fc419f8fa7a1645b7fbaad8beb705865ad0d7884363a816ee8

KNOWING MUELLER -- "Robert Mueller's military career, detailed in documents, was brief but remarkable," by WaPo's Dan Lamothe: "When Robert Swan Mueller III deployed to Vietnam as a Marine infantry platoon commander in 1968, he surely knew it would be difficult. Mueller's regiment, the 4th Marines, had faced bloody jungle warfare for months, and Mueller joined in them in a hellscape at the tail end of what military historians say was the service's defining year in the war due to the size and scope of their operations. Mueller ultimately earned two awards for valor, suffered a gunshot wound to his leg while responding to the ambush of fellow Marines and was reassigned after his injuries to
 serve as an aide-de-camp to the commander of the 3rd Marine Division, then-Maj. Gen. William K. Jones." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031d00cac4773da7ba75fbc146b7d6c384f3a35437fad0f6a051928662c884928e8656b446585bc44e0

****** A message from PhRMA: New report from Express Scripts shows spending on medicines grew just 1.5 percent in 2017, which is the smallest increase since the company began tracking spending 25 years ago. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee67d3d4f6418444291170ff4e4581fd03532ce47c93818c41a8d2be0a0cbfecc6a053253a61178dab0af77e5551a39a ******

GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from Los Angeles:

-- "The Amazing Story of the Russian Defector Who Changed his Mind," by Jason Fagone in Washingtonian - per TheBrowser.com's description: "KGB Colonel Vitaly Yurchenko defected to America, spent three months spilling secrets to CIA, outed two Soviet moles inside US intelligence - then got on a plane back to Moscow, telling his American handlers that he was homesick, and telling Soviet media that CIA had drugged and kidnapped him. What had just happened?" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031d390cdaa6c51d9c422fdb08bd504cf1f988e924f5917c6432b1191ac829de3705d91bf46a572442d

-- "Eminem," by Elton John in Interview Magazine: "Ahem, Excuse Me. Can we have the attention of the class for a second? The recalcitrant bad boy of rap is back after a few years away from the spotlight and this time he's coming straight for the administration." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031afb6f086ed839aeaa4304d7e7d878c9bcb149941493b1347480d14e4b0da4e625cc6aa46d9eb80f7

-- "What I Saw Treating the Victims From Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns," by Heather Sher in The Atlantic: "One of the trauma surgeons opened a young victim in the operating room, and found only shreds of the organ that had been hit by a bullet from an AR-15, a semi-automatic rifle which delivers a devastatingly lethal, high-velocity bullet to the victim. There was nothing left to repair, and utterly, devastatingly, nothing that could be done to fix the problem. The injury was fatal."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031cb0b5b6fabfa8ba274d38702ebd1ec1ebdfad3ce72f54f78865735954bece91290de9ea3742d21d4

-- "My self-storage hell," by Gaby Del Valle in The Outline: "Much like gyms, which make the bulk of their profits off people who sign up for memberships but never work out, self-storage facilities profit off people who think they're going to store some old junk while they get their life together, before ultimately realizing it's easier to throw $87.15 at their local self-storage corporation each month than it is to actually sort through all their stuff. Self-storage facilities thrive the most when people are getting divorced, dying, or fleeing hurricanes." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031330fb66d35c96cf51ee9d30a527d4cbbc56f292524bc39a4b579deefea72ce00ca7f88aa07648bcc

-- "What the Olympics can teach us about a better kind of nationalism," by David Papineau in Vox: "Sporting contests are essentially equitable. Both sides can see that the other is equally entitled to succeed, and that the right result is victory for the more skillful team. It might be America First, but at least it is first among equals, primus inter pares. By competing you recognize the standing of the others." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031e5252517a5f675f67f5492806457f52a3721887dd3472ca904f4aab9e336130480f25fe1b2e0477f

-- "The brutal world of sheep fighting: the illegal sport beloved by Algeria's 'lost generation,'" by Hannah Rae Armstrong in the Guardian: "Algeria's 'lost generation' has been shaped by years of conflict, unemployment and state repression. Sheep fighting offers an arena where young men can escape the constant supervision of the state." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031f03c4292b45ef4b4fa88f526a270de8d83153aeb31b67f85577c7afafaabdeccec3937c3d54b5dbe

-- "An Oral History of Bob Costas Having Pink Eye at the Olympics," by Kelly Conaboy in Vulture: "'The decision to take him off air was ... not difficult.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031fc62051094c01a2171be235d6e8bcbe3ce748fb51ad51a14c6e7a3ef6b0de97372029fb76d32efbe

-- "In Sudan, Rediscovering Ancient Nubia Before It's Too Late," by Amy Maxmen in Undark: "Long ignored by white archaeologists as a mere footnote, modern scientists are now racing to document what's left of the ancient African civilization." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031f88e07f7da9c2a2840a610542a90c2dca52cda1fea0dcb6d2c6c3db331051e47e8ee573bea807f76

-- "What Ever Happened To Brendan Fraser?" by Zach Baron in GQ - per Longreads.com's description: "A profile of actor Brendan Fraser - who was popular in the '90s for movies like 'School Ties,' and has been making something of a comeback since he was cast in 'The Affair' in 2016. Fraser reveals that in 2003 he was touched inappropriately by Philip Berk, a former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The incident left him feeling violated and insecure. Adding insult to injury, his reporting it seems to have possibly gotten him blacklisted for years." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a0316e024e47fe95e3a1e08303bc1a7aa9be6effa2f8dc6025e28ba58e4f51b08def7ea65d3c196e72b1 

-- "The Breakup Museum: Archiving the Way We Were," by Leslie Jamison in VQR: "The Museum of Broken Relationships is a collection of ordinary objects hung on walls, tucked under glass, backlit on pedestals: a toaster, a child's pedal car, a modem handmade in 1988. A wooden toilet paper dispenser. A positive pregnancy stick. A positive drug test. An axe. They come from Taipei, from Slovenia, from Colorado, from Manila, all donated by strangers, each accompanied by a story: In the 14 days of her holiday, every day I axed one piece of her furniture." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a0315090691311e0700096f8cc501f0748c86956742029ee005015a9c006088dc972525a9e272c3e51c4 (h/t ALDaily.com)

-- "Do You Believe Her Now?" by Jill Abramson on the cover of New York Magazine: "With new evidence that Clarence Thomas lied to get onto the Supreme Court, it's time to talk seriously about impeachment." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031aca284c71e9d7dff8177b8599bc8d8d5d16db1829eed0ad9b692830f9b542b93e629251ea8ea4b0f (h/t Longform.org)

-- "Are We Running Out of Trademarks? An Empirical Study of Trademark Depletion and Congestion," by Barton Beebe and Jeanne C. Fromer in Harvard Law Review: "American trademark law has long operated on the assumption that there exists an inexhaustible supply of unclaimed trademarks that are at least as competitively effective as those already claimed. However, popular media has lately begun to make the opposite empirical claim: that the supply of good trademarks is, in fact, exhaustible and that we have very nearly exhausted it." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a03120d7df8c658385b185a107e002d27bfd077dbcbcf272a67ae94b6a069bc2f5c99b00dee38dfd3e85

-- "Billionaires gone wild," by Alex Pareene in CJR: "Many of the ways the media landscape has been transformed in the 21st century have caused it to resemble the media landscape of the 18th and 19th centuries, from the flourishing of a more openly partisan press to the erosion of the norms of professionalism ... Another throwback: The press baron. Not since the 19th century have so many individuals had so much power over the press."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a0316d00efc0351d7cea7a29f5208cb3705768eca386465e9df42412e40a245d9fd8a1303458150a5b2f

-- "When Malls Saved the Suburbs From Despair," by Ian Bogost in The Atlantic: "Strange as it may sound, the mall allowed people to leave commercialism behind, after they were through with it. Consumerism ran rampant, but it had a safe haven in which to do so. Malls are prisons for commerce, but at least the commerce stays inside them."  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031387b491b9958988ec009234eb0c1403f2e576819e79b07f0dc86a10fabb7e75ad1563beb976987fb 

-- "Worst Roommate Ever," by William Brennan in New York Magazine: Jamison "Bachman was a serial squatter operating on a virtuosic scale, driving roommate after roommate into court and often from their home. He seemed to relish the anguish of those who had taken him. Nothing they did could satisfy or appease him, because the objective was not material gain but, seemingly, the sadistic pleasure of watching them squirm as he displaced them." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=57a3ec4888c6a031bf77414769e817c699ed3d6533082bbb31b32324c4ddbd343731489318b61e6a3f2b401ebf4c6d5e
                  Playbookers         
SPOTTED: Nigel Farage last night "holding court" at the bar at the Trump Hotel ... Stephen Miller at Masseria last night with his parents ... Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) yesterday going through the buffet line and then into a private room for lunch at the Park City Club in Dallas.

TRANSITIONS -- Matt Simeon has been hired as the VP of advocacy communications at the National Restaurant Association. He had his last day Friday as a principal at Locust Street Group.

OUT AND ABOUT - Pool report: "Dozens of governors attended a reception at the Embassy of Australian Friday where they were able to meet, among other dignitaries, famed Aussie crocodile wrangler Matt Wright and the giant yellow python he had draped over his shoulder. ... The gathering is part of the National Governors Association Winter Meeting and followed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's visit with President Trump. This year marks America and Australia's 100 years of 'mateship,' which began in WWI."

SPOTTED: Governors Brian Sandoval (Nevada), Steve Bullock (Montana), Mary Fallin (Oklahoma), Matt Bevin (Kentucky), Greg Abbott (Texas), Henry McMaster (South Carolina), Bill Walker (Alaska), John Kasich (Ohio), Ralph Northam (Virginia), Phil Murphy (NJ), Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Australian Ambassador Joe Hockey, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of Navy Richard Spencer, Patrick Steel, Brendan Bechtel, Arne Sorenson, Andy Florance, David Agnew, Graeme Conway.

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): KABC's Emily Barsh

BIRTHDAYS: Mark Salter is 63 ... Kevin Lewis ... Paula Zahn is 62 ... former Sen. Joe Lieberman, now No Labels co-chair, is 76 (hat tip: Dennis Craig) ... NYT's Sabrina Tavernise ... Cliff May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies ... Nilda Pedrosa ... Juliet K. Choi of the Partnership for Public Service ... Secretary of the Senate Julie Adams ... Joshua Gardner ... Emily Feldman is 25 ... former Mass. Gov. Jane Swift, the pride of North Adams, Mass. (h/t Ed Cash) ... Blake Waggoner, managing partner of HomeState Media, is 32. He is celebrating at the PGA's Honda Classic in Palm Beach and the Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla. with friends ...
 Hemant Taneja ... Karen Olick, managing director at SKDKnickerbocker and Boxer alum (h/t Jon Haber) ... former Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) is 86 ... PBS alum Kevin Dando ... Kate Kelly, director of public lands at CAP ... Politico's Connor O'Brien ... Paula Stannard ... Politico Europe's Tom McTague, co-author of "Betting the House: The Inside Story of the 2017 Election" ... Will Gattenby ...

... Jacqueline Alemany, White House reporter for CBS News (h/ts Peter Hamby and Kylie Atwood) ... Chris Chocola, former Club for Growth president, is 56 ... Roger D. Klein ... Rebecca Bernbach Graves ... Lindsay Hamilton, GW's executive director of media relations (hubby tip: Phil Elwood) ... Jacqueline Hackett ... Edelman's Henry Krause ... Allison Branca, special assistant to the VP of comms. at Brookings ... Reagan McGrath ... Emily West ... Howard Bragman (h/t Brandon Shaw) ... Karen Persichilli Keogh, head of global philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase and a Hillary Clinton alum (h/t Monica Hanley) ... Mary Chastain ... former Commerce deputy secretary Bruce Andrews is 5-0 ... Abram
 Olmstead, digital director at the National Automobile Dealers Association, is 33 (h/t Jonathan Collegio) ... Jacqueline Hackett ... Abdul Wahid Sanjar ... Andrew Giacini ... Rudy Mendoza ... Kavontae Smalls ... Jennifer Griffith ... Peter Lovett ... Nina Hutchison ... Fred Martin ... Sam Teller ... Sam Novey (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

THE SHOWS, by @MattMackowiak, filing from Austin:

--CBS's "Face the Nation": Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) ... Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Gun violence panel: Columbine high school shooting survivor Austin Eubanks, Safe and Sound Schools' Michelle Gay, Sandy Hook Promise's Nicole Hockley, Orlando Police Chief John Mina and father of murdered reporter (Alison Parker) for WDBJ CBS Roanoke Andy Parker ... Frederic Hof. Panel: Rachael Bade, David Nakamura, Reihan Salam and Shawna Thomas

--CNN's "State of the Union": Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel ... Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Panel: Rick Santorum, Jennifer Granholm, Karine Jean-Pierre and Bryan Lanza

--"Fox News Sunday": Florida Gov. Rick Scott ... father of (Meadow Pollack) school shooting victim Andrew Pollack and Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school senior Delaney Tarr. Panel: Karl Rove, Jonathan Swan, Kimberley Strassel and Donna Edwards ... "Power Player of the Week" with amateur paleontologist Ray Stanford

--NBC's "Meet the Press": Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) ... Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) ... Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). Panel: David Brody, Helene Cooper, Josh Earnest and Danielle Pletka

--ABC's "This Week": Dana Loesch ... Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school senior David Hogg and teacher Ashley Kurth ... Ohio Gov. John Kasich... Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper ... Dan Abrams and Preet Bharara. Panel: Jonathan Karl, Cokie Roberts, Lanhee Chen, Julie Pace and Jorge Ramos

--CNN's "Inside Politics" with John King: Panel: Margaret Talev, John McCormack, Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Sahil Kapur

--Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures": Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) ... Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) ... Alberto Gonzales ... Gordon Chang ... Kelli Ward. Panel: Ed Rollins and Mary Kissel

--Fox News' "MediaBuzz": Mo Elleithee ... Jonathan Swan ... Emily Jashinsky ... Gayle Trotter ... radio show host Richard Fowler ... Stephen Hayes ... Shana Glenzer

--CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS": Panel: Saul Cornell ("A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America") and author and The University of Alabama's Adam Lankford ("The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers") ... Stephen F. Cohen and David Sanger ... Steve Phillips and Hilda Solis

--CNN's "Reliable Sources": Glenn Beck ... Lulu Ramadan ... Dan Rather and author and John Avlon ... Sarah Westwood and Doug Heye

--Univision's "Al Punto": Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school students Carlos Rodriguez and Lorena Sanabria ... Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school parents Manuel Oliver and Patricia Padauy ... former Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jorge Casta&ntilde;eda ... musician PJ Sin Suela ... journalist Paulina Chavira

--C-SPAN: "The Communicators": Facebook global political director Katie Harbath ... Cleveland-Marshall Center for Cybersecurity & Privacy Protection founding director Candice Hoke ... former Amb. to OECD and Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Karen Kornbluh ... Upturn policy analyst Miranda Bogen ... "Newsmakers": American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, questioned by The New York Times' Erica Green and Politico's Caitlin Emma ... "Q&A": Author and Duke Divinity School's Kate Bowler

--MSNBC's "Kasie DC": Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.) ... Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) ... Jonathan Swan ... Ashley Parker ... Jake Sherman ... Katty Kay ... Lanhee Chen ... The Wing founder Audrey Gelman ... congressional candidate Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan

--"The McLaughlin Group": Moderator Tom Rogan with syndicated columnist Pat Buchanan, The Daily Beast's Eleanor Clift, syndicated columnist Clarence Page and guest panelist The Daily Caller's Saagar Enjeti

--Washington Times' "Mack on Politics" weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher or listen at http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee67d3d4f6418444a279a0ec817c73fe0761fefa7214f79ec2b67f20bacb3cacd2327c701c17bcdc1f10262802107cc9 ESPN staff writer David Purdum ... Washington Free Beacon staff writer Stephen Gutowski.

****** A message from PhRMA: While spending on medicines grew just 1.5 percent in 2017, unfortunately it doesn't feel that way for patients. More than one-third of a medicine's list price is often rebated back to middlemen, like insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). These discounts and rebates create savings of more than $100 billion, but insurers don't always share these savings with patients. Patients share the costs. They should share the savings. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee67d3d4f6418444291170ff4e4581fd03532ce47c93818c41a8d2be0a0cbfecc6a053253a61178dab0af77e5551a39a ******

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