Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 333rd day of the year. There are 33 days remaining in 2016.
The ACLU of Utah says they’ve seen more donations since Donald Trump won the White House. Trump claims he would have won the popular vote had millions of illegal ballots not been cast. The battle over Trump’s Secretary of State gets ugly.
The clock:
- 21 days until the Electoral College meets to cast their votes for president and vice president (12/19/2016)
- 53 days until Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President (1/20/2017)
- 56 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (1/23/2017)
- 101 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
- 344 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
- 708 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
Ten talking points for Monday:
- The ACLU of Utah says they’ve seen a boost in donations and people offering to help in the wake of Donald Trump‘s win [Utah Policy].
- Donald Trump claims, without a shred of truth, that millions of ballots were cast illegally, which is why Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by more than 2 million [Bloomberg]. Trump also alleges widespread voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California [Politico].
- The internal battle over who will be Donald Trump‘s secretary of state is getting ugly. Sources say Trump wants Mitt Romney to publicly apologize for trashing Trump during the election [Utah Policy]. Trump’s former campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, says appointing Romney to the Secretary of State post would be a “betrayal” to Trump’s supporters [Politico]. MSNBC reports Monday morning that Trump was “furious” at Conway for her comments about Romney [Mediaite].
- The recount in Wisconsin is getting underway [CBS News]. Hillary Clinton‘s campaign explains why they are participating in the recount, which is being pushed by the Green Party’s Jill Stein [Medium]. Clinton’s team is also returning fire at Trump, who is incensed about the recount [Politico].
- Donald Trump‘s plans to spend liberally to improve the military and infrastructure is rankling many fiscal conservatives in Washington [Wall Street Journal].
- The death of former Cuba dictator Fidel Castro has Cubans wondering what the future holds for them [Time]. Utahns say Castro’s death should be celebrated [Deseret News].
- The Utah Senate announces new committee assignments for the next two years. Most notably, Sen. Lyle Hillyard has been replaced as the chair of the budget committee after 12 years [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
- Many Utah teachers resort to a second job in order to make ends meet [Tribune].
- Sen. Curt Bramble and Rep. Keven Stratton are planning legislation requiring doctors to tell women seeking an abortion that a drug-induced abortion may be reversed [Deseret News].
- Looking for a Christmas present for the politically-minded? Check out this “Make America Great” hat ornament. No matter your political persuasion, the online reviews are hilarious [USA Today].
On this day in history:
- 1520 – Ferdinand Magellan entered the Pacific Ocean on his way around the world. He was the first European to sail the Pacific from the east.
- 1943 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met in Tehran during World War II.
- 1990 – Margaret Thatcher resigned after more than 11 years as prime minister of Britain.
- 1995 – President Bill Clinton signed a bill that ended the federal 55 mph speed limit.
- 2001 – Enron Corp., once the world’s largest energy trader, collapsed after would-be rescuer Dynegy Inc. backed out of an $8.4 billion deal to take it over.
