(Question)
President Donald Trump is shifting his focus back to domestic issues after returning late Tuesday from a 12-day trip to Asia. This week, Trump will resume pressing congressional Republicans to pass a tax reform measure to follow through on one of his key campaign promises. Trump appears to be working closely with Republican congressional leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. "We ran in 2016 on doing this tax reform," Ryan told reporters at the Capitol. "The president ran on doing this tax cut and tax reform. So this is about fulfilling our promises to the American people."  However, since the president was last in the country, he and his Republican allies in Congress face a new political landscape in the wake of last week's gubernatorial election victories by Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey. In Virginia, exit polls showed that many voters were motivated primarily by their opposition to the president. "The fact that the president is so polarizing and so unpopular with approval ratings generally under about 40 percent, and Democrats are going to be extra-motivated to come out," said University of Virginia political analyst Kyle Kondik. Kondik said the strong Democratic showing in statewide races in Virginia last week was the best non-presidential election showing for the party since 2006, the last time Democrats nationally won control of the House of Representatives. Many Democrats believe a focus on Trump could help them retake control of the House next year. "You can sort of smell when a wave is beginning, no guarantee it continues, but it is likely to," said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. "And that smell that was in the air in 2005 is in the air now." Trump's approval ratings remain historically low for a first-year president — with several recent polls showing him below 40 percent — which could be a warning sign for Republicans ahead of next year's elections.  "If the president is where he is today, I think that is going to be very difficult for the party to even hold the House of... What is probably true of Shumer - not enough information - his views align with the republicans - he is a confirmed democrat - his views are more similar to an independent
(Answer)
he is a confirmed democrat


(Question)
Every so often I see a scenario play out that I find rather disappointing. It works like this: someone posts a topic to their blog that is critical or controversial. This person can either be a community member, commentator, employee or otherwise; it doesn’t matter who the person is. Then what happens is a series of comments are posted to that blog entry from readers that are critical of the post, thus challenging the author on their views. The author then either deletes the blog entry or disables the comments based on the feedback. In other words, a viewpoint is shared, an invitation for comment is provided, but that invitation is then revoked when the author of the blog post is dissatisfied with the response from their readers. I have seen this happen countless times over the years and I don’t like this. I believe we should all be accountable for our words. Our words have the ability to inspire, to entertain, to challenge, but to also hurt. Actions have consequences, and so do words. As such, when I see someone openly share their thoughts on their blog and invite their readers to provide comments, I see that as a wonderful demonstration of accountability and engagement; debate is a beautiful thing when executed with politeness and respect. To then close that door, seemingly because people disagree with you, is in my mind the equivalent of walking out of a room in the middle of a debate. The excuse when folks are criticized of this behavior is typically “it is my blog and I can run it how I like“. This is true: it is your blog, and you can run it how you like, but the true measure of a person is not just in what they say, but also in the conversation and discourse that follows. What is the author likely to do with negative comments on his own post? - leave them up and engage with readers - delete anything comments that are critical of his post - not enough information - delete the entire blog post
(Answer)
leave them up and engage with readers


(Question)
President Donald Trump suffered a political setback Tuesday when Democrats won easy victories in governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey. In addition, Democrats cheered a turnout that could have major implications for next year's congressional midterm elections, when all 435 House seats and one-third of the Senate will be on the ballot. Democrats are pointing to exit polls in both Virginia and New Jersey that showed that anger at Trump was a major factor in stimulating Democrats to get to the polls. They also note Democratic gains in the battle for state delegate seats in Virginia, another sign of grass-roots enthusiasm that could help Democrats in races for lower-level offices across the country. In New Jersey, Governor-elect Phil Murphy, a Democrat, saw his election as a direct rebuke of the Republican president. "New Jersey sent an unmistakable message to the entire nation. We are better than this!" Murphy told cheering supporters at his victory rally. In Virginia, Democrat Ralph Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillespie in a campaign that focused, in part, on Trump and his policies, especially on immigration. At a news conference Wednesday, Northam said his victory showed that Virginians had a message for the country and the world. "The divisiveness, the hatred, the bigotry, the politics that is tearing this country apart, that is not the United States of America that people love and it certainly not the Commonwealth of Virginia that they love," he said. Political analysts said Democratic enthusiasm and a focus on Trump were clearly on display in both states. "We have heard for months and months about all this energy on the left. It had not materialized until tonight," said Steve Peoples of the Associated Press. "A big night for Democrats and, really, it was a repudiation of sorts of the Trump nationalist message." Even some Republicans saw the results as a rejection of the Trump political brand. Representative Scott Taylor of Virginia told the New York Times that he believes the president's "divisive... Ralph Northam's new conference lasted - One hour - not enough information - One MOnth - One Day
(Answer)
