The US government closed the 2018 fiscal year $779 billion in the red, its highest deficit since 2012 as Republican-led tax cuts pinched revenues, and expenses rose on a growing national debt, according to data released on Monday by the Treasury Department. New government spending also expanded the federal deficit for the 12 months through September. US President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans have touted the tax cuts as a boost to growth and jobs, but what's really behind the numbers?
So, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks with top Saudi leaders today as the kingdom is preparing to acknowledge that missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Pompeo had a short discussion with King Salman before a longer meeting with the king's son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). There's a growing groundswell of people, such as Senators Lindsay Graham and Marco Rubio, calling for MBS to go. Others, such as Pompeo and the president, seem to be working with the royal family to develop a cover story and make this go away. While damage control continues, what would be the international impact if MBS were replaced?
Today is the last day to register to vote in 10 states and DC. In Georgia, there's a showdown in the race to become the next governor. Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams is calling foul play and asking for her opponent Brian Kemp to resign as the state's top elections official to avoid a conflict of interest. She accuses him of disenfranchising minorities for years, including his office's latest effort: suspending the processing of 53,000 voter registrations, mainly belonging to African-Americans.
In North Dakota, voters are also protesting voter ID rules. Native Americans are pushing back on a Supreme Court ruling that could make it harder for them to cast their votes in the upcoming midterm elections. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against overturning North Dakota's controversial voter ID law, which requires voters to present identification that verifies a current residential street address. Proponents of the law say it will help prevent voter fraud. Opponents say it will prevent many Native Americans from voting.
GUESTS:
Dr. Jack Rasmus — Professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California and author of Central Bankers at the End of Their Ropes: Monetary Policy and the Coming Depression, who also writes at jackrasmus.com.
Jefferson Morley — Journalist and editor who has worked in Washington journalism for over 30 years, 15 of which were spent as an editor and reporter at The Washington Post. The author of The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton and Our Man in Mexico, Morley has written about intelligence, military and political subjects for Salon, The Atlantic and The Intercept, among others.
Greg Palast — Author and award-winning investigative reporter featured in The Guardian, Nation Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine, BBC and other high profile media outlets.
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