SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2016
Today’s Good News And Bad News
From Our Local Political Junkie We’ll Call “Cincy Dave”

TRUMP, CLINTON TO MAKE FIRST JOINT APPEARANCE
NBC and MSNBC, along with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, will host the first live appearance of the two candidates during the campaign in what is being called The Commander-in-Chief Forum.   This is scheduled for this coming Wednesday at 8 P.M.  It’s not as good as a debate but maybe worth one bag of popcorn, so mark your calendars, fellow political junkies.

TRUMP’S MEXICO VISIT
The Donald’s visit to Mexico was a huge embarrassment for Mexicans.  To them, he is one of the most unpopular people alive – only 2 percent of Mexicans have a positive opinion of him. Of course, this attitude is seeping across the border to their relatives and friends in the United States, including Jeb Bush’s wife and children, among millions of others.  The reaction to the visit has damaged the Mexican president politically too.   We don’t expect that Trump will get many more invitations from foreign leaders.

PENCE WILL RELEASE TAX RETURNS
Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence said he will release his full tax returns next week and maintains Donald Trump will release his tax returns — following the completion of the GOP nominee’s IRS audit. “Donald Trump and I are both going to release our tax returns,” Pence said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet
The Press” host Chuck Todd to be broadcast today. “I’ll release mine in the next week and Donald Trump will be releasing his tax returns at the completion of an audit.” Todd interrupted Pence in regards to Trump’s tax returns, saying “That won’t be until after the election?”  “Well we’ll see,” Pence said.  What that really means is that Trump won’t release his tax returns until right after hell freezes over.  No one really cares about Pence’s taxes anyway.

TRUMP SPEAKS TO BLACK CHURCH WHILE PROTESTERS DEMONSTRATE OUTSIDE
After weeks of speaking to all-white audiences about the plight of African-Americans, someone in the campaign (probably “Uncle Ben” Carson) finally convinced The Donald to talk to black people directly.  So he went to a church in Detroit where he read some prepared remarks. In the remarks, Donald helpfully reminded his audience that Lincoln was a Republican.  Originally, it was supposed to be just an interview with the pastor, but word got out that the pastor’s questions and the Trump’s answers were both scripted, which didn’t look so good.   Trump’s reception inside the church was cordial but many church members were skeptical.  One woman told reporters “he’s got a lot to make up for.”

NAKED DT STATUE WILL BE AUCTIONED
One of several naked statues of Donald Trump that were placed in various large cities will be auctioned off.   The one at auction was originally on Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles and it is expected to go for between $10,000 and $20,000.    The statues were titled, “The Emperor Has No Balls.”   All Trump fans should have fun bidding.

DEBATE MODERATORS NAMED
The debate moderators will be Lester Holt of NBC for the first debate, ABC’s Martha Radditz and CNN’s Anderson Cooper will do the second and Chris Wallace from Fox News, the third.  It looks like Trump’s whining about debate

Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press

moderators has been effective. Two out of the three debates will be moderated by people he should be happy with.  He said some time ago that Lester Holt was a “great guy” and of course, he would like almost anyone from Fox News, except Megyn Kelly.   We know that he would have preferred his cheerleaders, Hannity, O’Reilly and Ann Coulter but he can’t have everything his way.

HILLARY PROPOSES REGULATING DRUG PRICES
After the EpiPen furor, where the manufacturer jacked up prices to $500 for a drug injection device that delivers a drug that costs only $2.00, Hillary is proposing a new plan to regulate this type of behavior by drug companies.   Republicans will scream about government interference with the free market, but Democrats have long wanted to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices.   The U.S. is one of the few countries that let drug companies do whatever they want on prices. Interestingly, Donald Trump agrees with the idea.

KOCH BROTHERS PULL PORTMAN ADS
The Koch brothers PAC has cancelled ads for Rob Portman because they think he is far enough ahead that he will win without them spending any more on the race.  However, Strickland is still slogging along with his life story ads.

NO NEW POLLS TODAY – IT’S GOD’S DAY OFF

—More Good News and Bad News Tomorrow—