In other news, as of this writing (5 pm eastern) there is no deal to keep the government open after tonight. A shutdown will occur at midnight if nothing is passed.
Meanwhile, a Washington Post/ABC News poll found that nearly 50 percent of Americans would blame the GOP for a shutdown while just 28 percent would blame Democrats.
Finally, the Pentagon's new National Defense Strategy, the first one since 2014, has placed nations and states such as Russia and China back on the top of the list of threats instead of terrorism. The strategy calls for preparing to face conventional armies, again, instead of stateless actors.
I'm not a strategist, but it feels like that should have always been the case. Fighting terrorism with the military -- the "war on terror" -- has always felt like a distraction. You can't "win" a "war on terror" because terrorism is just a tool.
In any case, here are some other stories I didn't get to this week:
The CEO of Coca-Cola has joined numerous others calling on Trump to abandon his trade war fantasies and renew DACA.
The Trump regime will block Haitians from obtaining temporary or seasonal visas. Will this apply to the Mar-a-Lago?
Banks want to use blockchain technology to resurrect mortgage-backed and other packaged securities. What could go wrong?
There's a warrant out of Hungary for Seb Gorka's arrest on gun charges. Apparently he was a wanted a man the entire time he spent skulking around the White House.
Trump Towers in India is so desperate for buyers they're trying to lure investors with a meeting with Don Trump Jr. Who the hell wants to meet the dumbest Trump?
The Trump regime is withholding $1.5 billion from Puerto Rico, claiming the island has enough money right now. It doesn't.
Investors say the risk of a debt ceiling default is already showing up in the treasuries market because Republicans are probably going to play games with it.
The watchdog group Public Citizen says at least 4 foreign governments spent money at Trump properties in 2017. Not surprisingly, that includes Saudi Arabia. I think we know why Trump kissed their ass last summer.