PG131: Tax Reform Law, UN vs US, Trump's National Security Strategy, Shutdown Averted

Mike, Jay, and Trey have been talking about the GOP tax bill since early November, and this week it finally became the GOP tax law, after President Trump signed the measure before departing for his Christmas vacation. Mike and Jay summarize their views on the legislation and make some predictions as to how it's likely to play out. After that they discuss the United Nations General Assembly's vote opposing U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel. Mike thinks that when only a handful of tiny countries are on your side maybe it's time to reconsider your stance whereas Jay feels that the UN has once again demonstrated its strong anti-Israel bias. Next is a look at President Trump's recently announced national security strategy. Mike points out that in many places the document seems to contradict what President Trump has actually said and done, whereas Jay thinks that the administration's focus on 'principled realism' is a good thing. (Mike likes the term too, but wishes there was a bit more focus on the 'principled' part, especially concerning human rights.) Finally, Mike and Jay point out some relatively good news to end the year - the government won't be shutting down, at least not until late January, thanks to a stopgap funding measure passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump. Importantly, the measure includes emergency funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides coverage to around nine million children from lower-income families. Had Congress not come to an agreement on extending this funding, up to two millions kids would have been at least temporally without insurance. Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to http://www.politicsguys.com and click on the Patreon or PayPal links.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-politics-guys/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesThe Politics Guys on Facebook | XListener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo, we’re @PoliticsGuys.The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.