GOP Tax Scam’s Final Mile; Tillerson’s NK Flip-Flop; Packing the Courts; Trump Family Fail: ‘BradCast’ 12/15/2017

Share article:

On today’s BradCast, a spoonful or two of sugar where we can find it, along with much too much bitter medicine. [Audio link to show follows below.]

Among the stories covered on today’s jam-packed ‘BradCast’…

First up: The massively unpopular Republican tax scam lurches toward the finish line after the last of the pretend GOP hold-outs in the U.S. Senate now seem to be on board. They all know it’s a scam, of course, one that will not, as they pretend, “pay for itself”. And most predict the tax bill will gravely hurt the GOP’s chances of holding on to the U.S. House in 2018. But they don’t seem to care for some reason Moreover, they are openly admitting publicly that they are coming for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid almost as soon as the largest redistribution of wealth from the poor and middle class to corporations and the wealthy in the history of the nation is completed before Christmas.

Then: Earlier in the week, Trump’s beleaguered Sec. of State Rex Tillerson had announced that the U.S. was ready to meet with the North Koreans for peace talks without preconditions. By week’s end, however, that hopeful message of potential peace took a drastic u-turn, as Tillerson appears to have reversed course at the last minute during his remarks at the U.N. on Friday.

Meanwhile, even though they have, up until now, failed to enact any major legislation to date, Trump and the Republicans have been wildly successful at ramming lifetime appointments of radical right-wing jurists to the federal bench through the U.S. Senate. Some of those appointees have been ridiculously unqualified, though at least one Senate Republican is beginning to put the brakes on those nominees. We share part of the astonishing Senate Judiciary Committee colloquy this week between Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) and Mark Spencer Petersen, Trump’s embarrassingly unqualified nominee for a lifetime post on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Finally, we get to at least a spoonful of sugar with a musical tribute to the apparently failed U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama, plummeting approval ratings for the President, the Vice-President and the entire Republican Party, and the hilarious case of pretty much every member of the Trump family in D.C. successfully suppressing their own votes in last month’s New York mayoral election.

All of that and much more in today’s BradCast. Enjoy!

The BradCast with Brad Friedman 12/15/2017
GOP Tax Scam’s Final Mile; Tillerson’s NK Flip-Flop; Packing the Courts; Trump Family Fail: ‘BradCast’ 12/15/2017   · · · · ·   GOP Tax Scam’s Final Mile; Tillerson’s NK Flip-Flop; Packing the Courts; Trump Family Fail: ‘BradCast’ 12/15/2017
0:00 0:00
Download Episode Subscribe RSS/Podcast

* * *
While we post The BradCast here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they’re available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn or our native RSS feed!

The BRAD BLOG, The BradCast and Green News Report are all 100% independent and 100% listener and reader supported!Please CLICK HERE to help support our work today!

Share article:

--- COMMENTS follow below Ad Content ---

Reader Comments on

GOP Tax Scam’s Final Mile; Tillerson’s NK Flip-Flop; Packing the Courts; Trump Family Fail: ‘BradCast’ 12/15/2017

No Comments yet.

(Comments are now closed.)


--- Ad Content ---

BB SIDEBAR NOTICE

Thanks to you, The BRAD BLOG has been trouble-making and muckraking for … 22 YEARS!!!

Please help The BRAD BLOG, BradCast and Green News Report remain independent and 100% reader and listener supported in our 23rd YEAR!!!

ONE TIME
any amount...

MONTHLY
any amount...

OR VIA SNAIL MAIL
Make check out to...
Brad Friedman / BRAD BLOG
7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594
Los Angeles, CA 90028

RECENT POSTS

Sunday ‘Everything F**ked Up’ Toons

THIS WEEK: Pacific Persians! ... Red Menace! ... Sex Pests! ...

LINDSEY GRAHAM DEAD AT 71

UPDATES: Medical examiner cites 'aorta rupture' as cause of Graham's death; McConnell issues first statement, photo on his own recovery from fall, hospitalization, pneumonia, silence about condition...

Dead Ends: Iran, Platner, McConnell: ‘BradCast’ 7/9/2026

Guest: Prof. David Faris, Roosevelt University author, political scientist...

‘Green News Report’ – July 9, 2026

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

John Roberts and his Corrupt Republican SCOTUS Majority Winning the Long Game: ‘BradCast’ 7/8/2026

Guest: Former Dep. Asst. A.G. Lisa Graves on the Chief Justice's decades-long fights to undermine voting rights, expand Presidential power...

The Trump Crime Family’s Staggering Second-Term Crime Spree Comes into View: ‘BradCast’ 7/7/2026

Also: Platner support collapses in ME; How Trump's 'Freedom 250' hijacked America's 250th birthday...using wire fraud to do it...

‘Green News Report’ – July 7, 2026

with Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen...

Maine U.S. Senate Race Rocked by Sexual Assault Claim; Callers Want Platner to Stay In: ‘BradCast’ 7/6/2026

Dem candidate 'categorically' denies 'false' allegation, but 'taking time to reflect on best path forward...and goal of defeating Susan Collins' ahead of July 13 deadline to drop out and be replaced by state party...

Sunday ‘One Small Step for Americans…’ Toons

THIS WEEK: SCOTUS Out ... Birthday Blues ... Fair/Enough ... Grift in Plane Sight ...

SCOTUS Hot Takes: Mailing it In

Hitting the road, but with some VERY quick thoughts before we go...

Sunday ‘A Quack in the Case’ Toons

THIS WEEK: Wet Dreams ... Trump's 250th ... SCOTUS Bloody SCOTUS ... Elon Bloody Elon ...

Court Blocks Trump’s Executive Power Grab Seeking to Nationalize Vote-By-Mail Eligibility

Federal judge rules the U.S. Postal Service cannot refuse to deliver mail-in ballots based upon a federal 'Confirmed Citizen List'...

‘So Stupid it Makes Your Head Explode’: ‘BradCast’ 6/25/2026

Guests: Heather Digby Parton of Salon, 'Driftglass' of 'Pro Left Podcast' on court rulings (good and awful), Dem Primaries, Trump's 'Deflecting Pool' and more...

‘Green News Report’ – June 25, 2026

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

Help Stop Trump’s Project 2025 Scheme to Kill Science: ‘BradCast’ 6/24/2026

Guest: Dr. Colette Delawalla of Stand Up for Science; Also: Judge nixes Trump election rigging order; Mamdani's progressives sweep; Primary results from UT, MD, SC, NY...

About Brad Friedman...

Brad is an independent investigative journalist, blogger and broadcaster.
Full Bio & Testimonials…
Media Appearance Archive…
Articles & Editorials Elsewhere…
Contact…

He is featured in these documentary films…
…And has contributed chapters to these books…

BRAD BLOG ON THE AIR!

THE BRADCAST on KPFK/Pacifica Radio Network (90.7FM Los Angeles, 98.7FM Santa Barbara, 93.7FM N. San Diego and nationally syndicated, Monday-Thursday, on many other affiliate stations! ALSO VIA PODCAST: RSS/XML feed | Pandora | TuneIn | Apple Podcasts/iTunes | iHeart | Amazon Music
GREEN NEWS REPORT, nationally syndicated, with new episodes on Tuesday and Thursday. ALSO VIA PODCAST: RSS/XML feed | Pandora | TuneIn | Apple Podcasts/iTunes | iHeart | Amazon Music
Media Appearance Archives…

--- Ad Content ---

ADDITIONAL STUFF

Brad Friedman/
The BRAD BLOG Named...

Buzz Flash's 'Wings of Justice' Honoree
Project Censored 2010 Award Recipient
The 2008 Weblog Awards