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Idaho Gov. Brad Little, seated directly to President Trumps left at a White House roundtable meeting with governors Monday on deregulation, said it was an honor to participate, even though Trump appeared to refer to Little first as Fred and then as Bread. Littles spokeswoman, Marissa Morrison, said she thinks the president was saying Brad, but just with an accent on it.

Little was among five GOP governors, one governor-elect, two state lawmakers and a Colorado tribal chairwoman invited to the White House meeting, which was attended by both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. In October, Trump announced his Governors Initiative on Regulatory Innovation and appointed Pence to head it up.

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The initiative is aimed at working with state, local and tribal leaders who are championing deregulation, and working toward cutting regulations and costs, reforming occupational licensing, and better aligning state and federal regulations. You can read my full story here at idahopress.com (subscription required), or pick up Wednesday's edition of the Idaho Press.

Betsy Z. Russell is the Boise bureau chief and state capitol reporter for the Idaho Press and Adams Publishing Group. Follow her on Twitter at @BetsyZRussell.

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Idaho Gov. Little meets with Trump, Pence on regulatory reform; link to my full story - Idaho Press-Tribune

Rep. Greg Pence (R-IN)

Editors Note: The Armenian Weekly Editorial Board has corrected the story below to reflect the accurate name of the school that Congressman Pence visited in November. During a phone conversation with the Weekly, Congressman Pences office denied the following events, conveyed to the Weekly by a source, ever took place.

Evidence that the State Departments gag rule on discussing the Armenian Genocide is alive and well arose the week after the historic landslide vote in the United States House of Representatives. While the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.296) passed by a vote of 405 to 11, notable among the 11 no votes was Republican Congressman Greg Pence of Indiana, older brother of Vice President Mike Pence.

When Congressman Pence visited Central Middle School in Columbus, Indiana the week after the vote, school administrators directed teachers that no one should raise the Genocide Resolution or Cong. Pences no vote during his visit. It is reasonable to infer that Pences staff requested the imposition of the gag rule and that he wanted to avoid the embarrassment of defending his vote.

While it is possible that Pences staff was trying to avoid partisan politics during a school visit, Congressman Pences own words contradict this. In an article reporting on the visit in the Columbus Republic newspaper, Pence is quoted at length denouncing the Houses impeachment inquiry and calling it a Soviet-style or Russian-style witch hunt.

Congressmen Pences office has denied the aforementioned events, as conveyed to the Weekly by a source.

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Global Gag Rule Alive and Well in Indiana - Armenian Weekly

As death sentences drop nationwide, Ohio and Pennsylvania are still serving them up. Michigan lawmakers are thinking about granting more whistleblower protections. And Wisconsin might have some buyers remorse over its deal with Foxconn.

Check-in

Til death: Only eight death sentences were handed out in 2019 across all the Flyover states, with all eight of those coming in either Ohio or Pennsylvania, per the Death Penalty Information Centers year end report. Pennsylvania, which has a governor-imposed moratorium, had two of the eight death sentences while Ohio had six, second most in the nation. Indiana, which has the death penalty on the books but hasnt executed a prisoner in 10 years, had zero sentences. Its worth noting that there wasnt a single execution in Flyover states in 2019.

Leading the way: Surprisingly, the county with the most death penalties handed down isnt in a stereotypical state like Texas. Instead, its in the Democratic stronghold of Cuyahoga County, Ohio where Cleveland is located per cleveland.coms Jeremy Pelzer. In the past two years, five people have been sentenced to death. Only one other county Riverside County, California in the nation had more than one.

The winning reform-ula: After abandoning a proposed criminal justice reform bill over fears it might actually lead to more incarceration, the ACLU of Ohio and Americans for Prosperity are back on the wagon, cleveland.coms Andrew Tobias reports. Lawmakers agreed to remove portions of the bill they added earlier this week that would have increased penalties for drug dealing near drug treatment facilities.

Whistle while you work: Michigan lawmakers, partially in response to the Flint water crisis, are seriously considering expanding whistleblower protections in the state, the Detroit News Craig Mauger reports. A pair of bills, one sponsored by a Republican and one by a Democrat, are gaining some bipartisan traction in the legislature.

Foxconn in the henhouse: When the state of Wisconsin pledged billions of dollars in tax credits and incentives to Foxconn to build an LCD panel factory in the state, it expected those credits to specifically benefit Wisconsin. But per the states nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, the current deal allows the company to be rewarded for workers that dont live in the state, the Wisconsin State Journals Mitchell Schmidt reports. Its the latest in a line of problems the state has had with the deal.

Deal me in: Michigan is jumping on board with suing pharmaceutical companies over the opioid crisis, using a state law that is usually reserved for getting civil damages from drug dealers, MLives Emily Lawlor reports. Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said she hoped the suit filed Tuesday would bring north of $1 billion for treatment and recovery programs.

Hot air: It turns out satellite imaging of a 2018 methane leak in Ohio showed the damage was much worse than previously thought, the New York Times Hiroko Tabuchi reports. While the incident captured fairly little attention at the time, the Exxon Mobil fracking site in Belmont County actually released more methane into the atmosphere than countries like France and Norway.

Why-owa: Ever wonder why the Iowa caucuses are first in the nation? Theres some very interesting history there, dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. The Des Moines Registers Clare Ulmer lays out some of the history in her latest piece.

Flight PlanWith the holidays essentially here, Ill be taking a little bit of time off from our scheduled programming.Instead, Ill be featuring some insights (with the help of cleveland.com data guru Rich Exner) into each of the Flyover states starting Friday through the New Year. Well start this Friday with Indiana. The rest of the states are as follows:

Dec. 23 Wisconsin

Dec. 24 Ohio

Dec. 27 Illinois

Dec. 30 Pennsylvania

Dec. 31 Michigan

Jan. 3 Iowa

Arrivals/Departures

Trump campaign senior adviser Lara Trump, the presidents daughter-in-law, was in Sterling Heights, Michigan, on Tuesday, per MLive.

Republican President Donald Trump will be in Battle Creek, Michigan, on Wednesday for a Merry Christmas rally, per MLive.

Vice President Mike Pence will be in Saginaw, Michigan, on Wednesday, per MLive. Pence will join Trump in Battle Creek that evening.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey will be in Urbandale, Iowa, on Thursday, per the campaign.

Some of Santa Claus letters are going to Indiana, per the Indianapolis Star.

This Is Your Captain Speaking

If we really wanted a primary that would give Democrats an advantage and ultimately, in my view, a winning advantage, you would restructure the primaries so that the first state would be Wisconsin. Second state would be Michigan, third state would be Pennsylvania, the fourth state would be Florida.

-Kevin Sheekey, former New York Mayor Michael Bloombergs 2020 campaign manager, as quoted in a Washington Post column on the Democrats falling behind Republican President Donald Trump in the election. Bloomberg is notably skipping Iowa and the other early states to focus on Super Tuesday.

Enjoying The Flyover? Be sure and subscribe here.

Email Seth at SRichardson@cleveland.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SethARichardson.

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Ohio, Pennsylvania are the only Flyover states that handed out death sentences in 2019: The Flyover - cleveland.com

Rev. Al Sharpton said during his MSNBC show Sunday that the legacy of impeachment will forever be a stain on President Donald Trumps presidency. While a Democratic strategist pointed to Trumps history of always falling short.

The fact is Ive known Donald Trump for 35 years, Sharpton said during a panel discussion. Marched on him after the Central Park Five. Had other times he would try to be a Democrat, would come to our National Action Network conventions. One of the things that is core to him is that hes always fought for legitimacy. He was never looked at as a peer by the legitimate business community in New York and around the country. Now for him to be impeached, even if hes not convicted and removed, it gives him the imprimatur from here out that hes illegitimate. There will always be the asterisk on his name that schoolchildren will read. Is this the reason were seeing 170-some-odd tweets from Mr. Trump that he is feeling at the core that his legitimacy as a president will be permanently stained?

Former Hillary Clinton spokesperson Philippe Reines explained that the difference between Trump and former President Bill Clinton is that Americans opposed the impeachment. Sunday, Fox News released a poll saying not only do people believe the president should be impeached, but 50 percent now believe he should also be removed from office, up from the mid-40s before the Judiciary Committee hearings.

Theres a huge difference. Bill Clinton won in a legitimate electoral landslide in both 92 and 96, he recalled. Donald Trumps electoral win was ranked 46 in American history. His 63 million in the popular vote was 3 million behind Hillary Clintons 66 million votes. This is not the same as Bill Clinton. And by the way it did hurt Bill Clinton long term. Yes, people dont know that he was impeached but not removed. They know he finished his term. But Republicans did pretty well in the following 20 years.

Reines wondered, however, where the stain would appear, Trumps record of bullying or inability to pass anything other than his tax cut, which wasnt received well by voters.

What is it that is going to have to emerge as his real work? Reines asked. This is all that he has done for three years, which is either commit a crime or cover up the crime that he committed or make it worse by obstructing any investigations of the crime. Thats what hes about.

He doesnt care about that, said Republican strategist Rina Shah, claiming that the president didnt care about it because there were so many people at his rallies.

Oh, sure he does, Reines shot back about Trump cares a lot about his legacy.

Shah then claimed that Trump doesnt care about the numbers an ironic statement because just hours earlier, Trump ranted about the numbers on Twitter.

Reines explained that the most significant difference between Clinton and Trump is that Clinton hasnt gone through 50 years of his adult life trying to live up to his father.

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then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism and were investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnstons DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. Weve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. Weve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.

Raw Story is independent. You wont find mainstream media bias here. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.

We need your support to keep producing quality journalism and deepen our investigative reporting. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

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Trump has spent 50 years trying to live up to his father now his presidency will forever be stained: MSNBC panelist - Raw Story

Barf BagWelcome to Barf Bag, a daily politics roundup to help you sort through the chaotic Trumpian news cycle.

The Washington Post has an in-depth story on Pete Buttigiegs years-long effort to understand anti-black racism, and it kicks off with a charming anecdote about a time when he was a college intern for Renee Ferguson, a well-known television reporter in Chicago, and he was baffled by the idea that being a white man might have helped him gain access to a building that Ferguson, a black woman, was turned away from.

After she explained the pretty fucking obvious dynamics of the situation, they had this exchange:

I think I understand what white privilege looks like, Ferguson recalled telling Buttigieg.

I dont know if thats whats going on, he said.

Yes, you do know, she said. I couldnt get in, but you could. Think about how many times in your life that youve just been able to walk through doors and the rest of us got turned away.

And Ferguson is a Buttigieg supporter! Ouch. But more importantly, we also learn that Buttigieg perhaps doesnt know how to eat fried chicken:

Buttigieg is still asking how to deal with addressing differences.

He brought it up with the Rev. Al Sharpton when they dined at a soul food restaurant in Harlem. Sharpton noticed that Buttigieg was very self-conscious in that he did not want to rub people the wrong way or be misunderstood, so much so that he asked Sharpton if it was okay to eat fried chicken with his hands.

You eat fried chicken with your fucking hands, dude.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders has no problems discerning the correct way to eat common food objects, as I learned in this good profile of his campaign by BuzzFeeds Ruby Cramer that maybe made me cry a little bit:

In one swift hand motion, as if to dispense with this line of inquiry entirely, he lifts the slice from its white paper plate, folds the crust lengthwise, takes a large bite, and swallows.

This is my life, he says.

Ivanka Trump was recently at the Doha Forum in Qatar, where she continued to pursue her passion for standing. And while BuzzFeed reports that an array of senior leaders took hard questions on topics ranging from allegations of war crimes to the impeachment of Donald Trump, Ivanka was pitched some softball questions by... a State Department spokesperson... who works with Ivanka.

Here are some of the extremely hardhitting questions Ivanka was asked:

How many times do you think Ivanka said actualize in her responses?

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I Can Only Assume That Pete Buttigieg Thinks Fried Chicken Should Be Eaten With a Knife and Fork - Jezebel