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Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.

In the category of:  The God Father

Trump Is Treating Foreign Policy Like a Mafia Protection Racket

Congress needs to investigate the connection between Trump’s belligerence and the Arab monarchy’s wealth.

Trump’s model of foreign policy isn’t the classic realist one of seeking a balance of power or even the imperialist goal of military hegemony but something closer to a pure Mafia protection racket, with weaker states getting American military aid if they keep the coffers full. When he was still a private citizen, Trump outlined his philosophy in a 2014 tweet: “Saudi Arabia should fight their own wars, which they won’t, or pay us an absolute fortune to protect them and their great wealth-$ trillion!” As president, Trump has been able to act out this idea, and the result is, if not trillions in revenue, some sort of shady connection between Saudi money and American foreign policy.

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In the category of:  Family fued 

‘Feel free to leak this’: Inside the Pelosi-Nadler impeachment schism

The longtime allies are increasingly in conflict over the push to oust President Donald Trump.

In a closed-door meeting last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi stunned lawmakers and aides with a swipe at Democratic staff on the House Judiciary Committee.

Pelosi criticized the panel’s handling of impeachment in harsh terms, complaining committee aides have advanced the push for ousting President Donald Trump far beyond where the House Democratic Caucus stands. Democrats simply don’t have the votes on the floor to impeach Trump, Pelosi said.

“And you can feel free to leak this,” Pelosi added, according to multiple people in the room. Pelosi’s office declined to comment on the meeting.

It was the latest sign of the widening schism between Pelosi and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, two longtime allies who are increasingly in conflict over where to guide the party at one of its most critical moments.

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In the category of:  Breaking up is hard to do

Poll: Two-thirds of Americans want to break up companies like Amazon and Google

Americans are pretty on board with breaking up Big Tech, especially if it means companies such as Amazon and Google stop showing them search results they make money off of first.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans would support breaking up tech firms by undoing recent mergers, such as Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram, if it means ensuring more competition in the future.

Another tech company issue appears to strike a chord with people even more: Almost seven in 10 Americans say it’s a good idea to break up big tech companies when the content they’re showing people is ranked depending on whether the company is making money off of it or not. Basically, when you search for a suitcase to buy on Amazon, it might show you options from its proprietary AmazonBasics line instead of from a company it doesn’t own.

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