THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY

[HairOfTheDog]

I think everyone who supports him should have to have that insurance and when he brings back the draft their kids and grandkids should be the first to go to war for him.

You bad.

I hope he keeps his promise to the people about better and more affordable healthcare and doesn't let the changes go through. There are a lot of seniors on fixed incomes; the AHCA proposal would hurt them severely over the next decade according to the analyses and reviews across the board. AARP and the largest medical associations oppose the proposal for the hit to seniors, including its weakening of Medicare. http://fortune.com/2017/03/08/gop-health...p-ama-aha/

It's too important an issue to ram it through. The current AHCA bill is worded to essentially let most elements of Obamacare and the Medicaid expansions ride until after midterms and the 2020 election, but the American people are doing their homework and pushing back -- good to see.

[Duchess]

them thars fightin' words

They should have to breathe the polluted air and drink the filthy, toxic water that fat fuck is going to be responsible for too.

[Duchess]

You bad.

I'm having trouble having any sympathy for those who didn't know their insurance was Obamacare, "it's horrible, it sucks. I want to keep my ACA plan". Hahaha.

This "tryan" healthcare is never going to pass, no way, no how. I firmly believe that but if I have to come back and eat crow, I will.

[Maggot]

I think everyone who supports him should have to have that insurance and when he brings back the draft their kids and grandkids should be the first to go to war for him.

Politicians do not use obamacare. They have a separate "state insurance" fully funded by taxpayers. They really couldn't care less what everyone else has. But, if they get their faces on the small screen bitching they can be assured of votes. Its hard to turn back bad legislation or even change it. Someone that has their fingers in the till will always complain and the biggest screamers will get the most attention.

[aussiefriend]

You bad.

:and you bad too HoTD! Michael Jackson bad.

[Duchess]

Politicians do not use obamacare.

I knew that. If they had to have what American citizens have you can bet your ass they'd work together to make sure it was a wonderful plan that benefited everyone.

...only in America does it seem sane that the employee have better insurance than the employer.

[HairOfTheDog]

This "tryan" healthcare is never going to pass, no way, no how. I firmly believe that but if I have to come back and eat crow, I will.

I won't be surprised if the current healthcare bill/proposal is pulled either. It should be.

It seems clear to me that Trump's team is trying to put the shitty bill all on Ryan (and it is Ryan's baby, but it's Trump who promised to repeal and replace Obamacare and provide something much better stat -- so he owns it too).

In turn, I saw Ryan interviewed yesterday; he made it clear that he'd worked with Trump and the White House in developing the proposed legislation.

While most congresspersons don't use Obamacare, a sizable portion of their voters do. That's a more powerful incentive to oppose the legislation than anything else; they don't want to lose their seats in re-elections -- that's something almost all of them care a whole lot about.

[HairOfTheDog]

On a separate note, Trump's second attempt at a "watered down" travel/immigration ban was denied by federal district judges in Hawaii and Maryland yesterday. It's stalled again.

The judges are citing candidate Trump's repeated campaign rhetoric against Muslims as indicative that he's trying to accomplish a veiled and unconstitutional Muslim ban by starting with the six countries listed in the Executive Order. In addition, the judges noted there is no proof or history to support the claimed threat to national security cited in the EO.

I could well be wrong, but still think if the revised ban EO makes it to the Supreme Court, which President Trump is now promising, the Justices will probably overturn the lower courts' decisions based on the actual content of the revised EO, which removed all references to religion. Getting it through the Supreme Court would be more likely if there's a full Supreme Court in place (which is gonna take a while). Even without proof or history of the cited threat, the President does have broad power when it comes to national security. Anyway, for now, the ban is once again denied.

I don't know why Trump threatened to resubmit the original stricter EO at a rally yesterday, except to toss red meat to his base. That was shortsighted and bad strategy, in my opinion. I don't think the White House lawyers would let that happen -- they must be at their wits' end.

[Duchess]

I don't know why Trump threatened to resubmit the original stricter EO at a rally yesterday, except to toss red meat to his base.

He needs their love and almost constant reassurance that he is still wanted. He needs to be stroked. He told reporters on AF1 last night that he intends to have a hatefest (my word, he called it a rally) every 2 weeks.

[Maggot]

Washington (CNN)US President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Monday that bans immigration from six Muslim-majority countries, dropping Iraq from January's previous order, and reinstates a temporary blanket ban on all refugees.

The new travel ban comes six weeks after Trump's original executive order caused chaos at airports nationwide before it was blocked by federal courts. It removes out language in the original order that indefinitely banned Syrian refugees and called for prioritizing the admission of refugees who are religious minorities in their home countries. That provision drew criticism of a religious test for entry and would have prioritized Christians over Muslims fleeing war-torn countries in the Middle East.

The new ban, which takes effect March 16, also explicitly exempts citizens of the six banned countries who are legal US permanent residents or have valid visas to enter the US -- including those whose visas were revoked during the original implementation of the ban, senior administration officials said.
"We cannot compromise our nation's security by allowing visitors entry when their own governments are unable or unwilling to provide the information we need to vet them responsibly, or when those governments actively support terrorism," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Monday.
The new measures will block citizens of Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from obtaining visas for at least 90 days. The order also suspends admission of refugees into the US for 120 days, directing US officials to improve vetting measures for a program that is already widely regarded as extremely stringent.
Trump signed the executive order earlier Monday in the Oval Office outside the view of reporters and news cameras, after more than three weeks of repeated delays, the latest of which came after White House officials decided last week to delay the signing to avoid cutting into positive coverage of Trump's joint address to Congress.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Iraq's removal from the list came after an intense review from the State Department to improve vetting of Iraqi citizens in collaboration with the Iraqi government, though he did not specify how vetting had been improved.
"The United States welcomes this kind of close cooperation," he said. "This revised order will bolster the security of the United States and our allies."
The rollout of the revised travel ban marks an important moment for the administration, which has little room for error after the chaotic debut of the original plan. That failure raised questions about the new White House's capacity to govern and to master the political intricacies needed to manage complicated political endeavors in Washington. It also brought Trump into conflict with the judiciary in the first sign of how constitutional checks and balances could challenge his vision of a powerful presidency built on expansive executive authority.


OK so Trump has put a 90 day hold on new visas from countries that are not cooperating with the U.S. on information about the refugees.

It's not a Muslim ban
It's a ban on known countries that sponsor Islamic terrorism, people without paperwork or information.

Whats wrong with that? Are they coming here to visit Disney world?

[HairOfTheDog]

What the courts are finding wrong with it, Maggot, is their judgment of the true intent of the ban.

That's because candidate Trump kept promising to unconstitutionally invoke a 'Muslim ban' during his campaign, and Rudy told FOX News that he essentially advised newly-elected President Trump on how to get around the constitutional roadblock by cloaking it as a 'nation of origin' ban.

More conservative judges might focus only on the content of the revised Executive Order without considering presumed intent. But, as of now, Trump has failed with four different courts and judges and the ban is on hold, again.

[Maggot]

There's plenty of "true intent" for everyone on both sides of the aisle. I feel the vetting process was not strong enough. Be that as it may it's my opinion and due process within the law is finally being implicated.

Lets move to Obama care for a sec within the Trump W.H.

I remember before Obamacare. Insurance was getting expensive as I myself was begrudgingly paying 250.00 a week for a family plan. People on welfare were getting medical assistance, Older Americans had medicare/medicaid. Young people could care less and people went to the ER that had zero medical coverage. They were billed and held in debt by the hospitals.
People that worked could get covered and private insurance would cover those that "paid"

I have to ask. Who that wasn't covered got the benefit of free or subsidized coverage that did not have the opportunity to get covered? Is Obamacare really "better" than things were 8 yrs ago? I honestly would like to know who became covered that could not any other way.

[HairOfTheDog]

20 million people, Maggot.

Emergency service is not a healthcare policy and doesn't include preventative care or ongoing treatments that help improve health and stave future health issues/costs.

With the Medicaid expansion portion of Obamacare, people who couldn't afford a healthcare insurance policy were able to do so with policies made available and premiums based on income through the exchange.

Among those 20 million, some were people who couldn't qualify for any healthcare policy, regardless of income, because they had pre-existing conditions and there were no requirements for insurance companies to serve them prior to Obamacare. There are a hell of a lot of cancer sufferers in this country. There are plenty of coal miners who couldn't get coverage for black lung disease before Obamacare too. Etc...

People aged 21 to 26 often didn't care (as you said) or couldn't afford a healthcare policy and were screwed when they needed one. Many of them became insured with Obamacare because the law allowed them to be covered on their parents' plan.

Did you really not know any of this when you continually objected to the concept?

[Maggot]

People who could not or just would not might be the better question. I don't recall people marching in the streets or people not getting some type of medical care if desperately needed. Not all over in the papers or anywhere. I only recall Insurance costs going through the roof and people bitching. But the mass hysteria just wasn't there. It is now though.

[HairOfTheDog]

Okay, Maggot.

We are quite different when it comes to seeing/hearing and prioritizing the well-being of people, regardless as to their incomes, ages, nationalities at birth............. and regardless as to whether they're shouting or instead suffering and dying with no public voices.

I don't think that will ever change, and that's not a problem for me.

[HairOfTheDog]

I read an article this weekend about ole Bern and how he could have defeated Trump. He killed Hillary in Michigan and Wisconsin and the theory is that he would have taken Pennsylvania as well with his 80+% of the youth vote. Without those three Trump wouldn't have had the electorate votes. It's Gypsy fortune telling and all but it was a good read.

I thought Bernie, my favorite, was probably too progressive to win. I may well have been wrong about that. I thought Trump was too dishonest and superficial to win and was obviously wrong about that.

They're showing a special on MSNBC right now; 'Bernie Sanders in Trump Country'. It's a town hall hosted by Chris Hayes in West Virginia.

Lots of miners and low-income rural adults in the audience. Bernie connects very honestly and easily with them. They're in complete agreement with Bernie's stance on healthcare (free public healthcare should be a right) and concerned that Trump seems to be drifting away from his promise to provide them high-quality affordable healthcare. Obamacare has helped them a whole lot.

It's worth the watch if you have a chance to check it out, Gunnar.

[BigMark]

The Romans were progressive as well.

[HairOfTheDog]

The Romans were progressive as well.

That's true. But, the Roman Empire was also quite elitist. The Emperor's family and patricians' families benefited the most from government policy and privilege while normal citizens worked very hard and were often shafted. The same is true in most countries today, in my view.

Ancient Rome did have powerful trade unions which wielded strong political power though, until Caesar came along and quashed them.

Anyway, policies considered to be 'progressive' today were common in several cities/countries during ancient times. This list is an interesting short summary of some of them: http://listverse.com/2015/04/27/10-surpr...t-history/

[Carsman]

Howard Stern is worried about the mental health of his good friend Donald Trump!

It supports the posts I made prior to the election saying I believed Trump really didn't want to be POTUS.

Found this link on line.


http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a86...ald-trump/

[Duchess]

So..on Friday the leader of the free world visits the White House and gets disrespected by the president AND THEN he shows the entire world that he doesn't even have the most basic understanding of how NATO works. That moron is trying to shake down our NATO allies. Funny, not funny.

We'll have a new SoS by the end of the year. That's a generous guesstimate.