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US Politics: Kill (the) Bill


Kalbear

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7 minutes ago, James Arryn said:

How's Flynn's health, generally?

At least the CIA doesn't like Trump, so one set of potential assassins is out of reach. Trump still has the Mob though, I suppose.

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1 hour ago, The Anti-Targ said:

At least the CIA doesn't like Trump, so one set of potential assassins is out of reach. Trump still has the Mob though, I suppose.

 I was thinking more the other end, but I wouldn't sleep too tight banking on the CIA's likes. They'll take dislike with leverage over like without, historically speaking. And this situation seems likely to afford all kinds of handles.

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4 hours ago, OldGimletEye said:

Alas, I have to agree with the facts in Commodore's link - because I live in a state that now has just one company on the ACA exchange.   I do not see this situation improving in my state or in the nation at large anytime soon.

Yes, the ACA is better than what came before, and far superior to the now dead abomination republicans sought to foist upon the country.  But it is still very badly flawed.  Is it a 'marketplace' if there is but a single provider? 

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The Flynn thing is definitely just pure speculation at this point. Juliette Kayyem, who made the claim in a random CNN segment, has gone out afterwards and emphasized that it's based on nothing but her 'own experience'. In other words, "per sources" should have been "per not a single source at all". Watching the actual clip, it seems much more like she wanted to establish some authority of knowledge in a panel of 5 participants. Her follow-up statement:

Quote

There is a lot of attention today on the CNN segment last night. I, as have others in the national security field, have observed that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is potentially a key figure in the investigation; I have said so many times for many weeks. Last night, I noted that other Trump players named in recent stories have agreed to speak in front of the House Intel Committee and that Flynn has not. And I stated that it raises a question about whether he may have a deal with the FBI. Moreover, sources I have talked to in the field also are increasingly wondering the same thing. But, to be clear, I did not say on this segment that I have any confirmation that he is actually cooperating or that I have talked to anyone who does. My informed analysis of this case is based on my years of experience in the national security arena.

So, hold the champagne for now.

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5 hours ago, ThinkerX said:

Alas, I have to agree with the facts in Commodore's link - because I live in a state that now has just one company on the ACA exchange.   I do not see this situation improving in my state or in the nation at large anytime soon.

Yes, the ACA is better than what came before, and far superior to the now dead abomination republicans sought to foist upon the country.  But it is still very badly flawed.  Is it a 'marketplace' if there is but a single provider? 

Okay, but this is fixable. But, the Republicans have no intention of trying to fix it. In fact, a good deal of it is from the Republicans trying to derail the whole thing. Like trying to weaken mandates and risk corridors and so forth.

Let me put this way: Is Switzerland's healthcare system in a death spiral? No it isn't. And the concepts used in the ACA are similar to Swiss style healthcare. The combination of mandates and risk corridors and and so forth is sound and workable.

Personally, I think single payer would be better, but there is no reason the ACA has to go into a "death spiral" as commodore claims.

Also, I'd note the CBO doesn't think the ACA is headed for a "death spiral".

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I got to say, it's beautiful to see the system of checks and balances built into the government actually working.

America is far from perfect and has failed many times to live up to its own ideals, but the people who designed the system of government clearly knew what they were doing. I thought Trump and Bannon would test it to the limit, but so far it's holding up.

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24 minutes ago, Darryk said:

I got to say, it's beautiful to see the system of checks and balances built into the government actually working.

America is far from perfect and has failed many times to live up to its own ideals, but the people who designed the system of government clearly knew what they were doing. I thought Trump and Bannon would test it to the limit, but so far it's holding up.

Is it, though? I have more the impression that the Republicans hold enough of the cards to become the next fascist dictatorship and only fail due to the gross incompetence of Trump and his cronies. I'm deeply concerned about the factors that brought him into the oval office and how badly the US and the world would have been screwed over if someone got into the same position who actually has an idiology he wants to implement instead of, well, being an incompetent, easily manipulated, narcissistic con-artist who is spoiled by easy victories he only got because of his name.

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1 hour ago, Darryk said:

I got to say, it's beautiful to see the system of checks and balances built into the government actually working.

 

56 minutes ago, Toth said:

Is it, though? I have more the impression that the Republicans hold enough of the cards to become the next fascist dictatorship and only fail due to the gross incompetence of Trump and his cronies.

One of the checks and balances of this episode of 'repeal and replace' was the activism of the people.  Many of the Congress people who held town halls have been surprised at how hostile the crowds have been to them trying to destroy the ACA and take away their healthcare.  Some of the crowds have been brutal too, chasing Reps from meeting, yelling 'Do your job!' phone calls, ect; ect;.   Alot of the town halls are on youtube if your looking.  This brief clip (33 seconds) give a view into how contentious some of them have been.  This in Arkansas with Rep Tom Cotton.

 

But all is not well, after all, the R's stole the seating of a Supreme Court Justice nominee from Obama by just not doing anything; not calling for hearing and a vote on his pick Garland and there was no check or balance that could change that.

Beyond Trump's racism, is his populism of returning 'good' jobs, bringing 'beautiful' health care to the people and other flights of fantasy promises that he will be unable to keep.  He doesn't get a few things; that there is more to job loss than trade deals and regulations, that health care is excruciatingly complex, that by cutting taxes the government and therefor the country does not have the capital to operate properly.

What we have seen in this healthcare reform debacle, is that without the engagement of the people, we may have been screwed bigly.  Now the question is, can the people of the US, us, keep up the pressure?  We are our only hope methinks.

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After the non-vote, I was somewhat surprised that Trump didn't go after the the GOP and instead had the discipline to toe the party line and just blame the Dems. Yeah, that discipline didn't last long.

Earlier he posted:

And why did he post that? Well, she opened her show with a call for Paul Ryan to step down.

I guess Paul Ryan is #1 on Bannon's Shit List.

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^^^^^^^ That first tweet is hilarious!  Saying that the Freedom Caucus, CfG and the Heritage Fdn saved PP and AFA is kinda brilliant.  What a way to piss them off good.  :lol:

12 minutes ago, Trebla said:

And why did he post that? Well, she opened her show with a call for Paul Ryan to step down

Perhaps she also had some product placement of Ivanka's clothing and jewelry lines.  Wouldn't be surprised at that.  

 

14 minutes ago, Trebla said:

I guess Paul Ryan is #1 on Bannon's Shit List.

I read an article on Daily Kos that quoted Briebert saying just that, but I won't link there so, perhaps Ryan is at the top of the list.  

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The thing that I think isn't getting enough play is Trump saying on camera that the best move politically is to let Obamacare fail and that's what he plans on doing. There needs to be more press on the fact he's the fucking president of everyone and it's his duty to not let a major system fail, which will include people dying, for political reasons but it's his job to fix it and save his people. Drives me nuts.

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Just now, Mexal said:

The thing that I think isn't getting enough play is Trump saying on camera that the best move politically is to let Obamacare fail and that's what he plans on doing. There needs to be more press on the fact he's the fucking president of everyone and it's his duty to not let a major system fail, which will include people dying, for political reasons but it's his job to fix it and save his people. Drives me nuts.

Yep. I agree. I think there is a really good chance he'll try to undermine the whole system, in order to muscle the Democrats.

They better be ready for a fight. We all better be ready for a fight here. 

I don't think this all over just yet.

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It did occur to me that one of the main reasons the system of checks and balances is working is because Trump is so hopelessly incompetent. Maybe if he was more cunning, he would have been able to erode the system from within, the way so many other tyrants have done in the past.

But the fact that his Muslim ban keeps getting shot down in the courts, and that even members of his own party were compelled to vote against the bill, is an encouraging sign., And yes, a lot of that was due to grassroots activism.

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25 minutes ago, Mexal said:

The thing that I think isn't getting enough play is Trump saying on camera that the best move politically is to let Obamacare fail and that's what he plans on doing. There needs to be more press on the fact he's the fucking president of everyone and it's his duty to not let a major system fail, which will include people dying, for political reasons but it's his job to fix it and save his people. Drives me nuts.

I remain completely cynical about this.  Even if the media were playing this over and over, why would his base care?  They are almost entirely divorced from reality at this point.  They rewarded Republicans for obstruction as well as for preventing any measures meant to improve upon the ACA.  They also spent an entire election cycle listening to Trump say one thing on camera and then turn around and say he didn't say that.  They will believe whatever Trump says in the moment and if the airwaves play Trump over and over saying he hopes the system fails well then they just have to wait for their emperor to say he didn't say that and all will be right in their world.  The Republican party has created a base that simply doesn't give a fuck because they've been too conditioned to be as ignorant as possible and believe whatever they are told.  

I have zero optimism for the future of America.  We're done. 

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1 minute ago, Dr. Pepper said:

I remain completely cynical about this.  Even if the media were playing this over and over, why would his base care?  They are almost entirely divorced from reality at this point.  They rewarded Republicans for obstruction as well as for preventing any measures meant to improve upon the ACA.  They also spent an entire election cycle listening to Trump say one thing on camera and then turn around and say he didn't say that.  They will believe whatever Trump says in the moment and if the airwaves play Trump over and over saying he hopes the system fails well then they just have to wait for their emperor to say he didn't say that and all will be right in their world.  The Republican party has created a base that simply doesn't give a fuck because they've been too conditioned to be as ignorant as possible and believe whatever they are told.  

I have zero optimism for the future of America.  We're done. 

 

A lot of them HAVE to be coming around to the realization they've been conned by now, surely?

Obviously there's a portion who will support him blindly, but I can't imagine that a lot of the people who voted for him aren't having doubts.

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3 minutes ago, Darryk said:

But the fact that his Muslim ban keeps getting shot down in the courts,

Not so fast, there's a tiny crack in that wall;

Quote

A federal judge in Virginia on Friday declined to issue another injunction against President Donald Trump’s second travel ban.

The ruling by Anthony Trenga has no immediate impact, as judges in Hawaii and Maryland have already issued nationwide orders blocking Trump’s second attempt to limit travel from several majority-Muslim countries. However, the ruling is a small victory for an administration that has been battered in court.

During a March 21 hearing on the case in federal court in Alexandria, Trenga asked whether Trump’s past statements about banning Muslims would forever outweigh “enormous deference” a president is supposed to receive in national security matters.

So, will this amount to much?  Well, that remains to be seen.

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3 minutes ago, Darryk said:

 

A lot of them HAVE to be coming around to the realization they've been conned by now, surely?

Obviously there's a portion who will support him blindly, but I can't imagine that a lot of the people who voted for him aren't having doubts.

Perhaps.  I see some cases of people realizing they've been conned, but I haven't this on a scale large enough to be meaningful.  According to polls, Republican voter support for Trump has remained fairly high since the election.  Even if support begins to wane as people realize they were so so very wrong, they'd have to actually do something for it to make a difference.  These are the people who need to call their representatives in masse and show up to town halls.  They can't just say, "Well, I guess I got myself conned, better luck next time."  Action is the only thing that will make a difference. 

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