Friday, May 5, 2017

Obamacare seen differently depending?

There have been many suggestions from the media that those Republican who broke ranks were Republicans who are moderates, or are facing tough re-election prospects. The simple assumption (as it generally is within the MSM) is that going up against Obamacare is just a another losing proposition for Republicans who by all media accounts should be the minority Party that the Democrats actually are.

While some of that may be true, it may be more logical to assume that many Republicans decided to vote based on the desires of their constituents.

The fact is that in some parts of the Country, Obamacare is doing fairly well. They have multiple insurance companies, and rates have not skyrocketed. In other parts, Obamacare is a mixed bag, with limited options and rising rates. Still in other parts of the country, Obamacare is in free fall with 20% of the country now seeing one option for insurance, and in some states rates rising by 30% or more.

When you look closely at the Republicans voting no, you will see Congressmen like Dave Reichard from Washington (where there was only 3% bump in premiums in 2016), or Dan Donovan and John Katko from New York (6%) or  Mike Turner and David Joyce from Ohio (8%) Thomas Massie from Kentucky (9%). Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Florida (9%).

What you didn't see is any members from the purple state of Minnesota (where rates went up by 48% in 2016), Alaska (39%),  Tennessee (35%),  Oklahoma (39%), Montana (26%), etc... etc... voting no on the bill.

So perhaps the media really isn't on to anything here. Perhaps they are just as knee jerk as they always are when it comes to these things. Now that isn't to say that someone who is in a safe Republican district isn't going to be more likely than someone in a purple district to blindly follow Party leadership. But the reality here folks is much of this is probably local. This is a big country and the question about whether or not Obamacare is or isn't working can literally be answered differently depending on where you live.

It may end up that lock step support for a law that is failing in places where there is only one insurer and rates are going through the rook... might actually end up harming more Democrats in those areas than Republicans.

92 comments:

James said...

Now, Ch, please go to my last Krauthammer posts
below your next article down (Obamacare "altering"
...etc.) and respond to what Charles says there.

Is it true that Obamacare has changed the expectations
of Americans and they now regard healthcare as a RIGHT
to be made available to all and facilitated by the
government?

Indy Voter said...

Montana doesn't have a congressman right now. Kind of hard to vote either yes or no in those circumstances.

Loretta said...

Spam by the pedo

caliphate4vr said...

The head of the largest insurer in the Mid-Atlantic region warned Thursday that the Affordable Care Act marketplaces were in the early stages of a death spiral, a statement that came as the company announced its request for massive, double-digit premium increases for next year.

Projecting that by year's end the company will have lost a total of $600 million since it started selling plans in the marketplaces four years ago, CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield is requesting a greater than 50 percent rate increase in Maryland, a 35 percent increase in northern Virginia and a 29 percent increase in D.C.

“What we’re seeing is greater sickness levels. The pool of beneficiaries is becoming sicker, in part because healthier people are not coming in at the same level we hoped,” said Chet Burrell, chief executive of CareFirst, which insures about 215,000 people through the marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act in all three states.

Burrell said he was worried that the market was in the early stages of a death spiral, in which sick people who need insurance stay in the pool but healthier people drop out, causing insurers to raise rates — driving even more healthy people out of the market.

“We were hoping for more stability. The factors that I have described to you today lead to instability and to a spiral, and we think we are in the beginning of that,” Burrell said.

KD, OMG Funny, fatty running said...

Pedo is crying for attention as if the words of THE Kraught are the only words anyone should listen to. Yet, we can post other pieces by that same author that would make not much of a man at all Jane cry.


Nancy Polosi gave us the best news out of the Vote on TrumpCare.

“It is a bill of deconstruction of government"

Yes, Nancy Polosey finally got it right.

James said...

healthcare as a RIGHT to be made available to all and facilitated by the government?

And is it true, as Krauthammer says, that Obamacare has ironically won the day and in less than seven years we will have a single payer system? :-)

If so, the Obama legacy is assured.

opie said...

Shocking, even the brilliant actuary knows that when the population grows with sick and aged people, medical costs will increase. Seems to me with trump deleting penalties for those who do not participate, those who are healthy, are not entering the pool and therefore, driving the premiums upward. Even Pauline knows that sick need care, but don't want to be bothered supporting them and they should be supported by themselves. The 8 billion for preexisting pool is woefully inadequate, but was passed by the dummies in congress to get something done, declare victory and pat themselves on the back. All the while, without reading the bill or having it graded by the CBO. I'm sure those #'s will be horrific and be proud pauline, your side owns trump care and all its warts. Will be interesting to see how the Ga special election will be affected.

Anonymous said...

And is it true, as Krauthammer says, that Obamacare has ironically won the day and in less than seven years we will have a single payer system? :-)

If so, the Obama legacy is assured.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


legacy insured indeed.

as we all wind up in the functional equivalent of the VA, which does have an epically tragic record of actually KILLING PEOPLE.

behold the liberal mindset. establish a lowest common denominator and then legislate to it.



"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."

- Winston Churchill



Loretta said...

Spam by the pedo

Loretta said...

Obama's number one claim to fame with historians will be his skin color.

opie said...

Loretta Russo said...
Spam by the pedo

May 5, 2017 at 4:06 PM
Blogger Loretta Russo said...
Obama's number one claim to fame with historians will be his skin color.


Don't you have a marine to service???? Get going and do something worthwhile and swallow some protein. Idiot.....LOLOLOL

Loretta said...

"legacy insured indeed."

The Hammer has a lousy record on domestic affairs.

His expertise has always been foreign policy.

Anonymous said...

Loretta Russo said...
Obama's number one claim to fame with historians will be his skin color.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


ONLY claim to fame.

if there IS a second, it's that he pulled off the greatest con in the history of the nation, perhaps in the history of all mankind.




Anonymous said...





fucktard we much:



Democrat Representative from Michigan, Brenda Lawrence:


“We are gonna change the face of this house! And we gonna change..we gonna change the face in the White House! And we are going to be able to stand proud again and say…

‘We the People, one nation under God with liberty…if liberty..and justice for all…God bless you!’

Loretta said...

"Democrat Representative from Michigan, Brenda Lawrence:"

PLEASE keep doing the same thing over and over expecting different results, LOL!

opie said...

if there IS a second, it's that he pulled off the greatest con

Better than donnie's getting your vote???? LOL

KD, Hi Opium, how are you old man-child said...

Democrat Representative from Michigan, Brenda Lawrence:


“We are gonna change the face of this house! And we gonna change..we gonna change the face in the White House! "

Did she make that statement pre Nov 8th, 2016?

IF not she is in fact a fuckTard

KD, said...

Drill Baby Drill, with record profits being made by the major Oil Companies and Opec giving away market share to anyone to take it, the oil companies do the smart thing.

"Highlights
The Baker Hughes North American rig count is up 4 in the May 5 week to 959. The U.S. rig count is up 7 to 877 and is up 462 rigs from last year."

Most oil jobs are union workers, so with over twice as many operational drills in the field, those jobs are part of the Trump Effect.

KD said...

She can not be shown the door soon enough.


"Fed Chair Speech


Released On 5/5/2017 1:30:00 PM For 5/5/2017 1:30:00 PM



Description
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to speak about "125 Years of Women's Participation in the Economy" at the 125 Years of Women at Brown Conference held at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.


Highlights
Janet Yellen addressed labor disparities between women and men, in both income and participation, and urged employers to consider policies that make it easier to combine family with career."


" She did not address the economic outlook or monetary policy. "



Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

You are trying to convince yourself that "Fake News" is wrong because Trump said how he feels.

He tweeted comparing TrumpCare to he system in Australia. As usual, he doesn't understand that they have a single payer system. You are deceiving yourself. TrumpCare has fatal issues that will cost you the house, if the Senate i stupid enough to approve the house bill you seem to like But you are ignoring "REAL NEWS"

The bill would cut $880 billion over 10 years from Medicaid, the program that provides health care to about 74 million poor, disabled and elderly Americans. That’s one-fourth of its budget. As a result, 14 million fewer people would have access to health care by 2026, according to a C.B.O. analysis of the earlier bill,

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52486
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/opinion/obamacare-house-vote.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Insurance subsidies are shredded are $300 billion less over 10 years. Those who don't get employer furnished, leaving them with huge self insurance and no subsidies.

Eliminates the individual mandate.The "freedom caucus" thinks it is communism. Raising the red flag again. Without young members, it is fundamentally unsustainable insurance costs.

Guts protections for people with pre-existing conditions. An amendment by Representative Tom MacArthur of New Jersey would allow states to waive the requirement that insurers sell policies to people with prior health problems and not charge them higher rates. Jimmy Kimmell showed us what could happen to newly born children if they were born with a condition would need major and expensive care, that the parents cannot afford

Makes insurance less comprehensive. The bill would also let states waive a requirement under Obamacare that insurers cover a list of essential services. Trump is thinking about another of his dictatorship order, that would cost millions of people who would lose their insurance and die faster.

Defunds Planned Parenthood. Our esteemed host says he is pro choice, but he agrees with this.

The Senate isn't going to pass the house law, but you will see all those old white Rose Garden in commercials even if they do not repeal and replace. It may be 2010 on steroids.

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

he new health care bill, the American Health Care Act, could weaken protections for those with pre-existing conditions (aka a "health problem you had before the date that new health coverage starts") That's an estimated 52 million adults under 65. Please see the list below:

Acid Reflux
Acne
Acromegaly
AIDS/HIV
Alcohol or drug abuse with recent treatment
Alzheimer’s/dementia
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Anemia (Aplastic, Cooley's, Hemolytic, Mediterranean or Sickle Cell)
Anorexia
Anxiety
Aortic or Mitral Valve Stenosis
ARC
Arteriosclerosis
Arthritis
Asbestosis
Asthma
Bipolar disease
Bulimia
Cancer
Cardiomyopathy
Celiac Disease
Cerebral Palsy (infantile)
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Cirrhosis of the Liver
Coagulation Defects
Congestive heart failure
Coronary artery/heart disease, bypass surgery
Crohn’s disease
C-Section
Cystic Fibrosis
Demyelinating Disease
Depression
Dermatomyositis
Diabetes
Dialysis
Epilepsy
Esophageal Varicosities
Friedreich's Ataxia
Heart burn
Hemophilia
Hepatitis (Type B, C or Chronic)
High cholesterol
Hysterectomy
Kidney disease, renal failure
Kidney Stones
Knee surgery
Lupus
Lyme Disease
Menstrual irregularities
Mental disorders (including Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Schizophrenia)
Migraines
Multiple Sclerosis
Muscular Dystrophy
Myasthenia Gravis
Narcolepsy
Obesity
Organ transplants
Pacemaker
Paralysis
Paraplegia
Parkinson’s disease
Pending surgery or hospitalization
My inherited disease, not caused or even made worse due to excessive intake of alcohol Pneumocystic pneumonia
Polycythemia Vera

Postpartum depression
Pregnancy or expectant parent (includes men)
Psoriatic Arthritis
Pulmonary Fibrosis
Renal Failure
Sarcoidosis
Scleroderma
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Seizures
Sex reassignment
Sexual deviation or disorder
Sjogren's Syndrome
Sleep apnea
Stroke
Transsexualism
Tuberculosis
Ulcers

Loretta said...

Spam by the drunkard.

Loretta said...

Spam by the drunkard.

Anonymous said...




suddenly, miraculously, unexpectedly, the media finds itself enthralled with the U-6 unemployment rate.



http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/05/heres-the-real-unemployment-rate.html



but no, there is no bias in the media. none, none at all.


Anonymous said...




st. skittles of the eternal dirt nap received a posthumous college degree.

https://apnews.com/8f6d21b278fe42b6a5174477a67a77fe?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP


isn't that special.

opie said...

Stroke
Transsexualism
Tuberculosis
Ulcers

But according to the goat fucker, his parents lived to ripe old ages which precludes him from any of your list, because he has superior genes, Roger. Toss in the fact that a pre existing condition in reality is anything the carrier says it is. Toss in they will increase the multiplier from 3x to 5x, and idiots like the goat fucker are gonna pay a whole lot more. Makes me happy considering he has no pension or SS or medicare and his comfy living is going to go down the shitter. Good....elections do have consequences as the weak minded are going to find out how much it hurts them in their pocket book. Idiots, all of them.

opie said...

Our esteemed host says he is pro choice, but he agrees with this.

He's such a good hypocrite that trump loves to coddle. Sad commentary that he also thinks gays have no rights while bigoted bakers do. Oh well, being consistent is the hob goblin of small minds.....

Anonymous said...

Defunds Planned Parenthood. Our esteemed host says he is pro choice, but he agrees with this.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


really, alky?

so to be in favor of something, basically anything, means the government should have to pay for it?

i'm pro gun. care to buy me a new one?

i'm pro coffee each morning. i'll need to government to pick up that tab too.

for chrissakes, you make maxine waters look like a fucking genius.

Indy Voter said...

Actually, Rat, the Hyde Amendment prevents Federal funds from being used for abortions. What Trumpcare would do is prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving any Federal funds as long as it performs abortions, which are legal throughout the nation. The legislation aims to either put Planned Parenthood out of business or force it to stop performing abortions.

It is very hypocritical to claim to be pro-choice but support legislation that aims to shut down abortion providers. But hey, C.H. did use a coat hanger as a graphic on his previous post about this bill, so it's not at all surprising.

Commonsense said...

Well Indy giving federal funds to Planned Parenthood is supporting abortion and if you think the Hyde amendment prevents this then you are being naive or just plain disingenuous.

Make no mistake, Planned Parenthood's mission is abortion and birth control. It is not women's health.

Abortion is the murder of unborn children and the federal government shouldn't be complicient in murder.

Anonymous said...



the hyde amendment prevents that in theory, but not in practice. PP gets around half a billion in fed funds each year. and they perform about 350,000 abortions, while doing little else in terms of women's health.

being pro-choice while wanting to cut their funding is hardly hypocritical. let them hold a bake sale or set up a go fund me page.

or better yet, let's see liberals advocate for folding PP into HHS and make it part of that government agency. richards might have to take a pay cut though seeing as she made almost a million last year.

there is much hypocrisy on this issue, and it comes almost exclusively from the left.

KD, Opium because you wanted to know said...

Opium since you asked, you wanted to know how I became wealthy and I wanted to know if you are between the ages of 50-65.

In good faith I will go first, expecting you will give your answer on your age range.

I joined the US Army after that I used the Vietnam GI Bill and got three degrees, One as a LEO, One in Business Management and the third is a Masters in Economics.

With the help of my parents my wife and I bought a Ranch and have bought land during financial down turns in the US Economy and others could not make a go of it. I have invested well, saved money and have lived on less the I earned. I have bought a lot of Home Depot going back to the time when it was under $50 a share and bought it until it reached about $89 a share m/l. The morning of Nov. 9th I move a lot of money out of cash and into the Trump Effect S & P 500 and have enjoyed the ride, my targets are simple, Upside 2420 or down side 2375, which ever comes first then I am back into cash with what is to me a Yuge Profit, after paying short term cap gains.

Nothing flashy, just steady and true.

KD said...

When Alky comes to from his latest drunk. maybe he will tell us where he ever got the idea that the following was ever true?

"Roger Amick said...
The U6 you loved under Obama, is 5.7%
March 12, 2017 at 9:39 PM"


The man-child Alky , just does not know how funny he is.


"suddenly, miraculously, unexpectedly, the media finds itself enthralled with the U-6 unemployment rate." RRB


opie said...

You got a free education and free loan from daddy....Not very impressive at all.....extremely proletarian.,, and good for you going first, I'm not.......LOL BTW, I have 3 degrees also. I won't bore you with the details but I paid for my own education and both house I own. LOLOLOL

KD said...

Planned Parenthood " Indy

can you list the wonderful pro birth medical services they provide?

Thanks.

KD said...

Ok Opie.

Commonsense said...

BTW, I have 3 degrees also

So you manage to fill out the back of a matchbook three times.

james said...

Obamacare Repeal Vote Upends 2018 Landscape

“This week’s vote to replace Obamacare has scrambled the 2018 House landscape, jeopardizing Republican lawmakers across the country and potentially endangering the party’s longstanding grip on the chamber,” Politico reports.

“More than a dozen senior Republican strategists, lawmakers, and potential candidates expressed varying degrees of concern over the political implications of the health care push. Some predicted that House members would face a fierce backlash from voters, while others said the party had erred badly in rushing through a bill that lacked broad public support.”

james said...

Republicans Now Own Health Care

Politico: “The House Republican vote Thursday to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act means the GOP now has to answer for every problem with the health care law: the premium increases due to materialize this summer, more insurers leaving the markets, and regions where no one is willing to sell coverage at all anymore.

“Democrats — who were blamed for every problem in the health industry, from rising premiums to overbooked doctor’s offices to long emergency room waits — couldn’t be more excited to give it to them.”

james said...

GOP Nervous About Future of Health Care Bill

A top Republican emails Mike Allen: “I think the reality of the Senate process is setting in.”
“The legislation is likely to take a month or two to wend through the Senate. And Republicans are queasy about getting the likely result back through the House, then to President Trump’s desk.”
Playbook: “We’ve been talking to top House Republicans about the politics of this plan. Put plainly, there is a lot of concern..."
_____________________

13 Men Tackle Health Care In the Senate

After Reuters published a photo of President Trump celebrating passage of the GOP health care in the House, CNN notes that 13 white men — and no women — are responsible for putting together a plan in the Senate.

Noted anchor Erin Burnett: “There are big medical differences between men and women.”

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

Not all Republicans are ideological morons, just enough of them to give us the most dangerous President in history. I'm a life long Democrat, as I was raised by my parents who got married in the depth of The Great Depression, and were saved by The New Deal by FDR. But I am certain that I would have voted for governor Kasich. I think that he would have been able to honesty comprised with both parties. But the angry Republicans nominated Donald Tweeter Trump. Trump has expressed admiration for dictators around the world. Kasich believes in the sanctity of the Constitution of The United States. Trump and his executive order ceremonies demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that, he's not qualified to be President of the United States. Republicans like Kasich are in the minority at this time in history.
Richard Nixon, with all the damage he caused, proposed universal health care, and created the Environmental Protection Agency that the stunningly ignorant President Twitter, doesn't believe the overwhelming evidence of man made climate change. It's another "more difficult" moment I history.

But watch this and see that there are rational Republicans, but the party of this era is definitely dangerous.

Loretta said...

Spam by the pedo

Loretta said...

Spam by the pedo

Loretta said...

Spam by the pedo

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=nzEklhnkOx4

That's the interview with Kasich.

Cue the Alzheimer's twit.

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/members-congress-apos-holding-secret-104617029.html

Members of Congress 'holding secret conversations about removing Donald Trump from office'

Watch The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on Yahoo View.

“This is a president who is beset by doubts of a completely different order of any president we’ve seen as long as we’ve been looking at this question.

“The truth is that there are people having an active conversation about whether or not he’ll last.”

Mr Osnos also claimed Mr Trump could cause a “constitutional crisis” if he chooses not to co-operate with congressional investigations into his alleged links with Russia – something he said some members of Congress expect to happen.

William Kristol, who worked as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle under the presidency of George H W Bush, told the magazine there was a reasonable change of Mr Trump being removed.

“It’s somewhere in the big middle ground between a 1 per cent [chance] and 50”, he said. “It’s some per cent. It’s not nothing."

The 25th Amendment, added in 1967, allows a president to be removed if they are deemed to be “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”. That judgement can be made either by the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet, or by a separate body, such as a panel of medical experts, appointed by Congress.

If the president objects, a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress is needed to remove him or her.

“I believe that invoking Section 4 of the 25th Amendment is no fantasy but an entirely plausible tool - not immediately, but well before 2020,” Laurence Tribe, a prominent US law professor who works at Harvard University, told The New Yorker.

Commonsense said...

Kasich is dead to conservatives.

And just about every other Republican.

Loretta said...

"Members of Congress 'holding secret conversations about removing Donald Trump from office'"

LOL.

Commonsense said...

Members of Congress 'holding secret conversations about removing Donald Trump from office'

There not so secret, cue Maxine Waters.

Idiotic, derange, and self-defeating maybe, but not secret.

Loretta said...

Looks like the drunkard wants a President Pence.

Commonsense said...

I wonder if he knows, absence of an impeachable crime, plotting to remove a healthy, sitting president of the United States is considered treason against the United States.

Loretta said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Loretta said...

I doubt it, CS.

He knows so little about so much.

Anonymous said...

Roger Amick said...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/members-congress-apos-holding-secret-104617029.html

Members of Congress 'holding secret conversations about removing Donald Trump from office'
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


sound slike a post for your hospice blog, alky.

put it up.

and make sure to beg for comments. that's working like a charm.

LOL.

imbecile.




opie said...

Commonsense said...
I wonder if he knows, absence of an impeachable crime,


Like a blow job???? Was that a high crime or misdemeanor???? Trump lies all the time. We haven't seen his tax returns so we have no idea what crooks he dealt with or where his money came from or influence he has peddled through his kids. Lots of opportunity for high crimes if you ask me.

opie said...

What an impressive series of posts. Does being an abject fool make you feel better, twat?????


Loretta Russo said...
Spam by the pedo
May 6, 2017 at 12:42 PM
Blogger Loretta Russo said...
Spam by the pedo
May 6, 2017 at 12:43 PM
Blogger Loretta Russo said...
Spam by the pedo
May 6, 2017 at 12:43 PM
Loretta Russo said...
Looks like the drunkard wants a President Pence.
Loretta Russo said...
I doubt it, CS.
He knows so little about so much.

Commonsense said...

Perjury is a high crime or misdemeanor.

Sexual assault is also a high crime or misdemeanor.

Not releasing your tax returns is exercising your right to privacy.

And speculating somebody may have may have committed a crime without any evidence whatsoever?

Simply because you don't like him?

Well that's just plain willful stupidity.

opie said...

Perjury is a high crime or misdemeanor.

Too bad that was never proved, menstral.

And speculating somebody may have may have committed a crime

Which is exactly what you did and the R's did with the clinton witch hunt. Think e-mails asshole. Grow up, you of all people are far from perfect. Idiot.

caliphate4vr said...

Bubba admitted he lied under oath and voluntarily surrendered his Arkansas law license, fatty

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...


Trump's Fitness To Serve Is, 'Officially Part Of The Discussion In Congress'

May 4, 20171:22 PM ET
Heard on Fresh Air
http://www.npr.org/2017/05/04/526857048/trump-s-fitness-to-serve-is-officially-part-of-the-discussion-in-congress

New Yorker writer Evan Osnos discusses the likelihood that impeachment or the 25th Amendment will be used to remove Donald Trump from office.


This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. One of the many things that makes the Trump presidency unprecedented is that some members of Congress, as well as some ethicists, legal experts, psychiatrists and scholars, are already talking about possible paths to impeachment or how to remove the President from office through the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. My guest, Evan Osnos, has written an article in the current edition of The New Yorker titled "How Trump Could Get Fired." It examines these efforts and considers the feasibility of ending Trump's presidency.

During the past few months, Osnos interviewed several dozen people about the subject, including some of the president's friends and advisers, lawmakers and attorneys who have conducted impeachments, physicians and historians and current members of the Senate, House and intelligence services. Osnos has been writing about Trump since Trump announced his candidacy in 2015.

Evan Osnos, welcome back to FRESH AIR. How seriously are President Trump's opponents pursuing impeachment or removal from office through the 25th Amendment?

EVAN OSNOS: At the moment they're not pursuing it. And I use that term advisedly because they would use that term carefully. And what I mean is that at this point, they are aware - both Democrats and others who are talking about the possibility of Donald Trump's removal from office - they're aware that there is a perilous element to talking about it publicly and actively because in some sense that can become a rallying cry for Donald Trump's supporters.

So what they're being is judicious. And what they're saying is, we don't believe right now that there are firm grounds for impeachment. If we did, then we'd be introducing that in Congress. What we believe is that there are the precursors or the indicators of types of behavior and standards in the White House that expose him to extraordinary risks legally and politically.

So there are members of Congress now who have begun to talk about in private the fact that they believe that some of Donald Trump's actions, both in terms of how he talks about other branches of government, how he talks about the courts, the ways in which he has sought to de-legitimize the decisions of federal courts, that those could become the basis for a serious critique and ultimately a charge that he is undermining the norms of democracy or abusing the powers of his office.

But at this point, they are not prepared to go public in a formal sense. And - but it was pretty clear.

So if a majority of the Cabinet secretaries - and a majority eight people - if they decide that the president is showing the signs of instability, is really not able to do the job, all they do is write down on a piece of paper, and they give it to the leaders of the Senate and the House. And at that point, the president is no longer legally endowed with the same rights and legal authority, particularly over the nuclear arsenal, that he or she had before. But a president can object.

opie said...

Anonymous caliphate4vr said...
Bubba admitted he lied under oath

So, you are saying it wasn't a witch hunt????? Didn't that admission come well after the impeachment? Nice try, numbnutz. Can always count on you to be wrong.

caliphate4vr said...

Too bad that was never proved, menstral.

Fat boy his admission proves you are wrong.

Now smoke another bowl and inhale another pie.

I just whipped your lard ass again.

LMAO

Loretta said...

You forgot LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

Loretta said...

Spam by the drunkard

Loretta said...

He's a crack history buff.

caliphate4vr said...

He's a crack history buff.

And fatty won't show again, 'till tomorrow

When he'll troll away

It's so easy

lmao

Loretta said...

LOL

Coldheartedtruth Teller said...

I was a straight A history and civics class student. History and government has always fascinated me. When I see things like the marching troops in North Korea, basically like the German Nazi formations of thousands marching in the odd steps by thousands of regular people like us, who do crazy shit like that.

Commonsense said...

Yeah, it shows.

Commonsense said...

The NRO's Kevin Williamson on the corruption of science by progressives and the intolerance of the left.

The Inquisitor’s Heirs

There is some politics built into the scientific method, in that the scientific method assumes an environment in which people are at liberty to speak, debate, and publish — a liberty with which the American Left, particularly on college campuses, is at war. They are not interested in debate or conversation. They are interested in silencing those who disagree with them, and they have high-profile allies: Democratic prosecutors around the country are working to criminalize the holding of nonconformist views about global warming (some prominent activists have openly called for jailing “climate deniers”), and Howard Dean has taken up the novel argument that the First Amendment does not actually protect political speech with which he disagrees. (It is, he insists, “hate speech,” a legally null term in the American context.) Dean has argued that the federal laws governing the conduct of political campaigns could and should be used to regulate all public speaking.

The partisans of Science believe themselves to be part of an eternal war between Galileo and the Inquisition, but they have in fact chosen the Inquisition’s side. They have chosen the side of the Censor and the Index — so long as they get to choose who serves as Censor and who manages the Index. That is how they have reconciled Science and its claims of objective fact with identity politics and its denial of the same: They are engaged in neither the pursuit of fact nor the pursuit of Truth — only the pursuit of Power.


Do read the whole column.

Anonymous said...

New Yorker writer Evan Osnos discusses the likelihood that impeachment or the 25th Amendment will be used to remove Donald Trump from office.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

everyone's gotta have a dream, alky. or in your case some weird masturbatory fantasy.

trump's not going anywhere. get over it. HE WON.

C.H. Truth said...

'Officially Part Of The Discussion In Congress'

So there are members of Congress now who have begun to talk about in private

Ahem... I don't believe that the term "officially" is confirmed by the unsubstantiated claims that unnamed members of congress are talking about something in private.

Official actions in Congress are easily definable. They include bills, debates, committees, and investigations.

I wonder, Roger... in which of these "official" capacities is the Congress actually "officially" considering the removal of the President?

The article is nonsense and anyone who would source it is a lost cause. TDS at it's finest.

James said...

Said Price: “We believe strongly that the Medicaid population will be cared for in a better way.”
Health CareTom Price
Read More »
The House Health Care Disaster Is Really About Taxes

Peter Suderman: “I have been a critic of Obamacare since it became law, but the Republican alternative is worse in nearly every way…  It’s unclear what health policy problem this bill would solve. Even for an opponent of Obamacare, it is difficult to understand why House Republicans chose this path to revamping the nation’s health care system.

“It’s difficult to understand, that is, if you think they were passing a health care bill. It makes more sense when you realize that isn’t what they were doing at all. They were passing a tax cut — one intended to pave the way for more tax cuts.

“The flaws of the bill, then, can be understood as a symptom of the flaws of the Republican Party, which has for decades maintained a myopic focus on tax cuts at the expense of nearly all else. Too often, it is a party of people who seem to confuse governing with cutting taxes.”

wphamilton said...

None of the Federal money that Planned Parenthood receives is used to provide abortions. Using government muscle to inhibit the commerce and other legal undertakings of private entities is in glaring contravention of nominal Conservative principles. To me it's a sign of the underlying rot of hypocrisy.

wphamilton said...

Trump's DontCare Health bill is DOA in the Senate. But the imagery of Republicans celebrating this vastly unpopular attempt will live on.

james said...

House Republicans Go Off a Cliff

Ross Douthat: “As written, the A.H.C.A. basically takes Trump’s gift to the party and hurls it off the highest possible cliff. It is not just the scale of the likely insurance losses, or how much the rich benefit from repeal relative to everybody else. It’s also the gulf between that reality and what Trump and various Republican leaders explicitly promised — insisting that their plan would deliver better coverage, lower premiums, and a lot of other things that have since taken a back seat to making room in the budget for more tax cuts.”

james said...

Obama Urges ‘Political Courage’ to Save Obamacare

Barack Obama called on members of Congress to exercise the “political courage” to not repeal Obamacare, Politico reports.

Said Obama: “It is my fervent hope, and the fervent hope of millions, that regardless of party, such courage is still possible. That today’s members of Congress are willing to look at the facts and speak the truth, even when it bucks party dogmas. I hope that current members of Congress recognize it takes little courage to aid those who are already powerful, already comfortable, already influential—but it takes great courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick and the infirm.”

_______________________

Before this is all over the ones needing courage will the opponents of Obamacare.

james said...

The GOP Goal Is to Take Away an Entitlement

New York Times: “As they take their victory lap for passing a bill that would repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act, President Trump and congressional Republicans have been largely silent about one of the most remarkable aspects of what their legislation would do: take a step toward dismantling a vast government entitlement program, something that has never been accomplished in the modern era.

“Fighting the expansion of the so-called welfare state is a fundamental premise of the American conservative movement. But as tens of millions of Americans have come to rely on coverage under the 2010 health law, Republicans have learned the political risks of being seen as taking a hatchet to the program, however imperfect it may be.”

_________________________

As Krauthammer pointed out, healthcare has become an entitlement that Americans now feel everyone is entitled to.

Commonsense said...

Using government muscle to inhibit the commerce and other legal undertakings of private entities is in glaring contravention of nominal Conservative principles. To me it's a sign of the underlying rot of hypocrisy.

Just a question: How do you consider absences of a government subsidy to be "government muscle to inhibit the commerce and other legal undertakings of private entities?

In other words since when did "commerce and other legal undertakings of private entities" require the government to be involved at all?

Loretta said...

Spam by the pedo

Commonsense said...

This is exactly the problem liberals completely ignore. Republicans less so.

The ‘Right’ to Health Care

Here is a thought experiment: You have four children and three apples. You would like for everyone to have his own apple. You go to Congress, and you successfully persuade the House and the Senate to endorse a joint resolution declaring that everyone has a right to an apple of his own. A ticker-tape parade is held in your honor, and you share your story with Oprah, after which you are invited to address the United Nations, which passes the International Convention on the Rights of These Four Kids in Particular to an Individual Apple Each. You are visited by the souls of Mohandas Gandhi and Mother Teresa, who beam down approvingly from a joint Hindu-Catholic cloud in Heaven.

Question: How many apples do you have?

You have three apples, dummy. Three. You have four children. Each of those children has a congressionally endorsed, U.N.-approved, saint-ratified right to an apple of his own. But here’s the thing: You have three apples and four children. Nothing has changed.

Declaring a right in a scarce good is meaningless. It is a rhetorical gesture without any application to the events and conundrums of the real world. If the Dalai Lama were to lead 10,000 bodhisattvas in meditation, and the subject of that meditation was the human right to health care, it would do less good for the cause of actually providing people with health care than the lowliest temp at Merck does before his second cup of coffee on any given Tuesday morning.

Health care is physical, not metaphysical. It consists of goods, such as penicillin and heart stents, and services, such as oncological attention and radiological expertise. Even if we entirely eliminated money from the equation, conscripting doctors into service and nationalizing the pharmaceutical factories, the basic economic question would remain.

Anonymous said...

wphamilton said...
None of the Federal money that Planned Parenthood receives is used to provide abortions.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

i don't see how you can make that claim, wp. money is fungible. we're talking about an organization that receives half a billion in fed $$$/year, who provides over 300,000 abortion/year, and is an org whose business is 90+% abortion.

to insist that no fed money goes toward abortion at PP requires "a willing suspension of disbelief."*

* h/t hillary clinton.



Anonymous said...

In other words since when did "commerce and other legal undertakings of private entities" require the government to be involved at all?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


government involvement is the natural end point once a liberal decides that what they want morphs into a basic human right.

Loretta said...

Spam by the pedo

james said...

James earlier said: ***As Krauthammer pointed out, healthcare has become an entitlement that Americans now feel everyone is entitled to.***

James now says:
Doubtless some future Eisenhower of the Grand Obstructionist Party will point out that, as with Social Security, Republicans will remain in trouble until they "grow up" and accept that fact.

Commonsense said...

So James;

How do you divide 3 apples among four children when each child has an "entitlement" to their own apple?

Because that's the real issue with healthcare.

No empty platitudes James. Give us a real solution.

wphamilton said...

RRB "i don't see how you can make that claim, wp. money is fungible"

If I gave you $100 for groceries, and your wife gave you $6 for a six-pack, and you bought $100 worth of groceries and a six-pack, did you spend my money for beer? Is it any of my business how you spend your wife's money?

Indy Voter said...

Yes, if it was a requirement that your money be spent on beer. This becomes a cost accounting issue at that point.

Let me rephrase your scenario slightly. You give Rat $6 for beer only and he spends $106, of which $6 is for beer. However, it turns out the other $100 was provided to Rat with a requirement he spend $6 of it on beer. He's misspent his money in this instance, by buying $6 of beer and not $12 of beer. If his accounts were audited, be could be forced to give back $6.

In the example you provide, though, Rat should pass such an audit. He spent $100 on groceries and $6 on beer, as required. Unless he got drunk and lost his receipts, that is.

Indy Voter said...

And of course you can put external conditions on your gift. Rat can have your $6 for beer, but only if he refrains from buying red meat. You require that he return the beer money if he buys red meat, or even more punitively, ban him from all future donations for beer if he buys red meat (you give lots of folks $6 for beer on a recurring basis, but really don't like people eating red meat). Rat's got the right to accept your terms and money, or reject both. And unless he hates red meat already, he has the right to be pissed at your terms, especially if he needs your money to buy his beer and really doesn't want to (or can't) stop drinking beer.

wphamilton said...

"And of course you can put external conditions on your gift. Rat can have your $6 for beer, but only if he refrains from buying red meat."

But that would be an unacceptable intrusion into Rat's liberties, without a moral or ethical foundation.

Indy Voter said...

Depends on how badly Rat wants money for beer.

wphamilton said...

Well, Rat? How badly DO you want the beer? Am I a prick if I take my hundred dollars back after you spend your wife's money on beer?