"embrace the chaos"

"embrace the chaos"

Jeb Bush in 2016 predicted on President Donald Trump . "When I ran for office, I said he is a chaos candidate and would be a chaos president"  .  Bush, a former Florida governor, fought bitterly on the 2016 campaign trail with Trump, labeling the real estate mogul a "chaos candidate" and arguing he would make a "chaos president."The thing about the chaos theory is that once the first events occur, it is difficult to stop the domino effect.The result, at least in politics, is, often extremely damaging.Trump has created chaos in his government. He should blame no one else. If he does not significantly adjust, his presidency may well become uncontrollable.Bush, who was considered in the early days of the GOP race to be a favorite, ended his bid for the Republican nomination after a disappointing finish in the South Carolina primary in February 2016.   I have heard Pro-Trump'ers use the phrase (1)>>"embrace the chaos" as a way to justify the chaos in stu that is going on in the White house   Its hard to "embrace the chaos" in a government kinda of way  that nothing is getting done .  The factors are we have an on going investigations , Russia probe first of all .   Second , Republican held Congress is imploding ,they are turning against each other on the repeal and replace healthcare bill . Remember the Republicans gave Mr. Obama  so much hell. Obstructionism reigned . The fact the GOP could not  overhaul the healthcare industry is vary telling . It explains how powerful the industry is , its pretty much backed by the Republicans . The ultimate failure is they want to repeal quickly , return to the status quo. The White House chief of staff is out — after the new communications director went on a profane, public rant insulting him.All of this is clearly borne out of the president’s frustration with how his administration has gone so far. Trump is unpopular, his legislative agenda has stalled, and his presidency could be in serious legal danger from the Russia investigation. So he very clearly (and understandably) wants to make changes. But the way he’s going about it — by publicly humiliating officials who have long supported him but are now out of favor — is downright deranged. And it will make his problems far worse in the long run, as competent and qualified people will choose to stay far away rather than risk similar disgrace. '

"leaks"

Of Course going after the "leaks" Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday that the Justice Department is ramping up steps to investigate an prosecute government leaker's  a day after transcripts of President Trump's calls with two foreign leaders were leaked to the Washington Post.  IT'S INTERESTING  to note that we  have been bombarded with this hype before  about (2)>>"FAKE NEWS".  A trump trademark . The hype about the mysterious" LEAKER'S" in the White-House . For me , its still government misinformation . While Jeff Sessions goes after the non-existence leaker's ,President Trump's tweets continue to send a barrage of information to the public that should be "classified" . It was Mr. Trump that first "leaked" info on two foreign leaders . The conversations between the Australian Prime Minister , the Mexican President were known to the press for a long time . It’s not yet clear how big Sessions’s stand against leakers will be. He did not specify any new investigations or outline any revised policies, but he said four people have already been charged under the Trump administration for leaking classified information. The tableau presented by Sessions, who is struggling to hold on to his job after weeks of withering criticism from Trump for recusing himself from the Russia investigation, seemed designed to suggest to the president’s political base that other, more trusted security agencies would play a prominent role in the leak investigation.Not going to happen. As opposed to what the TV pictures might suggest, U.S. intelligence agencies are barred from criminal investigations of leaks (although they conduct their own internal probes).  
Sanctions and More Sanctions!

This week Congress voted to increase sanctions against Russia, North Korea,  (3)>Venezuela   and Iran . Over the years since the 1990s sanctions have lost their power over other nation. In simpler ways  "they have no effect" . They only increase hostilities against our nations . In some cases, it’s not surprising that other countries don’t comply with our sanctions. There’s no reason to expect, for example, that China would refrain from giving North Korea foreign aid or that Russia would cease trade with Iran just because the United States says so. But often the countries that undermine US sanctions are our allies. For decades, countries like Great Britain, Japan, and Spain have conducted business with Cuba, taking a lot of the bite out of the longstanding US embargo. In fact, the embargo actually made business easier for those countries, in a way: With US firms on the sideline, they faced less competition for Cuban business. In July 2010 President Barack Obama signed into law a series of tougher bilateral sanctions against Iran.These were intended to turn the screw on Tehran and to bolster existing United Nations Security Council sanctions.The hope was that the mix of UN and bilateral sanctions - tougher measures are already being planned by the European Union - would persuade Iran to change its mind and halt its uranium enrichment pro gramme.So far they never worked.  Obama ended up negotiating a deal that gave Iran 400 billion dollar's  , currently a deal that now Trump wants to reverse . Russia  and Iran for instance have huge reserves , resources at their disposals . These sanctions just do not work.I am for sitting down at the table with Russia , China and Iran . Its vary easy to talk , start dialog with those countries , but hostile actions on our governments part has made the world a bit more dangerous.

North Korea. 

While Washington D.C. "reeks" with scandal . There is a serious and worrisome note . Its North Korea . North Korea is seriously considering a plan to fire missiles at Guam, state media reportedly said Wednesday, hours after President Trump responded to reports of nuclear threats by saying the regime (4)>>"will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which the world has never seen before."  For me is not a good  thing and I feel that were in trouble . It’s after US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to apply maximum pressure and sanctions on North Korea in a telephone call on Monday.The U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Saturday aimed at pressuring Pyongyang to end its nuclear pro-gramme.The U.S.-drafted resolution bans North Korean exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood following Pyongyang’s two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July.Trump’s national-security adviser later elaborated on what his boss meant. In an interview with Fox News in April, H.R. McMaster specified what might prompt the Trump administration to take the extremely risky step of using military force against North Korea. “I don’t think anyone thinks that it would be acceptable to have this kind of regime with nuclear weapons that can target, that can range the United States,” he said. So far, congressional leaders from both parties have been silent on the issue. They’re reluctant to tie Trump’s hands as Pyongyang threatens to bomb a specific target: the U.S. territory of Guam. They also recognize how unpopular and divisive a vote on a war resolution would be for lawmakers facing reelection next year.  The US military isn't in any position right now to strike North Korea with the kind of campaign that would be needed to bring battlefield success and would need weeks, if not months, to sort out the logistics, analysts say. So What can we hope for ? Here are my scenarios . Please I am not trying to be cruel . I don't wish harm on innocent people caught up in the North Korean imperialism . But when play fire prepared to be burned .  Hope that one of North  Korea's missile guidance system malfunctions so it falls in Chinese territory . Yes, China has to wake up ! and quit kissing butt to  Un . China will take action for sure   . Hope that North Korea has a Chernobyl  like event were somehow one of the nuclear devices explodes by "accident" in Pyongyang.  Mean time . Let's pray that Congress and Mr. Trump would open dialog with China as a channel , along with Russia,  first try to talk { reason} with the beast first before any side takes any action .  ADIEU !

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

(1)>>"embrace the chaos" . “Chaos creates drama, and drama gets ink,” former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg said. “This is a new kind of presidency. He’s followed the tabloid model, and it got him to where he is, and it’s the model that will be followed until it doesn’t work. And it has worked. He’s sitting in the Oval Office.”  (2)>>"FAKE NEWS".  A trump trademark .   If the reports are fake, then there are no real leaks because Trump is claiming that the "media" is pulling them out of thin air. Clearly there is some substance behind the news reports. Trump is protesting a bit too much with his incongruent arguments. Remember Trump is accusing the American media of spreading Fake News , while the Democrats are accusing Russia of spreading  misinformation at the same time . If you look it closely it sounds more like our own government is spreading  disinformation  as part of some cover up . All totally unsubstantiated unsourced fake news propaganda being deliberately produced in order to hide a political coup d'état by the already  political establishment against the people's will . First by convincing the public of Russian melding which I never believed . It reminds me of a cover up by presenting misleading facts by instilling hostility in the populace,  so our government could continue its international anti-Russian hostilities  . Keeping the American population brainwashed .  3)>Venezuela. The Hilarity of sanctions is best demonstrated here. Amazing isn't it? First US gov't has a hissy fit over mere rumours that Russia "interfered with" US elections, then they turn around and blatantly interfere in Venezuela's elections. This is why people hate the USA, the blatant double standard, the "one rule for us, and a different rule for the rest of you" attitude. And they're so incredibly *shameless* about it. I swear their hubris is just breathtaking. Let me get this straight.The US is sanctioning Russia on ALLEGED election interference and on the same day the US is INTERFERRING in Venezuela's planned election?

Is something wrong with the USA? Our great Congress announced economic sanctions against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin blasting the democratically elected leader as a "dictator who disregards the will” of his people".  Again its down right silly to accuse the Venezuela government of fraudulent elections while we here in America seem to have the same problem. It wouldn't be the first time the US had meddled in the affairs of other countries though would it? We could go back to Cuba, Vietnam, Panama, not to mention Cambodia and Laos, the list is as long as your arm. This is in large part due to American foreign policy which dates from the end of the second world war when the US envisaged a domino like scenario in which if one south American country fell to communism, the others surrounding it would fall with a domino like effect, one after the other.  In the case of Venezuela, it's not communism, it's the oil.  (4)>>"will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which the world has never seen before."  President Trump is as crazy as Kim Jun Un . Has anyone ever heard of  MAD ???? " Mutual Assured Destruction!.  Case in point it's right  out of Dr Stangelove .  Trump's craziness may have alerted the Russians and Chinese to do drills together . I really can't believe how far our country has sunk in diplomatic matters .  I look back to the days of Ronald Reagen and Mikhail Gorbachev when walls came down . We seem to live in age where walls are going up ! “Something must be done. This is something –– therefore it must be done.”  I feel  like Dr WHO who needs the "Time Lords" to intervene some how and stop some idots  in power from making awful decisions . Frankly North Korea is a nut house . It puzzled me why the Chinese would allow for such a "fake" Communist state to exist under their wings for a long time . The Communist Party in China must never took note that North Korea has a monarch system where it's leaders are worshiped as gods , slightly not like Marxism . But the people of North Korea are starving , so what do the North Korean leadership want ? Right now , North Korea has nothing to lose. They sure are making the west look like a bunch of suckers. Swallow pride, NK is winning. And thats better than 10million more victims of senseless war. Rather than continously threaten them, ask them what they will do to contribute to humanity, try to bring out the best in them, and welcome them into the global community for the betterment of society.

In Praise of Sen. John McCain. But .............

Sen. McCain's great speech  to
Congress is overshadowed by
his own health , his vote &
a prevailing double standard
in healthcare .

(1)>>I honestly have to Praise Senator John McCain . I not what you think why , but his speech to Congress was along time coming . Though there is much to be critical .McCain's speech was important because it reminded people of the job they are supposed to be doing. McCain, who was recently and tragically diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, and who returned to DC explicitly to help save the GOP healthcare bill.  Unfortunately, it will change little in the way the Senate approaches legislation given that McConnell has continuously ignored regular order for years and is unlikely to change. The fact that McCain, just hours later, voted yes on the full bill with several amendments included shows that he is still playing partisan politics and undermines his credibility.  McCain  said it right : " WERE GETTING NOTHING DONE !" .  Eight years , even with PRESIDENT Obama , we have  had a purposely stalled Congress .  (2)>>McCain brings this to mind :

"And right now they aren’t producing much for the American people.Both sides have let this happen. Let’s leave the history of who shot first to the historians. I suspect they’ll find we all conspired in our decline — either by deliberate actions or neglect. We’ve all played some role in it. Certainly I have. Sometimes, I’ve let my passion rule my reason. Sometimes, I made it harder to find common ground because of something harsh I said to a colleague. Sometimes, I wanted to win more for the sake of winning than to achieve a contested policy.Incremental progress, compromises that each side criticize but also accept, just plain muddling through to chip away at problems and keep our enemies from doing their worst isn’t glamorous or exciting. It doesn’t feel like a political triumph. But it’s usually the most we can expect from our system of government, operating in a country as diverse and quarrelsome and free as ours."

And he added this stunning statement :

"Let’s trust each other. Let’s return to regular order. We’ve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. That’s an approach that’s been employed by both sides, mandating legislation from the top down, without any support from the other side, with all the parliamentary maneuvers that requires.We’re getting nothing done. All we’ve really done this year is confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Our healthcare insurance system is a mess. We all know it, those who support Obamacare and those who oppose it. Something has to be done." 

Senator McCain thank you for such a speech . But also thank you for not voting for the"Replacement bill"  . Though you voted "yes". McCain didn’t explain why he had just cast the deciding vote to let McConnell forge ahead with this reprehensible and ill-fated process. But later in the speech he suggested that he wants the Senate to return to normalcy after taking a stab at destroying Obamacare the quick and dirty way. “Why don’t we try the old way of legislating in the Senate, the way our rules and customs encourage us to act,” he said. “If this process ends in failure, which seem likely, then let’s return to regular order.This sparked confusion and derision from those opposed to seeing millions lose their health coverage. But McCain was crystal clear on one point: “I. Will. Not. Vote. For. This. Bill. As. It. Is. Today,” he said, giving each word emphasis. To put it another way, faced with a rare opportunity to make a real tangible difference, he risked traveling amid failing health to make possible the very thing he decried.
Congress has their own great healthcare plan ...
Senator McCain  was   diagnosed with a primary glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor, this falls under a "pre-existing condition ".  BUT the Republican party  party needs to understand that its policies treat the lives of people like the senator much differently from less fortunate American citizens. The Senator has great healthcare paid by taxpayer dollars . Basically its a government run "single payer system" for the elite More damningly, he voted yes to take away healthcare from millions of Americans – including an untold number of other cancer patients – even as he continues to access benefits of the quality care afforded him as a senator, care subsidized by American taxpayers.Never mind that at this point in time Republicans have little idea what the bill they would replace Obamacare with will contain. Never mind that we have arrived at this point through a secretive process devoid of public hearings, or even that Republicans would have the healthcare of millions of American women dreamed up entirely by men.  As Vox’s Dylan Scott explained, nothing less than a health emergency has thrown the GOP’s health reform plan into disarray.The craniotomy sounds like an emergency surgery (though McCain’s office would not confirm that). Obamacare required insurance plans sold in the individual market, the fully insured small-group market, and through Medicaid to cover a list of 10 “essential health benefits”, including emergency healthcare. The Better Care Act would allow health insurers to once again sell skimpier insurance plans that might not include such comprehensive benefits. Life-saving surgeries like these would also be out of reach for more people if the GOP plan were to pass, since it’s expected to leave millions more Americans without insurance compared to Obamacare.To find out just how much the procedure would cost someone without insurance, we looked to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which publishes Medicare payments for more than 3,000 hospitals for inpatient procedures. We decided to go with the Medicare rate, since this is often used as a benchmark by experts for the cost of a procedure and it’s what the government considers reasonable to pay for a service.That means that if McCain happened to be one of his uninsured or under-insured constituents, and not a Senator with his healthcare subsidized by American taxpayers, he might have had to shell out some $76,000 for his surgery — more than the average annual household income in America.


NOTES AND COMMENTS:

(1)>>I honestly have to Praise Senator John McCain . There are many reasons to respect McCain, a former prisoner of war who endured torture in the five and a half years he spent captive in North Vietnam, and has campaigned against torture by the US. His 2008 campaign against Barack Obama now looks like the very model of civility in the wake of Trump.  (2)>>McCain brings this to mind :  see this URL for Complete Sen. McCain speech https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/25/were-getting-nothing-done-john-mccains-no-holds-barred-lecture-to-the-senate-annotated/?utm_term=.8be271ceee4d  . 

A slightly dysfunctional government.

My last post I said that our government is becoming dysfunctional . OR Is it slightly dysfunctional? Skepticism about the competence of the masses to govern themselves is as old as mass self-government. The sudden shake-up in Trump's administration reveal a weakness that crossing boarders of both parties . An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released  found that 57% of the country believes the government should do more to solve problems and meet the needs of Americans, as compared to 39% who believe the government is doing too much.  I think government is doing too little for its people . I am against raising taxes .  I am for things like better healthcare for one . More affordable housing . I not calling for handouts . I looking for the government to solve the problems our society , not spend so much money on other nations. I don't  know if that makes me a "populist" . But government should look out for the welfare of its citizens. The voter flip-flopping exploded  in  2008, the American people elected a liberal president, House and Senate. What resulted was anything but gridlock. Democrats passed an unprecedented stimulus package, Obama Care, and the Frank-Dodd bill. In 2010, the country revolted, swung back to the right and elected a conservative House, the likes of which has not been seen before. 2017 came it swung way far to the right with Donald Trump as President. In one of the "strangest" elections ever . (1)>>The coup as I called it now is falling apart with the accusations of Russian "meddling" -Senate hearings , which only erode Congress . I can't really completely blame Mr. Trump  - Mr. Obama . The downward spiral has been decades in the making . The resurgence of American distrust of government has a growing place in the nation's political dialogue. Gallup reports that over the past five years 35–45 percent of Americans have reported little or no confidence in their national government—close to the European average. In September 2013, 60 percent of Americans, a record level, thought the Federal government had too much power. The big-state, social-democratic model faces a growing challenge, just as “anything goes” capitalism did in the first half of the twentieth century. 

Sean Spicer's sudden resignation .  

President Donald Trump’s mysterious post to Twitter in the wee hours of MAY Wednesday morning about “constant negative press covfefe” may have sparked hours of jokes and overnight confusion, but to hear White House press secretary Sean Spicer tell it, the president’s tweet was no typo.“The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant,” Spicer said at Wednesday’s off-camera press gaggle in the White House briefing room. He refused to elaborate and ignored questions shouted by reporters. It followed a rarely seen self-deprecating joke from Trump early Wednesday morning that made light of the typo (or newly invented word) the president had birthed hours earlier. Mr Spicer's resignation has been rumoured about for months. After a tumultuous start to the year, he became a national target of ridicule, and was mocked by Saturday Night Live with a recurring character portraying him.The President reportedly asked Mr Spicer to stay on as press secretary after he hired Mr Scaramucci, but Mr Spicer held fast that the appointment was a major mistake.     (2)>>For Sean Spicer it may have been vary hard to make any sense of Donald Trump , or even defending him . Last month it was reported the White House was considering stopping Spicer from dealing with the press following a series of embarrassing gaffes. A senior official said discussions had taken place to shift the under fire press secretary from his daily spokesman role into a senior communications position.Spicer has been a frequent source of criticism for his performance at the White House lectern during daily news briefings, although President Donald Trump has stood by him through a variety of controversies. In April, Spicer sparked outrage and calls to be sacked after he said "even Hitler" didn't use chemical weapons . Spicer repeated a claim that the secretive Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) were drafted in to avoid any “American fingerprints" on the alleged surveillance. Although the Home Office refused to comment on claims, one official said called the allegations "totally untrue and quite frankly absurd."  As the White House has struggled to come to terms with the fact that the Russia investigations are not going away, Spicer was under immense pressure. The president blamed him for media stories that portrayed Trump in a negative light. In addition, Trump attacked Spicer for his supposed failure to push back against "fake news." On the flip side, the media correspondents of the White House press corps became increasingly frustrated with Spicer's reluctance to address their concerns. This put Spicer in an unenviable catch-22 position. There’s an element of comedy to this: Spicer’s job is to explain the president’s positions to the press and the public. And sure, the press secretary can’t be expected to be an expert in every topic. Except that Spicer knows a thing or two about trade policy, having served as a spokesman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during the George W. Bush administration. For Spicer, Trump’s decision to install Scaramucci above him—the press secretary reports to the communications director—was too much to take. Given the highs and lows of Spicer’s time at the White House, this was an unusual choice of hills to die on. Spicer began his tenure as press secretary with a bizarre rant about how Trump’s Inauguration audience (3)>>“was the largest audience to ever witness an Inauguration, period.” (It wasn’t.) For someone who was never fully inside the Trump circle of trust, the performance had the ring of an eager gang initiate committing a crime to please the boss. Trump, who regularly watched the briefings, which were broadcast live on cable news, reportedlycomplained about Spicer’s pale suits and later seemed to become aggravated that Spicer was becoming famous, or at least infamous. Spicer’s temper tantrums, ill-fitting suits, and mispronunciations turned him into a pop-culture sensation. 

Scaramucci's UN-Divided Loyalty ?

Where Spicer struggled to defend the indefensible — President Donald Trump's inauguration crowd size — (4)>>Scaramucci came in on a day of chaos at the White House and painted a picture of relative calm. During an appearance on Fox Business in August 2015, Scaramucci called Trump a bully whose campaign would "eventually implode."In response to Trump's criticism of hedge fund managers, who he said "move around papers," Scaramucci called Trump "a hack politician" and said his comments were "anti-American.""Right out of Elizabeth Warren's playbook," the Wall Street financier said. "Are you a Democratic plant for Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren? Stand here and tell us otherwise." Scaramucci challenged Trump to criticize him, saying he'll be the president of the "Queens County bullies association." "The politicians don't want to go at Trump because he's got a big mouth and he's afraid he's gonna light them up on Fox News and all these other places, but I'm not a politician," he said.  "You're an inherited money dude from Queens County —  bring it, Donald. Bring it." Scaramucci might be the biggest "kiss ass" in politics with his flip flopping as we have seen a sudden about face .... Now he says "We are committed as true professionals to the team and the process of getting the administration's message out," Scaramucci said. "I think there's been at times a disconnect between the way we see the president, and how much we love the president, and the way some of you see the president."
Find the LEAKER!....
 Scaramucci’s reputation in GOP political circles as a press leaker may have originated in 2012, when he tipped off a Bloomberg reporter to the time and location of a fundraising event for the Republican super PAC Crossroads GPS, according to a report in Politico at the time. At the event, Crossroads chief Karl Rove made disparaging remarks about then-GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin, who was under fire for comments questioning whether a woman could be impregnated by rape. The comments, which were posted by Bloomberg, were immensely embarrassing for Rove, who apologized to Akin. Scaramucci, in turn, apologized to Rove.  Anthony Scaramucci flatly said Sunday that he as going to fire all future leakers on his watch. “We have to get the leaks stopped,” Scaramucci said on Fox News Sunday. “What’s going on right now is a high level of unprofessionalism, and it’s not helping the president. … I will take drastic action to stop the leaks.” Part of that effort will include getting rid of people as Scaramucci said he is ready to “pare down the staff” at the communications office to stop the leaks. "It’s not fair to the president. It’s actually not fair to America." Leaks to the press have been pervasive throughout the first six months of Trump’s presidency. They’ve ranged from highly consequential stories, such as the president himself revealing classified information during a meeting with Russian officials, to gossipy revelations about internal battles among the president’s inner circle. Scaramucci is no better man for the job !

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

(1)>>The coup as I called it now is falling apart with the accusations of Russian "meddling" -Senate hearings.  When it comes to accusations that Russia hacked or otherwise interfered in last year’s US presidential election, the Kremlin has consistently denied any involvement.Now, some Russian officials are pointing the finger at Washington, saying it’s America that is meddling in Moscow’s domestic affairs. In fact, Kremlin officials say, the US has been doing it for years.Hacking? The Kremlin’s website is attacked daily “from within US territories,” Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said this month.Information warfare and fake news? Washington-funded media outlets like Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America have long run what the Kremlin sees as an anti-Putin propaganda campaign aimed at supporting the Russian opposition.A report prepared by a committee of the Russian parliament said American media outlets engaged in biased and “anti-Russia” coverage of Russian parliamentary elections in 2016.The FBI and several congressional committees are running multipronged investigations of possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia and potential obstruction of justice by Trump. The president has repeatedly called the probe a “witch hunt” and a “phoney story”. (2)>>For Sean Spicer it may have been vary hard to make any sense of Donald Trump.   Spicer resigned from his post Friday soon after President Trump hired Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci as his White House communications director.  Scaramucci's new job has caused some tension among Trump's top advisers, it's being reported. Priebus and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon were against the hire, to the point they said Scaramucci would get the communications job "over their dead body."At his first appearance before the press corps, Scaramucci denied those rumors.    (3)>>“was the largest audience to ever witness an Inauguration, period.” (It wasn’t.)       In his first daily press conference, Mr Spicer summoned journalists to the White House and accused them of “deliberately false reporting” after attendance of Mr Trump’s inauguration was compared unfavourably to Barack Obama’s in 2009. Aerial photographs showed a significantly larger crowd in 2009 but Mr Spicer insisted: “This was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration. Period. Both in person and around the globe.” (4)>>Scaramucci came. At one time Scaramucci was pro gun control, for climate change advocacy, and anti wall. Not any more. He has a new boss. Trump is bringing New York to DC. He has many New York lawyers working for him and now Scaramucci as communications director. Welcome to the swamp Mr. Scaramucci. Fake news? Read Scaramucci's own tweets. He'll fit right in in DC.  URL: { http://www.businessinsider.com/scaramucci-deleted-tweets-trump-communications-director-2017-7 }  well before he deleted them!

Our Government is dysfunctional . No repeal , no Replace ..

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
No repeal no replace .

Our Government is dysfunctional . Both Democrats and Republicans . Political disintegration plagues Congress, too. House Republicans barely managed to elect a speaker last year. Congress did agree in the fall on a budget framework intended to keep the government open through the election—a signal accomplishment, by today’s low standard, hard-line conservatives had revoked the deal, thereby humiliating the new speaker and potentially causing another  crisis . As of this writing, it’s not clear whether the hard-liners will push to the brink, but the bigger point is this: If they do, there is not much that party leaders can do about it. They can't do nothing.   (1)>>Could not come to the table over Obama-care . Republicans could not "repeal or replace" Republican destructiveness is even worse than it ever was —and the party is paying for it with a surge of anti-establishment populism that is tearing apart its coalition base. Trump's win has in reality forced the party of No into finding a solution for healthcare , which is something the majority of the GOP has hated since President Obama fostered the issue of healthcare reform on the platform. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that the Republicans would abandon their replacement plan efforts and instead focus on just repealing the existing law. (1.1)>>The bill would include a two-year delay to allow Republicans time to draft a replacement plan with more support.  The lack of response from Trump came after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced Saturday that he is recovering from a surgery and would be absent from votes, depriving Republicans of the support they need to advance the legislation. The development temporarily dashed McConnell’s hopes of wrapping up the health-care debate by passing a reworked version of the (1.2)>>Better Care Reconciliation Act this week. The bill, which would roll back much of President (1.3)>>Barack Obama’s health care law, has been one of the party’s top priorities for years, and the delay is a major embarrassment to Trump and McConnell. At least five GOP senators — conservatives and moderates — have said they would vote against even beginning debate, and the bill would be derailed if just three of the 52 Republican senators voted against it. (2)>>Back in 2009 - Republicans refused to coalesce around the Democratic effort to create a decent Health Care product for the public? Remember the Tea Party whose members didn't even know that Medicare and Medicaid ARE government programs? Actually, I do believe that when someone doesn't believe that a product that is being offered to the public is good, it is that individual's moral responsibility to NOT vote for it. And what is being offered as Trumpcare ISN'T a good idea because it will deny millions of folks any kind of health coverage. The fact of "denying coverage" to millions of Americans goes against the Market Based system that has held back the tides of reform for decades . (2.1)>>The Insurance companies need millions of consumers for profits , this is the problem . You would think with such a pool of people in a insurance group would bring down costs . Its never worked . Monthly premiums have gone up for decades .Health insurance premiums will increase by 5 percent in 2017 for employees, according to a recent study from the National Business Group on Health, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that represents large employers.That's about on par with employers' predicted expenses. The 133 companies polled expect their own health-care expenses would rise by an average of 5 percent in 2017, once they have put through plan design updates for the new year.Without those plan changes, employers' expenses would rise by 6 percent in 2017. In the end . House Democrats are are happy that the Republican healthcare replacement is DOA . Both parties will not come to the table. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's two year delay for example is a sneaky way to let the Insurance Companies get away with more increases . It is more than ironic that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that they may need to “shore up the individual market” when the Congress has been the main reason for the instability.

NOTES AND COMMENTS: 

(1)>>Could not come to the table over Obama-care . The Cruz amendment undermines basic supports of any insurance program. This bill will force insurers out of markets, if not out of business. Medicare for All can be the answer to this problem if you let it be. One track for people 65+ who have paid in advance for decades for anticipated coverage and another track for all others, who are paying for current coverage. The insurers will get many more lives to cover, market stability and a huge risk pool of over 300 million covered lives. Both employers and employees will pay less than they do now. People will be able to leave jobs and move to other states without worrying about losing their coverage. Pre-existing conditions and 10 Essential Elements are covered, rendering those debates moot. CMS professionals know how to do this. Since 2009, 10,000 Americans a day have been turning 65; meaning this program is scalable. If the politicians would stop worrying about a "win" or sullying Obama's name and legacy, maybe they could do the right thing for the American people. (1.1)>>The bill would include a two-year delay.  Delay of the repeal is extremely ludicrous , and it endangers millions of Americans . Obama-care as "claimed" by the Republican party led by Pres. Trump is that Obama-care is failing and heading for collapse.  If its going down , either way , still  Republican Congress  understands that they would get (metaphorically) 'tarred and feathered' by those folks they represent who would lose the Health Care/Medicaid coverage - suggested to be something in the neighborhood of 23,000,000. GOP defections increased after Congress’ budget referee said Monday.  The measure would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026 than Obama’s 2010 statute. I don't HONESTLY believe that a government fix as being outlined by the government , or the Obama-care system is NOT going to make healthcare affordable . Controlling costs means putting the Healthcare Insurance industry on notice for gouging prices . Which is making costs going through the roof , leading to bankruptcies . This the problem . Since the Healthcare Insurance industry lobby  has held sway Congress of both parties .  (1.2)>>Better Care Reconciliation Act .   The Senate bill aimed at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act would irreparably weaken Medicaid, significantly increase the number of Americans without health insurance coverage and allow states to waive essential health benefits, such as mental and behavioral health care and substance use treatment, according to the American Psychological Association.   Kaiser Foundation has a complete summery of the entire "replace" law if you like to read it here { http://kaiserf.am/2u9vgBq } . FORBES has this to say otherwise about it : "A major criticism of the draft Republican Senate healthcare bill, the "Better Care Reconciliation Act," has been that it will destabilize the individual health insurance marketplace. The amendments recently suggested by Texas Senator Ted Cruz were said to make that possibility much more severe. The revisions released today to the BCRA, however, clarify that the "Cruz amendment" is not nearly as problematic as supposed. In fact, the revisions substantially reduce the risk of market instability and may well permit a Obamacare-like market and a substantially deregulated market to coexist. The wise GOP decision to abandon tax cuts for the wealthywill help fund the changes needed to permit this dual market situation. That decision also liberates Republicans credibly to cite the need for serious deficit reduction to rebut arguments that their healthcare bill actually reduces the number of uninsureds."  (1.3)>>Barack Obama’s health care law.  President Obama went behind closed doors with interest groups to put the package together; no sane person would have negotiated in full public view. In 2013, Congress succeeded in approving a modest bipartisan budget deal in large measure because the House and Senate Budget Committee chairs were empowered to “figure it out themselves, very, very privately,” as one Democratic aide told Jill Lawrence for a 2015 Brookings report. TV cameras, recorded votes, and public markups do increase transparency, but they come at the cost of complicating candid conversations. “The idea that Washington would work better if there were TV cameras monitoring every conversation gets it exactly wrong,” the Democratic former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle wrote in 2014, in his foreword to the book City of Rivals. “The lack of opportunities for honest dialogue and creative give-and-take lies at the root of today’s dysfunction.”   (2)>>Back in 2009 . The healthcare nonsense is only enhancing the dysfunction, has he forgotten the last 8 years? I thought this was all supposed to stop when Obama was out, thanks for proving it wasn't Obama with the problem. The American healthcare system is driven by capitalism and greed. Companies that are directly connected to your well-being are sold on the stock exchange. Your needs are met after the CEO gets his millions, lobbyist are funded, the politicians are bribed, and dividends are paid. And if you can’t pay for your medical care the system will drive you and your loved ones into poverty.    2018 can't come soon enough.  (2.1)>>The Insurance companies need millions of consumers for profits . Obamacare continues to be a slow-motion train wreck. An analysis by Charles Gaba (an ACA supporter) shows that average premium increases in the non-group market will average 24% for 2017.  Last month's decision by Aetna AET +0.61% (the nation's third largest insurer) to dump 80% of its Obamacare subscribers for 2017 came on the heels of the decision by UnitedHealth (the nation's largest health insurer) to likewise cut back enormously on its participation in the Obamacare exchanges (3 states in 2017 vs. 34 states this year). Yet another of the nation's "big 5" health insurers,Humana HUM +0.50%, will offer coverage in just 156 counties in 2017, 88 percent fewer than this year.