caulfield12

Monday, the bill was released without any Congressional Budget Office score, a sign that Republicans may be worried about the fallout once Americans understand how many people could be affected by changes in coverage. http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/06/politics/rep...plan/index.html Republicans unveil new healthcare plan American Health Care Act...how long until TrumpCare becomes the brand? DumpYourCare? DumpedCare? You'veBeenTrumpedCare? http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/06/news/econo...bill/index.html But the Republican bill would go beyond just eliminating Medicaid expansion. It would overhaul the whole program, which covers more than 70 million people, by sending states a fixed amount of money per enrollee, known as a per-capita cap. This would limit federal responsibility, shifting that burden to the states. However, since states don't have the money to make up the difference, they would likely either reduce eligibility, curtail benefits or cut provider payments. All this could hurt not only poor adults, but also low-income children, women, senior citizens and the disabled. The legislation also would eliminate the subsidies that reduce deductibles and co-pays for moderate-income policyholders on the individual market. And the tax credits it would provide would not go as far Obamacare's subsidies. Folks making $20,000 a year take the biggest hit at any age under the GOP plan, a recent Kaiser study found. A 27-year-old would get only $2,000, instead of $3,225 under Obamacare, on average, while a 40-year-old would get $3,000 versus nearly $4,150. However, the biggest loser would be a 60-year-old, who would receive only $4,000, instead of nearly $9,900 under Obamacare. Older Americans could have to pay more. Enrollees in their 50s and early 60s benefited from Obamacare because insurers could only charge them three times more than younger policy holders. The bill would widen that band to five-to-one. The winners? The healthy (who would have more flexible/lower-cost packages), young people, the insurance industry and the rich. Of course, only the first two groups are going to be "politically" popular, and one would guess the majority of Trump voters in the Rust Belt/Midwest aren't exactly setting any health/fitness records, and most of them are in their late 30's through early 60's, so not young, either. So the irony is that two main groups to benefit from the proposal are basically Sanders supporters living on the two coasts, where people in general tend to be healthier than the Midwest and Deep South. This response to the article made me laugh...at least the writer made his point Here's the thing. Regardless of the changes that Republicans say are coming, there will still ne NO affordable options for lower and middle class working people. They will have to go back to using emergency rooms, just like they did before. This will force up costs which will be passed on to people paying premiums, which will go up. Healthcare in America is FOR PROFIT. As long as it remains FOR PROFIT, policies will never be affordable. Should I repeat that? Healthcare in America is FOR PROFIT. As long as it remains FOR PROFIT, policies will never be affordable. Obama wanted NOT FOR PROFIT insurance, i.e. Medicare for all, but Big Insurance and their Republican supporters in Congress would have no part of that (they even worked hard to kill the public option compromise which would have lowered premiums but cut into their almighty profits), so Obama settled for a few small changes like pre-existing conditions and covering the poor. The so-called ACA was never affordable, but not because of Obama, rather because it remained FOR PROFIT, as Big Insurance and the Republicans wanted. Republicans then turned around and absurdly called the ACA "Obamacare" to blame HIM for their FOR PROFIT act, which is not what Obama ever wanted. And now, once again, the exact same thing will happen. They have crafted another FOR PROFIT insurance act, with a different name, and they are telling you that you will have affordable choices (which you won't). So, one more time .... Healthcare in America is FOR PROFIT. As long as it remains FOR PROFIT, policies will never be affordable. Really people, put your politics aside and try to grasp. Another... Funny. Waiting to see how some articles address this. Most important piece for me is, replace the individual mandate, in which the penalty was money going to the GOVERNMENT to subsidize others paying insurance (redistribution) with a GOVERNMENT REGULATION that allows a PRIVATE, FOR PROFIT, BUSINESS to charge you 30% more; so the penalty now goes to a PRIVATE, FOR PROFIT BUSINESS, which will not be used to subsidize or lower insurance costs for others. Cannot make this stuff up. Finally, no mandate and tax credits based on age not income? How is this not going to end up costing more and covering less people?

Ben Carson perhaps not on the same wavelength on travel ban? http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/06/politics/ben...very/index.html Washington (CNN)Ben Carson appeared to liken slaves to immigrants who choose to come to the United States while addressing employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development Monday. Carson, who was confirmed to lead the department earlier this month, heralded the work ethic of immigrants before implying slaves who came to the United States worked harder than others. "There were other immigrants who came in the bottom of slave ships, who worked even longer, even harder, for less, but they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great grandsons, great granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land," said Carson, who is black. "And do you know of all the nations in the world, this one, the United States of America, is the only one big enough and great enough to allow all those people to realize their dream. And this is our opportunity to enhance that dream," he added. Earlier in the remarks, Carson said: "That's what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity." HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan attempted to clarify Carson's statement, saying, "Nobody here believes he was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trum...te-house-235703 Knives out for Priebus.

Russian mystery threatens to consume Washington http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/05/politics/don...gton/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/06/politics/tru...x.html?adkey=bn 65% want a special prosecutor appointed, while only 32% believe Congress can handle it correctly Amazingly, through all this, Trump's popularity rating ticked up 1 point, from 44% to 45%. I'm going to assume those numbers were all compiled before the Obama is a bad or sick guy story controversy broke on Twitter.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 5, 2017 -> 09:49 PM) Chaffetz string arming the Hillary news seems more and more likely. He's busier with bringing down Obama, lol... Jason Chaffetz‏Verified account @jasoninthehouse 10h10 hours ago DHS hearing: Obama Admin gave 9,500 visas to potential terrorists, 12/2015 https://youtu.be/WWq6MhBNFMw @realDonaldTrump is fixing this

The timing is going to be terrible on this new immigration ban. The only changes are excluding Iraq and also not blocking green card holders. As someone mentioned, Wag the Dog comes to mind...although the problem is that the new immigration ban and then the ACA Repeal (probably Wednesday) vote are going to stir up even more controversy, instead of diminishing the scrutiny. Nobody in the Senate or from the Democratic Party has even seen the repeal bill...and it hasn't been scored by the CBO, and it probably won't be at the time of the vote. So how do you have 7-8 years now to offer a better version of health care and then turn around and jam it through a straight party line vote, knowing that the CBO's headline will be the loss in budgetary revenues due to the tax credit and especially the millions who won't be able to receive Medicaid with new state caps in place. Unless the bill asserts that competing across state lines and Trump personally controlling drug costs will do the trick, lol?

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/201...internet-214856 The Great Meme War (insightful article on how Trump dominated social media/4chan)

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/chicago...s-robert-030317 It's being reported Ynoa is close friends with him as well...might turn out to be the key to the Shark trade, haha.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-hotel-...-082354494.html Trump D.C. Hotel has raised rates to $500 per night...some suites were $18,000+ the weekend of the inauguration. Although Trump says he is not involved in the day-to-day operations of his businesses, he retains a financial interest in them. A stay at the hotel gives someone trying to win over Trump on a policy issue or political decision a potential chit. That's what concerns ethics lawyers who had wanted Trump to sell off his companies as previous presidents have done. "President Trump is in effect inviting people and companies and countries to channel money to him through the hotel," said Kathleen Clark, a former ethics lawyer for the District of Columbia and a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. She said the "pay to play" danger is even greater than it would be if people wanted to donate to a campaign to influence a politician's thinking. Spending money at a Trump property "is about personally enriching Donald Trump, who happens to be the president of the United States."

Singh said Puget Sound-area Sikh men in particular have reported a rise in verbal abuse and uncomfortable encounters recently, “a kind of prejudice, a kind of xenophobia that is nothing that we’ve seen in the recent past.” To Singh, the number of incidents targeting members of the religion, which has its roots in the Punjab region of South Asia, recalls the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. “But at that time, it felt like the [presidential] administration was actively working to allay those fears,” he said. “Now, it’s a very different dimension.” Sikh Coalition Interim Program Manager Rajdeep Singh, in calling for the hate crime investigation, said in a statement: “While we appreciate the efforts of state and local officials to respond to attacks like this, we need our national leaders to make hate crime prevention a top priority. Tone matters in our political discourse, because this a matter of life or death for millions of Americans who are worried about losing loved ones to hate.” Matt Day: 206-464-2420 or mday@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @mattmday

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trum...bsession-235681 Trump just can't quit Obama If there was a wiretap, after all, Trump now has the authority as president to make it public. Matt Miller, a former Justice Department spokesman under Attorney General Eric Holder, tweeted, “By confirming it publicly, Trump has also pretty much guaranteed no one can be charged for leaking the existence of this FISA warrant. Oops!” As is usually the case, Trump’s supporters in the conservative media gave him all he seems to feel he needs. The Twitter fury that Trump greeted the world with Saturday morning appears to have wormed its way from conservative radio host Mark Levin to White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s former Breitbart News website to the president pecking out on his phone, “Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” Very quickly, he got an echo from a reliable source. “What did OBAMA know and when did he know it??” Hannity wrote on Twitter. Lindsey Graham and Sasse (both Republicans) calling for investigations into wiretapping allegations http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/03...response-nr.cnn

QUOTE (KagakuOtoko @ Mar 4, 2017 -> 07:14 PM) I can see it now. Minority gun sales have probably increased ten fold since the election. Just a matter of time before they start shooting this crazy white f***ers dead. Go back to your country? You first, motherf***er. Just let the Oklahoma State House start working with ICE, VOICE and DHS. TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma lawmaker who once likened Islam to cancer required Muslims to answer several written questions — including, "Do you beat your wife?" — before agreeing to meet with them. Republican state Rep. John Bennett's office distributed the questionnaire on Thursday as the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations organized its annual Muslim Day at the Capitol. The lawmaker's office gave the list of questions to three Islamic school students who came to his office and asked to speak with him. "(The prophet) Mohammed was a killer of pagans, Christians and Jews that did not agree with him," read one of 18 questions on the form. "Do you agree with his example?" The questions asked Muslims whether they would denounce terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and whether they believed former Muslims should be punished for leaving Islam. One question asked Muslims if they agreed that Islamic law, known as Sharia, should rule over non-Muslims. https://www.yahoo.com/news/oklahoma-lawmake...--politics.html

"Obama could be sentenced to up to 5 years in prison if he is investigated and found guilty of wiretapping President Donald Trump's campaign headquarters during the last presidential election..." Lol. Love the Breitbart comments section. In response to Levin/Breitbart hit piece Julian Borger reported for the Guardian back on January 11 that FBI inquiries into ties between four Trump associates and Russian government figures had led to applications for two Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) warrants. One application was rejected, and then a second, narrower application was accepted. Contrary to Trump’s assertions, the President of the United States does not personally direct FBI investigations, and there’s no evidence that Obama had anything to do with this personally. Lurking beneath Trump’s conspiratorial web is simply the reality that he seems to be confirming that intelligence services and the FISA Court believe there is some kind of investigation-worthy evidence out there. http://www.vox.com/2017/3/4/14813434/trump...hoo&ref=yfp

http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/03/03/char...l-flynn?ref=yfp Now it's time for the conservative media to close ranks and blame all current Trump political quagmires on "land mines" set by the Obama admin One positive (if Bannon/Priebus/Miller are out of favor) is that Ivanka softens his worst instincts, like separating mothers from their children at the border...on the other hand, Jared Kushner has zero foreign policy experience...but more of a deal maker than a keyboard warrior, compared to many in the admin. Unless the flashpoint is Israel, that is.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 4, 2017 -> 08:37 AM) 1. Trump is in full panic mode. They must be getting close to the truth about him and Russia 2. His defense is to tweet out stories from Breitbart. Lol They STILL have Milo's podcast prominently featured...along with an exciting assortment of Breitbart souvenirs.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-po...m=.cfaaf78a4c23 Latest WaPo wiretapping story http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_...-03-03-08-20-54 Moscow compares Sessions uproar to McCarthyism....still coordinating news? What next, Russia hacked Oscars to rally Trump voters against Hollywood glamorization of "perverted" gay black males by exchanging La La Land Best Picture envelope for Moonlight? SNL will destroy him tonight. https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...src=twsrc%5Etfw And yet he still has energy to feud with Arnold about Celebrity Apprentice

“Just out: The same Russian Ambassador that met Jeff Sessions visited the Obama White House 22 times, and 4 times last year alone,” Trump tweeted.. Trump small mind doesn't realize that Obama was the sitting president who had the authority to meet with foreign diplomats. "Yahoo Tony" 4 mins ago

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-claims-o...fices-election/ It gets worse. "Obama is a bad (or sick) guy." https://www.yahoo.com/news/this-is-nixonwat...-131755678.html snidesnide29 minutes ago wow kite surfing and wire tapping? Trump you are turning Obama into a regular James Bond!!!!

Not sure where Joshua is going...but the fact is that many of us (including myself!) have probably deserved at least a 5-10 day ban more than once. If anything, the mods here are TOO reasonable. And surely the political jokes have been pushed to the precipice, but life is too short to hold a grudge against a comment riddled with obvious sarcasm.

Moncada with a single and triple...but two more K's. (Second hit was off Andre Rienzo.) Now 7 in 13 abs.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 3, 2017 -> 05:47 PM) Chaffetz contends that because Sessions was a senator it is not perjury due to some rule. "It is, at best, very misleading testimony," said Richard Painter, formerly the top ethics lawyer in President George W. Bush's White House. "I don't go so far as to say that it's perjury, but there is a lesser charge of failing to provide accurate information to Congress." "A nominee at a confirmation hearing has an obligation to provide full and complete information to Congress," Painter continued. "Conduct that might be just short of perjury in a deposition in a typical civil case is entirely inappropriate in front of Congress." However, such misdemeanor charges are usually only rolled out as part of a plea deal after prosecutors obtain or threaten more serious felony perjury charges. Some lawyers say those would be a stretch in Sessions' case. "Perjury is very hard to prove," said former House Counsel Stan Brand, who worked for the Democrats. "You have to prove two elements that are very difficult in the Congressional context: one is intent and two is an absolutely clear and unambiguous question." Politico.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/03/opinions/why...nion/index.html Trump's war on reality is truly baffling (excellent piece) http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/hous...s-it-say-235648 New ObamaCare repeal details leaked... The bill still includes new tax credits for individuals based on age, a proposal that hardline conservatives derided as "Obamacare lite" after POLITICO published a previous version of the draft legislation last week. However, one significant change to the tax credit is being considered: not allowing wealthier Americans to qualify for assistance. No specific proposal for cutting off eligibility has been added to the legislation, but staff have been directed to come up with possible proposals, according to a source familiar with the deliberations. The latest draft, dated Feb. 24, also still includes a plan to phase out Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. Instead the program’s current open-ended federal entitlement would be replaced by capped payments to states based on the number of Medicaid enrollees.

MSU seems safe, Michigan a bit less so. Illinois and Iowa need to win at least two B10 Tourney games.....probably there ends up being a head to head elimination. If they only beat Illinois once or closed out Minnesota, they'd (Iowa) be in the same position or better than Michigan. Have beaten Iowa State, Wichita State (without Van Fleet), MD, Purdue, WI. MD and WI on the road.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Mar 3, 2017 -> 01:11 PM) Who else is gone from the "ton of moves?" They biggest one is still here. Rollins, Lawrie, Navarro, Morneau, Latos, Jackson, Avila, etc. Shields and Frazier still around.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 3, 2017 -> 07:49 AM) Sessions used campaign funds to visit with the Russian ambassador. https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/8374...src=twsrc%5Etfw That means he lied in response to both frankens broad question and the narrower written question. And now Trump will go after the conservative Wall Street Journal, too? Trump can't exactly try to push the stock market back down to enact revenge on them, can he?