One of my biggest annoyances about The Reign of Baby Fists is the consistent claim that Donald Trump is trying to distract us whenever he does something really stupid, unconstitutional, crazy and/or deplorable. As in, Trump’s tweets over the weekend are just a “distraction” from all of the sh-t he did on Monday. While Trump has some Machiavellian madmen on his staff, Baby Fists can’t think two steps ahead on anything. He’s like a child. And everything he does is deplorable to varying degrees. If you want to say that one deplorable thing is worse or more noteworthy than the next, sure, we can find common ground there. But don’t dismiss his words, actions and tweets as merely a “distraction from [insert “real issue” here].” Trump was serious as a heart attack when he accused President Obama of wiretapping him. Just as he was serious when he did all of this sh-t.
Muslim Ban 2.0. Trump signed a new Muslim Ban on Monday. This was actually promised a week ago, but Trump delayed it because he wanted to bask in the glory of the good press he got following his Joint Session address. What does that say to you? It says that the Muslim Ban isn’t about keeping people safe. It is a political document and Trump knows that the document is unpopular and racist. And he doesn’t care. He still signed the Executive Order. The Muslim Ban 2.0 has some minor adjustments and changes from the first EO, but my guess is that the courts are still going to shut it down. “SEE YOU IN COURT!” – what Trump will be shouting next week to a federal appeals court.
The Republican Obamacare-replacement proposal. After years of shenanigans about the GOP “replacement” to the ACA, Republicans have finally introduced their bill. Everything feels very “pulled together at the last moment,” almost as if Republicans were just content to sit on the sidelines and whine for years without ever really considering what they would do differently. While the minutiae of health care policy makes my eyes cross, Vox has some good analysis here. Apparently, Trumpcare (are we calling it that?) will involve massive slashes to Medicaid, tax benefits to the wealthy (shocking!), and oh right, it will probably cost a lot more than the ACA.
Abortion services Part 1. Trumpcare will “defund” Planned Parenthood because they continue to provide legal, safe and constitutional abortion services. As in, if you go to Planned Parenthood for birth control, a pap smear or a cancer screening, Medicaid funds cannot be used to defer any of those costs because Planned Parenthood also provides abortion services. Nevermind that federal money does not actually go towards paying for abortions. Trump apparently challenged Planned Parenthood, telling them that they can get their Medicaid money if they stop providing abortion services. Planned Parenthood’s executive VP issued this statement: “Let’s be clear, federal funds already do not pay for abortions. Offering money to Planned Parenthood to abandon our patients and our values is not a deal that we will ever accept. Providing critical health care services for millions of American women is nonnegotiable.”
Abortion services Part 2. Not content to simply limit women’s choice through Planned Parenthood, the Trumpcare proposal would also “effectively shut down private health insurance coverage for abortion.” As in, if you’re a woman with private health coverage with a plan that covers abortion, your insurance company would be ineligible for federal tax subsidies. It’s a not-so-clever way of making insurance companies drop abortion-coverage from their plans. My guess is that birth control will be next on the chopping block.
And finally, the National Park Service released their photos of Trump’s inauguration. It was un-bigly. What’s hilarious to me is that journalists had to file FOIA requests to get the photos!
Official photos end the Donald Trump vs. Barack Obama inauguration crowd size debate https://t.co/e6y3pJYBFf pic.twitter.com/KS6NxRXb6x
— People Magazine (@people) March 7, 2017
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I love it that Obama’s crowds were bigger than Drump’s crowd.
If it’s any consolation, drumpf beats Barack in the bigly ass department.
Your comment reminds me of this pic:
https://i.reddituploads.com/b54831a885dd4a15a438ab5a41e96d54?fit=max&h=1536&w=1536&s=23ad2a73c12ce89fde6605e3f3b1a7a4
Literally and figuratively. Winning!
OMG sarri, I wasn’t ready for that. LOL
Not thread jacking … but I just went to Twitter and Trump has been a busy boy today. It’s amazing how much fake news he can pack into 140 characters. Touting Ryan’s fake healthcare bill, plagiarizing ExxonMobile, and attacking Obama.
How the hell did we get here?
@Megan. Yes, Dumbo is accusing President Obama of releasing 122 Gitmo prisoners that returned to terrorism. 113 of those 122 were released by GWB.
Bigger than Drumpfs crowd? ! How could that be true? According to Drumpf, he has bigger crowds of supporter than any other president in history. We all know he isn’t a liar, right? This guy has to go. Now
And apparently the Obama photo was taken one hour earlier on Inauguration Day than the Trump photo. So people were lining up early to see Obama inaugurated.
Are we taking bets about whether President Tweeter will now shut up about the size of his inaugural crowd?
Didn’t we already see these photos?
Supposedly the parks service released additional photos, as a result of the FOIA request. And none seem to support ‘bigly’ crowds for 2017.
The photo of Obama’s crowd could have been taken two hours after the end of the ceremony and it still would have been a larger than Trump’s. I was in a ticketed zone and it took us hours to make our way out because the crowd inside and outside the zone was so huge.
Regarding the time taken — I noticed that there do not appear to be many people on the outskirts of the aerial photos for 2009, 2013 or 2017. People are assembled in the center, which suggests these were taken near the same time of each event. If there wasn’t something happening or just about to occur, I think there would be more stragglers elsewhere in the photo.
@Christin. WaPo says the 2009 photo was taken an hour earlier than the 2017 photo, although both inaugurations took place at noon.
Even though it’s funny, and it irks the Hell out of Trump, the debate about these photos is getting old. If I have to hear one more Trump supporter say the crowd was small, because Trump supporters work for a living (implying Obama supporters don’t), I’ll freaking cut a bitch!
When the ACA was painted as “the government trying to get involved in your health care,” people flipped SHIT. They were outraged. They were not having it.
But those very same people are perfectly fine with the government telling a woman what she can and can’t do with her body. They’re ravenous advocates of the government getting involved in a woman’s healthcare. They’ll trash the ACA and say abortion is murder in the same breath.
You can’t f*cking have it both ways. Pure stupidity and hypocrisy. It makes me so, so angry.
And to all the people who are just so damn shocked that the president lied and spouted a conspiracy theory on Twitter: HE HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR YEARS. His tweets have always been public. There was one clear option to keep him out of office, and if you didn’t want a president who lies and says unhighed things on Twitter, you should have chosen that open.
What has always blown my mind is that Republicans are DIE HARD anti-abortion, yet they do everything in their power to limit women’s access to birth control…. which leads to more abortions/unplanned pregnancies. Absolute idiots.
I read a fascinating new study that for every $1 the government spends on family planning, they save more than $7 (a lot of this is because of reduced welfare). In 2016, the government saved $17 billion due to public family planning programs and easier access to birth control.
And that’s the thing. They’re not anti abortion. They’re anti-women. They don’t want women to have bodily autonomy, because that would mean acknowledging that we’re human. They don’t want women having any type of power over themselves, because that would mean their power over women would diminish.
Exactly. Don’t these morons realize that if they take away affordable birth control, more will need abortions. Of course they don’t use common sense while trying to take away our rights. Duh,republicans! Birth control is cheaper than abortions
They prefer women barefoot and pregnant, because that way they aren’t as able to compete with men for jobs. Disallowing a woman to be in charge of her own procreation rights is a form of suppression.
The irony to me is that they are also anti-welfare. They don’t seem to understand that pregnant women mean more human lives on the planet with fewer resources to support them.
Can you please post link to that study (if allowed) – I work in public health and LOVE stashing info like this for rainy day/future reference
It’s also about punishing women for daring to want to have consequence-free sex. Pregnancy is the punishment women deserve for being dirty whores, of course. If women can run around just having sex without fear of pregnancy, then they may start to enjoy it and where would we all be then!
I am LOVING this thread! If men got pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.
I just get so infuriated that so many want to make abortion illegal but then not pursue men who skip out on child support. If women are going to be forced to carry children they didn’t plan on, men should be forced to provide the support. It’s not like we get pregnant by ourselves.
the goal is to increase the pregnancy and birth rate (without any concern about the infant mortality rate or what happens after a child is born).; the decreased control over reproductive decisions means we will, likely, go back to the days when a woman was “ruined” if people found out she’d had sex without benefit of marriage, children are labeled as bastards and poverty increases due to people not being able to afford to care for all of the children they have. The GOP wants to go back to the days of coverture and people so desperate for work they will work for no benefits, low wages and little, if any, protections for workers. They want, generally ignorant masses they can use the church to control a la the times of Charles Dickens
All of this!
@Sunnydaze Sorry for the delayed response! http://economicalmillennial.com/giving-access-to-free-and-low-cost-birth-control-saves-the-u-s-government-at-least-17billion-a-year/
He didn’t threaten PP. He tried to negotiate a deal. Admittedly, it was a crappy deal, and PP was right to turn it down, but he prides himself on being a master negotiator and I think he wanted a win after this horrendous last week.
I don’t think 45 cares about PP. This is Pence. One can only imagine the number of terminations 45 has pushed on mistresses throughout his life.
If your deal involves removing access to potentially life saving services because of a legal medical procedure that is already banned from using federal funds, that is a threat to the women who utilize those services. Especially if you’re secondary maneuver is to remove access to those services through private insurance and make it prohibitively expensive.
He was not trying to negotiate a deal. Trying to heavy hand a group into dropping one of their core beliefs that women deserve safe and legal access to health services is not a negotiation. It is intimidation. The fight over Planned Parenthood is nothing more than the GOP using women’s health to gain points. If PP does get defunded it means poor women can’t get life saving services like pap smears. Defunding PP doesn’t increase the number of other providers offering those services to Medicaid recipients.
Telling PP that they will be defunded if they continue to provide safe abortions is a threat, not a negotiation.
I guarantee that’s not what he thought he was doing. My point here is that because Pence, even if PP had agreed, the WH would still have screwed them over. Part of my concern is that because he is so obnoxious, it’s easy to focus the hatred on him and forget about the real evil hiding behind the curtain.
F*ck him. Also f*ck the GOP and their terrible policies that will disenfranchise everyone but rich white people and give cuts back to insurance which was the problem in the first place. This isn’t healthcare and we no longer care about our most vulnerable citizens. Meanwhile they get health insurance WE pay for. All those years and this is what they come up with?! No wonder they tried to hide the bill
I hope all those working class white people that voted “economically” are happy. You won’t get your jobs back AND you won’t have insurance! Congrats you played yourself.
Btw they are going to force a vote (in two days) before this gets properly evaluated. So get on the phones and call your Congressmen.
Thank you for posting this. I know the whole indivisible movement is going on and I am active there but it also makes me feel better to know my fellow Celeb*tches are calling too. Every one calling – thank you.
“My guess is that birth control will be next on the chopping block.” I’m sure Viagra will be covered as it’s the only way trump’s shrivelled dick works. I loathe him. Someone please assure me that he looks more and more unhealthy, like drop dead unhealthy, every day.
Being in a constant state of rage isn’t good for anyone’s health.
I think my only hope at this point is that so many people publicly taunt, mimic, criticize and otherwise enrage him that he just strokes out.
Well in the irony of ironies, their “Trump” card is — wait for it — Pence.
I was actually thinking about it yesterday – he looks almost haunted in the pics from the weekend. I probably shouldn’t enjoy looking at his unhappy mug, but I sure do. SO MUCH! However, I still wouldn’t wish him to just drop dead – that would be way too easy on him. I really hope Twittler goes up in flames of humiliation and disgrace and lives long enough to fully realize that he will go down in history as the worst POTUS ever.
Unfortunately, it’s the cockroaches of the world that seem to survive against all odds. See: Charlie Sheen.
This whole thing just makes me so angry. Honestly. If they’re trying to take abortions off the table – any sensible person would say ‘well, lets step up our game with providing other more affordable methods. But it’s not about being sensible – it’s about not giving a shit about women. How many people have to seek out birth control to help for other health issues? I know I have, and I don’t know what I would do without it. If this was JUST about abortions and unwanted pregnancy, there would be cuts to viagra and any other male enhancement drugs. But it’s never been about that.
People who cause the most turmoil and grief for others tend to be last ones standing. At least that’s my own mid-life observation.
It’s about legislating religion and it’s about appealing to the Evangelical base.
Pence and Bannon are driving this.
It’s frustrating. And it makes me so angry. Canadian politics make me feel pretty stabby – but it does make me feel pretty lucky at other times. I do, however, work for a large US based company – and they’ve been scaling back our insurance plans for a bit now. We had a great one when I started working here – then they swapped it to a ‘more affordable one’ that still was pretty good. Then they downgraded us as of November 1st – and old us it was happening on October 31st.
I know I’m ultimately very lucky – and I certainly know my life is incredibly privileged in comparison to so many people. I’m a white, blue eyed, straight woman under 30 who grew up in a mainly stable home environment and who never really worried about having a roof over my head, or food on my table. The kind of discrimination that I most obviously faced was dealing with our American customers when I was taking support calls for website changes. I had one guy who practically was stalking me – refused to talk to anyone but me, and would tell me in what he thought was a ‘cute’ way that he has been to NS before, and I sounded so sweet that Mr. Erinn better watch out”. I had a pastor call in and list off changes, then asked me what I do at the company – and was taken aback when I told him I do the same thing that the guys on the team did – and had seniority over every single one of them. I’ve had women who refused to accept what I had to tell them – and who would demand to speak to one of the guys who would tell her the exact same thing. On the flip side – I had amazing customers – one woman in particular comes to mind – (A Boston University grad – yay Boston, Kitten!) who would request to work with me any time she could because I always did her work meticulously and on time, and it made her so happy to see a woman thriving in such a male dominated field.
And no matter how shitty I felt at the end of some of those phone calls – I still have it leaps and bounds better than so many other women out there. It’s heartbreaking to know what kind of struggles people have to go through – and how much harassment and prejudice, and just garbage behavior they’re expected to put up.
I really truly hope, that there is a light at the end of this shitshow. It’s what’s keeping me going at this point – knowing that there are so many people who ARE being brought together who are working towards fixing the mess we’re in.
Well, SuzanneToo, I hope it helps that just yesterday, I remarked that he looks as as if he’s aged ten years in the last three months. He was not cut out for this, and he’s certainly not up to this, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the job is giving him a lot of grief. He’s even ditched the urine-hued hair… Tanguerita has the right idea of how the chapter ends for him.
Birth control is only covered now because it is a mandated benefit. Ryan’s turd strips away ALL mandated benefits. No birth control, unless your state mandates it or whoever negotiates your coverage buys a plan that includes it (most Americans have employment based health insurance, your boss makes that decision for you); also, no mandated hospital stays after c-sections or mastectomies, no coverage for wellness visits like an annual physical, no mandated coverage of pap smears or mammograms.
In Spanish we have a saying “mala hierba nunca muere”, which means “a bad weed never dies” so do not expect Trump to drop dead anytime soon (much to our disppointment ) I know it is not very christian to wish anyone’s death but Trump really makes me angry. His policies are not very christian either.
they already laid the groundwork to attack contraception that a woman can control through the stupid Pharmacist’s conscience clauses and Hobby Lobby rulings in which they declared hormonal contraception to be abortifacients purely based on their personal beliefs, which they declare should allow them to disregard science/fact
Oh, we’ll be calling it Trumpcare. If only there were some easier way to call it TrumpRyanMcConnellCare, so we could attach all their names to this dumpster fire of a health care plan forever, so that people will always remember (maybe throw “Wisconsin” and “Kentucky” in there somehow – I’m holding everyone accountable! Though I can’t imagine how it feels to be someone in WI or KY who hates Ryan/McConnell the way I do.) Throw McCain’s name on there, too, since I’m confident he at least has the nerve to do something about Trump, yet is choosing not to.
If it sounds slapped together that’s because it absolutely is. They had all this time to come up with a great plan. And Trump himself was going to have a great plan. And this is what they got. Defunding Planned Parenthood and slashing Medicaid. Years of the Republican party’s finest minds…I guess this is what you get.
We can call it TRUMPcare, and it’s short for:
T•rump
R•yan
U•ninsured Americans, and lots of em
M•cConnell
P•ence
Well done, Shamby!
We’ll be calling it Nocare because that is what it is.
I’ve heard it called Deathcare. These rich, idiotic politicians don’t realize or care how important health care really is. They’ve had 6 years to create a wonderful plan, but instead they came up with this .
oh, they realize how important it is and that it’s not something that should be left to “what the market will bear” Those pushing this want an increase in poverty & illness
I’m calling it “Ryan’s Turd.”
for the win…
I LOVE this comment. Thank you for calling it “Ryan’s Turd”.
I’m going with Hate Care. Or Neglect Care. Or, what it really is, Republicans Don’t Care Care.
@giddy I think Hate Care sums it up nicely. Douche bag extraordinaire Jason Chaffetz says under the Republican plan poor people will need to chose between healthcare and a new iPhone. Because, to Republicans, being poor means you are bad and, therefore, must be punished.
Omg, what a dick! I wish nothing but humiliation for Chaffetz too. He’s terrible.
How about NoTryanCare as in not trying to care?
I live in Wisconsin and yeah it’s horrible having Ryan and several others screwing us over on a daily basis.
I’m still waiting for the day his supporters realize that he doesn’t give a fvck about them.
@Indira Of course he cares about them. Look at how he is going after the Muslims and other people they hate. I guess getting your racist dreams fulfilled is as good as getting a job and affordable healthcare to some people.
This Muslim ban was delayed a week because he wouldn’t put his phone down or stop golfing on his latest vacation. Do his supporters really believe he knows what a president does? He’s a coldhearted monster who doesn’t give a flying f*ck about anyone but himself
I’m annoyed that no Republican says something about Trump’s weekly trips to Florida. They threw a tantrum about Obama’s vacations but don’t say a word about Trump’s trips.
As I texted my friend last night “whiteness is the ultimate pass”
Seems really like that. Sad.
Speaking of blatant hypocrisy, I lost my sh*t yesterday on a Trumpster (a friend of a friend on FB) who posted a comment about the “riots” at Berkley and some of the other so-called riots that have broken out at Trump protests, which let’s face it- is only a handful of people out of millions.
Anyway, this person said “Trump called for unity and calm. When did the Right ever do this to Obama? Shouldn’t Obama and Clinton be speaking out and telling people on the Left to unite behind the legally-elected President?”
I went off the rails you guys.
My response: “Trump asked for “unity and calm”? He’s leveling completely unfounded, unproven and VERY serious libelous accusations against a former president. What the hell does it matter if reading from a teleprompter he tells the American public to remain “united” if he then turns around and wields incendiary and baseless accusations against a presidential predecessor? Not only is that not keeping the peace or pushing for ANY kind of unity, that is completely and utterly unprofessional and un-presidential.
And why the F*CK should Obama tell anyone to get behind Trump? Trump is quite literally making it a personal mission, one that stems from jealousy and a vindictive nature to roll back every single piece of legislation that Obama put through, completely decimating his presidential legacy. On top of that, he’s leveling unfounded accusations against Obama and BHO is supposed to step forward and tell everyone to support Trump? F*ck that. Obama has already been MORE than generous in his classy and dignified response to this overgrown toddler’s tantrums. He owes Trump absolutely NOTHING at this point.
Also a reminder that Trump is the guy who pushed the birther bullshit for YEARS until he was finally forced to acknowledge that Obama was indeed an American citizen. He never apologized, never showed an ounce of remorse or contrition and now you think Obama should defend this guy? GTFO”
I posted the link of all the disgusting burning effigies of Obama hanging from a tree and all the awful and horrific sh*t that happened during the riots that broke out after Obama got elected. Of course he never responded.
This is the second argument I’ve gotten in with Trumpsters about how Obama was treated by the Right. It doesn’t even REMOTELY surprise me that none of these people remember how the GOP sh*t all over Obama because Breitbart, Redstate, Fox News and other conservative news sources NEVER talk about the awful sh*t that Right does. OF COURSE, these people would have no idea. SMDH.
And I don’t recall ANY high-profile Republican speaking out against the racist violence that erupted back then, not one single one.
Sorry for the long-ass rant…I’m just so heated these days, you guys.
Kitten I feel you. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. You can try to point out facts to these people, but they just won’t get it. I think it might be bad for our blood pressure to engage these people. At this point, I don’t know what Trump could even do to alienate these people. They keep digging their heels in. Remember when we all pondered who the supporters would blame now that the GOP is in charge? Well they are still blaming Obama, Pelosi and Schumer. They are straight up making things up just to blame and deride the dems.
I know we shouldn’t paint his supporters with the same brush, but I’m sorry they are just ignorant. Ignorant, racist, xenophobic, and fragile. I watched the Frontline documentary on Obama’s presidency and those people were out there letting their racist freak flags fly. The signs at their tea party rallies had a racist vibe, they hated Obama and refused to listen to him from day one. People like McConnell refused to work with him from day one. Yet it’s always going to be his fault. It will always be the democrat’s fault. They will never ever admit what an absolute failure Trump has been since he is pushing through all the awful and crazy stuff he wanted them to do.
I think it’s noble to want to school those fools, but it’s probably futile. I honestly think Trump would have to say Black Lives Matter, police brutality is a real problem etc to piss off his fan base.
@Kitten, love you! But I think you might have used to many “bigly” words for them to understand. I have a couple friends of my brothers (well-educated) that believe anything that comes from Trump’s camp. Anything against Trump is just wrong. When I point out truths of what is told, I don’t get answers back either. The last was on vouchers – and I won’t get started on that one. They don’t necessarily want the truth and are not willing to accept any opinions that are not theirs. After about 3 responses to their idiocy, I stop. Not worth it.
@kitten, I totally understand your situation. I have friends, family, and people that I don’t actually know say the same things. They won’t listen or are too embarrassed to hear the true facts and that they supported a gross,racist, sexist,homophobic pig who doesn’the care about anyone.This is the only place I go and not be told I’m wrong and just a snowflake. On Thursday, a friend said I should realize Trump and his people want to end Planned Parenthood because it would save black people. She said how everyone including Hillary knew it was started by a lady who put PP in black neighborhoods so all the “knocked up n word girls could stop making more blacks who waste our money”. Then she said I should be happy that my black boyfriend wasn’t aborted. I was so mad and shocked she said that. I got up and walked away quickly after telling her to “go to hell”. I’ll never speak to her again. I can’t believe Trump has so many people supporting him. It really is disgusting that people think and say these cruel things. I wish Obama could come back because Trump is destroying everything
Kitten, I know you’re heated, these are crazy times. I loved what you wrote. Did you get any response??
Kitten no response is a great response. It means you basically intellectually shamed them to the point they don’t know how to respond.
All I ever get back is NOOOO DURRR KILLARY DURRRRRRR *link to unreputable website that supports their made up claims*
Oh my god I love you guys. Thanks for taking the time to read through my long-winded rant and thanks for sharing similar stories. Honestly this place is like therapy sometimes. All of you keep me sane and make me feel less alone. Lately, the crazy-ass sh*t I’ve been reading from his supporters has pushed me to the brink.
@Beth-That is so effin VILE. I’m so sorry you had to be subjected to that woman’s disgusting bullshit.
This is the thing: people keep saying Trumpsters aren’t racist but….ok so maybe not all of them are but..
So that same guy that I ranted against said that Obama made race relations worse because he spoke out about Trayvon who he (predictably) called a “thug”. I went to tell him that George Zimmerman, a murderer, a woman-beater, and a man who has been arrested several times is the very definition of a thug. It went back-and-forth like this until I asked him why he though Trayvon was a thug.
What had that kid done except for make the grave mistake of walking through the wrong neighborhood? He went on to tell me that it was the way he dressed and the way he acted. Oh ok. So basically he’s a “thug” because black and wore a hoodie.
Sigh.
I don’t know guys….I can only speak from my interactions but from what I’ve seen, many Trump supporters are at the very least latently racist.
United State of America is in really deep shit. I am so sorry for the Americans who didn’t vote for Trump to live with this mess that Obama cleaned up and then Trump destroyed it with these ridiculous bill. My prediction…. American will go bankrupt and Trump will take all the money he has and run with it.
Trump supporters, you will be broke and be in poverty for the rest of your lives because Donald Trump don’t care about you. And since you think you are better than the color person because Donald Trump say so, I wouldn’t be surprise that you give him you rent money and you living on the streets while he is sipping champagne and living the ‘good life’ because he has taken all of your money.
Remember what Lyndon B Johnson had said about poor whites feeling proud.
People have caught in his tactics and even journalists are now not allowing themselves to be distracted by the real news.
Trump and his administration is going down and it is happening quicker than I thought.
Trump never wanted to win and now he’s going down as the worst president ever. He must miss his gold apartment and his HW friends who hate him now.
Trump didn’t want to win and never thought he’d be able to con enough of these suckers to vote for him. Must be a ginormous blow to his ego to have so many hate him and the world see how bad he’s doing
Ryan’s healthcare “plan” is actually old stuff that the House GOP has been pushing for years. The links they are posting on their websites and twitter accounts bring up an old document that complains about Obama as if he were still President and they have to get enough votes on their “plan” to override his veto.
The “plan” brings back “empty can” plans that lead to underinsured people and medical bankruptcies and people putting off medically necessary care due to cost. Plans will be allowed to bring back caps on care so people with pre-existing conditions stay “covered” but only so long as they don’t need treatment. And only so long as there is no “disruption” in coverage. If they change jobs or their employer changes plans, which can happen annually, they lose coverage.
So they finally unveiled their “lets screw everyone over but the rich” health plan. The Trump supporters who thought “he wasn’t serious” are about to face some reality. And the asshats are going to ram it through The House before the Congressional Budget Office has a chance to score it for its budgetary effects. I pray they are all brought down in 2018.
P.S. is it me, or is People magazine taking digs at Trump versus US Weekly’s sucking up?
This is like the kid who has an entire week to do a project and turns in some half-assed shambles that he put together at 3 am the night before. All the years they’ve been standing by and bitching about this and can’t come up with anything better. Healthcare reform had to start somewhere. Obama/Hillary/Dems got it going. That must really piss off the Old Boy’s Club.
And he tapes his tie!!
We had one of those raucous town hall meetings last night. In Mobile, ALABAMA!! It’s spreading.
http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2017/03/rep_bradley_byrne_greeted_by_j.html
That is so great!! Right in jeff sessions’ stomping ground. Thank you for doing this.
There was a lively one in my region last night that had an overflow crowd, and we’re also in a heavily red area. So red that my 85-year-old MIL’s podiatrist was telling her today how the wiretapping really happened. ‘Cause BO did it before! Here was a doctor spouting talking points, during an elderly (Democratic) woman’s medical visit.
FYI for anyone interested in how Emperor Zero can be impeached:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-trump-impeachment-wiretapping-20170306-story.html
Hope the link works. Written by a lawyer.
Michael Moore was right – President Trump is worse that we could have even imagined. In what way is this better for regular people than ObamaCare, even from a Republican standpoint?
Highly recommend any women on birth control to look into the birth control implant now. It’s probably covered 100% by your insurance and will last throughout the rest of this clusterf*ck of an administration (term 1 at least). Definitely agree that birth control will likely be on the chopping block next.
There will be no mandated benefits so unless your state mandates coverage or your employer negotiates coverage that includes it, if you’re on employment-based insurance, or you buy an insurance plan that specifically includes it, no, it will not be a covered service.
Myself and many, many people are in trouble if Medicaid is slashed and taken away. Not everyone is able to work and makes paying for insurance impossible. If I was there when Trump was making fun of the disabled guy, I would have to of been held back from punching his fat, ugly, orange face.
You know what scares me the most, as a foreigner? The discrepancy on their procedure, on what they say and actually do.
An argentine citizen was barred from re entering NYC. He was a legal resident for over a decade, had an art gallery in Chelsea (or similar) and employed americans and legal inmigrants. No reason given to him. He was detained for 14 hours, mistreated and humilliated; had everything taken from him, and denied a call or a lawyer.
I hope he sues the heck out of the US Government.
Another argentine citizen with DREAMER status was deported out of nowhere. Didn’t Trump say DREAMERS were OK?
I have been to the US since the age of 1. I lived there for 6 months. I used to go every 2 years. Now? I don’t think I will. The thought of being detained or humilliated, turned away after paying for everything, will keep me away. Time to look at what Canada and Mexico has to offer to tourists.
I agree Cee – it is sad and also scary. I think this mistreatment is going to end with reciprocity. brazil for example now photographs all US citizens that enter Brazil – but only US citizens, because the US does it to them.
so I believe americans are going to be treated terribly when they travel.
I suppose I find it a little sad that the customs and border officials react this way.
I wonder if there are little stories of agents resisting, at all?
I thought everyone got photographed? Like they take your fingerprints and take a photo. I have been subjected to this everywhere except maybe some countries in Mercosur (have never been to Brazil!)
On CNN last night they said that tourism had dropped low since Trump took office, the to be honest I would not want to visit the states myself anymore because Trump and his terrible administration have put an unwelcoming feeling about the US, it doesnt feel like the same country anymore, who I always admired and dreamed of going to see especially Newyork and Los Angeles, his ugliness inside and out has smeared all of America and its image.
Agree. I’d love to visit the US again, but not in Trump’s (hopefully limited) term. One of our country’s leading children’s authors, a white woman in her 70’s, was detained at the airport on her way to give a lecture. She witnessed horrific acts on the part of officials:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-25/mem-fox-detained-at-los-angeles-airport-by-us-officials/8303366
My family was offered a free vacation this year, and the person offering it recommended Disneyland (we have young kids.) Ultimately we decided to stay in our own country and the decision was 100% driven by the instability Trump’s administration has caused in the U.S.
Did they mention what the tourism stats were? I’d like to know how much they have dropped already and what the rates will be come tourist season. I think tourism industry businesses are going to go under by the hundreds this year, if not thousands. So many more people are going to be out of jobs.
@Addie – I read about it when it happened (I was in Europe on hols) and it was a wake up call. It can happen to ANYONE. It’s not just citizens from the banned countries – anyone is fair game. Imagine paying all expenses for a family trip and being turned away for an arbitrary reason they won’t even share with you.
We own property in Orlando and we will just rent it instead of using it ourselves.
Come on over! Great national parks, lots of places to be in nature from camping to luxury chalets. Great restaurants, fabulous museums, decent shopping (I admit, not as cheap as the US) and lots of fun festivals throughout the year, no matter what interests you have. Best of all, you’re in far less danger (our gun laws are far stricter) and our people will make you feel welcome, from the border agents to the guy on the street you ask for directions.
I’m honestly considering going to Canada in the next 4 years. I wanted to get my MBA in the US but that’s no longer possible (unless the lunatic is impeached and removed). I had a canadian professor at uni and he was not only a great scholar, he spoke very highly of the canadian school system and unis. If something positive comes out of this debacle then I hope it’s a boom in tourism in other countries.
Forgive me for my stupidity in this matter but wasn’t Obamacare originally created by Mitt Romney and Republicans? And didn’t the democrats make some changes but figured the republicans would approve of it? I know I read somewhere that Romney had a fit because he only meant it for state level not nationwide. So why was such a big deal made about Obamacare? Because he was a democrat and he was black?!? Is that why we want the country to implode and people to not have healthcare and die? All shades of people I might add. Idiots.
I truly believe their gripe with it is that it has OBAMA in it.
Should have called Americares.
The Republicans started calling it Obamacare to express their dislike of it. The name caught on, unfortunately. Obama didn’t like it at first but then decided to embrace the name.
The Affordable Care Act really was based on the setup in Romney’s state so it wasn’t a Democratic invention. Baffling that the Republicans have been dead set against it. The original worked well in a single state.
It just needed a public option because the private insurers can’t be trusted. They narrowed the network so much in Indiana that my splendid exchange policy couldn’t be used except in an emergency, unless I paid someone for a day to take me to another city more than an hour away. And of course the insurers were soon up to their old premium-raising tricks.
The right called it Obamacare to whip up their conservative constituents. And it worked. I call it the ACA, I try not to call it Obamacare because of the negative right wing connotations.
and it worked, it’s amazing how many proud Trump supporters think ACA is wonderful and saved their lives but demand Obamacare be repealed
I believe the press nicknamed it Obamacare and the republicans used it as a stick to beat him with. It worked as many people think Obamacare and the ACA are 2 different things.
I’ve heard people say we need to get rid of Obamacare but keep the ACA. They’ve said the ACA is great and hope it isn’t stopped. When I told my friend they were the same thing,she didn’t believe me until she Googled it. What the hell! Some people are beyond clueless.
Mitt Romney(R) started this Obamacare type of insurance plan Massachusetts which is a big time blue state. People from other states either don’t know or don’t want to believe a Republican did this because they are anti-Obama or hate democrats.
Romney’s contribution to Romney care was the individual mandate. The rest was put together by Kennedy staffers, democrats in the state legislature, Health Care for All, a very strong patient advocacy group, hospitals (MA has some powerful hospitals & healthcare is one of the state’s biggest industries) and insurers, with the loudest voice in that group being Charlie Baker, then CEO of Harvard Pilgrim, now Republican governor of MA. Baker submitted a good proposal to Congress that would save and improve the ACA and Ryan ignored him.
I cant even make a joke as it is just too sad now to try even give some sarcastic jibe at him….my heartbreaks
Of course Emperor Zero is trying to sell the new DeathCare to Americans on twitter. Pity there are now 5 GOP reps ready to reject it outright.
Flop!
But he said (tweeted) it is WONDERFUL!
Don’t you believe the tweeted news of Diaper Bigly?
I know some of my posts are tangential, but, they’re important.
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/7/1640826/-Morning-Digest-Nervous-Georgia-GOP-re-gerrymanders-state-House-to-protect-vulnerable-Republicans
That makes me so angry. These people do not believe in democracy!
Every day brings new horrors from this sh^tshow of an administration. Every. Single. Day.
As distressed as I am about the new Muslim ban, Planned Parenthood’s plight and the repeal of Obamacare, my blood ran extra cold when I read this morning about HB 610, which will essentially gut public education (source: a teacher friend):
This bill will effectively start the school voucher system to be used by children ages 5 to 17, and starts the de-funding process of public schools.
The bill will eliminate the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESSA) of 1965 which is the nation’s educational law and provides equal opportunity in education. It is a comprehensive program that covers programs for struggling learners, AP classes, ESL classes, classes for minorities such as Native Americans, Rural Education, Education for the Homeless, School Safety (Gun-Free schools), Monitoring and Compliance and Federal Accountability Programs.
The bill also abolishes the Nutritional Act of 2012 (No Hungry Kids Act) which provides nutritional standards in school breakfast and lunch. For our most vulnerable, this may be the ONLY nutritious food they have in a day.
The bill has no wording whatsoever protecting special needs kids, no mention of IDEA and FAPE.
Some things the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESSA) of 1965 does for Children with Disabilities:
-ensures access to the general education curriculum
-ensures access to accommodations on assessments
-ensures concepts of Universal Design for Learning
-includes provisions that require local education agencies to provide evidence-based interventions in schools with consistently underperforming subgroups
-requires states in Title I plans to address how they will improve conditions for learning including reducing incidents of bullying and harassment in schools, overuse of discipline practices and reduce the use of aversive behavioral interventions (such as restraints and seclusion).
Can I share this? I feel like people don’t understand the scope of this bill, mainly because the GOP is incredibly adept at distracting their constituents with shiny objects.
Kitten- the Trumpsters know. They love it cause they agree with this crap. They believe education is promoting “the liberal agenda” and are happy with “choice”. Because they’re stupid.
Of course. There’s also HR 899, which would also TERMINATE the dept of education. Sigh.
I noticed a typo above, it’s HR 610, not HB 610.
I agree with Rapunzel that Trumpeters know most of what’s in this bill and applaud it. It’s what the tea partiers in my town have been salivating about for years as they bash our public schools and demonize our teachers every chance they get. I wonder what their thoughts would be if any of them had kids with special needs. But that would require looking beyond their narrow minded agenda.
Naive question perhaps, but if the next President is a democrat, can’t he/she just reverse what Trump has done to education, PP or the ACA? This is assuming the House majority is also Dem.
Let’s not forget all this is also going on:
In case anyone is getting too sidetracked by the Russian spy drama, the following bills have been introduced:
1. HR 861 Terminate the Environmental Protection Agency
2. HR 610 Vouchers for Public Education
3. HR 899 Terminate the Department of Education
4. HJR 69 Repeal Rule Protecting Wildlife
5. HR 370 Repeal Affordable Care Act
6. HR 354 Defund Planned Parenthood
7. HR 785 National Right to Work (this one ends unions)
8. HR 83 Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Bill
9. HR 147 Criminalizing Abortion (“Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act”)
10. HR 808 Sanctions against Iran
Another thing they’ve done is remove from the government web site the link that was a source for reporting animal welfare abuses, such as puppy mills, roadside zoos, factory farms, etc. Because, of course, if you can’t be bothered to care about desperate Syrians or Iraqis or immigrants or families like the Khans, why would you give a shit about abused dogs or simians or chickens.
I loathe everyone who supports trump or implements his policies. If there’s any justice in the world, they’ll get theirs.
They are all heartless, and notice that Trump did not get a dog for the Whitehouse which I believe every President in history has done, he doesnt seem to like animals at all in my opinion, which says alot about him, anybody who doesnt love animals, are cold and heartless to me.
Holy SHIT, you guys. I keep reading headlines up here in Canada and thinking every day is something worse… How is it possible that every day is something worse?! I’m aghast.
Jaysus fracking kerist. And the horror just keeps on coming.
Trump’s been a busy boy trying to wreck Obama’s hard won policies and reputation. And when it comes to women’s rights, Trump is in the dark ages along with his no-choice supporters. Even punishing women for having abortions would be okay with him. I don’t think it was fair to give this p*ssygrabber such power over women.
And he’s ranting on twitter about the “fake news” saying there’s tension and fighting in his administration. Which means they’re all at each others throats and someone’s likely getting fired soon.
If only someone, anybody, had warned us:
http://twitter.com/khanoisseur/status/838977472829874176
Follow the money, follow the money, follow the money.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal
All of trump’s birther lies collated.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/09/16/donald_trump_s_birther_tweets_in_order.html
He is evil…and so are his followers.
Call it TRUMPcare ..becomes it trumps caring/GAF about the average American’s access to health care. That, or call it ‘TrumpDONTcare’ – cuz he doesn’t. I get enraged whenever I come across someone who voted for him. THEY HELPED MAKE THIS HAPPEN. Trump and his whole administration is a disgrace. It will take years to undo the damage already done:/
Megan, You won the internet today. Yes, having their “racist dreams fulfilled” will do it for them, even if they get no health care, jobs, or anything else. And without their basic needs filled, they’ll be more angry, rabid, ignorant and violent, not against Trump, but against their favorite victims (fill in the blank with non-white, non-Christian people). I see very frightening things ahead for this country. (Don’t forget they’re “2nd Amendment people” and are already fully armed). Good times.
Non-Trump voters are still allowed to buy guns. My military son called and said he would teach me to shoot on his next home leave. My daughter wants her healthy appendix removed now, while she still has healthcare coverage for the operation — just in case. The GOP morality bills will have the same sorts of unintended consequences as Prohibition did.
Is he just going to lead by executive order like Dolores Umbridge or am I confused here?