POTUS Donald Trump

[drjim]

It's not a sexy comparison, but the comparisons of Trump to Carter seem more and more apt. For all the bluster and energy, seems very likely that minimal legislation will be passed.

[Squirrel]

It's not a sexy comparison, but the comparisons of Trump to Carter seem more and more apt. For all the bluster and energy, seems very likely that minimal legislation will be passed.

I get the comparison you are making, but putting Trump and Carter in any kind of comparative sentence is really a disservice to Carter who is an admirable human being.

[Mike Sixel]

 

It's not a sexy comparison, but the comparisons of Trump to Carter seem more and more apt. For all the bluster and energy, seems very likely that minimal legislation will be passed.

 

Ha, we'll see huge increases in defense spending, huge reductions in the EPA (if it exists), a new healthcare law (no matter how it turns out, things will change), and much, much more. 

[drjim]

 

I get the comparison you are making, but putting Trump and Carter in any kind of comparative sentence is really a disservice to Carter who is an admirable human being.

 

True. Not a comment on their character but on the legislation that will be passed, even with control of Congress.

[drjim]

 

Ha, we'll see huge increases in defense spending, huge reductions in the EPA (if it exists), a new healthcare law (no matter how it turns out, things will change), and much, much more. 

 

I'm not so sure the defense spending will be that huge, or if a health care law passes. That's where the Carter comparison comes from.

 

The change to EPA, while horrendous, would probably happen with any Republican, and would be reversed if the Dems win in 20 (or God help us 24).

[Mike Sixel]

 

I'm not so sure the defense spending will be that huge, or if a health care law passes. That's where the Carter comparison comes from.

 

The change to EPA, while horrendous, would probably happen with any Republican, and would be reversed if the Dems win in 20 (or God help us 24).

 

I'll take both those bets. Next time I am in MN in 2018, loser buys dinner?

[drjim]

Maybr it's a matter of degree, what's a "huge" increase and what would be a change to health care under this definition?

 

A bet I will not take is tax cuts and deregulation. That will happen

[Mike Sixel]

 

Maybr it's a matter of degree, what's a "huge" increase and what would be a change to health care under this definition?

A bet I will not take is tax cuts and deregulation. That will happen

 

Fair. I'm going with over 8% increase in the annual defense budget...when we already spend more than the next 12 nations combined. Sigh. Just NO MONEY for healthcare, or housing, or food, or job retraining, or roads, or public schools.....but man, we can kill the $^@$#^!$^YT out of people.

[Craig Arko]

Michael Flynn was a lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign? The hits keep coming.

 

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/former-trump-security-adviser-flynn-admits-turkey-lobbying

[drjim]

Fair. I'm going with over 8% increase in the annual defense budget...when we already spend more than the next 12 nations combined. Sigh. Just NO MONEY for healthcare, or housing, or food, or job retraining, or roads, or public schools.....but man, we can kill the $^@$#^!$^YT out of people.

I don't approve, but does seem relatively standard Republican prioritization.

 

If liberals don't like it, win elections.

[drjim]

Michael Flynn was a lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign? The hits keep coming.

 

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/former-trump-security-adviser-flynn-admits-turkey-lobbying

This is still very much just the beginning. What a time to be alive.

[D. Hocking]

 

Michael Flynn was a lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign? The hits keep coming.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/former-trump-security-adviser-flynn-admits-turkey-lobbying

 

I read somewhere that Trump said he did not know of this - which I am not sure if that makes him look better or worse (relatively speaking), not that I necessarily believe him regardless.

[Mike Sixel]

 

I don't approve, but does seem relatively standard Republican prioritization.

If liberals don't like it, win elections.

 

I was merely answering your huge question.

[Bark's Lounge]

 

What a time to be alive.

I take no joy from stress, incompetence, a lurking shadow of corruption that has yet to be identified and the reversal of progress for the people who really need it, which takes decades to move forward and a few months to set back decades when in the hands of rich, powerful, people who could give a **** about anyone but themselves and their rich counterparts.

 

It's getting to the point where I think I'd rather be swimming with the fishes.

[Craig Arko]

I take no joy from stress, incompetence, a lurking shadow of corruption that has yet to be identified and the reversal of progress for the people who really need it, which takes decades to move forward and a few months to set back decades when in the hands of rich, powerful, people who could give a **** about anyone but themselves and their rich counterparts.

 

It's getting to the point where I think I'd rather be swimming with the fishes.

On the bright side, it's a golden age for planetary science.

[Bark's Lounge]

 

Michael Flynn was a lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign? The hits keep coming.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/former-trump-security-adviser-flynn-admits-turkey-lobbying

Erdogan is a menace. The best thing that ever happened for the Ottoman empire was Attaturk. Once it's empire was disolved, Attaturk reformed what was left (Turkey) and made it a secular society with reforms to the school system, language, and culture.

 

I imagine the people who live in that country, who embraced Attaturk's system of government, are in fear of the probability that Erdogan will make Turkey a Muslim Fundamentalist State.

 

I wish that coup was successful last summer.

 

It failed, if it was even real. Erdogan will suck the life out of the country, using the Kurds as his scapegoat.

 

He is as bad as Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, Trump, etc...

 

When you start attacking and dismantling secular structures of your government, that is when you should know your enemy is coming to destroy everything you love or embraced.

[PseudoSABR]

http://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/styles/downsample150to92/public/atoms/files/tax-credits-change-waterfall_450.png?itok=MAtBwglf

LOL Republicans.  CFPP

Rural states are disproportionately represented among the most-harmed states because they tend to have higher premiums, owing to less competitive insurance and provider markets 

[stringer bell]

I watched MSNBC yesterday (one eye on it, one on my computer) and it was 99% anti-Trump. I don't think I've ever tuned to that network for more than an hour before, but I had stuff to do on my 'puter and never changed the channel. Rachael Maddow is liberal I know, The Last Word had a substitute host and then Brian Williams. The topics were the same: Russia connections featuring the British go-between visiting the Wiki-Leaks guy, the CIA summoning the eight legislative leaders to Langley and the Spicer non-denial that Trump is under investigation by the FBI. Also a sprinkling of how terrible the Republican health care replacement would be. That's a lot of stuff for less than 50 days in office.

 

I simply can't imagine Trump lasting even two years. While I don't necessarily look forward to a President Pence, I think there would be some competence.

[nicksaviking]

 

 

 

When you start attacking and dismantling secular structures of your government, that is when you should know your enemy is coming to destroy everything you love or embraced.

 

Thank God we don't have that worry.

[D. Hocking]

 

Thank God we don't have that worry.

 

Yes - I am breathing a sigh of relief...

 

[PseudoSABR]

Excellent article on the free market and health care (although I don't agree with all of the author's conclusions). 

The medical industry exists almost entirely to serve people who have been rendered incapable of representing their own interests in an adversarial transaction. When I need health services I often need them in a way that is quite different from my desire for a good quality television or a fine automobile. As I lie unconscious under a bus, I am in no position to shop for the best provider of ambulance services at the most reasonable price. All personal volition is lost. Whatever happens next, it will not be a market transaction.

 

[TheLeviathan]

That's a good article.  I use many of the same arguments against Republicans when they argue about letting the market decide with school choice.

 

There are some things the market is not applicable to (or shouldn't be) - health care, military, and education come to mind as the top three. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

That's a good article.  I use many of the same arguments against Republicans when they argue about letting the market decide with school choice.

 

There are some things the market is not applicable to (or shouldn't be) - health care, military, and education come to mind as the top three. 

 

roads and water and the environment, fire, police.

[drjim]

I think the reason for these are that they are fundamentally public goods that provide value to society beyond the individual served. A really strong economic argument can be made, but it is a little harder to make clear and concise.

[drjim]

The article also hits on the two major market distortions in healtg care, the *very* inelastic demand curve and the general lack of information from consumers.

 

There is a system that would potentially allow for a smarter mix of free market and government intervention, but we are far from it. I would personally advocate a universal coverage scheme with more options/competition in supply. Service prices are generally capped, allowing for innovation on supplying services, but also allow for some premium services on top of that provided for all.

[TheLeviathan]

 

roads and water and the environment, fire, police.

 

Yeah, public safety is probably a better way to phrase it so it includes pretty much all of this list plus the military.

 

I look at some things as being the foundation for which the market can operate.  You can't have a functional market without a healthy, educated, safe population.

[kydoty]

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-monthly-jobs-numbers-sean-spicer-235936

 

Aaahahaha!!  How can anyone possibly believe this idiots when they say this crap!

[Bark's Lounge]

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-monthly-jobs-numbers-sean-spicer-235936

 

Aaahahaha!!  How can anyone possibly believe this idiots when they say this crap!

The sad fact of it all is that millions do agree with that awful man. Maybe identify is a better word, which I don't get and never will.

 

I was talking to my sister yesterday, and she has a friend who is a Extreme Trump enthusiast, this person is about as poor as you can get and has 3-4 kids. She is still with the father of these kids and they are about as uneducated as it gets. The kids are dirty, etc., etc... They struggle to keep employment, rely on the government to keep them afloat. They are White trash to the utmost degree. This woman says she is a "Born Again Born Again Christian" That is not a typo, I don't have a clue what that means? This person has been friends with my sister since she was a little kid, my sister is pretty loyal, but is on the verge of cutting her ties.

 

I think these people equate to the whole "Zombie Infatuation". It's our real life "Walking Dead" or whatever.

 

They might not kill us by eating us, but they will kill us with their stupidity and hate mongering, while slitting their throats at the same time.

 

Hmm... maybe they are zombies.

[ashbury]

 

Yes - I am breathing a sigh of relief...

 

http://funnyand.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Dont-believe-everything-on-the-internet.jpg

 

IOW, I tried (for my usual 30 seconds) without success to locate confirmation of this quote. It's being passed around a lot, sure. Quotes that are just too good to be true oftentimes are.

[drjim]

I really, really doubt Pence would say something like.

 

He has plenty of atrocious positions that there should be little reason to make something up.