Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Death Panel: The Spectacle of Obama-TrumpCare Continues to Disappoint – Everyone and in the Most Ridiculous Ways

16 Friday Jun 2017

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I suppose “fund it so we can kill it” ranks up there with “pass it so we can find out what’s in it.” It’s no cause to hunt them down on the diamond, but the current GOP crop has to be the most ridiculous bunch of idiot losers in legislative history. Has anyone any idea where the ObamaCare repeal/replace/repeal and replace/amend/screw up is possibly going? It seems the GOP doesn’t:

Top congressional Republicans have delivered a surprising plea to the Trump administration: Don’t sabotage the Affordable Care Act while we try to repeal it.

Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander on Thursday became the second GOP committee chairmen in as many weeks to urge the administration to continue payments of subsidies to insurance companies that are considered crucial to stabilizing the individual market and preventing sharp premium increases.

Under President Trump’s direction, the administration has refused to guarantee that it will pay the subsidies, which are known as “cost-sharing reduction payments” and help insurers keep down deductibles for low-income customers while still making a profit. The decision has infuriated Democrats and insurers alike, and several companies have cited the uncertainty caused by the administration as the reason for exiting Obamacare exchanges in certain states and counties.

In an unusual alliance, Republicans in Congress are now joining the effort to pressure Trump to make the payments even after they sued the Obama administration over their legality three years ago. “These payments will help to avoid the real possibility that millions of Americans will literally have zero options for insurance in the individual market in 2018,” Alexander told Tom Price, the secretary of health and human services, at a hearing on Thursday. “We have a collapsing individual market as a result of the Affordable Care Act, and as part of a transition from a collapsing market to a stable market in which Americans have more choices of insurance at a lower-cost, I believe Republicans will need to temporarily support some things we don’t want to do in the long term, and I would hope Democrats would do that as well.”

You, our man, do what we sued the other guy to stop a few years ago. In the meanwhile, we’ll busy ourselves doing nothing.

These fools could have: 1) fixed the current system; 2) replaced it with … anything, or; 3) just plain repealed it. They could have done this already. The same crowd rammed a full and complete repeal through Congress a few years back when Obama was in the White House. Naturally, he vetoed the Bill. They could do the exact same thing now, with Trump ithcing to sign off on it. A Bill to do that is ready right now and has been in the House hopper since January. Instead they dally and posture in the most pitiful manner possible.

And people vote for this?! Some pay money to support this?

Obama and Co. gave America a failed policy from the start. Just about everyone with an IQ north of room temperature knew that. They still know it. The Democrats, the media, and the medical/insurance scam industry are already starting to shift the blame for the systemic failures of the doomed-from-the-start law to the GOP and even Trump. Congressional Republicans are moving Heaven and Earth to help justify the shift.

Again, the healthcare options are, in order of best to worst:

  1. Free market system (never again in the USA);
  2. Universal coverage through private distribution (the Swiss system – also not likely);
  3. Universal socialist coverage (the Soviet system – possible and better than:);
  4. Continuing to prop up the ObamaCare tax and obscure system (where we are);
  5. The let’s drag our feet while everything goes to hell, start a repeal and yank it, again and again, Republican approach – prop up what we once sued to stop; let it all fall apart; get people good and shooting angry; stop the mandates but keep the taxes; etc., etc., etc.; and
  6. Outlaw healthcare and put everyone on arsenic…

It’s amazing, given the comparison, that numbers 3 and 6 actually seem somewhat attractive.

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The Daily Hatch.

Please, please remember this come November of 2018 and 2020.

Big Brother Forever! On With the FISA 702 Extension

07 Wednesday Jun 2017

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This would be the same Trump administration that, just a short while ago, complained about being spied upon by this very program…

The Trump administration endorsed a full extension of the intelligence community’s most controversial snooping powers Wednesday, saying that the public has gotten the wrong impression about tools that are designed to target foreigners but, increasingly, have ensnared Americans as well.

Thomas P. Bossert, President Trump’s top counterterrorism adviser, in an op-ed in the New York Times, said they are backing a new bill introduced this week to permanently extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — the part of the law that allows snooping.

Mr. Bossert said the public will have to trust the government’s assertions that the program is valuable, since most of its successes have to remain classified. But he said Section 702 intelligence helped thwart the New York City subway bombing plot.

“Simply put, the use of this authority has helped save lives,” Mr. Bossert wrote.
Section 702 allows intelligence agencies to collect vast amounts of information from foreign sources located outside the U.S. as part of antiterrorism investigations. Communications with Americans can, however, be snared.

The section is slated to expire at the end of this year, and security hawks and civil liberties advocates are now battling over whether to extend it.

Extended it shall be! “Trust us, we’re from the government.”

Undoubtedly the program may have saved some lives. Others seem to have fallen between the cracks. There was that …. Fourth …. something? No mind.

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Telegraph.

Amazing. No, actually it’s typical. Back to the TeeVee (which is watched and watching…).

That was a Pretty Good Kick, by Congressional Standards

01 Monday May 2017

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Recently I’ve noted the Kongressional Kicking of the Kan along with the perpetual betrayal of conservative voters by the GOP.

The latest kick puts reality and the federal budget off until September.

President Donald Trump said he’ll sign a bipartisan $1.1 trillion spending bill that largely tracks Democratic priorities and rejects most of his wish list, including funds for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We’re very happy with it,” the president said Monday in an interview with Bloomberg News. The plan would allocate some new funding for border security, though the funds couldn’t be used to build his promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. The president said he will sign the bill if it remains “as we discussed.”

The compromise measure, announced early Monday morning, would keep the government open through the end of September. Under House procedures, a vote could be held as early as Wednesday. The plan drew howls of protest from conservatives.

Howl at the moon if it makes you feel better. But this is the way it is. The Republicans are the Atlanta Falcons of politics. The budget blueprint is blown to smithereens. The tax reforms may happen but they won’t look anything like what was announced. No wall. No spending cuts. No priorities met. War in Syria. War brewing with North Korea, Russia, and half the rest of the world. Healthcare reform may make a comeback – or it may not. ISIS is planning the next domestic attack on the West. Rest assured the debt ceiling will be raised in timely fashion. And then raised again. And again. Over and over, bloated half-measure “budgets” will sail through in order to avoid the dreaded “shutdown”.

More of the same. More of the same. More of the same. Not that it will make any difference but I will probably remind you of all this again just before the next election, the next election when you keep the cycle going.

Howl.

Fred on America’s First Transgender President, the Hillary-fication of Donald Trump

21 Friday Apr 2017

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Fred takes note of the insane foolishness in D.C. as it concerns The Donald.

Hillary was on board with the Russia hysteria and the globalization and the immigration and so on. Trump could have screwed the whole pooch by getting along with Russia, so he had to be reconfigured. And was. A work in progress, but going well.

Too much is being asked of him. One man cannot overcome the combined hostility of the media, the political establishment, the neocons, the myriad other special interests that he has threatened. Mass immigration is a done deal. China develops and America, already developed, cannot keep up. The country disintegrates socially. Washington, always depending on war and its threat, faces a new world in which trade is the weapon, and doesn’t know what to do. The culture courses. The world changes.

Yet if only Trump showed some sign of knowing what he is doing, and could remember from day to day, if only he realized that wars are more easily started than predicted, if only he were not becoming an unbalanced Hillary.

Yet, apparently, he is.

Yes, a work in progress. And progressing very nicely. Tax cuts, they say, are coming. Just as Obamacare reform/repeal/replacement/whatever is coming along nicely … again … for the 90th time… Hillary is walking free. The terrorists are walking free. The judges and lawyers who support the terrorists are walking free. Julian Assange … is destined for prison. Goldman controls the economy and the currency. Bombs fall the world over based on lies. The swamp is thriving. No one has seen the wall…

There’s still a glimmer of hope left for this administration. But it’s a small glimmer and obstructed by the clouds and fumes of Mordor.

Fred did a great, typically-hilarious Fred job of showcasing the situation but he’s a bit late. I called this on April 7th.

MAGA can (could) still happen. But not with this crowd. Not with this government. Maybe not with this population.

Have a great weekend.

Evidence Suggests No Sarin Nerve Gas Was Used in Syria

20 Thursday Apr 2017

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Even if it was, that should have been none of our business. Deploy Sarin in Alabama, we have a problem. Thousands of miles away in an area known for perpetual violence – not so much. Heartbreak, maybe. Strategic interest, no. That’s IF it happened. Dr. Theodore A. Postol, professor at MIT, presented a scientific analysis which suggests it did not happen (at least as we were lead to believe):

This abbreviated summary of the facts has been constructed entirely from basic physics, video evidence, and absolutely solid analytical methods. It demonstrates without doubt that the sarin dispersal site alleged as the source of the April 4, 2017 sarin attack in Khan Sheikhoun was not a nerve agent attack site.

It also shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the only mass casualty site that could have resulted from this mass attack is not in any way related to the sites that are shown in video following a poisoning event of some kind at Khan Sheikhoun.

This means that the allegedly “high confidence” White House intelligence assessment ssued on April 11 that led to the conclusion that the Syrian government was responsible for the attack is not correct. For such a report to be so egregiously in error, it could not possibly have followed the most simple and proven intelligence methodologies to determine the veracity of its findings.

Since the United States justified attacking a Syrian airfield on April 7, four days before the flawed National Security Council intelligence report was released to the Congress and the public, the conclusion that follows is that the United States took military actions without the intelligence to support its decision.

Furthermore, it is clear that the WHR was not an intelligence report.

No competent intelligence professional would have made so many false claims that are totally inconsistent with the evidence. No competent intelligence professional would have accepted the findings in the WHR analysis after reviewing the data presented herein. No competent intelligence professionals would have evaluated the crater that was tampered with in terms described in the WHR.

Although it is impossible to know from a technical assessment to determine the reasons for such an egregiously amateurish report, it cannot be ruled out that the WHR was fabricated to conceal critical information from the Congress and the public.

It cannot be ruled out? Given the fact that just about everything from D.C. in the past 100+ years has been a big, steaming pile of lies, it seems it would rule it in.

Postol-6-2

Can solar declination, wind direction, and chemical science overcome the …. Never mind… Postol / Washington’s Blog.

This assessment, if true, would demonstrate not the first deception from Washington. It certainly won’t be the last.

Little, if any, of this will reach the ears and minds of average ‘Muricans of any political persuasion. Did you know Let’s Make a Deal! is back on the TeeVee??

Well, This Isn’t Good

09 Sunday Apr 2017

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There is good news tonight: congratulations to Sergio Garcia on a Masterful performance at Augusta. One may have noticed a slight lack of color on CBS; they let the azaleas slip for once (no one is perfect, even the National). I guarantee the color will be back next year – along with many, many astounding changes (more on that later [HUGE doings in Augusta in years to come…]).

In Russia, the color is red. That’s what Putin is seeing and how he describes the line Trump crossed last week in Syria.

One of the things that got Trump elected was the fear that a second President Clinton would merely be a shill for the war parties, who would steer us uncomfortably close to armed conflict with Russia. Trump channeled his inner 2000-era W and promised a humble foreign policy. That all went out the window – missile tube, rather – last week.

Vladimir+Putin+Russian+President+Vladimir+Y_IZ_7L-rq0l

Honestly, I would have picked another man to piss off… Drudge.

From The Daily Mail:

The Assad regime has denied it was responsible and the Russians have claimed it was a ‘false flag’ incident carried out by jihadists who want to stir up tensions between Russia and the US.

President Trump infuriated Moscow when he authorised an airstrike on a Syrian air base on Friday, which killed at least six people.

British Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said today it was the ‘right call’ for the Americans to bomb the air base as retribiution for a ‘barbaric, immoral and illegal’ act by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who he described as a Russian ‘proxy’.
But in a joint statement the Russian and Iranians said: ‘We will respond to any aggression’.

The Sun reported that a joint command centre in Syria said: ‘What America waged in an aggression on Syria is a crossing of red lines. From now on we will respond with force to any aggressor or any breach of red lines from whoever it is and America knows our ability to respond well.’

The Sun has a parallel story, perhaps most interesting because they dial back the rhetoric on the “definitive” narrative of the chemical attacks. Now, it’s only “suspected”. Next, will be privately written off and publicly ignored.

Right now, this all looks like two things: First, there’s tremendous rah-rah for Trump’s actions from the British Foreign Secretary. Second, there’s militant posturing from Damascus and Tehran. All well and good if it stays like that. Cooler heads might have a chance to prevail.

The British always have our backs. No change expected there. And neither Iran nor Syria have the ability to harm the U.S. in any significant fashion. It’s Russia that should worry sane people. They do have detrimental abilities.

Concerns mount that Kim-Jong Un(well) may have the ability to get one ICBM to Hawaii. Russia can get thousands of them everywhere. They can certainly disrupt American operations in Syria and the Med.

None of this is remotely good and it represents one of the major fears of last year’s campaign. Worst of all, is the fact that there is no rational basis for any of it – not for our intervention in Syria nor for anything but friendship with Russia.

To my previously dejected liberal friends, I say, “congratulations; it looks like your girl won after all”. To my Republican chums, I say, “congratulations; you elected Mr. Hilary Clinton”. To the rest of us, I say, “pray”.

The long odds are that this will all blow over. The short call is that it may blow up.

Developing…

 

About that Missile Strike in Syria

09 Sunday Apr 2017

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Virtually all American foreign policy and military action over the past 120 years has been based on lies and deception (and a desire to profit from destruction). Mr. Clinton’s Trump’s misadventure in Syria last week was no exception.

Speaking of foreign policy, it’s nice to once again have Amy Carter Ivanka Trump providing driving consultations on weighty matters.

DONALD Trump’s decision to rain down 59 Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian air base was sparked by his daughter Ivanka’s “heartbroken” response to Assad’s chemical attack, insiders have claimed.

Trump has long opposed military intervention in Syria – both as a private citizen when he criticised Obama’s intervention in the region, and as President.

But the Republican firebrand is believed to have made his dramatic U-turn after being convinced by his daughter Ivanka’s impassioned response to the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons on Tuesday.

A source close to the first family said: “Increasingly, Ivanka is having more and more influence over her father.

The feelings… It was all the “beautiful babies” killed that got the attention of the White House. No word of concern, yet, for the other babies killed by the missile strike. Gotta break some eggs I suppose…

There is still no evidence whatsoever that Assad gassed anyone. Of course, evidence is no longer required. The government and the media need mere allegations, sensational or otherwise, and little else. The gullible public will believe what they’re told. Their goldfish-like attention span always expires by the time the truth comes out.

The truth, here, in the earliest stages of the aftermath, appears that ISIS or some other “rebel” group stored crude chemical weapons in a warehouse. These are the people Assad is fighting to free his nation from. The Russians are fighting them too. As part of the fight Moscow bombed the warehouse. Gases incidentally escaped and killed people.

The CIA (likely backing the “rebels” or whoever) knew all of this. Where known truths fail, lies will work. Blame Assad and drop some bombs. Stir the pot into further frenzy.

Ron Paul called it like it is:

“The peace talks have ended now. They’re terrified that peace was going to break out! Al-Qaeda was on the run, peace talks were happening, and all of a sudden, they had to change, and this changes things dramatically! I don’t expect peace talks anytime soon or in the distant future.”

Peace, Dr. Paul knows, isn’t very profitable for the Empire and its owners. The strike was worse than useless from a peaceful standpoint. It will keep the Syrian cauldron boiling. It keeps ISIS happy and busy. It destabilizes the already shaky region. It did nothing to ISIS operations in Egypt, Sweden, or anywhere else. And it risks further needless confrontation with Russia. Some beautiful babies are dead. But, hey, we’s tuff!

Now, if you will simply turn your attention back to the glowing screen on the wall, I think some men are playing with balls. Beer might be advertised.

58e8494ac4618807168b4647

Money for jobs, schools, and healthcare?! That sounds like America first… Damn, even communist protesters get it… RT.

Congratulations. You Elected Hilary Clinton…

07 Friday Apr 2017

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America is completely and utterly out of control. Any hopes that a Trump Presidency would reverse course or hold position have now faded away. Last night the President lobbed nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Syria.

  • The US military fired more than 50 tomahawk missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield at 8.45pm EDT Thursday
  • Moves comes just hours after Trump said ‘something should happen’ following Tuesday’s gas-attack atrocity
  • Trump took action after more than 80 were killed and many more were injured in the Sarin poison gas attack
  • ‘Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack,’ he said after launching the strike
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a furious response calling airstrike an ‘illegal act of aggression’
  • US called ‘a partner of ISIS’ by al-Assad’s spokesman who said missile strikes are ‘reckless and irresponsible’
  • Trump says airfield used to store toxic weapons and was the base for the aircraft involved in the Sarin attack
  • Claims that nine were killed, and more were injured, in the strike which has severely damaged the airbase
  • US told Moscow it was launching an airstrike about 30 minutes in advance – but did not ask for permission

U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) conducts strike operations while in the Mediterranean Sea

Bombs away, suckers… Daily Mail.

The public, those few who are somewhat awake, seems elated. As of this writing, 65+% of a Drudge poll see the action as favorable. I ask, “favorable to whom”?

Not everyone is happy. Rand Paul cautiously reminded the President that, per the Constitution, Congress is supposed to approve war. A little too late, Rand. This episode, if worth nothing else, proves definitively that the old Constitution is dead and gone. Cling at your own risk.

Nigel Farage, an early Trump supporter, cautioned:

The MEP hit out by warning that those who voted for the US president would be ‘worried’ by his retaliation.

‘I am very surprised by this. I think a lot of Trump voters will be waking up this morning and scratching their heads and saying “where will it all end?”, he said.

‘As a firm Trump supporter, I say, yes, the pictures were horrible, but I’m surprised. Whatever Assad’s sins, he is secular.’

He added: ‘Previous interventions in the Middle East have made things worse rather than better.’

Current UKIP leader, Paul Nuttal, was a bit more blunt: “The U.S. bombing of Syria last night was rash, trigger happy, nonsensical and will achieve nothing. I hoped for better.”

We all hoped for better. Hope in one hand and ….

Vox Day criticized the move:

That being said, I will certainly be disappointed if the God-Emperor makes regime change in Syria an objective of his administration, and I will continue to oppose any military involvement in the Middle East, Europe, the Ukraine, and any military activity directed against China or Russia.

The Russians are beyond livid:

“That’s it. The last remaining election fog has lifted. Instead of an overworked statement about a joint fight against the biggest enemy, Isis (the Islamic State), the Trump administration proved that it will fiercely fight the legitimate Syrian government, in a tough contradiction with international law and without UN approval, in violation of its own procedures stipulating that the Congress must first be notified of any military operation unrelated to aggression against the US. On the verge of a military clash with Russia.

“Nobody is overestimating the value of pre-election promises but there must be limits of decency.

“Beyond that is absolute mistrust. Which is really sad for our now completely ruined relations. And which is good news for terrorists.

“One more thing. This military action is a clear indication of the US President’s extreme dependency on the opinion of the Washington establishment, the one that the new president strongly criticised in his inauguration speech.

“Soon after his victory, I noted that everything would depend on how soon Trump’s election promises would be broken by the existing power machine. It took only two and a half months.”

-Dmitry Medvedev

Medvedev correctly pointed out the attack was both illegal and came within an inch of initiating a real war with a real and capable enemy.

Where to start with this???

The underlying Sarin gas attack is questionable at best. The U.S. media has taken the government’s word verbatim. Still, there is no definitive proof it happened. And, if it did happen, there’s no proof Assad was behind it. And, even if it happened and Assad is responsible, there is absolutely no American interest in the matter and nothing to be gained from intervention. It is not our damned business.

Is this what you voted for? Trump is now enacting the worst fears associated with the Clinton campaign. He’s running headlong towards war with Syria, North Korea, and maybe even Russia – in addition to ongoing actions in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, and God knows where else. Madness. Sheer utter madness. I advised you all to abstain from the election. Hey, voters, this is on you!

The problem, for us, with radical Islamists, has nothing to do with their activities in their home nations. The problem is with their terrorism in our countries, like Sweden, home of the latest predictable attack.

The solution is very simple: 1) stop bothering these people in their countries, and 2) get them out of ours. Damned simple. And obviously not going to happen just yet. There must be a little more money to be given the banksters and the MIC. You voted for this.

You also voted for the jumbled, same-as-always home agenda. Trump, the businessman and outsider, is working hard to surround himself with more insiders and Wall Street criminals. He cannot marshal the idiots in the GOP, even as they hold a complete majority in D.C. No healthcare reform. No tax cuts. The wall may stall. The deportations and travel bans also stall even as easy solutions abound. A “neutral” budget with no redress of the $20 Trillion (on-books) debt nor the Fed’s funny money. Your vote wasted again.

*In fairness, the man is working to create some jobs and cut some regs. There’s that. Small things, mice among the elephants.

As Vox noted, the real war for the West will be fought in the West. The other side has been fighting for some years now, even as you’ve stared at the TeeVee. All the attacks on all the foreign nations are mere distractions. They garner easy support. Yet, few actually want to fight at home – fear of being called “racist” or something. I hear local Muslims are concerned about fictional backlash from tomorrow’s terrorist attack… The media, the SJWs, and the dullards will lend pitiful support. Madness.

None of our interventions in the Middle East and elsewhere over the past 25+ years have done anything except kill people, displace people, overrun the West with “refugees”, break things, empower terrorists, and waste money. We can’t ever win these wars because there is nothing to win or to gain. Syria is no different except that we risk war with Russia. And, that, we certainly cannot win.

All the while a real war (we must win if we are to survive) rages around us.

I love fun and games as much as the next man; I’m having a blast this Masters’s week. Yet, maybe, just maybe, it’s time to wake up and wise up.

Expect nothing but trouble (certainly no help from) the Washington-Wall Street-Fed-globohomo-MIC-media-GOP-DNC-Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama-Trump cabal.

Nothing. Maybe it’s time to revive that letter to Putin…

Is This 1986? Let’s Hope Not

28 Tuesday Mar 2017

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I love the 80’s. I live in the past. Duran Duran, the A-team, etc. There are, however, some things I would prefer to leave in the past. Political “compromise” for instance.

Here’s a doubtful article about the relationship between Trump’s tax cuts, today, versus Reagan’s in 1986.

The fundamentals of tax overhaul were strong some 30 years ago.

A popular president, Republican Ronald Reagan, pushed the landmark 1986 measure. Powerful and experienced congressional leaders shepherded the legislation with bipartisan support. Key players had established, trusting relationships.

The situation facing President Donald Trump features none of those advantages. His party is divided and his congressional leadership is weakened after the health care debacle. Key players are inexperienced. Trump has record low approval ratings. Republicans who control all of Washington are planning on going it alone, without help from Democrats.

Now, there isn’t even basic agreement on what revising the tax code is. Trump is promising “massive tax relief for the middle class.” Congressional leaders are pushing an overhaul that would keep gross tax revenues roughly the same – “revenue neutral” in Washington-speak – while clearing away many tax breaks and using the resulting savings to lower rates, with the top brackets getting most of the benefit.

So much is different; so much the same. 50% or 40% – any tax rate above 0% is too high for my tastes. I may be alone in that thought.

Reagan had been in office five years, a veteran at that point. Congress was run by, whatever else they were, professionals. Other than that, things were pretty much the same: in 1986:

Conservatives claimed and agenda they either didn’t believe in or didn’t understand.

Liberals wanted more government in your life and knew how to get it there.

Millions of illegals wanted to stay for a variety of reasons, most the ancient English would not understand.

Terrorists were just starting to think of America as a target. (Back then OBL was a CIA contract employee….).

Ordinary people loved guns; liberals hated and feared them.

Aside from loving guns (and Duran Duran and Alf) the people were largely asleep.

Nothing much has changed. Therein lies the danger of a repeat of history. We could end up with; a little tax reform (some cuts and some increases); amnesty (never to happen again – just like in 1986), and some more gun control.

Ronald Reagan

1986: Reagan: cuts taxes, raises taxes, bans guns, and legalizes illegals. Yay. AP.

Or, given this generation of the GOP, we could see nothing. And, sadly, nothing would be preferable to the awful, historical alternatives.

Okay, back to sleep…

The Colossal (Predictable) Failure of the GOP

26 Sunday Mar 2017

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Glenn Harlan Reynolds accurately details the incomprehensible Republican failure and stupidity last week in D.C.

The plan to replace Obamacare with a new bill crafted by House Speaker Paul Ryan has failed, and embarrassingly so. And that failure is part and parcel of a larger failure of the Republican-led Congress to push an agenda in the new administration.

Talking to a friend at lunch not long ago, he expressed his amazement that the House and Senate leadership didn’t have bills “lined up like airplanes on a runway” ready to take off in the new year. I was surprised, too.

It’s not like the need to do something about Obamacare was a surprise. Republicans have been promising to repeal it for most of a decade. And it’s not like Obamacare was popular or successful. Premiums are rising, providers are dropping out, and costs are going up. It’s true that the Obamacare bill, pushed through on a procedural technicality that avoided a filibuster but left it impossible to fix at the time, was a mess. It’s also true that the legislation was drafted, and the regulations implementing it were designed, in part to make it hard to undo.

Nonetheless, the Republican inability to deliver a bill that could get a majority in the GOP-led House is a colossal failure, and pretty much undercuts its entire reason for being. For years the congressional GOP leadership failed to deliver on promises to constituents, and offered the excuse that it couldn’t do anything without control of the White House. Well, they’ve got that, so what’s their excuse now? And where are the bills on infrastructure, on tax reform, on free speech?

The congressional GOP’s failure to deliver on its promises is one of the things that led to the election of President Trump. Now they’re still failing. What comes next?

If history has taught us anything about Republicans, then “what comes next” is more failure. The Atlanta Falcons of politics.

Last night I caught a few minutes of Judge Jeanine Pirro of Fox – I could not turn away as she utterly skewered Paul Ryan:

Paul Ryan needs to step down as Speaker of the House.

The reason? He failed to deliver the votes on his health care bill. The one trumpeted to repeal and replace ObamaCare. The one that he had seven years to work on. The one he hid under lock and key in the basement of Congress. The one that had to be pulled to prevent the embarrassment of not having enough votes to pass.

But this bill didn’t just fail — it failed when Republicans had the House, the Senate, the White House.

And the timing? It failed within the first 70 days of President Donald Trump’s administration. A president who made replacement of ObamaCare the hallmark of his campaign. And then used valuable political capital to accomplish it.

Americans elected the one man they believed could do it. A complete outsider. Someone beholden to no one — but them.

And Speaker Ryan, you come in, with all your swagger and experience, and you sell him a bill of goods which ends up a complete and total failure. And you allow our president, in his first one hundred days, to come out of the box like that? Based on what? Your legislative expertise? Your knowledge of the arcane ins and outs of the bill writing process? Your relationships? What? Your drinks at the Hay-Adams with your pals?

Folks, I want to be clear: this is NOT on President Trump. No one expected a businessman to completely understand the nuances, the complicated ins and outs of Washington and its legislative process. How would he know which individuals upon whom he would be able to rely? Many of them, friends and establishment colleagues of Speaker Ryan.

You, on the other hand, Speaker Ryan, know very well who the 15 hard liners, the 10 moderates, and all the other ones.

Amen. No, this one is not on Trump. This one and this one alone. No more passes in the future. He’s a smart enough man to learn how the jellyfish sting. Whether he’s willing to use what he learns and whether that is enough remains to be seen.

The whole 61st (61st!!) failure to repeal ObamaCare boiled down to not getting conservative Republicans on board. Hell, as Pirro says, they were physically locked out of the process. How could anyone have expected their support? The Bill could have been passed with their help and without a single Democrat vote in favor. This is strictly a GOP problem.

Their “solution” is strict GOP stupidity. The conservatives in the “conservative” party were not consulted, then. Now, instead on trying to get them on board, the GOP and Trump are opening to the idea of bringing Democrats into the fold. I wonder what their suggestions might entail?

And the GOP is splintering. Blaming those fellow conservatives who were never invited to participate, Rep. Ted Poe is abandoning the House Freedom Caucus.

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Ted Poe / Twitter.

Despite decades of jading, I had high hopes for Trump’s Presidency. I still do though that old shade of green is creeping back into my views. If he cannot marshal this band of derelicts and losers into a solid party, then there isn’t much faith in his (their?) agenda. If that happens, one can expect similar failures on: the debt ceiling (a given no matter what); tax cuts; immigration; etc.

The whole thing starts to look like the Contract with America. Remember that stellar GOP success? Neither do I.

On that note, I will leave you with Carlin: