Paul Ryan Straight Up Deceives People in a Last-Ditch Attempt to Sell Trumpcare

Paul Ryan caught a fish that was THIS BIG! (photo: Cliff Owen/AP)

By Ian Millhiser, ThinkProgress

03 May 17
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Why worry about the truth, when you can have a monster tax cut?

ouse Republican leadership hopes to vote later this week on an unpopular health bill that will cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their health coverage. It’s the third time since Donald Trump moved into the White House that House Republicans have stepped up to the brink of such a vote — the last two times, the vote didn’t happen after it was clear that the bill would fail.

This time, however, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has two new weapons in his arsenal: an amendment, favored by the most conservative members of his caucus, that will make the bill even harsher for people with preexisting health conditions; and a completely shameless willingness to mislead people about what this amendment actually does:

To explain, House Republicans hoped to vote on this bill last March, but they hit a serious roadblock after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that their health care proposal would strip 24 million people of health coverage by 2026. A few days later, a Trump White House analysis of the bill leaked which showed that it may cause as many as 26 million people to become uninsured over the course of a decade.

The Trump White House supports the bill.

Trumpcare failed in March due to a combination of three factors — universal opposition from Democrats, scattered opposition from Republicans who viewed the bill as too harsh, and similar opposition from Republicans who viewed it as not harsh enough.

Since the bill’s failure, Republicans apparently tried to shore up support for it by appealing to the faction that wants a harsher bill. This effort produced the “MacArthur Amendment,” which contains several provisions impacting people with preexisting health conditions.

Under current law, insurers cannot discriminate against people with preexisting conditions, and they must cover certain “essential health benefits” — such as prescription drugs, pregnancy care, and hospitalization. The MacArthur Amendment, however, will allow states to “specify their own set of essential health benefits” at a lower level than the requirements set by existing law. And it would also permit states to obtain waivers that would allow insurers to charge more to many people with preexisting conditions.

The amendment Ryan refers to in his tweet, in other words, does not “protect” people with preexisting conditions. It raises costs for many people with preexisting conditions, and it permits many insurance plans to exclude benefits that people with preexisting conditions may need.

And that’s on top of the harsh cuts to federal health care spending that were already contained in the bill. CBO estimates that the March version of Trumpcare — the one that would strip about 24 million people of health coverage — would cut $880 billion from Medicaid alone over the course of the next decade.

To offset some of the bill’s impact on people with preexisting conditions, it does allocate as much as $13 billion a year to “high-risk pools” and similar programs that provide insurance to people who are unable to obtain it in an inadequately regulated private market. But that’s only enough to insure a small fraction of the people who will lose coverage under the GOP’s bill.

In 2008, the McCain-Palin campaign released a health plan that proposed spending between $7 and $10 billion on such pools. At the time, however, analysts estimated that a national program “funded at $7 billion per year would cover only 875,000 people.”

Republicans, in other words, would have to spend about 15 times as much on high-risk pools than they are planning to spend in order to cancel out the other impacts of their bill — and that’s a conservative estimate that does not account for inflation.

As Ryan nevertheless tried to rally support for Trumpcare, he apparently turned to the Almighty during a House Republican caucus meeting.

Dear Lord, help us to immiserate the poor. Help us to enfeeble the meek, to quicken the deaths of the innocent, to cast suffering upon the infirm, and to give Donald Trump a fat daddy tax cut.

In the spirit of Your mercy we pray.

CNN refuses to air false, misleading ad from Trump

By Jen Hayden  

Tuesday May 02, 2017 · 8:57 AM PDT

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The Donald Trump 2020 campaign (yes, that is a real thing already happening) released an ad claiming Trump’s first 100 days have been amazing, the best, "America has rarely seen such success." For real, that’s a statement in the ad.

The original ad was quietly removed from YouTube yesterday because it featured Donald Trump shaking hands with National Security Advisor, Lieutenant Gen. H.R. McMaster, who was wearing his Army uniform.

That’s a big no-no, a clear violation of Defense Department rules.

Let’s have a big round of applause for the folks featured in Trump’s video; they must be doing something right!

A notable element of both the original and revised ad is a part whining that you, the general public, are unaware of Dear Leader’s great success because the “fake news” is keeping it a secret from you. The Trump campaign wanted to air the commercial on CNN, but the ad was rejected because it labeled the media as “fake news.” In a statement, CNN said:

CNN requested the advertiser remove the false graphic that the mainstream media is “fake news.” The mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false and per policy will be accepted only if that graphic is deleted.

You can see the craptastic propaganda Trump is desperately trying to peddle to his supporters. He’s clearly going with the “if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it” approach. Sadly, it has worked for him thus far.

Republican civil war is the best thing happening

Every day without GOP action is a gift

By Mark Sumner  

Wednesday May 2, 2017 · 1:33 PM PDT

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Donald Trump may feel that his legislation-free first 100 days were beautiful, wonderful, and the best ever, but he’s the only one. What the rest of the Republican Party is seeing is falling support, ineffective leadership, and internal strife.

Some Capitol Hill Republicans have envisioned the nightmare scenario for 2017, and it goes like this: No ­ObamaCare repeal. No tax reform. No trillion-dollar infrastructure package. No border wall.

As it turns out, Republicans have their obstructionism refined to razor sharpness, but the time they dedicated to actually thinking through workable alternatives to existing laws is restricted to the length of time it takes to say “It’ll be easy.”

While many Republicans hold out hope the ­ObamaCare repeal bill will be revived, skeptics say the GOP infighting during last month’s healthcare collapse may have poisoned the well for future big-ticket legislative deals.

It’s not just drafting laws that Republicans have failed at— it’s drafting passable laws. Right now there are Republican factions who believe that health care should be abandoned so they can score a win on tax reform, and factions that believe tax reform isn’t possible without first dealing with the Affordable Care Act. There’s also an increasing recognition that they can’t get everything they want pushed through without seeking some Democratic support in the Senate, a factor that makes it even more likely that they will shed Freedom Caucus votes in the House. Because Republicans have spent decades declaring that anything which can garner a Democratic vote is intrinsically evil.

And the recriminations among Republicans only seem to be getting nastier.
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, “is a pathological liar who isn’t interested in getting to yes,” one House GOP colleague of Meadows told The Hill in a fit of frustration over the stalled health negotiations.

For Democrats the result of this Republican civil war is the best possible outcome, considering the current make up of Congress and the occupant of the White House: Nothing.

Or nearly nothing. Republicans continue to erode regulations using the Congressional Review Act, and Trump’s agencies continue to weaken enforcement. But at least on the major legislative front, Republicans are locked down by their own unwillingness to compromise, even with each other.

At a town hall in Cedar Springs, Mich., GOP Rep. Justin Amash, another Meadows ally, hurled blame at the feet of Ryan: Republicans need “either a change in direction from this Speaker, or we need a new Speaker.”

Please. Get one. It won’t help, but it will take time. And right now, every day without Republican action is a gift.

Monster defeat for Trump and GOP: Budget deal funds Planned Parenthood but has nothing for wall

By David Nir  

Sunday Apr 30, 2017 · 8:30 PM PDT

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Late on Sunday evening, details emerged about a new spending agreement that congressional leaders had reached to keep the federal government open past this week, when current funding runs out, and through the end of September. The deal is looking like a huge victory for Democrats—and a massive failure for Donald Trump and his Republican Party:

The bipartisan agreement includes $12.5 billion in new military spending and $1.5 billion more for border security, a major priority for Republican leaders in Congress.
The agreement follows weeks of tense negotiations between Democrats and GOP leaders after President Trump insisted that the deal include funding to begin building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump eventually dropped that demand, leaving Congress to resolve lingering issues over several unrelated policy measures.
The new border-security money comes with strict limitations that the Trump administration use it only for technology investments and repairs to existing fencing and infrastructure, the aides said.

In a way, that’s even more humiliating for Trump—and an even bigger betrayal of his supporters: There’s more money for border security but the government is forbidden from using it to pay for that insane wall. Maybe they’re still hoping Mexico will pony up?

The rest of the bill is also an amazing win for Democrats:

The agreement also includes several policy victories for Democrats, whose votes will be necessary to pass the measure in the Senate. Democrats fought to include $295 million to help Puerto Rico continue making payments to Medicaid, $100 million to combat opioid addiction, and increases in energy and science funding that Trump had proposed cutting. If passed, the legislation will ensure that Planned Parenthood continues to receive federal funding through September.

Hold on, there’s more:

The White House also backed away from language to take away grants from "sanctuary cities" that do not share information about people's immigration status with federal authorities.

Hot damn! It’s hard to believe that Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the presidency, isn’t it? Because this bill sure as hell looks like it was written by Democrats. It’s truly amazing that despite its huge majorities and rock-solid hold on Washington, the GOP simply cannot govern in any way, shape or form.

Of course, Congress has yet to pass this bill, and who knows what kind of fuss conservatives will try to kick up. But if far-right Republicans threaten not to support this package, then GOP leadership will have to troll for even more Democratic votes … which would require making the bill even more liberal. The alternative would be a government shutdown, which would fall squarely on Republican shoulders—again, see that bit about how they’re in charge of all the levers of power.

If I were a Republican voter sitting at home watching this, I’d be shaking my head in disbelief—and in deep dismay. Keep fighting, Democrats!

Poetic justice: Mar-A-Lago under water by 2100

President Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida could be underwater by 2100. (Photo: Climate Central)

(Gazette Blog Editor's note: President Trump is dismantling the EPA because he doesn't really care about our planet or tomorrow.  But one thing he does care about is his stuff, including Mar-A-Lago, where he spends about one-third of his presidency.  Imagine his surprise when he has to go there by boat.)

The U.S. Naval Academy, JFK Airport, the Jefferson Memorial and President Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago estate all could be underwater by the year 2100.

That's the doomsday prediction of a worst-case scenario of sea levels rising out of control by the end of the century, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Climate Central, a non-profit environmental research group.

NOAA's report in January included an extreme sea-level rise forecast of 10 to 12 feet of sea-level rise by 2100 around the U.S., compared to the previous estimate of about 8 feet.

Climate Central then created images that showed what such extreme water rises would look like.

In New York City, for instance, an average high tide would be 2 feet higher than Hurricane Sandy’s flood level, covering an area inhabited by more than 800,000 residents.

Florida would be the most affected state by total population, followed by New York, California, Virginia, and New Jersey. Hawaii and Louisiana would rank second and third by percentage of population affected, after Florida, also first in this category.

“It’s a scenario that we hope never occurs,” said William Sweet, a NOAA oceanographer who coordinated production of the agency’s January report, “It’s probably very unlikely, but definitely possible.”

The seas have risen and fallen before. What's new is the enormity of coastal development that will need to be protected, moved or abandoned.

Sea level has risen nearly 8 inches worldwide since 1880 but, unlike water in a bathtub, it doesn't rise evenly. In the past 100 years, it has climbed about a foot or more in some U.S. cities because of ocean currents and land subsidence — 11 inches in New York and Boston, 12 in Charleston, 16 in Atlantic City, 18 in Norfolk and 25 in Galveston, Texas, according to NOAA. 

Global warming blamed for record-breaking weather worldwide, scientists say

Here's why: As the Earth's temperature warms, so do the seas. Heat-trapping greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane cause more land ice (glaciers and ice sheets) to melt and water to expand. Warmer water simply takes up more room than cooler water.

Scientists say global warming will be the primary cause of future sea-level rise. Their greatest uncertainty is how quickly the massive West Antarctic ice sheet will melt.

The Antarctic ice sheet is the world’s largest reserve of frozen water, meaning its collapse would contribute more to the rise of the seas than the melting of glaciers.

The Fifth Assessment Report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the gold-standard for climate change science that was released in 2013, said that the most likely amount of global sea level rise would be about 1 foot to slightly more than 3 feet by 2100.

Federal Fox News Investigation Widens Beyond Sex Harassment Payouts, Report Says

The federal Fox News investigation now reportedly includes potential mail and wire fraud cases. (photo: Mary Altaffer/AP)

By Christopher Brennan, New York Daily News

28 April 17

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ederal investigators' probe into Fox News has expanded beyond questions over its sexual harassment payouts, according to a report.

The Justice Department investigation of the conservative news network has seen interviews being conducted with former Fox staffers, with the Postal Inspection Service overseeing potential mail and wire fraud cases, CNN reported Thursday. 

The Daily News first reported in February that Fox News was under “ongoing criminal investigation” by the Justice Department, after a lawyer for former host Andrea Tantaros said that one of his other clients had received a subpoena.

That investigation was being led by the department’s securities unit, attorney Judd Burstein said at the time, adding that Fox’s failure to disclose sexual harassment payouts could violate federal law.

Fox News confirmed in February that the company had been in communication with the U.S. attorney’s office for months.

CNN reported Thursday that federal investigators were looking beyond the settlement payments toward consultants of Roger Ailes, the disgraced former head of the network.

The Justice Department has not commented on the Fox investigations.

Burstein said previously that the subpoena came from the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by President Trump in March.

Trump's praise of Fox News has been effusive while he lambasts other media he sees as “fake news,” leading to uncertainty about the future of the federal investigation.

Failure of Trump's First 100 Days a Win for America

By Frank Rich, New York Magazine

28 April 17
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his weekend marks the end of President Trump’s first 100 days — a chance to evaluate not only his progress (or lack thereof), but how the nation will change under a Trump administration. What are the early signs of the changes he’s brought to Washington, to our understanding of politics and political journalism, and to our sense of civic engagement? 

As someone is writing every ten minutes now, Trump’s first hundred days have been marked by no major achievements beyond the successful nomination of a Supreme Court justice. Every other attempt to do something big has been shot down by a Republican-controlled Congress or the courts. Even by his own campaign yardstick his administration is thus far a failure. While the White House busily promotes the sheer number of executive orders the president has signed since January 20, a Washington Post fact-checker found that of the 60 promises candidate Trump made in his self-proclaimed “contract” with Americans, he has kept five, broken five, and taken no action on 34 others. In other words, that “contract” has roughly the same value as a diploma from Trump University: It’s a scam designed to bamboozle a credulous public while he and his family pick its pockets. Kleptocracy — surfacing everywhere from State Department web sites tasked with promoting Mar-a-lago to a tax proposal that benefits Trumps and Kushners über alles — remains the only consistent ideology at this White House.

It’s good news that Trump thinks governing is as easy as picking up a phone and calling room service at a Trump hotel. The more lazy, ineffectual, and incompetent he is, the less damage he can inflict. The most patriotic act he can perform is to play more golf. But in some ways the young Trump administration is nonetheless a roaring success. For all the attention paid to the president’s historically low standing in the polls, he has nonetheless held on to a unified, intractable base that thinks he’s doing fine. Trump’s approval number in the Washington Post-ABC News survey released this week, 42 percent, may be dismal, but his approval rating among his own voters is 94 percent. Only 2 percent of those who voted for Trump in November regret doing so — even as he shows no sign of creating jobs with a trillion-dollar infrastructure program but every determination to gut those voters’ health care. He could still pull out a gun and shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without losing any of his faithful.

Yes, Trump voters are a minority of the country. But they are a powerful minority that has brought to heel a major political party — the party that holds the most power at the federal and state levels alike. The craven Vichy Republican leadership remains so cowed by these voters that it thinks nothing of abandoning its own most cherished principles — a detestation of government deficits, a hawkish stance toward Putin’s Russia — to curry favor with Dear Leader. Even nominal Democrats collaborating with the administration are reduced to Jell-O by the prospect of accruing more power by proximity to Trump: Witness the humiliating prevarication of the Goldman Sachs alum turned White House economic chieftain, Gary Cohn, as he helped promote the president’s tax proposal in a dog-and-pony show this week.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party remains short of national leadership and anything but unified. The disarray and lack of focus was most recently symbolized — for me, anyway — by a dustup in which some in its ranks took umbrage at Bernie Sanders for answering “I don’t know” when asked by a reporter if Jon Ossoff, the favored Democrat in the Georgia special congressional election, could be called “a progressive.” Really, who cares? Is this the kind of ephemera the left should be debating during the Trump presidency? (Sanders, it might be remembered, doesn’t even call himself a Democrat.) What ultimately mattered is that Ossoff didn’t win the majority vote needed to lock down that Georgia seat in the primary. For all the passion and fledgling power of the Resistance, exemplified by the Women’s March and the raucous town-hall confrontations that shook GOP members of Congress visiting their home districts, that great energy is as yet untethered from a national political apparatus that might reverse Republican rule at the ballot box in 2018 and 2020.

The press, for its part, has shown renewed vigor since the election; the investigative work by the Times and the Post on the administration has been relentless and impressive even if all but 2 percent of Trump’s voters dismiss the findings as “fake news.” But in some corners of the commentariat we are already seeing some grading on a curve: Note the heretofore Trump-phobic pundits who suddenly declared him presidential because he read from a teleprompter without mishap when addressing Congress, or bombed Syria, or manifested inchoate signs of “a learning curve.” (The only thing Trump has learned since taking office, as far as I can tell, is to specifically cite the Jewish victims when talking in public about the Holocaust.) Another form of normalization that’s creeping in could be seen in this week’s White House tax rollout.

Almost without exception television journalists and print headline writers reflexively referred to it as Trump’s “tax plan.” It was not a plan: It was a publicity stunt rushed before the public to beat the 100-day report-card deadline — a one-page assemblage of campaign bullet points full of hyperbole, bereft of most crucial details, and tied to no legislation. It too has all the value of a Trump University degree. To label it a plan is a surrender, however slight, to the White House’s propagandistic ambitions. A lot of small surrenders can add up.

Even now, Trump’s effect on our culture — not just our political culture and civic discourse — has been profound. He is nothing if not a brilliant showman. By bombarding us with outrageous statements and policy feints, then shamelessly contradicting those bombshells hours or days later with a new round of outrageous actions or rhetoric, he holds our attention as surely as the cheesiest soap opera. And it’s a soap opera on steroids, with something happening constantly, even in the wee hours on Twitter, to encourage binge-watching — the perfectly calibrated short-attention-span theater for a citizenry with an ever-shorter attention span.

I know people who claim they can turn Trump off and tune him out, and I congratulate them on their self-discipline and mental health. For the rest of us, living through the chaotic first hundred days of his presidency has often felt like standing under an enormous fire hose raining down a nonstop deluge of raw sewage.