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Category Archives: My Opinion

Eric Trump, President Trump’s younger son, said said he wants someone to start fighting for his father.


Apparently younger Trump is seeking a little spotlight for himself or approval from his Dad. Perhaps this is another side ploy from TOTUS. No one can fight for anyone who keeps shooting himself in the foot or putting that foot in his mouth. If the Tweeter in chief ever understands that he has to learn what the job entails and gather the details on the world and the US so that rational decisions can be made, then maybe he can gain some help. To date he has alienated many in the Nation from the day he entered the Presidential race and has continued his reality show ways since entering the office. His actions have not made his election very welcoming except for the GOP who are using his actions as a hat to hide their own nefarious activities. MA

“I want somebody to start fighting for him,” Trump told Fox News’s “Hannity,” on Monday night.
“How much weight does he have to carry by himself?”
Trump’s comments come several days after the Senate failed to pass legislation to repeal and replace Obama Care, a key campaign promise of both President Trump and congressional Republicans.
“My father has the voice of this country, the people of this country love him. Why wouldn’t they get in line? It doesn’t make sense,” Trump said about Republicans during his Monday interview.
President Trump has hammered the GOP since the Senate’s failure to pass a healthcare bill last week, and his son boosted that effort in his interview with Sean Hannity.
“They would rather see this country fail than see my father succeed,” he added, seeming to refer to Democrats whom he said refused to work with the GOP on healthcare reform

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Why Many Americans Do Not Trust Government


The recent press for repeal and replace of the ACA (Obamacare) has failed and is a big issue due to the staunch resistance and miscasting of what it does and has done. All of the failures of this law sits squarely on the shoulders of the Congress which is overwhelmingly Dupublican. For those who do not know Dupublican is my copyrighted, invented word for the Republicans. After 7 years of trying to repeal and replace unsuccessfully, the legislature has spent the past 6 months trying to do the same with the TOTUS pushing it along because he  and they promised. They have tried to place their failure on the Scamocrats (Democrats) because they resisted throwing millions off of their healthcare (there were many Dupublicans against it also). Their promise would at best throw millions off of a working healthcare system even with its problems. Instead of using the past 7 years plus to assist in tweaking the law, they condemned it because they did not like the President and promised at the outset that he would get no work done with their help. With all of the normal distrust many of us have for the Government, these neer do wells have shown how bad they really are. They campaigned on repealing a law that has helped many rather than campaigning on fixing its bad parts. It was determined that they exempted their healthcare from the repeal and replace  action but this was never told to the oft quoted “American People”. They (Congress) cite incomplete and incorrect facts about the ACA. It is well known that the ACA works well in some areas and not so good in others but in the same spirit neither does the VA medical system and they have not done as much as they could for that system either. We the people have been misled (partially our own fault) for years, we no longer have any real serving representatives but we do have many self serving members of Congress. If we want better government we need to get better educated as to what they do and are doing. We need to hold them to a higher standard and take them to task on what they tell us. It is always wise to remember that for the most part they are being less than forthright in what they say and to that end do some reading across multiple platforms to get the truth. Our only recourse is to get out of the rut of listening to what inflames our anger or entertains  as this is not news or many time not facts, this is merely the  nattering of paid spokespeople who make statements that appear true but are less honest than an infomercial offering a free item with the payment of “additional handling”.

 

The McConnel, Ryan, Trump Agenda


Now that the ACA is safe for now we need to see what the Majority ruled Congress will do to us next. Under the guise of doing good work for the oft cited “American people” these “noble men” have allowed the Tweeter in Chief to say and attempt to do unspeakable thing to the people of the United States. Our less than stellar representatives are so set in doing what they perceive as our desires that they cannot or will not understand the impact of their actions. One thing TOTUS has said is the upcoming election year will cause some issues for some of them. We are in a situation where we have few representatives who really understand what working together for a common good  instead of along party lines. To be clear we elect representatives from local to federal to advance laws and processes that benefit ALL of us. Currently (if you are paying attention) our administration and majority Congress is traveling a path that will lead us to a point of  difficult return. The promises made by TOTUS look good on the surface but due to his history of shotgun actions many cannot be done since he has taken no time to gather information that makes these promises viable. His cabinet works without direction beyond their personal agendas with the tacit approval from the Oval office. His major demand of all of his appointees is loyalty to him and no one else no matter what the result does to the voters. In spite of this he still has supporters who believe  he is for them and that is backed up by the Alt right and radical right pundits who call themselves patriots. If as a United States do not pay close attention beyond slanted news and tweets, we could very well be on a war footing that we cannot afford and isolated commercially.

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The Reason


America has become the country that we have defended against and revolted against over 200 years ago. The reasons, we have elected a child as President whose sole objective is to undo anything done by the Former President.  This undoing is not done in a context of  having a better way  or getting knowledge of the laws or orders he is undoing. It appears that he is seeking adoration much like Hitler and Caligula. There is no substance to his speeches as he is still on the campaign trial rather than schooling himself in governing and the issues that affect that governance. His cabinet picks are wealthy people (for the most part) whose experiences do not relate to the American public so cannot make judgements or decisions that do any good for us. This President has one source of information (more uninformed opinion than fact) and that is the Fox news network. He seemingly pays no heed to his cabinet so gives no guidance to them. This method of governing is a formula for disaster as we are beginning to see with a Congress that is using his ignorance as a reason to unleash their worse on the American people. Our European and Asian partners are looking at this and have decided that they no longer have a strong ally or trading party. This situation has given rise to the Russian surge in conflict areas and the radical sectors of many areas. Mr. Trump  has used Twitter as his primary communication media but gives no substantive meaning or background to his tweets. His Whitehouse staff have spent much of their time parsing his tweets rather than issuing meaningful information (which appears to be lacking). His ”command staff” have gone from parsing to outright lying about his meanings and offering “alternate facts”. If the signal for liars were truly flaming pants then the White house as well as the Congress would be burned to the ground.

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Muscle Politics


The State of Illinois and the United States have similar leaders. Men who are wealthy and have been accustomed to having their way because they are wealthy. This thinking is why we are in a downward spiral in so many ways. It is unfortunate that many supporters of these men are not all mainstream voters but voters who want change and have grasped for any straws to save them from a perceived evil but have accepted assistance from a worse savior. These  men have used their wealth as a way to make things happen. This method of operating  may work(?) in private industry but not in Government and is destined to fail. That failure will usually result in the collapse of normalcy for us all. We as voters need to be sure that we elect people who really are in the race for the service and not what the office can do for them. We have allowed and in some cases fostered the election of demagogues who spew high sounding rhetoric that has no substance in real life. We would be well to remember, what sounds good may not work as it sounds. Square pegs still do not fit in round holes and politicians are still not as trustworthy as they want you to believe, especially when they campaign in Television ads and tweets  rather than legislate as they are elected to do. Reality is what’s left after the lies have been swept away. We need a big broom.

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The Madness of Congress via Donald Trump


The past 7 years the neer do well Congress has essentially subverted the Government by blocking almost everything President Obama wanted to do and attempted to do. The first issue was rephrasing his healthcare bill as Obamacare rather than  Affordable Care Act. They insisted that there would be death camps, huge costs and with that logic (lies) many Americans did not enroll. In the background of all of this was the Alt Right led by Steve Bannon, Bill O’Reilly et al. It is unfortunate that the under informed chose to believe the lies due to Racism and cause the election of Donald Trump. The election of DJT has given us popinjay whose main objective is to roll back any thing President Obama has done no matter who is hurt in the process. The under informed have decided that Obama is responsible for the Racial divide, the inaction of Congress and job loss. Currently TOTUS is pushing for the repeal of Obamacare aka Affordable Health Care no matter what the cost to Americans health. Now the big push is on to influence the Presidents’ approval ratings by repealing Health care with nothing to put in it’s place, effectively placing the  health of many Americans in jeopardy. America under this Congress and TOTUS has regressed to pre civil war status where anything can be said or done with no fear of reprisal especially against people of color and  ethnic or religious sects. 2018 could be the year to make significant changes in Government but only if we become informed and vote. Get woke and vote!

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Senate Republicans included a provision that exempts members of Congress and their staff from part of their latest health care plan.


We see again the Neer do wells taking care of themselves rather than the “American People” they are so find of citing. MA

Senate Republicans exempt own health coverage from part of latest proposal
Updated by Sarah Kliffsarah@vox.com Jul 13, 2017, 3:00pm
Senate Republicans included a provision that exempts members of Congress and their staff from part of their latest health care plan.

Vox’s daily email explaining the biggest news in health care, edited by Sarah Kliff

This exemption could have the effect of ensuring that members of Congress have coverage for a wider array of benefits than other Americans who purchase their own coverage.
A Senate Republican aide confirmed that the exemption existed but was unable to comment as to the specific effect it would have. The aide said it was included to ensure that the bill hewed to the chamber’s strict reconciliation rules that limit the policies this health bill can include.
The exemption is similar to the one that existed in the House health bill. After Vox reported on its existence, the House voted to close the loophole — and the Senate aide expected their chamber to follow the same path.
An exemption mandates that members of Congress have access to the essential health benefits
The revised Senate health bill draft released Thursday lets health insurers offer plans that do not cover the Affordable Care Act’s essential health benefits, which requires insurers to include a wide array of benefits such as maternity care and mental health services.
Insurers can offer plans without these benefits — unless they’re selling coverage to members of Congress and their staff, who are required to buy coverage on the health law marketplaces. The exemption says this part of the law still applies to any plans sold to Congress.
The language of this exemption is very similar to the exemption in the House repeal bill. It appears on page 167 of the bill, in this paragraph (bolding my own):
(d) NON-APPLICABLE PROVISIONS DESCRIBED. — The provisions described in this subsection are the following:
(1) Subsection (d) of section 1302 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 6 18022); except for the purposes of applying section 1302(b) to sections 1252, 1301(a)(2), 1312(d)(3)(D), 1331, 1333, and 1334 of such Act, subsection (b) of such section 1302; and subsection (c)(1)(B) of such section 1302.
To decode that language a little bit: The bolded text says that section 1302(b) will still apply to certain plans. Section 1302(b) is the part of the Affordable Care Act that spells out what is included in the essential health benefits.
The section then goes on to spell out which plans get to keep essential health benefits. It includes the plans specified in 1312(d)(3)(D) of the Affordable Care Act — the section that covers the health plans of members of Congress and their benefits.
Congress does not get an exemption in this bill from plans that ban preexisting conditions or charge sick people higher premiums. The exemption is relatively narrow, and the expert who pointed it out to me (Timothy Jost of Washington and Lee University) is somewhat puzzled about how this would work in practice.
The Senate draft, for example, would still allow insurers to charge higher prices to those with preexisting conditions — when selling to Congress as well as to the rest of the public. This could create an odd scenario where the plans that Congress is eligible for have to cover a wide array of benefits but can also deny coverage or charge more to those expected to have higher costs.
Reconciliation rules mandate that the Senate bill only include policies under the jurisdiction of two committees: Budget and HELP (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions). The Senate aide I spoke with explained that the regulation of congressional health plans falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee, and therefore changes to their benefits could not be included in this bill. A fuller explanation is available here from Factcheck.org, outlining the jurisdictional issues raised by reconciliation.

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My Opinion


The continual stream of news and revelations surrounding the Trump Presidency and the candidate’s run up to the election is quite disturbing. His actions before and after becoming President show a person who has no sense of what the job entails and seemingly does not care. This looks like a person who did not want the job and has appointed people who support him rather than people who will do work for the people of the United States. The continual cropping up of activities that refute the denials regarding Russian contacts before the election and after , should make all of us shudder. We are in a position where our long time allies are tacitly distancing them selves from our Titular head (not us as a Country). This leaves us vulnerable to more incursions from foreign sources. These sources recognize the lack of understanding of the world as a whole by this President. It is unfortunate that we have a neer do well Congress who are ignoring this so they can forward their own anti “American People “agenda. If you believe we are doing well as a country but can do better then I would advise you to pay close attention to the representative you elected to serve you and what they have or have not done for you. Your knowledge is the best asset you have to gain better government representation. Forget  the TV news hype and use your common sense to parse out the truth. Please read and listen to several sources of information to form your opinions. It is well to remember the old adage: “if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it is most surely a duck”.

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Apparently Not


The recent decision in Minnesota over the death of Mr. Philando Castile , a registered firearms owner apparently is not important to the NRA. It is reasonable to think that a case like this would raise the hackles of this gun rights organization but perhaps only if you are White.

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The State of The State


Illinois finally has a budget, is the damage done -yes, is it fixable- yes!. Step one to fixing is a new Governor rather than a self styled Government repairman. Repairing the damage done will take many years but the State will endure. The voters have one task from here on, pay attention to what our elected officials say and do, call them on what the say and do if you feel it is incorrect or anyway unclear. Do not get caught up in the advertising of politics as most of it is just hype hiding the real truth. These past years of no budget smacks of decisions made to bring the State to its knees in order to ride in like a savior. The Facts are: Mr. Ruiner is not a politician which is OK however he is too self absorbed to lead a multifaceted group of people such as a State with all of its subsets of people and their needs. There are no one size fits all solutions in a state which is why we have elected representatives from all over the state. Our task as voters is to insure we elect the right people to lead us.

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