In Europe last week President Trump made it clear that he didn't believe in climate change, and has moved to cut America's spending on research in this area. The French, led by President Emmanuel Macron, are making it clear they not only believe in science, but that they stand ready to invest in climate change researchers who might find their way to France in the future.
The message below, directed at America's scientific community, is a powerful one, and is an example of how "brain drain" in America just might begin ...
I want to make this clear: if President Trump continues to reject science and the scientific community, while demonizing foreigners, Donald Trump is in no way going to make America great again. Ignoring and belittling scientific consensus has never been the path to greatness. The European minds who fled fascism in the 1930's (Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein, Klaus Fuchs, John von Neumann, et. al) ultimately helped to insure Hitler's demise. Their arrival in America, before and after WWII, also made some of the biggest breakthroughs and scientific discoveries in the post-war era possible.
The Jewish emigres who fled Nazi Germany literally revolutionized U.S. science and technology. These stories should serve as a lesson in what not do when it comes to science, and politics, in America.
This lesson, unfortunately, is lost on President Trump and our modern day Republican Party.
I liked this song before, but the U.S. military has turned into a real masterpiece. This is absolutely the best rendition of "Unchained Melody" I've ever heard:
Watch as newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron walks towards a group of European leaders and, at the last moment, swerves away from President Donald Trump to shake the hand of the new leader of the free world, Germany's Angela Merkel.
French President Macron's swerve tells us two things are happening; one small, the second quite significant.
The first is admittedly a bit petty and small, but it's also driven by Donald Trump's antics on the global stage. President Macron's swerve to greet Angela Merkel is important because it signals that the rest of the world's catching up to President Donald Trump's petty personality.
Whether it's Trump's faux macho man handshakes, the constant disrespect and breech of diplomatic protocol, Trump's continued ignorance on trade matters and NATO, or the fact that world leaders simply don't respect our buffoon of a president, one thing's clear: world leaders just might not put up with President Trump's fraternity boy antics in the future, even if he is president of the United States.
When you consider that Europe is used to ignoring noble charlatans and brushing off monarchical figureheads, Donald Trump should probably get used to not receiving the respect he thinks he deserves, simply because he's president of the United States.
In many ways, this is a good thing, and a reflection of the second message the Macron Swerve sends the rest of world. Simply put, Europe has grown up. A PLAN FOR THE WORLD
At the end of World War II the United States and its allies - primarily Great Britain and France - sat down and thought about the world they faced. Even in victory, it wasn't a pretty picture. Europe needed to be rebuilt. Japan was a mess. The Russians were rattling sabers in Europe. Worse, the ideas and patterns most of the modern world embraced before WWII had proven impractical, and destructive.
Socialism was a train wreck, and not an option in the west.
Fascism brought out the worst tendencies in the human condition, and proved to be a political and social disaster.
Unbridled capitalism had also failed the modern world, with several major market collapses in the 19th century, and the market collapse of 1929, which turned into the Great Depression.
All of this made it clear that business as usual was not the path forward. This was a daunting and fearful situation.
What emerged from this environment were a set of new ideas about our world, which included Keynesian economics, embracing global institutions, and putting the interests of a group of nations ahead of one dominant power. A more sophisticated understanding of world power and global politics emerged.
As the most powerful post-war state, the United States not only bought into this understanding of power, but backed it all up by agreeing to share decision-making on the political, military, and economic stages of the world. The United Nations, NATO, and the global economic institutions inspired at Bretton Woods (the IMF, the IBRD, and the GATT) would be the governing tools of our new global economic order.
Put more simply, the U.S. would not lead by force. It would lead through the strength of its ideas and institutions. Agreeable partners would make it all work. Strategic restraint on the part of the U.S. was part of the new game, while recovery and avoiding more Stalin's and Hitler's in the future were the goals.
Our modern world tells us the post-war plan worked. Fabulously.
The world entered a period of unprecedented economic growth. Europe integrated, and learned how to cooperate. Germany, the scourge of the early 20th century, has become a loud voice of reason and tolerance in the 21st century. Sure there were some hiccups. The Soviet Union caused the western world a good deal of frustration. But the post-war plan worked.
For the better part of 40 years, "market collapse" and "economic depression" were virtually eliminated from the vocabulary of the west. Best of all, the United States had strong and dependable partners on the global stage. And this was a good thing.
The following, which I wrote about in my book, The Myth of the Free Market, helps to explain how we know a strong and decisive Europe is a good thing. It also helps us understand why President Donald Trump is in over his head, and very deserving of the Macron Swerve. HOW WE KNOW THE POST-WAR PLAN WORKED Months before the start of the Second Gulf War in 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld chided Germany and France for not following the U.S. lead on Iraq – derogatorily referring to their leaders as holdovers from “old Europe.” The claim was both misinformed and full of hubris. Since 1945 Europe had embraced democratic and free market principles, was a solid ally during the Cold War, and pursued economic integration as a way to foment cooperation and allay past tensions in the region.
Flags of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU).
Rumsfeld’s comments demonstrated a willful ignorance of how “new Europe” fulfilled, if not exceeded, the aspirations of America’s post-war architects. Old Europe – if we are to get our history right – would not have waited for the U.S. to sweep into the Middle East. In the end, Rumsfeld would have done well to have spoken with General Electric’s former Chief Executive Officer, Jack Welch. He understands “new Europe.”
During his tenure as CEO Welch merged more than 900 firms with GE. When Honeywell became available in October 2000 Welch went into action. While Honeywell produced many of the same products as GE – plastics, chemicals, electrical machinery, and aircraft engines –Welch was not concerned about anti-trust legislation because he believed Honeywell’s products were “complimentary” rather than competitive. And, besides, why should he worry? He was Jack Welch.
After getting the green light from the U.S. Justice Department Welch met with Eurocrat, Mario Monti, the European Union’s Director-General for Competition (its “antitrust” division). In Brussels Welch would find “new Europe.” In The United States of Europe T.R. Reid described the introduction: “Welch flashed his friendly, casual smile, stuck out a hand, and said, ‘Mario – call me Jack’ … ‘Mr. Welch,’ [Monti] replied in his accented but precise English, ‘we have a regulatory proceeding under way. I feel the proper approach would be to keep things on a more formal basis. You can call me Sgr. Monti.’”
Monti’s team had done their homework. They secured information from both GE’s industry competitors and United Technologies (the firm GE outbid for Honeywell). At one point, when asked about aircraft electronic parts manufactured by Honeywell, GE’s team offered only blank stares. And on it went.
When Monti finally called Welch to tell him the “deal is over” he would end the conversation by saying, “Now I can say to you, ‘Good-bye, Jack.’” Fifty-five years after the end of WWII Mr. Welch learned the hard way that the system U.S. post-war architects wanted to build for the world had found a home in Europe. Welch learned something else: By creating the conditions for a prosperous and independent Europe to emerge, America’s grand liberal strategy had – and apparently without Donald Rumsfeld’s knowledge – erased “old Europe.” CONCLUDING THOUGHTS President Trump's actions up to this point make it clear that he has no understanding of Europe, let alone the world. Throw in his complete and utter ignorance of history, and we have what the world sees today: A political imbecile occupying the White House. This is why French President Macron's "swerve" to meet the new "leader of the free world," Angela Merkel, is so important. Individual European leaders, and the European Union in general, have caught on to what's happened in America.
Donald Trump is not going to make America great again. He is the poster child for America's relative decline. Fortunately, Europe is in much better shape today to deal with someone like Donald Trump than at any time in its history.
The Macron Swerve says much more than "I think Trump's a buffoon, so I'm going to say hi to a friend." It also says that the ideas of the post-war victors worked. And for that, we can thank the architects of the post-war world order.
We should also thank French President Emmanuel Macron for reminding the world that Europe just might be in a better position than we think, and that Donald Trump might not do as much damage as most people fear (at least we hope).
- Mark
First up we see that our brick and mortar retail stores (like Radio Shack) are taking a hit, big time, with bankruptcies starting to stack up through America.
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The primary reason for soaring bankruptcies in the retail world is the continuing surge in online sales across America (and the world). Simply put, more and more Americans are increasingly comfortable buying their stuff online.
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For more on this story, click here to access more charts and graphs on Virtual Capitalist.
John Oliver explains how America may be getting Trump Fatigue, sort of ...
In "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" we're told how President Trump's penchant for outdoing what's supposed to be a "scandal of epic proportions" one day with something that's even more scandalous and insane the next. Oliver explains how Donald Trump's on-going scandal palooza just gets bigger and bigger, in "Stupid Watergate" ...
When the former director of the FBI, Robert Mueller, agreed to take over the investigation into President Donald Trump's links to Russia, Republican Cathy Abernathy and I were invited by KGET 17 News to speak about these and other developments. As you will see in this video clip, Cathy believes there's nothing to the Russian investigation, and is content with the idea that the Russians might have meddled in an American presidential election (since their guy "won").
Then it got fun.
At 3:40 into the clip Cathy tries to explain how bombing Russia's ally, Syria, means - in Cathy's world - that Donald Trump isn't really Putin's pet. When I reminded Cathy (while chuckling) that Trump called Russia in advance so they could "move their stuff" she took offense, and started to lecture me, telling me that I "needed to understand" how we would have "been at war with Russia" if a Russian had been killed in the bombing ... which, again, explains why Trump called to give Russia a heads up about the bombing.
Yeah. She really said that.
At the end of the day, I'm having fun. I'm not so sure about Cathy. Then again, the looks she gives me tell me that she likes having me up there with her, I'm guessing. ☺
This is what happens when incompetence and bluster merge together in one man on an international stage ...
It was the summer of 1940 and Italy's Benito Mussolini was tired of sitting on the sidelines, watching Adolf Hitler and the Germans set the world on fire. To show the world, and Hitler, that the Italians were a force to be reckoned with, Mussolini unilaterally decided to invade Greece, telling a confidant "[Hitler] will find out from the newspapers that I have occupied Greece."
Unfortunately for Mussolini and the Italians, things didn't go as planned. Greece fought back, and were preparing to hand Mussolini's military a stinging defeat. Hitler was forced to postpone his plans to invade Russia by five weeks so he could come to the aid of his incompetent ally in 1941.
Fast forward 76 years, and we have similar Mussolini-like blustering incompetence occurring, only on a much smaller level ...
Like Benito Mussolini, President Donald Trump wanted to show his authoritarian-minded Russian friend that he's a big man on the world stage.
He's already blustered about North Korea, with the Chinese and South Koreans sitting idly by, unafraid, and bemused by all the commotion. Trump has also spouted nonsense about the Germans being "behind" on their NATO payments, which only opened him up to ridicule from the Germans and others in the international community. He's also boldly threatened to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, only to have the project stall because Trump doesn't understand how Congress or real policy initiatives work.
With the world snickering and laughing at America, this past week Donald Trump thought it would be a good idea to try and impress his Russian friends by sharing highly classified intelligence. Specifically, what Trump did was brag about information "so sensitive that American officials did not share it widely within the United States government or pass it on to other allies."
Ignore, for a moment, that President Trump would not allow U.S. or other western media outlets into the Oval Office during this meeting with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador (he did, however, allow Russia's foreign ministry photographer). Ignore that Trump once called divulging secrets to Russia treason. Ignore, as well, that Israel (the source of the intel) might not share sensitive information in the future, which could compromise national security.
The real important development here is that Russia's Vladimir Putin is now offering to come to President Trump's rescue, claiming that the Russians 'can provide record' of Trump's Russia meeting. Like Hitler did with Mussolini in 1941, Vladimir Putin is coming to the aid of a blustering buffoon.
He understands that America's running train wreck is in trouble.
To be sure, the scale of the circumstances here are far less serious than they were in 1941 with Hitler and Mussolini. So far we're only talking about general incompetence and diplomatic ignorance on a relatively small scale. The ripple effects are relatively modest, for the moment. But that's precisely the point.
Donald Trump is making so many little mistakes on a regular basis that the scale of power in his hands insures that one of Trump's little mistakes, or his constant misstatements, will one day cost the United States, and quite probably the world, bigly.
Seriously, following Trump around is like watching a reckless kid play with a loaded gun.
Sooner or later, as long as Donald Trump is in the White House, Trump's baby steps of incompetence are going to do some real damage. And when it does, Vladimir Putin's assistance - or his ire - will be the last thing Trump, or the United States, will want.
We have a mid-term Thursday morning in my International Political Economy class (PS 4640). Below are links to topics I have discussed on my blog, which tie directly into lectures I have given and, not coincidentally, are important for answering the questions that will be asked on the final exam. These are issues my students should be familiar with for Thursday's final exam. So, yeah, what's below is a list of ancillary "cliffs" notes for my class. To be sure, my regular readers (and those who have read my book) will understand the broader story. Of course, for those who are just interested in knowing about this stuff, you can begin by clicking on and reading the links below.
From War to Mercantilism: The historical role the Renaissance, Reformation, and the Enlightenment had in paving the intellectual path for Market Capitalism to arrive.
Waves of Imperialism ... War and Markets: Why Great Wealth is not a product of individual initiative alone. Here we learn about the three waves of imperialism, which were driven by successive but distinct eras of mercantilism after 1648, 1815, and 1919,
Waves of Imperialism, II ... It's not free markets ... the state creates the conditions under which wealth is created (with an all too brief discussion-mention of John M. Keynes and Friedrich List).
Rise of the Symbolic Economy / Roots of Market Crash(es)
A flood of dollars, new competition, and a crumbling economic framework ... yet we do nothing, still (this one touches on the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system). Why the American Dream is Disappearing: What's wrong with Detroit ... and America. Decoupling of Productivity from Labor ... The Rise of the Machines, Part I.
Decoupling of Productivity from Labor ... The Rise of the Machines, Part II.
Converting Euro trash into European gold ... how the gods are smiling on Spanish and European banks, again. A monkey throwing darts ... A flood of dollars has made investing and making money a lot easier than it should be, as the the graph below suggests. In fact, it's gotten so easy that a monkey throwing darts at stock choices, pasted on a wall, could make money in the market, as the story I recount here suggests.
Meet the man from India, Jadav "Molai" Payeng, who planted a tree every day in the same area for 37 years. Over time he turned a deserted section of the sandbar island into a forest larger than Central Park.
The ecosystem he created is phenomenal, and an example of the legacy one individual with few resources can leave to future generations. Today it contains 115 elephants, a number of rhinos and a handful of deer and tigers. The clip below is almost 1 minute long (an annoying commercial is injected at 58 seconds). Jump to the longer commercial free clip below for a more complete story on the forest.
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- Mark
UPDATE: I edited and added the longer second clip to this post because it's informative, and because the annoying commercial super imposed at 58 seconds in the first clip is a distraction from the larger message.
In an apparent threat, today Trump's suggesting there may be "tapes" of private conversations of him with former FBI Director James Comey.
While the threat to Comey is serious, here's the problem and message Trump is sending to the world: We now have a president who's going to use the privilege of his office to threaten and blackmail anyone who has a conversation with him.
Think about what this means in practical terms.
Analysts and experts who have ideas about policy proposals can forget about thinking outside of the box, or thinking out loud in front of the Trump.
Analysts and experts who may disagree with President Trump will not feel comfortable expressing their reasons for fear of selective leaks and mocking references from Trump.
Analysts and experts who should feel comfortable speaking in confidence about classified or sensitive issues, can no longer assume their thoughts and conversations are safe with Trump.
On another level, President Trump is sending the message that anyone who exists in his orbit needs to tow the line or risk retribution.
Here's the real tragedy in our nation's running train wreck. What Trump wants is unfailing loyalty to him, not the nation.
If you have any doubts about this, consider what the New York Timesreported yesterday. In a private dinner just seven days after being sworn in, President Trump demanded loyalty from FBI Director James Comey. He was rebuffed. According to the NY Times:
As they ate, the president and Mr. Comey made small talk about the election and the crowd sizes at Mr. Trump’s rallies. The president then turned the conversation to whether Mr. Comey would pledge his loyalty to him.
Comey's response was what every president, who's concerned about the safety and integrity of the United States of America, should demand from advisers and security experts: the truth. In fact, after being asked for his personal loyalty to the president, then FBI Director Comey said he would always be honest with him, but that he was not 'reliable' in the conventional political sense.
My friends, the separation of powers and our system of checks and balances were created for a reason. Our Founding Fathers did not want power concentrated in the hands one person, or within a small group of people (an oligarchy).
Trump is making it abundantly clear why the Founding Fathers were opposed to both monarchy and oligarchy. Absolute power corrupts, while concentrated power - as our friends in Africa and Latin America showed us in the 20th century - is a recipe for intolerance and disaster. Trump is on a quest to acquire both.
A pliant and sycophantic Republican-led Congress is only the stage setting in Trump's evolving presidential play. The first act for President Trump was firing an acting Attorney General (Sally Yates), dismissing a sitting FBI director (James Comey), and demanding the resignation of a U.S. Attorney (Preet Harara) for doing their jobs (which included investigating Trump's Russian ties). Act Two will, no doubt, continue to gut and eviscerate the integrity of state institutions that are designed to protect the United States.
The longer President Trump is in office the more you can bet a constitutional crisis is coming. Firing, threatening, and demanding personal loyalty from career professionals who are sworn to defend the Constitution and this country from enemies, both foreign and domestic, is not how you make America great again.
Remember when President Trump slammed the U.S. Constitution, saying it was "archaic" and "really bad" for the nation? This was followed with his threat to change the rules. He made these comments in part over his frustration with our system of checks and balances, after failing to accomplish anything of merit during his first 100 days (and, no, executive orders don't count).
Famously, Trump ignored how his legislative proposals are so wildly unpopular he can't get any of his major initiatives through the U.S. Congress, where both the House and Senate are controlled by Republicans. Better to blame the Constitution than take responsibility for incompetence and wildly reckless policy proposals, right?
What really upset Trump, however, is how the press and pesky judges keep reminding him that he can't rule like he's some kind of Latin American or African dictator. The media and various court decisions have let Trump know that he has a responsibility to respect and abide by the U.S. Constitution.
Unfortunately, this isn't what dictators and wannabe dictators like to hear when they're trying to impose their will.
So President Trump has resorted to what reckless despots and dictators do best. He's acting like a petulant tyrant, and has threatened North Korea, picked on the powerless (migrants, Muslims, the poor, and people of color), and fired anybody that crosses him. The recent dismissal of FBI director James Comey falls right into that frame of thought.
Think about it. With FBI Director promising to trace President Trump's Russian ties, wherever the evidence leads him (more on this below) Trump understands that he's in over his head. An independent legal and judicial body with the power to investigate Trump and his friends is not something President Trump or wannabe dictators want.
It's those pesky checks and balances, again.
This explains why Trump fired FBI director James Comey.
It also explains why Trump fired U.S. Attorney Preet Harara, who not only was looking into stock trades of HHS Secretary Tom Price, but refused to return a phone call from the White House when they left a message for him to do so (separation of powers makes this standard protocol).
It also explains why Trump fired acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, who refused to uphold Trump's immigration ban that unconstitutionally targeted seven predominantly Muslim countries.
By themselves, each of these dismissals might not mean much. But with Russian subterfuge in the background, and President Trump's known and increasingly exposed ties to Russia, these three high profile and poorly timed firings smell like a cover up.
The stench of a cover up only grows when we include other developments from Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Tuesday night prosecutors began issuing grand jury subpoenas for Michael Flynn's associates. This means Trump's associates are next. The same evening Senate investigators asking the Treasury Department to look for financial ties between Team Trump and Russia. Those links are long, and already well documented. Finally, when President Trump met with Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, he locked out White House reporters while inviting Vladimir Putin's photographer into the Oval Office to report on their meeting (nothing wrong there, right?).
I don't know about you, but locking out the American press from the Oval Office and firing the acting Attorney General, the director of the FBI, and a U.S. attorney - who all happen to be involved in independent investigations of your office - sure looks like a petty tyrant trying to cover his Russian tracks.
One thing's certain at this point. Donald Trump wasn't kidding when he said he didn't like the U.S. Constitution. Going after the media - which is often referred to as America's 4th estate - while dismissing key players in our legal and law enforcement infrastructure, make it clear that Trump has no respect for our separation of powers system.
In fact, if there's anything that President Trump has accomplished it's demonstrating to the world that he's thin-skinned, and doesn't like people looking into things that he's done, especially when it comes to Russia.
If our Republican-led Congress want to sit back and watch as the Trump Train Wreck disrespects and dismantles the U.S. Constitution, and the institutions that have made this country great, that's on them.
It also makes them traitors to our nation. It's really that simple.
The Guardian article posted below - "Donald Trump's ignorance is becoming more evident with each passing day" - makes it clear that Donald Trump is a train wreck waiting to happen. His common man style of not playing by the rules says more about his inability to understand the world we live in, and about his incredible ignorance of basic facts, than it does to his imagined swag. It might play well to the mafia of mediocrity that voted for him, but it's going to get us all in trouble one day.
The article by David Cay Johnston helps explain why.
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Donald Trump's ignorance is becoming more evident with each passing day
Let’s connect the dots between Donald Trump’s “tax plan”, his invitation to the murderous leader in Manila and saying he would be “honored” to meet with the dictator of North Korea. And let’s throw in his claim that Trumpcare will be better than Obamacare and that his skeletal tax plan would make him pay more.
While these facts might seem unrelated, each points to a fundamental truth about Trump that I have been trying to get people to understand since he announced his latest presidential campaign in June 2015: Trump doesn’t know anything.
And Trump’s ignorance should scare you because the White House says he plans to fulfill all of his campaign promises – and among them is starting wars and using nuclear weapons.
Human beings have thousands of years of experience with taxes and diplomacy and yet Trump lives unaware of the basic principles of government finance and international relations.
Don’t take my word for it, even as someone who knows the man and has studied him closely for 29 years. Just listen to Trump’s own words. They show he acts like a classic con artist, all bluster and vagaries. He lives blissfully unaware of his ignorance of basic facts that anyone who paid attention in high school, much less college, should know.
Trump declared recently that Andrew Jackson was furious about the civil war even though he died 16 years before it began. Trump seems unaware Jackson was a slave-owning white supremacist.
Meeting with black leaders in February, Trump said that Frederick Douglass was “an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more”.
That’s a neat trick for someone who was buried 122 years ago, not that Trump has a clue that Douglass was an abolitionist newspaper publisher, pastor and orator.
Trump is even ignorant about his tax plan, all 100 words of it, or that it violates principles of taxation articulated by Plato, Adam Smith and many other philosophers.
Trump said under his tax plan, he would pay more. Nope. He’d pay 86% less, based on his 2005 federal income tax filing, which I revealed in March at DCReport.org, the nonprofit news service I founded to track what Trump does, rather than tweets.
His tax wishlist would eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, a 1986 law signed by President Ronald Reagan. That law cost Trump nearly $31.3m of his $36.6m federal income tax bill in 2005.
Had Trump’s tax wishlist been in effect in 2005, he would have paid just $5.3m in federal income tax on an income of $152.7m.
That works out to slightly less than 3.5% of his income, which is lower than the effective income tax rate paid by the poorest half of American taxpayers that year. They paid slightly more than 3.5%. The difference is that Trump’s income was almost $3m a week while the poorer half got by on a tad more than $300 per week.
Then there’s geopolitics. Not only does Trump not know a Shia from a Sunni or the reasons it matters, he also came into office knowing nothing of the thousands of years of relations between China and Korea. Trump said Xi Jinping, the supreme leader in Communist China, schooled him during a recent telephone conversation ...
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You can read the rest of the article by clicking here. But know one thing. President Trump, our national embarrassment, just might become a stain on humanity.
The House of Representatives voted last week to replace Obamacare with Trumpcare. While there were 20 Republicans who voted against repealing Obamacare - some with very good reasons - the reality is our Paul Ryan-Kevin McCarthy led Republican Party have once again made it clear they care more about ideology than they do people.
If there is any silver lining to this vote, it's the fact that House bill is probably dead in the water. Simply put, the United States Senate won't adopt the House of Representative's bill to repeal Obamacare because its replacement is too draconian.
In real simple terms, Trumpcare "guts protections for those with pre-existing conditions" while their promise to create "high-risk pools" is just a smoke and mirrors underfunded scam. The fact that people with employer provided insurance plans could also lose their health coverage under Trumpcare makes the GOP health plan a non-starter for many Republicans in the senate.
Still, the GOP did pass a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. This was followed by a flood of reviews and commentary that make for good reading, which I'm posting here.
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THE DETAILS
All the horrific details of the GOP's new Obamacare repeal bill: A handy guide (LA Times).
50 health issues that count as pre-existing conditions (Money).
5 things to know about AHCA, the new House Republican health care bill that just passed (Money).
GOP's Obamacare replacement could cost the average poor family benefits worth a third of its income (Washington Post).
THE STUPID, IT BURNS
Alaska state representative says women get abortions for the 'free trip' to the city (New York Magazine).
Alabama congressman; "People who lead good lives" don't have pre-existing conditions (Salon).
GOP Congressman: "nobody dies because they don't have access to health care" (HuffPost).
Trump praises Australia's universal health-care system: 'You have better health care than we do' (Washington Post).
GOP lawmaker admits not reading 'every word' of healthcare bill (The Hill).
After bashing Obamacare for high deductibles, the GOP has crafted a health care plan that raises deductibles (Slate).
THINGS TO CONSIDER
In rare unity, hospitals, doctors and insurers criticize health bill (NY Times).
I was raped. Thanks to Republicans, I could be denied insurance for surviving (Washington Post).
Despite critics' claims, the GOP health bill doesn't classify rape or sexual assault as a preexisting condition (Washington Post).
Pregnancy to cost 425% more under Donald Trump's health plan compared to Obamacare (Independent).
OBAMACARE POSITIVES THE GOP WANTS TO IGNORE
Obamacare is the law of the land, and Kansas Republicans couldn't be happier (Mother Jones).
Hospital uncompensated care costs fall to lowest level in 26 years: 4 things to know (Becker's Hospital CFO).
MISCELLANEOUS
Sorry, Ryan: Senate Republicans to scrap House repeal bill, start from scratch (TPM).
The new study that shows Trumpcare's damage (NY Times).
A conservative case for single-payer health care (The Week).
What is the GOP's political calculation on health care (MSNBC)?
California shows why the Republican plan to rely on states to replace Obamacare may not work (LA Times).
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While the House Republicans are going to lose on this round of "Let's Repeal Obamacare Wheel of (Mis)Fortune" we want to keep in mind what's really happening here.
First, the GOP is simply grooming America for a constant drumbeat of "let's repeal Obamacare." This way it won't come as such a shock if they ever succeed. It's a sick way of running the country, but this is America's Republican Party in the 21st century.
Second, repealing Obamacare in the House of Representatives last week fit in rather nicely as political cover for when FBI director James Comey was testifying on Trump's ties to Russia on Wednesday. Again, this is a terrible way to run a country, but it's how America's GOP wants to do things.
Finally, as Paul Krugman points out, the primary reason the GOP want to go after Obamacare is because they are deathly afraid of America seeing yet another successful government program (Social Security, NASA, Medicare, etc.) that blows their "government can't do anything right" mantra right out of the water.
Yeah, sabotaging a successful program because you don't want it to undermine an already failing ideology is a terrible way to run a country. But it's how our modern Republican Party - and, apparently, Republican Jesus - want things done.
If you wanted proof that President Trump isn't taken seriously consider this: After announcing that he's "looking into" breaking up the big Wall Street banks, market players kept on doing what they do best: finding ways to make money for themselves.
Put more bluntly, as Business Insiderpointed out, the "stock market has stopped paying attention to what Trump says."
But there's a much bigger problem than President Trump's blatant disregard for the truth. As the Washington Postnoted, Trump's "credibility gap" goes beyond him crying wolf.
The real problem is how President Trump's inconsistencies on virtually everything have turned his lies into ignored events. Whether it's Trump saying we're going to confront North Korea one day, then announcing that he would be "honored" to meet with Kin Jong Un the next, the smart money - and those who aren't criminally stupid - have learned that President Trump has no principles, or any clue about the world around him.
Throw in President Trump's recent Civil War comments, and it's abundantly clear that Trump's an historical illiterate too.
So, yeah, President Trump's a joke.
Unfortunately, it's going to cost us all one day. Bigly.
He's at it, again ... President Donald Trump on the Civil War:
"I mean, had Andrew Jackson been [born] a little later, you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, 'There’s no reason for this.' People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War — if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?"
"People don't realize, the Civil War -- you think about it, why? People don't ask that question. But why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?"
Seriously? This is 8th grade history. Can Trump really be that clueless? Yes, he is. Let's review ...
"He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, 'There’s no reason for this.'"
Let's see, the reason Andrew Jackson saw 'no reason for this' is because he didn't see it. He died in 1845. The Civil War started in 1861. But, wait, it gets better (or is that worse?) ...
"People don't ask that question, but why was there a Civil War?"
Students and scholars have been asking about the Civil War for well over 150 years, and counting. There's literally thousands of books - perhaps even 65,000 - written about the Civil War. And, yes, a few of those even discussed why it started. Then we have this Trump classic ...
"Why could that one not have been worked out?"
How about the economics of slavery pitted one emerging civilization, the industrializing north, against a static civilization, a slave dependent agriculture dominant south. In many ways, this was the original "clash of civilizations" in post-revolutionary America. Yet, Trump has no clue about any of this. I have more commentary, but why bother?
