United States vs. ?

[morekaos]

Not sure what crowe tastes like but I am sure its bitter...

CNN attacks Trump?s mental stability, fitness for office

After Trump's Twitter tantrums yesterday ? calling for the jailing of a political opponent and bragging his nuclear button is bigger than North Korea's ? CNN used its powerful platforms and people to suggest the president is mentally unstable.

The big picture: 2018 is off with a familiar bang, with the president trashing the media, and the media trashing him.


Show less
Jake Tapper started his 4 p.m. show, "The Lead": "President Trump is kicking off 2018 by going on Twitter, blasting Democrats, calling for a political opponent to be thrown in jail, demanding a potential witness be investigated, and praising himself. So, no New Year's pivot, apparently."
Brian Stelter opened his late-night media newsletter, Reliable Sources (which had the subject line "Trump's fitness"): "There's a word for this. Madness."
Stelter on "Anderson Cooper 360": "What would we say if the leader of Germany or China or Brazil posted tweets like Trump's? How would we cover it? We'd say: That person is not well. We'd wonder whether that person is fit to hold office."
And a banner on a special 10 p.m. Tapper edition asked: "ARE WE CLOSER TO NUCLEAR WAR THAN EVER?"
Tapper: "None of this [is] normal, none of this [is] acceptable, none of this [is] frankly stable behavior."

https://www.axios.com/cnn-attacks-trumps-mental-stability-fitness-for-office-1515110997-f43d3921-2b68-4f18-a43c-33fefa0ea7bd.html

5 reasons why Donald Trump's massive North Korea gamble makes total and complete sense

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump caught the world by surprise late Thursday with his stunning announcement that he would accept North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's invitation to meet sometime between now and May.

Assuming that the meeting actually happens, Trump will be the first sitting president to speak with -- either in person or by phone -- a North Korean leader.
Whether you like Trump or hate him, you can't conclude anything other than this is a massive, massive gamble -- the likes of which we haven't seen from an American president, diplomatically speaking, in a very long time.
In retrospect, it actually makes perfect sense that Trump is willing to roll the dice on such a massive stage. The move to meet with Kim is actually something very close to the Platonic ideal of Trumpism.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/09/politics/trump-kim-jong-un-analysis/index.html

 

[eyephone]

The President should not meet with North Korea. North Korea played the previous presidents from Clinton, Bush 2, and Obama.

If North Korea wants to make a deal and stop its program thaen NK should stop the program. Also they should release US prisoners.

We have more to loose if he does a stunt. For example doesnt show up, changes his mind.

I?m guessing they want something in return.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

The President should not meet with North Korea. North Korea played the previous presidents from Clinton, Bush 2, and Obama.

If North Korea wants to make a deal and stop its program thaen NK should stop the program. Also they should release US prisoners.

We have more to loose if he does a stunt. For example doesnt show up, changes his mind.

I?m guessing they want something in return.

NK has always wanted to meet with US...it puts them on the same field as the US...adds to their prestige and pushes SK and Japan out the equation. 

Each of the recent presidents before Trump struggled with North Korea, and none was able to get to a point where he felt that the country?s leader would come into a good-faith negotiation where denuclearization was seriously on the table. ?To be clear ? we need to talk to North Korea,? Lewis explained in a follow-up tweet. ?But Kim is not inviting Trump so that he can surrender North Korea?s weapons. Kim is inviting Trump to demonstrate that his investment in nuclear and missile capabilities has forced the United States to treat him as an equal.?

http://time.com/5192579/trump-meets-kim-jong-un-north-korea/

Remember how conservatives freaked out when Obama said that he was willing to meet with the leaders of Iran face to face? 

And when Obama got a good deal from Iran to stop their nuclear program?  People freaked out. 

 

[eyephone]

Road to Talks Between the U.S. and North Korea Has Been Bumpy

?A look at previous attempts at dialogue and how the possible summit meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim came about.?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile...-us-talks-timeline-trump-kim-history.amp.html

 

[eyephone]

They always want something in return. It?s really unbelievable.

The President should not meet with North Korea. North Korea played the previous presidents from Clinton, Bush 2, and Obama.

If North Korea wants to make a deal and stop its program thaen NK should stop the program. Also they should release US prisoners.

We have more to loose if he does a stunt. For example doesnt show up, changes his mind.

I?m guessing they want something in return.

NK has always wanted to meet with US...it puts them on the same field as the US...adds to their prestige and pushes SK and Japan out the equation. 

Each of the recent presidents before Trump struggled with North Korea, and none was able to get to a point where he felt that the country?s leader would come into a good-faith negotiation where denuclearization was seriously on the table. ?To be clear ? we need to talk to North Korea,? Lewis explained in a follow-up tweet. ?But Kim is not inviting Trump so that he can surrender North Korea?s weapons. Kim is inviting Trump to demonstrate that his investment in nuclear and missile capabilities has forced the United States to treat him as an equal.?

http://time.com/5192579/trump-meets-kim-jong-un-north-korea/

Remember how conservatives freaked out when Obama said that he was willing to meet with the leaders of Iran face to face? 

And when Obama got a good deal from Iran to stop their nuclear program?  People freaked out.

 

[morekaos]

People just don't get Trump.  They still use the old scales to measure his style.  You cannot.  Where Obama played "chess" and sipped wine  (but couldn't negotiate his way out of a paper bag)  Trump plays poker and slugs whiskey.  While Old school is playing a more gentile and civilized game of tennis where the "ball is now in Trumps court" , Trump is playing smashmouth football, moving the ball down the field while chuggin beer. It's not too late to get on the Trump train if you can look at this administration from a different angle.

 

[Liar Loan]

Remember how conservatives freaked out when Obama said that he was willing to meet with the leaders of Iran face to face? 

And when Obama got a good deal from Iran to stop their nuclear program?  People freaked out.

It was not just conservatives that freaked out, but Crooked Hillary herself that led the charge against Obama's policy.  Does this mean you support Trump's willingness to meet with Kim Jong-Un in person?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's offer to meet without precondition with leaders of renegade nations such as Cuba, North Korea and Iran touched off a war of words, with rival Hillary Rodham Clinton calling him naive and Obama linking her to President Bush's diplomacy.

Older politicians in both parties questioned the wisdom of such a course, while Obama's supporters characterized it as a repudiation of Bush policies of refusing to engage with certain adversaries.

It triggered a round of competing memos and statements Tuesday between the chief Democratic presidential rivals. Obama's team portrayed it as a bold stroke; Clinton supporters saw it as a gaffe that underscored the freshman senator's lack of foreign policy experience.

"I thought that was irresponsible and frankly naive," Clinton was quoted in an interview with the Quad-City Times that was posted on the Iowa newspaper's Web site on Tuesday.

In response, Obama told the newspaper that her stand puts her in line with the Bush administration.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/24/AR2007072401534_pf.html

 

[Irvinecommuter]

Remember how conservatives freaked out when Obama said that he was willing to meet with the leaders of Iran face to face? 

And when Obama got a good deal from Iran to stop their nuclear program?  People freaked out.

It was not just conservatives that freaked out, but Crooked Hillary herself that led the charge against Obama's policy.  Does this mean you support Trump's willingness to meet with Kim Jong-Un in person?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's offer to meet without precondition with leaders of renegade nations such as Cuba, North Korea and Iran touched off a war of words, with rival Hillary Rodham Clinton calling him naive and Obama linking her to President Bush's diplomacy.

Older politicians in both parties questioned the wisdom of such a course, while Obama's supporters characterized it as a repudiation of Bush policies of refusing to engage with certain adversaries.

It triggered a round of competing memos and statements Tuesday between the chief Democratic presidential rivals. Obama's team portrayed it as a bold stroke; Clinton supporters saw it as a gaffe that underscored the freshman senator's lack of foreign policy experience.

"I thought that was irresponsible and frankly naive," Clinton was quoted in an interview with the Quad-City Times that was posted on the Iowa newspaper's Web site on Tuesday.

In response, Obama told the newspaper that her stand puts her in line with the Bush administration.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/24/AR2007072401534_pf.html

And yet here we are in 2018 and Trump meeting with Kim is great!

 

[Irvinecommuter]

People just don't get Trump.  They still use the old scales to measure his style.  You cannot.  Where Obama played "chess" and sipped wine  (but couldn't negotiate his way out of a paper bag)  Trump plays poker and slugs whiskey.  While Old school is playing a more gentile and civilized game of tennis where the "ball is now in Trumps court" , Trump is playing smashmouth football, moving the ball down the field while chuggin beer. It's not too late to get on the Trump train if you can look at this administration from a different angle.

I love that Trumpsters keep saying that "we just don't get it"  No...we all get it.  It's Teddy Roosevelt...except US doesn't carry a big stick anymore. 

How many times has Trump proposed something and then realized...oh it's a lot more complicated than we expected and then it fizzled out.  How is that Israeli-Palestinian issue working out?  How about healthcare? 

 

[Liar Loan]

Remember how conservatives freaked out when Obama said that he was willing to meet with the leaders of Iran face to face? 

And when Obama got a good deal from Iran to stop their nuclear program?  People freaked out.

It was not just conservatives that freaked out, but Crooked Hillary herself that led the charge against Obama's policy.  Does this mean you support Trump's willingness to meet with Kim Jong-Un in person?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's offer to meet without precondition with leaders of renegade nations such as Cuba, North Korea and Iran touched off a war of words, with rival Hillary Rodham Clinton calling him naive and Obama linking her to President Bush's diplomacy.

Older politicians in both parties questioned the wisdom of such a course, while Obama's supporters characterized it as a repudiation of Bush policies of refusing to engage with certain adversaries.

It triggered a round of competing memos and statements Tuesday between the chief Democratic presidential rivals. Obama's team portrayed it as a bold stroke; Clinton supporters saw it as a gaffe that underscored the freshman senator's lack of foreign policy experience.

"I thought that was irresponsible and frankly naive," Clinton was quoted in an interview with the Quad-City Times that was posted on the Iowa newspaper's Web site on Tuesday.

In response, Obama told the newspaper that her stand puts her in line with the Bush administration.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/24/AR2007072401534_pf.html

And yet here we are in 2018 and Trump meeting with Kim is great!

Yep, establishment conservatives and Crooked Hillary are hypocrites.  We agree on that.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

Remember how conservatives freaked out when Obama said that he was willing to meet with the leaders of Iran face to face? 

And when Obama got a good deal from Iran to stop their nuclear program?  People freaked out.

It was not just conservatives that freaked out, but Crooked Hillary herself that led the charge against Obama's policy.  Does this mean you support Trump's willingness to meet with Kim Jong-Un in person?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's offer to meet without precondition with leaders of renegade nations such as Cuba, North Korea and Iran touched off a war of words, with rival Hillary Rodham Clinton calling him naive and Obama linking her to President Bush's diplomacy.

Older politicians in both parties questioned the wisdom of such a course, while Obama's supporters characterized it as a repudiation of Bush policies of refusing to engage with certain adversaries.

It triggered a round of competing memos and statements Tuesday between the chief Democratic presidential rivals. Obama's team portrayed it as a bold stroke; Clinton supporters saw it as a gaffe that underscored the freshman senator's lack of foreign policy experience.

"I thought that was irresponsible and frankly naive," Clinton was quoted in an interview with the Quad-City Times that was posted on the Iowa newspaper's Web site on Tuesday.

In response, Obama told the newspaper that her stand puts her in line with the Bush administration.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/24/AR2007072401534_pf.html

And yet here we are in 2018 and Trump meeting with Kim is great!

Yep, establishment conservatives and Crooked Hillary are hypocrites.  We agree on that.

Were you applauding Obama?

 

[eyephone]

I?m just judging by North Korea?s past history with dealings with the US.

North Korea has no credibility at all.

Just send Kushner. (The guy that works for free!!)

 

[Liar Loan]

How many times has Trump proposed something and then realized...oh it's a lot more complicated than we expected and then it fizzled out.  How is that Israeli-Palestinian issue working out?  How about healthcare?

Moving the embassy to Jerusalem was the biggest message you could send to the Palestinian people.  Get on board with negotiations or we will leave you in the dust.

Healthcare is going great.  The tax penalty for not buying a private insurance product has gone away.  Many of the other Obamacare taxes have gone away.  Yet people are still insured and the popular parts of the law are still in place.

Let's face it...  Trump is winning on nearly every policy front imaginable.

Were you applauding Obama?

Applauding wouldn't be the correct term, but I was in agreement with his position on this.  My main reaction was one of disgust with Hillary's condescending response.

I did not agree with the foreign policy of either Bush or Hillary.  They both are Neocons in their outlook, which has been a proven failure time and time again. 

I believe war should always be a last resort, and peace through strength is usually the best way to achieve that.

 

[Loco_local]

Healthcare is going great.  The tax penalty for not buying a private insurance product has gone away.  Many of the other Obamacare taxes have gone away.  Yet people are still insured and the popular parts of the law are still in place

I heard on the radio yesterday ACA premiums in CA are going up 30% next two years and will double in other states. Trump and the Republicans promised repeal and replace. All they've done is make a bad law worse.
https://khn.org/morning-breakout/so...trophic-premium-increase-in-next-three-years/

Some Areas Of Country Could See ?Catastrophic? Premium Increase In Next Three Years
The analysis found that the elimination of the individual mandate in 2019 will be the main driver of the spike in premiums. "The middle class will be priced out of insurance in about a third of America," said Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California.

The Washington Post: Premiums For ACA Health Insurance Plans Could Jump 90 Percent In Three Years
Insurance premiums for Affordable Care Act health plans are likely to jump by 35 to 94 percent around the country within the next three years, according to a new report concluding that recent federal decisions will have a profound effect on prices. The nationwide analysis, issued Thursday by California?s insurance marketplace, finds wide variations state to state, with a broad swath of the South and parts of the Midwest in danger of what the report calls ?catastrophic? average rate increases by 2021. (Goldstein, 3/8)

The Hill: Study: ObamaCare Premiums Could Increase 90 Percent Over Three Years For Some States
Beginning in 2019, premiums increases could range from 12 to 32 percent in the U.S. Cumulatively, states could see increases ranging from 35 to 90 percent from 2019 to 2021. The report, released by California's insurance marketplace, estimates that states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Texas could see cumulative increases of 90 percent by 2021. Indiana, Illinois and Iowa could see increases of 50 percent in the same time period. ?The challenges to our health care system are threatening to have real consequences for millions of Americans,? said Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California. (Hellmann, 3/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Health Insurance Premiums Could Soar, Analysis Projects
Across the country, people who buy health insurance on exchanges could see their premiums rise between 12 and 32 percent in 2019, according to an analysis released Thursday by Covered California, the state exchange that sells insurance to 1.2 million residents who don?t receive health coverage through their employers. (Ho, 3/8)

In other health law news ?

Kaiser Health News: A Health Plan ?Down Payment? Is One Way States Try Retooling Individual Mandate
As President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans tirelessly try to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, a number of states are scrambling to enact laws that safeguard its central provisions. The GOP tax plan approved by Congress in the last days of 2017 repealed the ACA penalty for people who fail to carry health insurance, a provision called the ?individual mandate.? On Jan. 30, in Trump?s first State of the Union address, he claimed victory in killing off this part of the health law, saying Obamacare was effectively dead without it. (Bluth, 3/9)

The CT Mirror: CT Ponders An Individual Mandate - And Two Vastly Different Penalties
A legislative committee aired two bills Thursday that would establish a state individual health care mandate and push back on Congress?s recent repeal of the Obamacare penalty, but the bills would impose radically different fines for those who fail to buy insurance coverage. (Rigg, 3/8)

 

[Loco_local]

Sarah Sanders is already walking back promises of a meeting between Trump and North Korea

"regime must first undertake unspecified ?concrete and verifiable actions.?

"We?re not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea," Sanders said Friday in a briefing with reporters.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...oncrete-and-verified-steps-before-kim-meeting

 

[Irvinecommuter]

Sarah Sanders is already walking back promises of a meeting between Trump and North Korea

"regime must first undertake unspecified ?concrete and verifiable actions.?

"We?re not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea," Sanders said Friday in a briefing with reporters.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...oncrete-and-verified-steps-before-kim-meeting

Wait...that sounds familiar.  It's almost like Trump promised something without figuring out the details

 

[Liar Loan]

I heard on the radio yesterday ACA premiums in CA are going up 30% next two years and will double in other states. Trump and the Republicans promised repeal and replace. All they've done is make a bad law worse.

The premium increases did not start under Trump.  They are a continuation of what has already been happening for years.  So I don't see how you can say he made a bad law worse.

Since the Republicans have such a narrow hold on the Senate they weren't able to get a couple of independent RINO's on board.  After the midterm, the projection is that (R)'s will have 4-6 more Senate seats.  If they can hold onto the House, the healthcare law is toast.  If they lose the house, then Obamacare remains the law of the land, but will continue to be chipped away at.  There's not much Trump can do about the makeup of Congress other than campaign for those that will help him get things done.

 

[Loco_local]

I heard on the radio yesterday ACA premiums in CA are going up 30% next two years and will double in other states. Trump and the Republicans promised repeal and replace. All they've done is make a bad law worse.

The premium increases did not start under Trump.  They are a continuation of what has already been happening for years.  So I don't see how you can say he made a bad law worse.

Since the Republicans have such a narrow hold on the Senate they weren't able to get a couple of independent RINO's on board.  After the midterm, the projection is that (R)'s will have 4-6 more Senate seats.  If they can hold onto the House, the healthcare law is toast.  If they lose the house, then Obamacare remains the law of the land, but will continue to be chipped away at.  There's not much Trump can do about the makeup of Congress other than campaign for those that will help him get things done.

Trump to end key ACA subsidies, a move that will threaten the law?s marketplaces
President Trump is throwing a bomb into the insurance marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act, choosing to end critical payments to health insurers that help millions of lower- ?income Americans afford coverage. The decision coincides with an executive order on Thursday to allow alternative health plans that skirt the law's requirements.

The White House confirmed late Thursday that it would halt federal payments for cost-sharing reductions, although a statement did not specify when. Another statement a short time later by top officials at the Health and Human Services Department said the cutoff would be immediate. The subsidies total about $7 billion this year.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.d8c23bda2e08

 

[Kings]

I heard on the radio yesterday ACA premiums in CA are going up 30% next two years and will double in other states. Trump and the Republicans promised repeal and replace. All they've done is make a bad law worse.

The premium increases did not start under Trump.  They are a continuation of what has already been happening for years.  So I don't see how you can say he made a bad law worse.

Since the Republicans have such a narrow hold on the Senate they weren't able to get a couple of independent RINO's on board.  After the midterm, the projection is that (R)'s will have 4-6 more Senate seats.  If they can hold onto the House, the healthcare law is toast.  If they lose the house, then Obamacare remains the law of the land, but will continue to be chipped away at.  There's not much Trump can do about the makeup of Congress other than campaign for those that will help him get things done.

Anecdotal, but my premium went up 100% over the past 3 years with zero change in plan or health.

 

[Liar Loan]

I heard on the radio yesterday ACA premiums in CA are going up 30% next two years and will double in other states. Trump and the Republicans promised repeal and replace. All they've done is make a bad law worse.

The premium increases did not start under Trump.  They are a continuation of what has already been happening for years.  So I don't see how you can say he made a bad law worse.

Since the Republicans have such a narrow hold on the Senate they weren't able to get a couple of independent RINO's on board.  After the midterm, the projection is that (R)'s will have 4-6 more Senate seats.  If they can hold onto the House, the healthcare law is toast.  If they lose the house, then Obamacare remains the law of the land, but will continue to be chipped away at.  There's not much Trump can do about the makeup of Congress other than campaign for those that will help him get things done.

Trump to end key ACA subsidies, a move that will threaten the law?s marketplaces
President Trump is throwing a bomb into the insurance marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act, choosing to end critical payments to health insurers that help millions of lower- ?income Americans afford coverage. The decision coincides with an executive order on Thursday to allow alternative health plans that skirt the law's requirements.

The White House confirmed late Thursday that it would halt federal payments for cost-sharing reductions, although a statement did not specify when. Another statement a short time later by top officials at the Health and Human Services Department said the cutoff would be immediate. The subsidies total about $7 billion this year.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.d8c23bda2e08

I'm fine with this, and it fits with the chipping away that I was talking about.  Private corporations should not be receiving subsidies.

Obamacare failed because it didn't focus on the root causes of higher health costs, but only focused on the narrow goal of providing health insurance to all people regardless of cost.