Friday, July 28, 2017

Eric Cantor admits Obamacare repeal was a charade which helped Republicans get reelected


He says he wasn’t the only one aware of the charade: “We sort of all got what was going on, that there was this disconnect in terms of communication, because no one wanted to take the time out in the general public to even think about ‘Wait a minute—that can’t happen.’ ” But, he adds, “if you’ve got that anger working for you, you’re gonna let it be.”

Trump's first six months of current dollar GDP aren't awful, but that's about it


There's Trump steaks and Trump wine, and now . . . the Trump wiener


As I predicted Real Clear Markets wastes no time trotting out another libertarian to attack your mortgage interest deduction, this time from the Manhattan Institute


State capitalist cronyism in Wisconsin smells to high heaven: The state will pay $3 billion for Foxconn jobs

The cost of reelection for Scott Walker, Paul Ryan and Donald Trump.

From the story here:

What will the State of Wisconsin be paying to lure Foxconn? A steep price. It adds up to $3 billion, including tax credits, training grants and infrastructure improvements. That comes to almost a quarter-million per job, which will pay an average of $54,000 per year. In other words, the people of Wisconsin will in effect be paying the plant’s entire workforce for about five years. And the construction jobs – which make up more than three-quarters of the total – will only last about four. ...

No one knows how long the Foxconn jobs in Kenosha will last. But we do know the company has publicly committed to automating away the vast majority of its current 1.2 million jobs, most of which are located in Asia. At one plant alone in China’s Guangdong province they have eliminated about 60,000 jobs. And they certainly aren’t stopping there. They have targeted to reach 30 percent automation by 2020, and their stated goal is to eliminate almost their entire human workforce, retaining only a minimal number of workers in production, logistics, and inspection.

Fusion GPS at heart of Democrat collusion with Russia against Trump, McCain their useful idiot

Kim Strassel sets the table in her column today, here, from which these excerpts:

Fusion GPS. That’s the oppo-research outfit behind the infamous and discredited “Trump dossier,” ginned up by a former British spook. Fusion co-founder Glenn Simpson also was supposed to testify at the Grassley hearing, where he might have been asked in public to reveal who hired him to put together the hit job on Mr. Trump, which was based largely on anonymous Russian sources. Turns out Democrats are willing to give up just about anything—including their Manafort moment—to protect Mr. Simpson from having to answer that question.

What if, all this time, Washington and the media have had the Russia collusion story backward? What if it wasn’t the Trump campaign playing footsie with the Vladimir Putin regime, but Democrats? The more we learn about Fusion, the more this seems a possibility. ...

What if it was the Democratic National Committee or Hillary Clinton’s campaign [that hired Simpson]? What if that money flowed from a political entity on the left, to a private law firm, to Fusion, to a British spook, and then to Russian sources? Moreover, what if those Kremlin-tied sources already knew about this dirt-digging, tipped off by Mr. Akhmetshin? What if they specifically made up claims to dupe Mr. Steele, to trick him into writing this dossier?


Most accurate headline of the morning: McCain Kills GOP's 7-Year Quest to Repeal Obamacare

He also "suspended" his campaign in 2008 to vote for the financial crisis bank bailout, putting him in sharp relief with Obama who also voted for the bailout (sarc).

How do you spell P. O. S. ?

I spell it John Sidney McCain.

John McCain, Liza Mercowskee, and Susan Collins vote against skinny repeal, leaving millions in bondage to healthcare mandates

Bloomberg reports here:

The GOP’s ‘skinny’ repeal bill was defeated 49-51, falling just short of the 50 votes needed to advance it. Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski also voted against it. ... "I sadly feel a great many Americans will feel betrayed, that they were lied to, and that sentiment will not be unjustified. You cannot campaign against Obamacare and then vote for Obamacare," Republican Senator Ted Cruz said early Friday.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Yeah, well what if Pence is the leaker, whattaya gonna do about that, huh Mr. Toughguy?


John McCain is still a POW: To overturn the offense of Obamacare, the offense must be removed

Obamacare was passed without a single Republican vote. It should be repealed without a single Democrat vote to remove that offense.

But John McCain thinks like a loser, not a winner, and wants to work with Democrats now, before any of that happens. Like that'll work.

Trump was right about McCain the first time. And McCain is going to die in captivity.

Gingrich Pot calls Mooch Kettle black


June Foray, the voice of Rocky, Natasha and the fair Nell, has died at 99

Story here.

CBO says overturning individual mandate would mean 15 million would drop health insurance in a heartbeat, so to speak

Reported here.

Things we can't say anymore


The Black Death can't reappear soon enough


Wednesday, July 26, 2017

CNBC's John Harwood lies about the size of the individual market in health insurance, and by omission


Individual market coverage has risen to 18 million from 11 million in 2013.

That's simply false.

The Kaiser Family Foundation had individual market coverage at 15.4 million already in 2013, as I reported at the time here. Rising by less than three million in four years to 18 million, if that's even true, is purely a function of natural population growth, not Obamacare's success in extending individual market coverage where there was none before. These millions who have seen their premiums and their deductibles soar as a result of Obamacare were far more numerous than Harwood says.

Completely unaddressed by Harwood is the small group market where employers have fewer than 50 employees. Their costs have also soared, as anyone working for a small business can tell you. Obamacare compliant small group plans typically charge FIVE TIMES what individuals used to pay on the individual market before Obamacare. This small group market was 25 million strong in 2013.

That's over 40 million people in 2013 who have born the brunt of paying for Obamacare's handouts to deadbeats and grifters, not the 10 million or fewer Harwood claims.

HE'S A LYING SACK OF JAWEA.

Duplicitous bastards


HR 3762 reloaded in the Senate fails this time 45-55

From the story here:

The Senate on Wednesday rejected an amendment to gut Obamacare without a replacement ready to go, a bill identical to a 2015 measure that passed Congress.

Senators voted 45-55 on the measure, with seven Republicans and all Democrats voting no. The Republicans voting no were Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, Dick Heller of Nevada, John McCain of Arizona, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Only Collins voted against the measure in 2015. ...

The bill is identical to a 2015 measure that passed Congress that would gut Obamacare's taxes and mandates but leave in place insurer regulations. The bill would have let Obamacare stay in place for two years while a replacement was crafted. Former President Barack Obama vetoed the legislation in 2015.

Once a Bruce Jenner always a Bruce Jenner

The male aggression rears its ugly head, or something:

Jenner in the past [you know, ages ago . . . in April] told Diane Sawyer that she has “one deal-breaker” with the Republican party: “You mess with my community, you do the wrong thing with our community, you don’t give us equality and a fair shot, I’m coming after you.”

The story is here.