On the failure of the Republicans replacement for Obamacare

I hate to be the one to say this, but, I absolutely knew that this was going to happen.

This is not to say that this sort of thing doesn’t happen all the time in Washington DC. But, the New York Times acts like it’s something rather new:

WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders, facing a revolt among conservatives and moderates in their ranks, pulled legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act from consideration on the House floor Friday in a major defeat for President Trump on the first legislative showdown of his presidency.

“We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future,” the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, conceded.

The failure of the Republicans’ three-month blitz to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement exposed deep divisions in the Republican Party that the election of a Republican president could not mask. It cast a long shadow over the ambitious agenda that Mr. Trump and Republican leaders had promised to enact once their party assumed power at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

And it was the biggest defeat of Mr. Trump’s young presidency, which has suffered many. His travel ban has been blocked by the courts. Allegations of questionable ties to the Russian government forced out his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. Tensions with key allies such as Germany, Britain and Australia are high, and Mr. Trump’s approval ratings are at historic lows.

President Trump basically spells it out right here:

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That my friends is how the normal government process works. It was nothing big, it was nothing devastating to the president of the United States or his presidency. It’s simply how government works.

Think maybe somebody could tell that to the liberal media?

(Via Memeorandom)

Conservative Media figures are grumbling about the GOP Congress

Already? Yeah, I figured this would be coming. 🙄

Here’s Sean Hannity, and he is not happy:

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It is not just him. AllahPundit over at HotAir.com observes the following:

It’s not just Hannity among the conservative A-list who’s grumbling about the tortoise pace of legislative action. Some House conservatives, like Jim Jordan, have complained about it recently and Matt Drudge, a Trump superfan, chimed in on Twitter a few days ago demanding to know what the hold-up is on O-Care and tax reform. All of which is excellent populist fodder: You can’t go wrong reassuring a restive grassroots audience that Congress is a bunch of gutless layabouts, especially if you’re a fan of the president and looking to condition the public to give him more power.

AP explains things a bit:

But this is more complicated than it looks. For one thing, the Senate GOP is jammed up right now by Democratic tactics to slow-walk Trump’s cabinet nominees. That’s resolving itself hour by hour as the time for debate on each nominee expires, but getting Trump’s secretaries in place is a top priority at the moment. For another thing, it’s not just Republicans in Congress who are urging patience among the base in moving their agenda, especially when it comes to ObamaCare. Hannity being Hannity, this monologue is a full-throated defense of Trump as a man of action and condemnation of the dithering Ryan-led Republicans in Congress as cowards who are blowing an opportunity — but it was Trump, not Ryan, who warned Americans last Sunday that the repeal-and-replace process might take until 2018. It’s Trump, not Ryan, who has pointedly held off on undoing Obama’s executive amnesties, much to the dismay of border hawks like Steve King. It’s Trump, not Ryan, who prioritized the travel ban as his first big policy fight rather than tax reform. Of course it’s true that Trump has acted more boldly thus far than Ryan and McConnell have in securing gains for the party, but that’s due to the nature of the two branches. All the president needs to do to make something happen in the executive branch is to grab a pen. Making something happen in the legislative branch takes time. As it was supposed to.

It also requires 60 votes in the Senate (at least for now), and therein lies a major problem. The Senate GOP can avoid a filibuster by using reconciliation to repeal chunks of ObamaCare, like the mandate — but it can’t repeal all of it. Importantly, it probably can’t repeal the regulations that require insurers to provide coverage to people with preexisting conditions, a main driver of costs under the program. It’ll probably take 60 votes for that, which creates a dilemma for Republicans: Do they really want to risk eliminating the mandate, the key revenue mechanism under the law, via reconciliation knowing that they can’t eliminate the main expenditure provision at the same time? That’s a recipe for a death spiral, which would mean lots and lots and lots of dropped coverage and lots and lots and lots of angry voters. Trump seems to understand that, that there aren’t 60 votes for a plan to avert that death spiral — at the moment — which is why he’s looking to 2018. Why is it the fault of congressional Republicans that they don’t have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate?

….and on Taxes:

The Bush tax cuts were enacted via reconciliation, you’ll recall, and were also subject to a 10-year sunset provision. Because of that, the top income tax bracket reverted to its pre-Bush levels in 2012. If you want this year’s tax reforms to be permanent rather than limited by another 10-year sunset and another big congressional standoff circa 2027, you need Democratic cooperation. That means 60 votes, and most Senate Dems are in no mood to provide those votes right now — but they might be eventually, especially since there’s bipartisan consensus on certain key issues (like lowering corporate taxes). As the midterms bear down on red-state Dems like Joe Manchin, they might be willing to compromise with the Great Negotiator in the White House and produce a package that can be passed cleanly in Congress, enshrining Trump’s tax program as permanent law. But that’ll take time, and Hannity and other populists are unwilling to wait.

Here’s an idea. If Trump wants to speed things along in the legislature so that he isn’t stuck fighting court battles over executive orders, he could try being a bit less antagonistic to legislators on the other side, like mocking Chuck Schumer for tearing up over refugees, and searching for areas on which the parties might compromise, to build trust. (And in fact, he might be doing just that.) It may not work despite his best efforts — the left craves a “resist at all costs!” approach to Trump, which is too bad and about which there isn’t much the White House can do. But he can do what he can do on his end. It can only help Ryan and McConnell to pick up the pace if he’s more conciliatory with critics.

Needless to say, the GOP congress is going to have their hands full for the next 4 years. When they are not defending themselves from attacks from Democrats, they will be having to fend off attacks from the Conservative media. It is going to be a long, hard four years.

Kellyanne Conway once again proves that she is not ready for prime time.

Remember when I said that this woman needed to go? Well, here is another good reason.

The Story: White House says Conway has been ‘counseled’ after touting Ivanka Trump’s products – The Washington Post

President Trump’s official counselor, Kellyanne Conway, was “counseled” after she told TV audiences to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff,” the White House said Thursday.

Legal experts said Conway had broken a key ethics law banning federal employees from using their public office to endorse products. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that Conway “has been counseled,” but offered no other comment.

Conway, speaking to “Fox & Friends” viewers from the White House briefing room, was responding to boycotts of Ivanka Trump merchandise and Nordstrom’s discontinuation of stocking her clothing and shoe lines, which the retailer said was in response to low sales and which the president assailed as unfair.

“I’m going to give it a free commercial here,” Conway said of the president’s daughter’s merchandise brand. “Go buy it today.”

Conway and officials from the Office of Government Ethics did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Conway’s endorsement was ”clearly over the line” and “unacceptable.”

Earlier in the day, the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), had urged Chaffetz to support a review into what he called “a textbook violation of government ethics laws.”

Trump might be a good leader and is going to be a excellent President. But, he has surrounded himself with a bunch of utter buffoons. This woman needs to be fired and I mean quick.

Update: Here is the buffoon breaking ethics laws:

https://youtu.be/3sb08WTuGtM

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Kellyanne Conway needs to stop whining about her job or resign

I saw this today at HotAir.com and I could not help but think that if this was a Democrat presidential adviser, the conservative media would be roasting her for it.

Here is the video of her whining about her job and the hazards thereof:

Now, what I am about to say, is not going to be political correct. But, Mrs. Conway; stop bitching and whining about the fact that not everyone is going to like your boss or even worse, you or resign your position of Presidential Advisor. Because I, for one, did not vote for some shrieking harpy to sit and whine about how the “mean old liberal media”, is treating you badly. It comes with the territory. Dana Perino who served as Bush’s press secretary, faced a hostile crowd too and never once did you ever hear her complain about it, ever.

I think it is high time that President Trump took control of his White House, cleaned house and put some people in there with some backbone and get rid of the damned whiners.

If that is not a good enough reason to send this whiner packing, maybe the fact that she got into a drunken first-fight might just be.

Again, I did not vote for this sort of stupidity; Trump needs to clean it up and I mean quick.

Others: AOL, Hot Air, TheBlaze, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Mother Jones and Townhall.com, The Week, The Slot, alan.com, Oliver Willis, Althouse and CBS Philly, Political Wire

The world worries about Trump

 

I believe, if anything, this is a sign that America’s globalist policies have been in place for far too long.

VIA Time:

President Donald Trump’s iaugural speech promised “America first” policy led by a forceful executive, in contrast to the coalition building and international conferences which have featured strongly in past administrations.

The billionaire businessman and reality television star — the first president who had never held political office or high military rank — promised to stir a “new national pride” and protect America from the “ravages” of countries he says have stolen U.S. jobs.

“This American carnage stops right here,” Trump declared. In a warning to the world, he said, “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, it’s going to be America first.”

Of course, around the world the reactions are of utter horror. This is because America’s hand been out feeding the rest of the world, instead of taking care of ourselves, for far too long.

Consider some of these examples:

SPEECH RESONATES IN MEXICO

 

Perhaps no country was watching the speech more closely than Mexico. Trump has made disparaging remarks about immigrants who come to the United States illegally and sought to pressure companies not to set up shop in Mexico by threatening a border tariff on goods manufactured there and exported to the United States.

 

So Trump’s talk of “protect(ing) our borders,” ”America first” and “buy American and hire American” had particular resonance in America’s southern neighbor.

 

Ricardo Anaya Cortes, president of the conservative opposition National Action Party, called for “the unity of all Mexicans, unity in the face of this protectionist, demagogic and populist speech we just heard. Unity against that useless wall, against deportations, against the blockade of investment.”

 

“The challenge is enormous. … We demand the federal government leave aside tepidity, that it tackle with absolute firmness and dignity the new relationship with the United States,” Anaya said.

 

The United States is by far Mexico’s largest commercial partner, buying some 80 percent of its $532 billion in exports in 2015. Mexico is the second-largest market for U.S. exports.

 

“At least the word ‘Mexico’ was not heard in the speech. Nevertheless one can expect the United States to launch a hyper-protectionist project,” said Ilan Semo Groman, a researcher at Iberoamericana University.

 

If Trump truly moves to block or drive away U.S. investment in Mexico, Semo said Mexico should focus its commercial efforts on other countries.

 

“There are very clear possibilities,” Semo said.

 

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto sent three tweets after Trump’s inaugural speech Friday:

 

— “I congratulate @realDonaldTrump on his inauguration. We will work to strengthen our relationship with shared responsibility.”

 

— “We will establish a respectful dialogue with the government of President @realDonaldTrump, to Mexico’s benefit.”

 

— “Sovereignty, national interest and the protection of Mexicans will guide the relationship with the new government of the United States.”

 

___

 

CONCERN IN TOKYO

 

Some Tokyo residents are worried that Trump’s “America first” policy will usher in an era of populism and protectionism at the expense of the rest of the world.

 

Tadashi Gomibuchi, who works in the manufacturing industry, recorded Trump’s inauguration speech overnight as he was keen to hear what the new president had to say.

 

“Trump is trying to make big changes to the way things are. Changes are good sometimes, but when America, the most powerful, loses stability … it’s a grave concern,” he said. “If you take his words literally, it may destabilize the world going forward and I’m really worried. I hope things will lead to a soft landing.”

 

Retiree Kuninobu Inoue, who lived in the U.S. during the 1990s, is concerned about trade frictions between Japan and the U.S, citing Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership.

 

“Japan-U.S. relations are not just about security. Our good relations rely so much on trade,” he said.

 

Protectionist policies such as the withdrawal from TPP and renegotiation of NAFTA will have a negative impact on the global economy including Japan’s, said Akio Mimura, head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

 

“These policies only enhance protectionist and populist movement spreading around the world, and could largely shake the free trade system that has supported global growth,” he said.

 

In his congratulatory message to Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed the importance of the Asia-Pacific region as a source for growth but also tensions.

 

“In the 21st century, while the Asia-Pacific region is the source of the global economic growth, the security environment of the region is becoming more severe,” he said.

 

___

 

CHINA BRACES FOR TROUBLE AHEAD

 

A Chinese state-run nationalist tabloid, the Global Times, says President Trump’s inauguration speech indicates that the U.S. and China would inevitably face trade tensions.

 

The newspaper said in a Saturday commentary following Trump’s inauguration that “dramatic changes” lay ahead for the U.S. and the global economic order.

 

“Undoubtedly, the Trump administration will be igniting many ‘fires’ on its front door and around the world. Let’s wait and see when it will be China’s turn,” it said.

 

The paper noted that Trump blamed foreign trade policies for failing to put “America first,” and said trade tensions between the U.S. and China seemed “inevitable within the four years ahead.”

 

The paper says it expects that the Trump administration, in seeking to bring factories back to the U.S. from China, will use the U.S. government’s relations with Taiwan as “merely a bargaining chip for them to put trade pressure on China.”

 

In Beijing, Independent scholar and commentator Zhang Lifan drew a contrast between Trump’s focus on domestic issues and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s emphasis on international cooperation.

 

“The new U.S. administration’s policy toward China is not clear now. In my view, Trump will deal with China like a businessman, especially on trade negotiations,” Zhang said.

 

___

Again, these countries that I quoted; are ones that have stolen our jobs, robbing us of our manufacturing base, by the importation of their products on the cheap…instead of having to actually pay to put bring them into this country. Of course they’re going to be threatened. So, it should be interesting to see what goes on under a trump administration. Because I truly believe that these so-called trading partners, that we have, are going to feel the pinch once Trump gets in there and begins to renegotiate the trade agreements, that we have with these countries. Quite frankly, it’s about time that they started paying their share, for taking our jobs and bringing their products into our country.

Of course, I find it kind of humorous that the hand-wringing that is going on in those countries and here at home as well. There are some who are acting like Donald Trump is the 21st century incarnation of Adolf Hitler, which is laughable at best; because we have too many safeguards in our country, to prevent something happening here, like what happened in Germany in the 1930’s.

Needless to say, the next 4 to 8 years, is going to be very interesting in this country and I look forward to covering it here on this blog. I am proud to say that I voted for Donald Trump and I’m also going to take great pleasure in taking down the liberal-left narrative on this blog. I’m not necessarily a Donald Trump propagandist; not by a long shot. Because I don’t do Party politics and I’m not a partisan. However, I am someone who stands by a set of principles that I strongly believe in…and as a result I will praise Donald Trump when it is needed and I will also criticize him, when I feel it is warranted. But, I will write against any sort of false narrative that’s being pushed about our president.

There are some on the right that compare the left’s derangement about Donald Trump, to that derangement, that was aimed at George W Bush. Let me say this as someone who used to be on that side of the fence; this is much much worse with George W Bush there was a war that many on the left, felt was unjustified and in some cases illegal. This is none of that; this is derangement against a man, who was put in office by the Electoral College; which was totally legal and constitutional and he was elected by the majority of the American people.

This derangement that comes is basically because he is white,  because he is wealthy and because he is a Republican. That’s all it is, there is nothing else of substance that has people against Donald Trump. It’s simply is because he is a wealthy white man and the Democrats are feeling butthurt, because their candidate a rich white woman lost sure she got the popular vote; which can be tampered with, by the way, but the Electoral College does not lie… American conservatives came out and voted for Donald Trump and he won and the Democrats are powerless to stop that, he has committed no crime, therefore they cannot impeach him as much as the Democrats would like to. So, this derangement is worse than George W Bush’s derangement syndrome of the left. This is just simply an unprincipled derangement and it will come back to haunt the Democrats let me assure you of that.

 

Churchhill Bust Returns to the oval office

Looks like Trump is starting things off right.

From politco:

President Donald Trump has returned a bust of Winston Churchill to the Oval Office—undoing former President Barack Obama’s most contentious interior decorating decision.

The Oval Office was redecorated in the hours between Obama’s exit from the White House and Trump’s arrival, and as always, the choices reflect the new president’s interests and priorities.

The Churchill bust had become a source of huge Republican outcry through the Obama presidency, with critics charging that then-president was turning his back on history and insulting America’s strongest ally. There were claims that Obama had put it in storage or returned it to the British government as a metaphor for his changing worldview—but none of those were true. He had moved it to a different place in the White House, in the Treaty Room on the second floor, which is in the residence, out of public view.

But that didn’t satisfy critics, including now-British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, who last spring used its supposed removal as a proof point in explaining why in his opinion Obama had distanced himself from the British and should stay out of warning against Brexit.

Trump promised Brexit leader Nigel Farage during the campaign that he’d return it to the Oval Office, and doing so has now become one of his first acts as president.

Trump also added a bust of President Theodore Roosevelt to a bookshelf. He’s removed a special carpet Obama had made which was ringed with favorite quotes from historical figures and replaced it with a simpler one. Some of the artwork on the walls has been changed. The curtains behind the Resolute Desk, crimson on Friday morning as Obama left, are now gold.

The countdown to someone referring to this as some sort of a racist act by Donald Trump is in full swing. 😒

Thug cop killer assumes room temperature

I am glad to see this thug get his just deserts.

Thug cop killer Jason Robison is now at room temperature, where he cannot hurt anyone else.

Suspected cop killer Jason Robison is still at large and considered dangerous, according to police.

Authorities said Trooper Landon Weaver was shot and killed by Robison at about 6:30 p.m. Friday when the officer investigated a “domestic-related incident” at a home on Bakers Hollow Road in Juniata Township in Huntingdon County. The area where the shooting occurred has been closed off while police officers search for Robison.

Robison made his feelings toward law enforcement known on his Facebook page less than two weeks before the killing.

“The only good cop is a dead cop,” he said in a Dec. 17 post, which was on Facebook until about 1 a.m. Saturday when it was deleted. The status included two images — one of a police cruiser that had crashed and another of an injured police officer.

Robison, according to court documents, has previously been arrested about a dozen times with charges ranging from simple assault to arson.

Weaver enlisted with state police in December 2015 and was assigned to Troop G, Huntingdon. He is the 97th member of the Pennsylvania State Police to be killed in the line of duty, according to authorities. – Via Centre Daily

This guy got just what was coming to him, via AP:

The Deceased Law Enforcement Officer – Trooper Landon Weaver, who was only 23 – leaves behind a wife. He was the bravest of the brave – God be with his family.

JUNIATA TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — The suspect in the fatal shooting of a first-year Pennsylvania trooper was shot and killed after making threats to police who located him Saturday morning, authorities said.

Trooper Landon Weaver, 23, was killed responding to a domestic complaint Friday evening in a rural area in Huntingdon County, in central Pennsylvania. An overnight manhunt for the suspect ended Saturday morning when police found 32-year-old Jason Robison at an unoccupied mobile home in the area, authorities said.

Cpl. Adam Reed, a state police spokesman, said Robison refused orders and threatened officers on the scene, leading police to shoot him. His death was confirmed at about 10:30 a.m.

Weaver was responding to a reported violation of a protection-from-abuse order when he was shot. Details of that complaint were not immediately available, and Reed did not immediately know who owned the home where Weaver was killed.

The search for Robison was focused on an area around the home and nearby Raystown Lake.

I feel this way, because I have family that has word in law enforcement. I feel that a Cop Killer is a Cop Killer is a Cop Killer; I do not give a darn what color he is. If you kill a cop; you are the worst thing on this planet. Police Officers do not make laws, they simply enforce them. There is a fine line between anarchy and a Free Republic and these officers are it.

If we are going to outraged when a “Black Lives Matter” thug kills a Law Enforcement Officer; then we should be equally outraged when a white man kills a Law Enforcement Officer as well. Skin color should never matter. Murder is wrong and immoral and the killing of a Police Officer is more so.

The biggest reason this bugs me, is this:

Any questions?
 Rest in Peace officer.
(Image via wedding page)

National Review actually says something nice about Donald Trump

Well, this is different….:

For all his known vulnerabilities, Trump has often proven to be a highly effective operator when he focuses on getting what he wants. That’s exactly what worries left-wing groups and Democrats. Having underestimated him for so long, they now fear he won’t easily be forced to slow down or change course as he moves to overturn their agenda. – Source: Trump Moves Right, Pleasing Conservatives, Alarming Democrats | National Review

This is coming from a political rag that had zero, zilch, Nada, nothing to say about Donald Trump during the election. As far as his “known vulnerabilities”, the one he has is that he does not have his nose stuck up the butt of the neocon Republican establishment.

As far as Donald Trump is concerned; the proof is in the pudding. I am taking a wait and see approach to him, just like I did President Obama. If things change, I will have nothing bad to say about him. If they do not, I will criticize him, just like I did Obama. Talk is cheap. I want action, and so far, I have not seen anything great out of Trump; just a bunch of talk.

Others: Shot in the Dark

 

On Richard Spencer

I tend to find little things like this quite annoying and normally, I really do not speak about them. But, this time; I must speak out.

NPR did an interview with Richard Spencer, who is, for better or for worse; the so-called “Leader” of the alt-right movement. Which of course, generated talk among the race-baiting, antisemitism-baiting crowd. One of these progressive blogs referred to Spencer as an “White Nationalist.”

I dissent and I mean loudly.

The only thing that I see Richard Spencer as being, is an ethnic nationalist. I seriously doubt that you will see Spencer wearing a hood and a robe anytime soon. I admit, I have had issues with Richard Spencer in the past; one need only search this blog and my former one to see that.

However, I will object to him being labelled a White Nationalist. If anything, he just wants the America that HE grew up in, and I grew up in, back again. Which is something I can totally understand.

That is all.

A question to ALL political bloggers!

I wanted to post this when it happened, but my Dad is in the hospital and I couldn’t.

I post this to pose a question to the blogging world:

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Hillary said it too:

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As did President Obama:

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Now my question to the blogging world; Conservative, Republican, Liberal and Democrat alike is this: Can’t we all just try to get along a little better?

I mean, we can all have our opinions and political positions. But, can’t we just try to be a little bit more civil to one another? Please? Embarrassed smileI don't know smile