TRUMPTY DUMPTY: TAKING A MEAT AX TO HEALTH CARE.....

Is "Trumpty-Dumpty" finally sitting precariously on the legislative "wall"? Will "Trumpty-Dumpty" take a great fall?  And, will all the King's Horses and all the King's men (read Ryan and McConnell - with an assist from "Howdy Dowdy", Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, and other apologists) - not be able to put "Trumpty" back together again?  We need 2-3 Senators to vote NO!  Stay tuned...

As I write this article, AM Tuesday, 6/27/17, my wife Beth is on a bus.  No - she is not "escaping" from my current status as a blogger and activist in a political rage at the Trump act in the Beltway....  She is on Route 95 traveling south toward DC in the company of an upstate contingent from PLANNED PARENTHOOD to participate in yet another march against the insanity in the Beltway. This time, the Trumpers are on the brink of a US Senate vote to adopt a great leap BACKWARD that  will deny health care to 22+ million Americans by next year, 2018.  Someone has to STAND UP! SPEAK OUT! AND, MARCH ON!  On this day, that someone is PLANNED PARENTHOOD - a non-profit provider that has faithfully served millions of women and children across the US for decades and, for many families - especially in rural areas - is often the only healthcare provider within reach. On another day, the person who needs to STAND UP AND TAKE ACTION is YOU!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch in New York, organizing and information sharing continues. Last
night I attended a "forum" on the impact of the proposed Senate Health Care Bill on residents of NY state.  The devastation will be substantial, with deep impacts, and wide-spread.  I should note here that the ACA, otherwise referred to as Obamacare, which gave each state the option to expand Medicaid to cover those families of modest means but did not qualify for standard Medicaid, resulted in a 50% reduction of New York residents without health insurance and access to health care when the Cuomo administration opted into this new opportunity . Health insurance enrollment increased from 136,000 (2013) to 1,033,000 (2016). New York's "Essential Plan" made insurance available to 665,000 working class residents.  In addition, some 142,000 received tax credits due to lower income status which infused some $400,000,000 a year in federal tax credits to lower premium costs.  Another 9,000,000 New Yorkers also benefited from the ACA through the provisions that required that insurance companies carry the children of insured up to age 26, that those with pre-existing conditions could not be denied coverage or charged more, and that insurers could no longer impose annual or lifetime limits on coverage. The result is that rates for Individual Commercial Insurance are 50% LOWER IN 2017 THAN THEY WERE BEFORE THE ACA ($1500 a month for the Platinum Plan (2013) to $700 (2017). New Yorkers saved MILLIONS in premium charges.  And, then came Donald Trump on a promise to "repeal and replace" Obamacare with a new system that would cover "everyone at lower costs and with better coverage."  With "no cuts to Medicare, or Medicaid, or Social Security", the Donald took an oath and made that campaign pledge over and over again throughout the election cycle. Working families, worried about their economic futures, took him at his word, and narrowly elected him President.  And, then came Executive Orders, lies, tweets, and broken promises - often the absolute reverse of his campaign promises.

Disturbing images of disabled voters in wheel chairs and on ventilators being dragged out of the Senate Office Buildings and the Halls of Congress appeared in media reports as the Senate assembled in DC to prepare for a vote on a bill that would strip coverage away from 22,000,000 Americans according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office analysis released yesterday (6/26/17).  I should note there that most severely disabled folks, unable to earn a living, are covered by Medicaid for their health support as are 70% of those seniors in nursing homes.  Nursing home residents, having exhausted their personal financial resources on medical care over time,likewise, are dependent on Medicaid for their care.  Medicare does not cover nursing home care. The Senate bill strips away some $800 billion from Medicaid funding over 10 years. Further,  the Trump budget proposes yet another $600 billion in reduced Medicaid spending over the same period.  Although the proponents of the legislation - with extraordinary magical thinking - argue that the states will somehow "become more efficient" or will "innovate" to provide care for those 15,000,000 who will be denied coverage in the first year (2018), simply replacing the billions that are on the chopping block with state-raised taxation just isn't tenable, especially in the near term.

Like the House bill, described by Trump as "mean" after celebrating the House passage in the Rose Garden, the Senate legislation will devastate New York state. Medicaid funding will be sharply reduced, private insurance will cost more, financial assistance for lower income New Yorkers will be reduced, women's access to reproductive health care will be threatened, and funding for the NY "Essential Care" program (Medicaid funded) will disappear. 15,000 residents will lose access to financial assistance, tax credits will be substantially decreased, and older individuals would need to spend more of their household income to buy health insurance rather than pay housing costs or other living expenses. Welcome to Trumpcare......

The NY state impacts would be devastating.  Over $7 billion will be cut over the next 4 years, impacting more than 6 million residents.  The bill would cover fewer benefits, permit charging higher premiums for age and gender profile differences, and permits waivers allowing states to deny "essential services" like maternity services, substance abuse treatment, prescription drugs, lab tests, and more that are presently covered. Immunization and funding for chronic disease prevention will shrink along with funds for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and tobacco cessation.  In addition, public health funding would be immediately at risk along with clinics, emergi-centers, non-profit rural providers, and hospital service expansions that followed increased health care demand fueled by the ACA.  Obviously, when 20 million folks attain health care coverage, care visits will increase.  Just as obvious, when 22,000,000 are removed from the rolls, care visits will decrease, preventive care will diminish, and unfunded emergency room visits will increase.  Clinics and small rural hospitals will contract or close, and non-profit services - especially in rural areas - will disappear.

Those are the reasons that the American Medical Association (AMA) yesterday joined AARP, American Cancer Association, the Diabetes Association, the American Nurses Association, and other advocate groups in opposing the proposed replacement for the ACA.  In a letter to all US Senators opposing the Senate Bill, the American Medical Association stated that the ACA repeal as proposed - with cuts to Medicaid, and changes to subsidies and regulations - violates the Hippocratic Oath   made by health care providers, to "first, do no harm." The AMA called upon the Senate to "change the course of the current debate and to work to fix problems with the current system." The letter suggests that the "Congress should be working to increase the number of Americans with access to quality, affordable health insurance instead of pursuing policies that have the opposite effect..."  The AMA letter goes on to say that, "it seems highly likely that the changes will expose low and middle income patient to higher costs and greater difficulty in affording care."

And, why do Speaker Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and Donald Trump want to inflict this pain on the American people?  A campaign promise to repeal Obamacare?  Or, is all of this the result of the behind-the-scenes, man-behind-the-curtain - TAX CUTS!  Does this legislation - House or Senate bills - make health care insurance more available to more people at less cost as candidate Trump promised?  Or, save Medicaid from cuts?  Nope....  Does the $900 billion in savings go to reduce the federal deficit?  No sir....  So, then, what is the benefit?  Who benefits?  THE BILLION DOLLARS IN "SAVINGS" GOES TO PAY FOR A MASSIVE TAX CUT FOR THE 1% WEALTHIEST AMERICANS ($700 BILLION) AND TAX RELIEF FOR SOME CORPORATIONS FOR HAVING BEEN REQUIRED TO PROVIDE HEALTH INSURANCE ($261 BILLION). Isn't it time to stand up and be counted?

                                               THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN.....

    

Letters and phone calls are good.....  but, right now, not enough..... The time has come to MOVE!
STAND UP!  SPEAK OUT!  MARCH ON!
Bobby J

 

"REINCE.....PASS THE KOOL-AID......", Secretary Rex Tillerson: DONALD, THE GREAT AND WONDERFUL WIZARD!

                                     

This is the sort of thing that we witnessed in history class.... watching the top Nazi Officers piling on the praise for the Brilliance of "Der Fuehrer."  Closer in time, we have seen this same sort of hero worship - either forced or encouraged - in numerous dictatorships around the globe, and , especially energetic in countries where the ruling person or family has murder in their hearts.  From ancient times, autocrats like Herod the Great, Julius Caesar, Caligula, and, in more modern times, Stalin, Hitler, the North Korean "Great Leaders"- including the current "god" - Kim Jong-un, all demanded constant and unflinching loyalty - near adoration - as the "saviours" of their country.  To this list of insane leadership who all suffer from a "divinity" complex and can do no wrong, we can now add the American "Saviour", Donald Trump.  Watching the Cabinet taking their turns to genuflect before the Leader and heap praise on him and his agenda.... and, how "blessed" they are to be so near his radiance and to be playing a small part in his masterful plan to make America Great Again (MAGA). Of course, Trump himself could not resist joining in the fun... and PRAISING HIMSELF saying, "never has there been a president, with few exceptions.... (begrudgingly mentioning FDR)... who has passed more legislation, done more things." (Of course, no major legislation has passed to date, no tax reform bill introduced, and no infrastructure legislation filed).  And, to top it off, Trump has taken more "vacations" and played more golf in the last several months than the last three presidents added together in their first year in office!   While this embarrassing exercise in hero worship was underway, Trump's approval ratings again fell to record lows as more than 60% of the nation said that they DISAPPROVE of the Trump presidency and his policy positions, a new record low.

Musings from Donald, the Great Leader.

I "alone" can fix what is wrong with America!  The economy! The military! Our standing in the world! Defeating ISIS (I know more than the generals, after all). I will replace Obamacare with something "much better, covering more people, with better benefits, and at lower costs."  All I need to do is to wave that good old Trump magic wand! And, voila!  Trumpcare! Permanent peace in the Middle East! ISIS defeated in a week! Every "bad hombre'" deported! And, a "beautiful wall" across thousands of miles along the southern border - that MEXICO WILL PAY FOR! Increased job growth to levels not seen EVER! 4 or 5% Economic growth.... never-you-mind that every economist says it isn't possible!  They don't know the POWER OF DONALD! What Donald wants, Donald gets!  A big win in Syria!  Fix all of those "bad" trade deals like NAFTA!  Improve the environment by withdrawing from the Climate Change Paris Accords! And, like raising Lazarus from the dead, I will bring coal mining back to life with all of those mining jobs! After all, I am the new  "Great Leader" - with the largest election win in history and the largest inaugural crowd ever, ever!!! I can just sign EXECUTIVE ORDERS and fix  E V E R Y T H I N G!  Golly, why do I even need a Cabinet?  They should all be thankful that I allow them in the same room we me and permit them to breathe the same air as me and Ivanka!  They must obey the first COMMANDMENT! The Donald RULES ALL!

THE ALL-POWERFUL WIZARD OF TRUMP WORLD....

And, if they don't genuflect and worship at the altar of Trump, I'll just make them disappear with a flick of my finger - on Twitter!  After all.... I am the ALL-POWERFUL DONALD THE FIRST!  I am never wrong, always right, never apologize because I have nothing to apologize for, and all must bow before my brilliance, my inspired insight, my never-before-seen intellect, and my perfect orange hair! If they hesitate - just once - I will make them disappear!  Just ask Sally Yates, Preet Bharara and all the other US Attorneys across the country - made them all disappear.  And, let's not forget Jim Comey.  I HAVE THE "FORCE" WITH ME!  Just look at my minions at those rallies!  They are like old-time-religion revival meetings!  Lots of love there....  even if they don't realize that I am eliminating their health care - Medicaid, their food stamps, their meals on wheels, student aid for college and cutting education funding for public schools..... As I said, "I can shoot someone dead on 5th Avenue and not lose any votes!" Hey, I just signed yet another Executive Order calling on businesses and the Building Trade Unions to expand their apprenticeship programs!  I am soooo tired of not being able to find good plumbers, electricians, masons, and mop jockeys for my golf courses and condos.....  Who needs more accountants or attorneys.... I have all I need of those.....

And, what about those, "so-called judges."  Why, some of them are just Mexicans, right?  What ARE they doing wearing robes and sitting in judgement on THE DONALD??? Really!!!  They should be wearing SOMBREROS! And, those appellate judges.... just all Clinton appointees out to get me....  But, they don't know who they are dealing with!  Just wait until the TRAVEL BAN (that's right... it's a BAN!)... gets to the Supreme Court.  I just sent Gorsuch there.... and, I will send up a twitter storm too!  And, all these "tin-pot leaders" in "who-cares-countries" like Australia's Malcolm Turnbull, or Germany's Angela Merkel?  And, did you see that "little Emmanuel" Macron in France, or that "pretty boy" Justin Trudeau?  At least, Trudeau has FAMILY... like me.... . Now, if Jared gets jammed up, then maybe I can magically arrange a "merger" between Ivanka and Justin....  and, low and behold... we can Make America Great Again - (MAGA) by finally merging Canada and the good old USA as it should have been in 1787.  If I had only been there at that time and did the negotiations myself.... and, send the French home!  If I hook up Ivanka and Justin....then we could have 1 COUNTRY from the North Pole to the Great Southern Wall! That would become the GREATER UNITED STATES! MAGA! YAHOO!!!

Once that is done, I can turn my attention to Mexico and Latin America!  Mostly wasteland and Mexicans there.....  Putin will be more cooperative after I give him back most of Eastern Europe... who cares about NATO anyhow...... And, I'll make sure that China is occupied with nuclear Japan and North Korea..... lobbing missiles around the China Sea.... Then, I head south!  After all, our Latin neighbors are already half way there - South A M E R I C A N S ?  Right?  Latin A M E R I C A N S, Right?  Maybe I can get Little Marco to accept a Presidential appointment as Emperor of the South....  Or, Sarah Palin.... as Queen???? And, then, with a flick of the finger on Twitter - BANG - ZOOM! The new SUPER-MAGA!  From Pole to Pole and from Sea to Sea!!!   Now - THAT would be something.....   maybe I could "modernize" the constitution.... and permit the appointment of THE DONALD - Leader for life!                                                                                           

PENCE!!!!   Better get started right away!  Call those lap-dogs Ryan and McConell and get them on board......   Oooops.... gotta go.....  Time to change the aluminum foil under my hair....  can't have Obama listening in on my thoughts... or Comey doing that mind-reading trick that he has been using on me.... "Reince!  Reince!  I need your assistance with this.....  and, you can bring some more Kool-aid too... time to take my meds..."   

And, to all this, Lucy says.......

                                                                               

                                                                              

"EXCUUUUUSSSEEE MEEEEEE", STEVE MARTIN AND THE TRUMP DEFENSE.

This line, "Excuse me" with a long, drawn-out "excuuuuusssseeeee meeeeee", was a trademark of that "wild and crazy guy," comedian Steve Martin.  Including SNL, Martin enjoyed wide-spread fame in comedy circles, including movies, TV, and, of course stand up in the 70s and 80s.  He preferred stand-up concert performances due to the interactive nature of a stage/crowd play, the integration of physical comedy along with the verbal barbs, and the instant feedback the performer received from the audience.  Many in my generation enjoyed his performances, his albums, and his quirky sense of humor.  Donald Trump could use a good dose of Steve Martin these days.... and, his "EXCUUUUUSSSEEE MEEEEE" plea for forgiveness.  In Steve's case, the plea was for a little known social faux pas.  In Trump's case, it could very well be a plea before a congressional committee during an impeachment hearing or trial, or before an American court in responding to criminal obstruction charges..... Or, hmmmm.... NOT?

We have all learned that Donald Trump has a serious habit of lying all of the time.  From the "birther movement", to his promise to release his tax returns, to his oath that he would replace Obamacare with something "much, much better" and would "cover everyone", to his promise that he would not cut Medicare and Medicaid, and, of course, that he would get the "fair share" of taxes from those rich corporations and taxpayers like himself who could afford to pay "their fair share" like everyone else. In each of these cases, Trump has abandoned his pledges, promises, and oaths and, in fact, has taken the very opposite positions as president.  His health care proposal would abandon 24,000,000 Americans currently covered and slash Medicaid by nearly a Trillion dollars; his tax proposals are a more radical form of the failed "trickle down" approach initiated by Ronald Reagan, substantially reducing taxes on the wealthiest Americans and our most profitable corporations, and cutting programs that lift-up the working class and the middle class like student aid, school lunch, meals-on-wheels, and dozens more.  And, what does all of that fiscal "blood-letting" do to reduce the deficit?  NOTHING!  The "savings" from program cuts go to increases in the military budget, building a southern border wall (that Mexico was to pay for), and to line the pockets of the already wealthy. Of course, the first thing that Trump did was to "drain the swamp" of all of those Goldman Sachs people who were manipulating Hillary to their advantage, right?  NOPE!  Instead, he hired Goldman Sachs leaders to run his version of the US Economy from their brand-spanking new positions of Treasury Secretary, Economic Advisor and Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors.  So, no great surprise that last week the House passed legislation on a party-line vote to repeal most of the Dodd-Frank financial control laws that were adopted after the housing collapse, mortgage meltdown, and economic crash under President Bush.  In fact, Donald Trump has appointed more millionaires and billionaires to cabinet positions and other high policy-controlling positions than any other president in our history!  So much for "draining the swamp."

Oh... by the way, those Carrier jobs in Indiana....  You know, the ones that President Trump "saved" through his intervention - and $7 million in tax credits - back in December?  Well, last week Carrier announced that it will lay off 600 workers in spite of the deal.  The layoffs will start in July and continue until 800 jobs are gone from Indiana.  Those manufacturing jobs are moving to Monterrey, Mexico. 

But, you say, these are all just "campaign promises" and we know that not proceeding on your promises might result in a failure to get re-elected in 4 years... but, not keeping promises is not a criminal offense.  In the case of Trump, maybe even criminal offenses are NOT criminal offenses. Let me explain.

Since the Comey hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week, there has been a considerable amount of discussion regarding impeachment.  News shows inevitably came to that topic as the post-Comey testimony alalysis begged the question as to what constitutes "obstruction of justice" and, whether or not such a finding could be the basis of an impeachment or, even worse, criminal charges.  I listened carefully to noted attorney and Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz also a  frequent news analysis panel member, on this topic.  Dershowitz insisted that Trump - or, for that matter - any other president - could not be charged with a criminal act while in office and, most likely, could not be charged at all.  His argument is based on the power of "pardon" accorded to the president in the US Constitution (Article II, section 2).  Dershowitz argued that this power is unrestricted, but for cases of impeachment, and applies to any other offense that might have taken place. His position traces back to a Supreme Court Case, "Ex Parte Garland (1867)."  In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that the president's pardoning power is "unlimited" and that it "extends to every offense known to the law."  Further,, the Court held that the power to pardon "may be exercised anytime after commission, either before legal proceedings are taken, or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment." Years later in 1975, in a case involving the Ford pardon of Nixon (Murphy v. Ford - 1975), the Court held that the President had the constitutional power to grant pre-indictment pardons, citing "Garland" in its ruling. These "Pre-emptive pardons", though rare, have continued.  In late 1992, President George Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger who had been indicted earlier that year for matters involving the Iran-Contra affair.  So, it seems pretty clear that a President can issue a pardon for any person involved in a criminal matter either before or after being charged and/or convicted of the offense.  And, that leaves, can a President pardon himself????

Self-pardon isn't specifically prohibited so it appears that a president CAN pardon himself/herself, although it has never occurred - at least not so far.  And, under the interpretation of "Ex Parte Garland" (1867) cited above, it seems that a President could "pardon" him/herself for any crimes committed or that may have been committed but not yet charged.  WOW!!!  Is it really, really possible that President Trump could pre-pardon himself, Jared, Sessions, Flynn, Manafort, and anyone else involved in the Russian Affair???  It appears to be so, though never specifically tested.

Of course, if that strategy doesn't work, and Trump gets an inmate number, then a new best seller might be in our future.

Stay tuned!  But, in the meanwhile, Stand Up!  Speak Out!  March On!  Bobby J

A MESSAGE FROM THE "FLAT EARTH SOCIETY" - MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO....

One of my favorite plays based on historical fact (notably, not "alternative" facts) is "Inherit the Wind", a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee.  The play is based on the Scope's "Monkey Trial" as it came to be known - a courtroom trial involving a high school teacher, John T. Scopes - who was found guilty of violating the law in teaching human evolution and sharing other science-based information with his students in Tennessee in 1925. The trial was closely covered by newspapers across the nation as a philosophical combat with scientists on one side of the debate and science-deniers (in this case on the theory of evolution) on the other.  From that time to this - nearly a century - we have not seen the emergence of non-science, science deniers, and uninformed critics of proven FACTS until the rise of CLIMATE CHANGE DENIERS.  Those denials were viewed as fringe voices in the non-science wilderness - until the carbon-fuel-based industry (coal, oil, and gas) funded campaigns of disinformation and phony science-based "alternative facts" that paid for many political campaigns for office and the spread of considerable "disinformation."  Still, these views were seen as a small minority of the uninformed or the misled.  Even oil men like former President George Bush finally came around to subscribe to the fact that the earth's climate was warming at a record pace and that human activity was contributing to the rise in temperature, essentially through the production and use of carbon-based fuels and their emissions.  Then came a major milestone - the Paris Accords on Climate Change. With this 2015 global agreement, all the 195 nations of the world - but for 2 - Nicaragua and Syria - agreed to do their part to reduce carbon gas emissions.  For the first time in history, China and India joined with the US and others in pledging to comply with carbon reduction targets in an effort to slow the ever-increasing impacts of rising global temperatures, rising sea levels, and increased storm intensity.  And, then came Trump......

Against the advice of more than 97% of the world's scientists, the vast majority of Americans, corporate leaders, members of Congress, Secretary of State and former CEO of Exxon Rex Tillerson, members of his own family, and every nation on earth, except for two, Trump chose to pander to the voices of nonsense, the alt. right, and the science deniers, and, instead, join with Syria and Nicaragua in withdrawing the United States from the Paris Accords.  It makes me wonder just where Donald Trump was in high school science classes... or, at college... or the Wharton School?  Perhaps he was in the lap of William Jennings Bryan who prosecuted Scopes in 1925, or, could it be that his incipient racism - "Birther-ism"- that claimed that President Obama was a Kenyan (Trump withdrew the claim last year) - can now be found in his burning desire to erase Barack Obama from American history by reversing every achievement completed under his 2 terms as President? You be the judge.....

I just came across an interview with Vice President Pence.... on Trump's Climate Agreement withdrawal. Pence said he found it a surprise that "the left wing" has focused on and taken up the climate issue "across the globe." WHAT? A surprise?  192 other nations are a part of the Paris Climate Accord.... including conservatives, liberals, dictatorships, autocracies, and democracies of various sorts... The two nations on the planet who are now "allies" of the US in climate change deniers - Syria and Nicaragua - are certainly strange bedfellows for the USA. Why, even ultra-conservatives around the globe see the value of saving the planet and recognize that climate change is real and that there is no "Planet B." This has nothing to do with "liberal" or "left-wing" agendas and has everything to do with recognizing that climate change is real, is happening, and that human activity - especially the release of fossil fuel gases into the atmosphere - adds to the warming of the planet, changing climate patterns, and erodes our air quality. This has to do with SCIENCE and not science denial. The denial of scientific fact is not a basis for good public policy decisions. Facts, in the end, do matter. Perhaps Trump and Pence believe that they are appealing to their base?  Do they really think that their conservative voters are wholly uneducated?  I frankly think that the Trump voters are much more informed and smarter than that.  I may disagree with them on a broad variety of issues, including their support for Trump, but I have confidence that most Trump supporters - just as most Republicans - agree with me and the legions of scientists on the planet along with virtually all other nations regarding the reality of climate change. No, Mr. President.....Climate change IS NOT A CHINESE HOAX. And, there is no PLANET B..... And, just in case you have missed this breaking news....the EARTH IS NOT FLAT!

And, no matter what you say or who you fire, John T. Scopes is still not guilty!

Stand Up!  Speak Out!  March On!   Bobby J