Trump, the Russians Oval Office snitch, is forcing federal employees to attend anti-leak classes

https://www.apnews.com/5907d7e83087480ab2b311e699782645

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/21/1700404/-Trump-the-Russians-Oval-Office-snitch-is-forcing-federal-employees-to-attend-anti-leak-classes

Bill Cassidy just won't stop lying about his healthcare bill

By Laura Clawson

Bill Cassidy

“This guy, Bill Cassidy, just lied right to my face,” Jimmy Kimmel said on Tuesday night. And on Wednesday morning, Cassidy did a lot more lying about his healthcare plan. He lied on CNN:

“I’m sorry he does not understand,” Cassidy said of Kimmel. “Under Graham Cassidy Heller Johnson, more people will have coverage, and we protect those with preexisting conditions. States like Maine, Virginia, Florida, Missouri — there will be billions more dollars to provide health insurance coverage for those in those states who have been passed by by Obamacare, and we protect those with preexisting conditions.”

He lied on MSNBC:

“There will be more people covered under the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson amendment than are under status quo and we protect those with pre-existing conditions,” Cassidy said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

And the reality that Kimmel laid out so clearly—that Cassidy’s bill simply does not live up to the tests he set himself and will hurt a lot of people—remains:

That statement, similar to one Cassidy also made on CNN, is virtually impossible to defend. The Graham-Cassidy proposal, which Republicans are rushing to take up for a floor vote next week, calls for reducing federal spending on health care through two sets of changes. [...]
As for Cassidy’s other claim, that his bill would protect people with pre-existing conditions, that’s not true, at least in the sense most people would understand it. The bill would very explicitly allow states to waive existing rules, which the Affordable Care Act put in place, prohibiting insurers from charging higher premiums to people based on their medical status. With that flexibility, insurers could make coverage prohibitively expensive for people with a variety of medical conditions, from diabetes to cancer.

Cassidy wants to make his bill seem different from the wildly unpopular Republican bills that failed, but the only thing that’s really different is that this time, Republicans are up against a Sept. 30 deadline for repealing Obamacare and the pressure to get on board will be that much more intense. This bill will still gut the Medicaid expansion that’s gotten so many people the health coverage they need and it will still weaken protections for pre-existing conditions and essential health benefits and much more. He lies, he lies, he lies—and he lies in the service of harming millions of Americans.

Another Obamacare repeal bill?! It’s time to jam the congressional phone lines again. Call your senator at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to vote NO on any repeal bill.

Trump’s Golf Ball Retweet Was Low, Even For Him

Donald Trump over the weekend decided to retweet a GIF of himself hitting a golf ball that had been merged with a GIF of Hillary Clinton falling down (the editors had made it look like Trump’s ball hit Hillary and that’s why she fell.)

This kind of behavior should be beneath the resident of the United States, yet Trump once again managed to sink well below the already-lowered bar that has been set for his administration. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

Fresh Health Care Fuckery: Your McCain Praise Was Probably Wasted

Posted by Rude One

Ah, remember when Mighty Maverick John McCain was the mighty maverick hero last time there was a vote on a bullshit health care "reform" bill with his mighty mavericky thumbs-down?

Remember the ejaculations of praise for this irascible cockhead doing something decent just to fuck with Donald Trump? Remember his slobber-coated speech where he said of the Senate, "Let's trust each other. Let's return to regular order"? Remember how he insisted, "Let the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee under Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray hold hearings, try to report a bill out of committee with contributions from both sides. Then bring it to the floor for amendment and debate"?

Yeah, fuck all that noise. Now that the new spiked dildo of health care, the Graham-Cassidy-etc bill, is threatening to be rammed up the hemorrhoidal anus of the American people, with just about every fucking terrible thing as the last attempt intact, McCain said that he wanted to hear from Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona. Ducey had opposed the previous Trumpcare bill because it dicked over Arizonans on expanded Medicaid. Now Ducey has said he supports Graham-Cassidy-who-the-fuck-cares, even though the aforementioned dicking remains, and McCain has tweeted that he's still feeling cranky about the process but is "inclined" to support the bill.

And even if McCain ends up going thumbs-down again, fuck him for even contemplating an upraised thumb. Either you've got principles or you don't, motherfucker.

In all the time the GOP has had, since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, since the election, since the failure of the "Fuck You, We Don't Care If You Die Bankrupt" bill in July, they have not made a case for repeal except "We said we'd do it." It's like a bunch of morons promising to light their farts if their favorite team wins a championship. The only people who wanna see that are other morons. Right now, we're down to 8.8% of Americans without health insurance, and a good number of those are because of the assholes in Republican states not expanding Medicaid.

Who does this bill help? It's faith-based legislation. Republicans say that Obamacare is making you suffer, so, if you're GOP-inclined, you believe it's making you suffer (even if it's paying for your chemo or psoriasis medication). And you have staked your entire political belief system on your investment in this bullshit. You'd rather die a miserable death than admit that you were always the mark for a bunch of low-rent Barnums. This way to the amazing egress, idiots. Grab a snipe on your way.

I wrote last week about the remarkable care I received in the UK for free. I was in the middle of the fourth largest city in the country, and every complaint I've heard about single-payer was rendered utterly and completely false.

Yet here we are, unable to even agree that tens of millions of people, including those with pre-existing conditions, who are now covered by the Affordable Care Act, deserve to be treated as human beings. What a stupid goddamned society we've built. It's repulsive. It's disgusting. It's immoral. And yet so many of our dumb fellow citizens think this is the way things ought to be.

The cruelest trick that capitalists ever played on Americans was making them believe they didn't need everyone else. Our fake rugged individualism will be our undoing.

And for those of us who do give a shit about our fellow Americans, it's once more to the phones to make Senators fear for their careers.

Trump Adviser Issues Threat: Politicians Who Support Impeachment Are Endangering Their Lives

Roger Stone, one of Donald Trump’s closest allies and advisers, issued what could be perceived as a death threat against politicians who support Trump’s impeachment: If you are in favor of it, you are putting your own life at risk.

Stone threatened a new civil war if impeachment takes place and an “insurrection” the likes of which this country has never seen. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains why these comments not only prove the need for Trump’s impeachment, but they should also land Stone in prison.



https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-roger-stone-impeach-vote-endanger-life-congress-house-senate-white-house-russia-meeting-a7911691.html

Even on 9/11 Donald Trump Couldn't Resist Bragging About Himself

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse addresses the sociopathic nature of Donald Trump and the lengths to which he will go to brag about himself... Even in the face of tragedy and the heartbreak of a nation!

Conservatives Disrespect The American Flag And Violate U.S. Flag Code With Their Fake Patriotism

In this episode of "The Conversation", Jesse discusses the U.S. Flag Code and the many violations of it committed by the same "conservatives who act so hyper patriotic. Even the "Blue Lives Matter" crowd are a bunch of violators of U.S. Code!

Limbaugh Tells Listeners That Hurricane Coverage Is A Liberal Hoax, Then Bails

Rush Limbaugh on Hurricane Irma: Powerful Storm or Liberal Conspiracy?

Rush Limbaugh: Warnings about Irma inflated to advance ‘climate change agenda’

Limbaugh evacuates South Florida after claiming Hurricane Irma was a liberal hoax

Trump’s betrayal of the Republican leaders should surprise no one

Donald Trump meets with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

 

By Eugene Robinson Opinion writer September 7 at 7:48 PM

Chuck and Nancy and Donald and Ivanka seemed to thoroughly enjoy their meeting at the White House the other day. Mitch and Paul, not so much.

Does it really surprise anyone that President Trump betrayed the Republican leaders who have been trying their best to carry water for him on Capitol Hill — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) — and is playing footsie with their Democratic rivals? It shouldn’t.

One thing that should be blindingly obvious by now is that political loyalty, for the president, is a one-way street. Yes, McConnell and Ryan embarrassed themselves and squandered precious political capital in a long, fruitless attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Yes, the Republican leaders have held their tongues time and again when Trump has manifested his unfitness for office. Yes, they have pretended not to notice the glaring conflicts of interest between Trump’s private business affairs and his public responsibilities.

Still, there was something brazen about the way events unfolded Wednesday. First, Ryan tells reporters that a short-term, three-month extension on the debt ceiling, tied to relief funds for Hurricane Harvey — an idea supported by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — was “ridiculous and disgraceful.” Then, in the Oval Office meeting, Trump stuns everyone by endorsing the Schumer-Pelosi plan — and agrees to work with the Democrats on repealing the debt ceiling altogether, according to The Post. Later, on Air Force One, Trump goes on about what a productive meeting he had with “Chuck and Nancy,” not bothering to mention the GOP congressional leaders by name. Ouch.

Some shell-shocked attendees said they believed the meeting went off the rails when the president’s daughter Ivanka, who has an office in the West Wing, cheerily dropped in and disrupted the conversation’s focus. But this sounds to me like nothing more than a search for a scapegoat. Ryan and McConnell have no one to blame but themselves.


Trump is many things, but he is not, nor has he ever been, a committed Republican. He seized control of the party in a hostile takeover. His campaign positions on trade, health care, entitlements and other issues bore no resemblance to GOP orthodoxy. He has instincts — some of them odious, from what we can intuit about his views on race and culture — but his worldview is transactional and situational, not ideological.

Ryan, McConnell and many of their Republican colleagues in Congress convinced themselves that Trump could be a useful instrument — that he would sign whatever legislation they sent him, and therefore they would be able to enact a conventional GOP agenda of tax and entitlement cuts.
Trump might have gone along with this scenario, at least for a while. But Ryan and McConnell utterly failed to hold up their end of the bargain.

Look at the health-care fiasco from Trump’s point of view. His campaign position was that Obamacare had to be repealed, but that the replacement should be a system offering health care for “everyone.” What Ryan and the House delivered, however, was a plan that would make 23 million people lose health insurance and cut nearly $800 billion from Medicaid.

Trump called that legislation “mean” but was so desperate for a big win that he backed it anyway. In the Senate, however, McConnell wasn’t able to deliver anything at all — not even a stripped-down measure to repeal the ACA now and replace it later. Trump was humiliated and angry. “Mitch M” and “Paul R” became frequent targets of his barbed tweets.

So on Wednesday, Trump dished out a little humiliation of his own. At the White House meeting, the president reportedly cut off Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — who supported the Ryan-McConnell approach to raising the debt ceiling — in mid-sentence to announce that he was siding with Schumer and Pelosi.

The stunning slap down almost overshadowed a surprise that Trump had delivered Tuesday evening: After sending Attorney General Jeff Sessions out to announce the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Trump tweeted that if Congress did not act within six months, he would “revisit” the question.

What Trump clearly has already revisited is his belief in the ability of the conservative GOP congressional majorities to get anything meaningful done. He seems to be at least flirting with the idea of working instead with Democrats and GOP moderates — working not with but around the House and Senate leadership.

I just hope Schumer and Pelosi know not to trust him the way Ryan and McConnell did.

Read more from Eugene Robinson’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A.

Donald Trump Rescinds DACA - Stands With White Supremacists Against A Million Dreamers

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse Dollemore addresses Donald Trump's decision to rescind DACA.

Is Joel Osteen A Bad Guy For Reasons Beyond Failing To Act During Hurricane Harvey?

In this episode of "The Conversation", Jesse Dollemore discusses Joel Osteen and his bizarre Americanized version of Jesus' Gospel message.

His inaction in the face of the suffering caused by Hurricane Harvey was bad, but are there more reasons his actions should be questioned and scrutinized?

Will Trump's Republican lackeys in Congress reverse course on disaster response cuts?

By Joan McCarter

Now would be a good time to break with him, guys.

 As the slow disaster of Harvey continues to roll over southeast Texas and into Louisiana, bringing record-shattering rainfall over the region, the Republican Congress is pondering $1 billion in cuts to federal disaster response programs to fulfill Donald Trump's demands for a border wall.

The pending reduction to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief account is part of a spending bill that the House is scheduled to consider next week when Congress returns from its August recess. The $876 million cut, part of the 1,305 page measure’s homeland security section, pays for roughly half the cost of Trump’s down payment on a U.S.-Mexico border wall. 

It seems sure that GOP leaders will move to reverse the disaster aid cut next week. The optics are politically bad and there’s only $2.3 billion remaining in disaster coffers.

One would like to think that they'd reverse those cuts. But don't forget the request they're working with from the White House.

The proposal, drawn up by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), also would slash the budget of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides disaster relief after hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. The Coast Guard’s $9.1 billion budget in 2017 would be cut 14 percent to about $7.8 billion, while the TSA and FEMA budgets would be reduced about 11 percent each to $4.5 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively.

All so Trump can hire more border agents, build his wall, and more effectively terrorize people of color. Given the disproportionate hit people of color are taking from this natural disaster, don't bet on Trump changing his mind about pushing for these cuts.

Donald Trump Lied About Avoiding Flood Victims In Flooded Areas

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse Dollemore addresses the reporting from journalists with Donald Trump which refutes his claims of witnessing the 'horror' and 'devastation' caused by Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas.

Maggie Haberman Smears Bernie - Internet Immediately Trounces

If Joel Osteen and Maggie Haberman have shown anything, its that Twitter is a shaming force for good.

Mike Pence is trying to make people forget his heartless response to Hurricane Katrina

By Oliver Willis

Mike Pence is on a media blitz to insist the Trump administration will fund Hurricane Harvey relief. But fully funded disaster relief wasn't something he supported when he was in Congress.

Mike Pence is on a self-serving blitz of radio appearances this week, touting the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Harvey. That includes promises to have federal funds ready to go for relief — something he cruelly opposed when he was in Congress.

Pence had the nerve, during his several radio interviews Monday, to repeatedly refer to his time in Congress as proof he understands the importance of passing legislation to provide for disaster relief.

“We’re very confident that the Congress of the United States is going to be there to provide the resources necessary,” Pence told the host at Houston’s KHOU. He added that he will work with legislators to “make sure that the disaster assistance that already some 22,000 Texans have signed up for is available and is there.”

But when thousands of citizens affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 needed Pence’s help, he had other priorities. He was instead focused on bludgeoning those citizens by attaching his extremist political ideology to disaster relief bills, holding up vital support that was urgently needed.

Pence said that funding for Katrina relief should be paid for with cuts to Social Security and Medicare, ideas that the right has championed for decades, even though they have proved to be unpopular and destructive again and again.

Justifying his cruelty, Pence told reporters at the time that Katrina relief and the rebuilding of devastated areas like New Orleans just had to wait, because “it is not acceptable to take a catastrophe of nature and turn it into a catastrophe of debt.”

He also said on the floor of the House, “When a tree falls on your house you tend to the wounded, you rebuild and then you figure out how you are going to pay for it.”

Ignoring the dire situation in the region, Pence lectured victims and offered up right-wing talking points.

“Let’s pay for the cost of Katrina by reducing the size and scope of government,” he said.

Pence even said that legislators should have considered delaying a $40 billion prescription drug benefit for seniors, and use that money for Katrina relief — instead of approving new funding in Congress.

Those statements, in contrast to his platitudes during Hurricane Harvey, show how Pence and his fellow Republicans have often instigated mealy-mouthed concerns about “debt” when they are out of power, only to disregard them when they are in charge.

Pence is not alone in his hypocrisy. Other Republicans have argued that disaster relief must be “offset” by cuts to necessary programs. It’s a despicable way to exploit a national disaster to target programs Republicans have long sought to dismantle.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is pushing for hurricane relief now, but when Superstorm Sandy hit New York and New Jersey, he voted against the emergency aid package to help the victims. He complained at the time that the bill had been loaded up “with billions in new spending” unrelated to the storm. Like Pence, he also invoked worries about “debt” to justify his stance.

The claim was also untrue. Cruz recently made the same claim while defending his Sandy spin, and it was fact checked by the Washington Post, which awarded him “three Pinocchios” for his ugly lie.

“The bill was largely aimed at dealing with Sandy, along with relatively minor items to address other or future disasters,” the Post noted.

Mick Mulvaney, currently serving as Trump’s budget director, was in Congress during Sandy as well, and he was among those who also called for budget cuts to offset storm relief.

It is unlikely he will do so now from inside the White House.

Pence, Cruz, and Mulvaney have been exposed as hypocrites. When they were out of power, they didn’t think twice about holding up disaster relief so they could engage in political experimentation for the right.

But now, when the storm is on their watch, all the hand-wringing about “debt” has evaporated into thin air. As if it was always a cynical and callous ruse all along.

Best Buy apologizes for big mistake of price-gouging Texans for water - after their stock tanks

$43 pack of bottled water being sold at a Houston Best Buy (Photo via Ken Klippenstein).

Electronics retailer Best Buy is apologizing to outraged consumers after a social media storm of complaints against a Houston area store charging $42 for a case of case of bottled water.

The image, which raced across the internet, shows $42.96 cases of Dasani bottled water, next to a “limited supply” of “Smart Water” for $29.98 a case.

“As a company we are focused on helping, not hurting affected people,” Best Buy told Business Insider. “We’re sorry, and it won’t happen again.”

The company claims the “big mistake” was caused by an employee multiplying the price of a single bottle. The company says the price-gouging signage was only up on Friday and that the Cypress, TX store in question is now closed due to Hurricane Harvey.

Best Buy stock fell 11 percent Tuesday, in heavy trading.

Below is a sampling of social media criticism:

One Houston resident sent me a pic of water he saw being sold for *$42* at a nearby Best Buy. They were kind enough to offer $29 bottles too pic.twitter.com/8dKz3sJJM1

— ken klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) August 29, 2017

Hey @BestBuy, check out what one of your locations in Houston is doing. Pretty sick stuff. https://t.co/WQqstnTotr

— Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) August 29, 2017

Rot in hell, @BestBuy. pic.twitter.com/Jj7xUfoUp4

— jordan 🌹🌹 (@JordanUhl) August 29, 2017

Hey @BestBuy you want to explain why this store of yours in Houston is illegally price gouging? pic.twitter.com/803tuo4XLm

— Max Cotterill 🚩 (@mcotteri) August 29, 2017

Greedy Best Buy Gouges Hurricane Plagued Texas Residents; Sells Cases of Water for $42 https://t.co/HNs8XnkEVh

— Thomas Paine (@Thomas1774Paine) August 29, 2017

The @BestBuy at Houston charging $40 for a pack of water bottles is a disgrace. People are in need, shame on you #bestbuy #shame #greed

— Panda (@4kec4) August 29, 2017

@BestBuy this was happening by me in Houston this past week. Safe to say I will never shop in your stores again. pic.twitter.com/1wAUhnks14

— James DeCicco (@bobbyd914) August 29, 2017

Only bcause they got caught. Sum1 HAD 2 authorize the sign, sell & purchase of the #gouging , stop blaming the wrkr bees Fire Mgmt @BestBuy pic.twitter.com/OFKRfeotea

— MoreMusicMoreMoney (@MoreMusicMoreMo) August 29, 2017

In response to my article, Best Buy issues apology, saying the pricing was "a big mistake" & "it won't happen again" https://t.co/AcLuHkp0y1

— ken klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) August 29, 2017

Is The Street Wrong? What Best Buy $BBY Is Doing Right (video) https://t.co/sgNCaLZoXg @BestBuy #stocks #BestBuy #Retail #investors pic.twitter.com/WoL0DYuLK5

— Domain Mondo (@DomainMondo) August 29, 2017

By Bob Brigham

Donald Trump's Plans For A Russian Trump Tower In Moscow Just Revealed

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse Dollemore addresses the just revealed plans for a Trump Tower in Moscow, Russia which were previously concealed by Donald Trump.

Add to the mix, Felix Sater, who has deep mafia ties and connections to heavy hitters in the Russian government.

North Carolina County Official Indicted For Rigging The 2016 Election For Donald Trump

A former elections worker in North Carolina was indicted by a grand jury on Monday for purposefully changing ballot results during the March 2016 primary election.

Richard Robert Rawling, 59, of Cary, was charged with felony counts of failing his duties and obstruction of justice after allegedly skewing the vote tallies to help elect Donald Trump and other conservative candidates.

Rawling allegedly ordered subordinates to run provisional ballots through tabulators more than the correct number of times, and then made manual changes so that the results of the provisional canvass would match the tally of total ballots.

Elections board officials found the smoking gun during an audit of primary results in April.

According to the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, Rawling’s actions were a desperate attempt to hide his tampering with results. Rawling resigned less than a month after the primary results were tallied.

“The State Board’s top priority is ensuring the integrity of elections so voters have confidence in the process,” the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement said in its remarks to the media.

http://www.rawprogressive.com/2017/08/22/breaking-north-carolina-county-official-indicted-rigging-2016-election-donald-trump/

White House anti-drug office asks Mass. for medical Marijuana data

An arm of the White House’s anti-drug office has asked Massachusetts and several other states where medical marijuana is legal to turn over information about registered patients, triggering a debate over privacy rights and whether state officials should cooperate with a federal administration that appears hostile to the drug.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/08/25/white-house-anti-drug-office-asks-massachusetts-for-medical-marijuana-data/FIiAccGpbD7az3wfUyoMbK/story.html

Trump Has Now Lied To The Public More Than 1,000 Times Since Taking Office

According to a report by The Washington Post, Donald Trump has passed the 1,000 lie milestone since being sworn in as President. Many of his lies have been repeated so often that a majority of his supporters actually believe them to be true, like Trump actually winning the popular vote. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.


IF TRUMP'S MOUTH IS MOVING, A LIE IS SPILLING OUT, IF HIS HAND IS MOVING, THE SATANIC 666 HAND GESTURE IS SHOWING YOU WHO HE WORSHIPS.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/08/22/president-trumps-list-of-false-and-misleading-claims-tops-1000/