MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, on Friday morning announced that he would not vote for the House bill to repeal and replace Obamacare... He cited one of the last-minute additions to the bill, a provision that would repeal Obamacare's requirement that insurers cover Essential Health Benefits. "it would place significant new costs and barriers to care on my constituents in New Jersey.."
Comments
And the chair of the House Appropriations Committee is not just any old House Republican.
As wikipedia says: it is one of the most powerful of the committees, and its members are seen as influential
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 2:48pm
They just postponed the vote again
Headed into emergency caucus session
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/house-leaders-cancel-vote-obamacare-...?
by rmrd0000 on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 3:42pm
MSNBC TV waiting on Ryan press conference, showing room filling up. At same time talking with Robert Costa of WaPo who just talked on phone with Trump-Trump called him--on the call Trump says he pulled the bill, but also said Ryan begged him to pull it.
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 3:54pm
so WaPo should have some skinny from Trump's phone call with Costa soon:
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 3:56pm
begs the question: why Costa and not like someone from like, Fox?
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 3:58pm
TPM sez: Trump also called the New York Times' Maggie Haberman to discuss the decision to pull the bill.
So two calls to the once evil liberal lying media. That's a change that I think has a hidden message.
I just listened to Trump's short press availability from his oval office desk, live, just finished as I type. Though he again predicted that Obamacare would explode this year, he clearly to me is looking to court some Dems, maybe from the bottom up, through their constituents Though definitely blaming Dems, also.was definitely putting out bipartisan feelers. He basically said "repeal and replace" was theirs not his (let's see if some of his previous tweets in support are deleted.). Oh and he sounded a lot more mature and grownup than ever before, no crazy stuff. Did not sound upset at all, very calm.
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 5:04pm
he was similarly calm in the call to Haberman:
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 8:40pm
Costa worked with two other reporters to put together this wider report on Trump's efforts, posted @ WaPo tonight
‘The closer’? The inside story of how Trump tried — and failed — to make a deal on health care
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 9:04pm
Just an aside how badly Sean Spicer got thrown under the bus for the umpteenth time.
Earlier today I had his White House press conference on in the background as I was working. And while I wasn't listening closely, whenever I paid a little attention it was all the pro-health bill spin including that the president was certain and decided on seeing everyone vote. Like over and over and over.
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 4:48pm
But even Republicans that don't care about people are questioning this bill:
I was just thinking the same thing. The argument to rush something through because they promised for 7 years, It sort of boggles the mind. What kind of "base" are those in favor supposedly pandering to? The 17% one?
And you know what, I don't lay the rushed debacle on Trump, I specifically recall reading all about how Ryan was pushing doing something right away. Furthermore, the Trump & his admin have shown to have zero skills at planning this way so far. To have a former Speaker of a majority GOP House (of a similar type as well!) criticize just confirms my instinct about where the fault lies: with Ryan.
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 3:50pm
It's hard as the Republicans and the "Americans for The Prosperity of Billionaires" Koch brothers one and only goal is to eliminate the ACA 3.8% investment profits tax an the 0.9% Medicare supplemental on 250K + incomes. That was to be a Trumpian Dream of a trillion dollar tax cut for the rich....!!
Then balance the GOP 'wealthcare tax cut' hit to the federl budget by cutting health care for 24 million poor and working poor families, kids and elderly, so it can pass under 'reconciliation' with no Dem votes.
And as Trump blames the Democrats, it is shown again as so true:
The buck doesn't even slow down on Trump's desk.
by NCD on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 5:07pm
oh I suspect Trump blames the Koch boys, too, he just won't publicly say it. He knows they hate him. And they came up with that bribe to keep the conservatives voting against. Which basically was in response to Trump's attempted threats of conservatives, made his threats impotent and that was a hit to his narcissistic "deal maker" creds.
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 5:13pm
P.S. I think that one thing we can be sure of with Trump is that he is not with the Koch wing that wants an Ayn Rand approach to health insurance, i.e., repeal and no replacement. He's just had a wack understanding of what would be required when he promised health insurance for everyone, and not being that sincerely caring, and he will backtrack the more he "gets it," especially if it affects tax cuts for the rich, as trickle down economics will always be priority with him. He thinks like this: the trickle down along with tough immigration will get his working class fans good jobs again. And while he'd rather not see them saddled with high health insurance costs, at least they could afford it then. Wacky, I know but I think it's like that.
Also related: I suspect he doesn't like that health insurance is tied to employment in this country, that he probably would like to see that it was taken off employer's backs. I suspect the right person could actually convince him to be interested in a plan that was sort of a Medicare for all on a catastrophic coverage basis, if the numbers showed it to save on the budget in the end. He thought it would be simple to fix, and he'd still be open to "simple." As long as it doesn't cost as much as Obamacare and lightens the load on business.
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 5:34pm
Trump failed at the get go with his Bannon bunch of nazis, incompetent loyal shills, and crackpots like Sessions, Perry, Mulvaney, and the EPA fruitcake.
Booman:
And:
by NCD on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 5:55pm
thanks, I think way better analysis than most I see!
Edit to add: I like this especially: waddled into the threshing blades by choosing a strategy where he would be completely dependent on a Republican Party that he had discredited and ought to have been working around rather than with. After all, he won in large part by targeting voters that don't often vote at all because they dislike politicians. The type that if they voted once in a while, might vote Republican, but holding their nose.
by artappraiser on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 8:01pm
This is the argument I got from Trump supporters who I talked to before the election, that he was a cue ball breaking up the rack. I haven't had the energy to ask them if they are feeling buyer's remorse.
by moat on Sat, 03/25/2017 - 9:05am
I appreciate just hearing about confirmation.
by artappraiser on Sat, 03/25/2017 - 9:12am
Jeez, they don't even know their pool analogies.
You use a buckshot to break up the table when you have a bad lie (ball position, not falsehood), often a Hail Mary type of move.
Breaking the rack is a very controlled, planned and aimed event, like starting from scratch (not a pool scratch, but from the unformed, untarnished beginning - something that never happens in politics or other real life events).
But the stalemate wasn't in the White House - it's all the shrink-government-till-you-can-drown-it-in-a-bathroom and let's-ram-this-government-into-a-wall GOP party members. Why replacing a Democratic give-it-his-best president with a supposedly anarchist know-nothing conservative-GOP-sympathizing egotist and liar would break up the system in any way but chaotic and/or crooked is beyond me.
BTW, Etta James always believed she was the daughter of Minnesota Fats. Irrelevant, but a nice bit of trivia (I got it out of Cadillac Records with Beyonce playing Etta)
by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 03/25/2017 - 9:40am