Mark Twain once said that "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics." And in the case of Obamacare, Trumpcare and the Healthcare debate, all three kinds of lies are in play.
When the Affordable Care Act was enacted, it had no support from the GOP, even though the design came out of a GOP think tank. The GOP was so focused on making Obama a one term president, that it became an extremely polarized opposition to anything supported by Obama. And this included the beginnings of a national health care system based on free market principles, yet tempered by the realities of unequal wealth distribution and unequal health across subgroups of our nation's population.
I was surprised to find that a president and party would have spent so much political capital oh health care. And in retrospect, I am reminded of LBJ who noted that by standing up for civil rights, he was giving the "Old South" to the GOP. It seems like healthcare reform may symbolize something similar for Democrats, as the GOP has used Obamacare as a tool to rally the base.
Over the past few years, the Democratic party has been losing seats in both the House and the Senate. In 2016, the Democrats finally lost the presidency, which gave the GOP a chance to remake healthcare in ways that may reflect either an ideological purity or a pragmatic recognition of reality. Unfortunately, the first important draft at a reform bill will only serve to double the number of uninsured people, and give excessive tax cuts to the rich.
Designing reforms to a health insurance system is not something that can be done in days. It took the Democrats months to flesh out a plan, and then they had to pull out all stops (including bringing in a sickly Ted Kennedy to help break a filibuster) to get the bill passed. Even then, the bill was far from perfect - and was signed into law with known problems. The Obama administration figured that Healthcare reform was now in play, but repeal would be political suicide once the average citizen started to receive the benefits of this new entitlement.
President Trump promised that he would sign a repeal of Obamacare the day he took office. It's been roughly two months since he took office, and no repeal or replacement bill has been signed into law at the time I'm writing this entry. The GOP never thought that they would be in a position to fulfill its promises to repeal Obamacare, and now they are caught between keeping this promise and doing the right thing.
The GOP is saying lies of varying magnitudes in regard to the ACA. What they are not saying is that their lack of cooperation in congress and in their statehouses helped to cause major problems in the "Red States". Obamacare is in trouble in many of the Red States, as quite a few did not accept federal monies for Medicaid expansion. As a result, many people who could have gotten medical care were caught in a gap - between Medicaid eligibility and being able to afford healthcare. So they got screwed by their own leaders, just because of a political game that was being played.
In the "Blue States", we see a system that is relatively successful. Yes, there are problems. But people are accessing healthcare who could never have afforded it in the past. So, what's going to happen to them now that the GOP is in charge? Trump and the rest of the GOP do not want to look at the statistics regarding Obamacare. The Congressional Budget Office did predict a $370+ million savings due to the GOP's most recent health care reform bill. But it said that the number of uninsured would more than double. This means that the GOP will need to tell big lies to mollify its base - a base which is finally coming to terms with the Affordable Care Act, not realizing that it is one and the same as the dreaded "Obamacare".
There are Senators warning GOP house members that the current bill will be DOA if it reaches the Senate. Both the President and the Speaker of the House are saying that this bill is the only one that might pass muster in the House. Yet something more may be going on here. Could a bad bill be written up, making it possible for purists to say they voted for an acceptable bill that will never come to law - and please their constituents? Could a future bill be designed to "repeal" the ACA, but merely be a set of tweaks to make the existing law more palatable?
What is most telling is that TRUMP, a man who puts his name on everything, boils red when he hears the phrase "Trumpcare". He doesn't want his name associated with a GOP suicide pact. And yet, that's what seems to be happening right now - GOP Congressmen and Senators are avoiding their constituents in order not to address their fears of losing affordable health care. Does this mean that because of ideological concerns that the GOP may commit political suicide? Who knows?
The other night, Bernie Sanders held a town hall in "Trump Territory". And it is amazing how he addressed the concerns of West Virginia voters better than that of their own leaders. In fact, one person there said that he was amazed that Sanders was looking out for retired coal miners more than Mitch McConnell, a Senator from a nearby coal mining state. What does this say about our 2 party system? To me, it says that if a party ignores the concerns of people who are minorities in the party, it will lose the votes to the other party - even if the only things given are lip service and lies, as the GOP has done for years.
Even in a state that bleeds red, the ACA has shown to be useful. It made sure that coal miners suffering from Black Lung disease got the benefit of the doubt when claiming benefits - something that would be lost in an ACA repeal. People in Trump Country see this, and do not want the ACA repealed - they want it fixed. Even so, our VP went to Kentucky and talked about all of Obamacare's failures - even when the little guy is starting to see the benefits of the law. I can only imagine what would happen to the GOP if more people started seeing the lies for what they are - mistaken tribal and ideological opposition to a "lesser of evils" law.
In the major Western nations, there is no country which has free market health care - not even us. In a free market, people would die if they were taken to the hospital without money or insurance coverage. Out of humanity, we require hospitals to treat all people regardless of ability to pay, and then those hospitals shift their unreimbursed costs to those least able to pay "rack rate" for medical care. And yet, the GOP keeps arguing that a free market can work with health care when there are no examples in the world of a free market working for health care. What lies will they tell to bamboozle their base to convince them that a return to healthcare's past is what is needed in a "reform" effort?
Luckily, there are a few GOP Congressmen and Senators willing to buck party ideology and demand that a replacement bill actually be better than the system we have now. It's not important that they dress up their verbiage in fantasy talk or pragmatic statements. Instead, it's important that they are realizing that if the GOP breaks Obamacare without having a better Trumpcare ready to roll, then the GOP could lose both houses in the next election, and possibly start losing the statehouses as well.
I predict that we will hear a lot of misinformation spouted over the next few weeks while ACA repeal is being discussed. Luckily, the Democrats still have the ability to filibuster many bills that come through the Senate, and have an effective veto that can be used for most half-assed attempts to repeal the ACA. Hopefully, the Democrats will use what little power they have left in both a wise and effective manner. And I hope that in the middle of this political game being played, that people lose the ability to purchase healthcare that they once enjoyed under the ACA.
As I write this, a TV reporter was discussing with a guest asserting that there was a FISA court warrant on two data servers connected to Russian Banks at Trump Tower. I have not yet been able to find evidence of this in internet searches, but things have gotten "Curiouser and Curiouser".
A while back, I was concerned when I read that there was a data connection between Trump's campaign and Russia. We now know that Wikileaks has been feeding one sided information in sync with Trump's campaign, bolstering him when his campaign was flagging. Now, we're finding out that many in Trump's staff have strong ties to Russia - more than I ever thought when I started paying attention to this connection.
Could Trump's now silence on the issue of being bugged be related to violating the law in relation to a FISA court warrant by making things public? Who knows? Only time will tell.
- - - - - -
Strangely enough, even though I do not consider Russia to be a friendly country, I do believe that we can have a rapprochement with them. But this is not because of Donald Trump. Instead it is because I see a way to profitably knit them together with the West, in spite of the regime now in power.
Russia has a more sophisticated set spy masters than we have. America has shifted away from "Boots on the Ground" in many areas, including spying. We have gotten caught up in electronic surveillance, and have forgotten the art of culturing people who will eventually betray their countries' interests. Potentially, with the Trump crew, Russia has scored the ultimate success. Again, only honest news reporting will show this to be true or not.
- - - - - -
I am far from happy with this administration. Virtually all of its civilian department heads are there to preside over the dismantling of those departments. Executive orders are being used to strip away protections given to individuals, and shift protections to the corporate state. Even if we ignore the alarms being sounded by the left, radical change in big government is dangerous. There are good reasons that change in big government come slowly - it gives people and businesses time to adjust to the new reality. The changes being proposed by this administration do not allow for this adjustment, and could turn out to be a great disaster.
Another report that I've read says that Russia's interest is to disrupt developing nations' interest in Western models of democracy and economic development. By making the West (as a Whole) look bad, Russia can look good by comparison. Could Trump's victory be the ultimate victory for Russia? I have no idea, but it's an interesting idea to pursue.
I'm not sure what to believe anymore. As much as I want to hate the man, something is triggering pity in me for him. And it started with an article in Eater.
- - - - - -
The Eater article, "Actually, How Donald Trump Eats His Steak Matters" caused me to start thinking of how insecure Trump really must be inside, and why his view of the world resonates among many Americans. Trump always eats the same type of steak - a dry aged strip steak, has it cooked "well done", then adds ketchup to make up for the lost flavor. "Adults who won’t eat pink-hearted steaks might lean on any number of reasons for their position, but almost always it comes down to an aversion to risk, which is at its core an unwillingness to trust the validity and goodwill of any experiences beyond the limited sphere of one’s own." And I'll bet at the core, most of Trump's base has similar fears. Can I blame anyone for being fearful in this day and age? No. But I'll bet that Trump's fear goes back to his youth, and may be related to the loss of his brother.
But I don't want to dwell in that area of his life. I am not a psychologist, and I am not trained to diagnose mental illness. The New Republic states that "a debate is raging among mental health professionals about Trump’s mental state, and whether it’s unethical of them to speculate publicly about someone whom they haven’t examined." It goes on to mention that "Trump was potentially exposed to syphilis based on his own statements that he was sexually promiscuous in the 1980s, a period when syphilis cases were rapidly increasing in the U.S.." If Trump has this disease, he'd be in notable company, as Al Capone (a man who I respect more than Trump as a businessman) also suffered from syphilis.
Of course, we could take syphilis out of the equation, and still be dealing with mental illness. The N.Y. Daily News notes that "The American Psychiatric Association says that anyone exhibiting five of the following nine egotistical traits has Narcissistic Personality Disorder:
1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).
2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
3. Believe that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with other special or high-status people.
4. Requires excessive admiration.
5. Has a sense of entitlement.
6. Is interpersonally exploitative.
7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes."
Do you agree with me, that Trump shows 8 of the 9 characteristics of Narcissistic Personality Disorder?
- - - - - -
I still believe that Trump should be removed from office as soon as possible. Even a disastrous 3+ years under a "sane" President Pence would likely be preferable to the chaos created by Trump. Is Trump mentally ill, or is he just evil? It's hard for anyone to say, as it is easy to argue for both possibilities.
There is a part of me that could feel sorry for this man and his family, as he is not able to have any empathy towards others. Sadly, he is only interested in himself, and seems very lonely as a result. Even with this being said, I still must raise the question: Why has much of the GOP sacrificed its principles and whatever integrity it has left to be loyal to a man who will not be loyal to them or care about them?
The Women's March on Washington. It's hard to believe that this took place a month ago as I'm writing this entry. A lot of feelings were vented, but has it yet led to anything substantial? Probably not. The protesters were marching against Trump, and not FOR anything in particular. And this is where the problem lies. Trump's opponents are still divided. We think of women's rights, LGBTIQ rights, immigrant rights, but we're not focusing on what should be the core issue - Human Rights and how to achieve them for all. Each of these causes is important. But without a central focus, our opposition wins.
- - - - - -
In order for progressives to win both the cultural war and the ideological war being foisted upon us, we need to make sure that no one accepts any of the lies coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as anything other than what they are - tools being used to get the common person to stop paying attention to a critical press, and to only focus on what Trump claims to be truth. This is dangerous, as an honest free press is the most important check and balance against government overreach when the public feels empowered.
Right now, we're seeing attempts from the Trump administration to disempower groups that have traditionally been disenfranchised in the USA: Poor People, Blacks, Latinos, Gays & Lesbians, Transgenders, and Women. Ignore the rhetoric from both sides of the political aisle. We have an Attorney General who was once voted down by the Senate for being too racist to have a judicial seat. We have a Secretary of Education who has no clue how public education functions, and wants to replace the public school system with private schools. We have a Secretary of Housing and Urban Development who has never run an organization of any size. Virtually all of his civilian appointees are there to destroy the departments which they are supposed to run. We've already seen protections once held by the LGBT community overturned by the new Attorney General, as he won't defend protections established by the prior administration.
It's easy to give up hope. But the progressive movement needs a set of tactics that can be used to
- Maximize the impact of any protest.
- Prevent Trump's bullying of dissenters from being seen as "normal".
- Stagger large scale protests, so that people stay sensitive to the protest message.
- Disrupt the potentially authoritarian status-quo from being accepted as "normal".
- Develop a rotating focus on key issues, having an entire coalition protest one issue at a time, and preventing messages from becoming tired.
There is much more that can be done. But the people must stay alert to any lies that are being spewed as part of this administration's propaganda campaign. And then, they must expose those lies for what they are, using as much humor as possible in order to deny this regime the social legitimacy it craves.
- - - - - -
Every year, there is a "mooning" of Amtrak trains as they pass through a California town. The "Mooners" (not to be confused with "Moonies", who are affiliated with a Korean Church) line up along a 2 mile stretch of track, and expose themselves when an Amtrak train rolls by. Might we want to consider mooning Trump's motorcade to show him the respect he deserves? It's one idea among many we should be thinking about - we need the attention of the press, and we need to find as many non violent, but media catching methods possible. Hopefully, we will find a few things that work well, and will use them as long as they work well....
- - - - - -
The "Gray Lady", as the New York Times is often called, had a lot to report on the day I wrote this post. And I was unsure about what was the most important thing out there. Was it the resignation of Michael Flynn, after less than a month into Trump's regime? Was it Trump's statement that Israel need not pursue a "two state" solution with the Palestinians? Was it the revelation that senior Trump assistants were in constant contact with Russia during his campaign? Was if the assassination of Kim Jong Un's half brother in Malaysia? Was it the revelation that Russia broke one of the nuclear anti-proliferation treaties, by testing a new type of missile? Or, was it the revelation that the American intelligence agencies no longer trust Trump or his staff to keep America's secrets secret, and are now withholding information from the president? Any one of these things could be major news items in their own right. But all of these things happening at once has gotten me worried.
- - - - - -
Our current president is as inept as he is corrupt. Couple this with a GOP that is ethically bankrupt, and wants power over doing things for the public at large, and we are in serious trouble. One Republican that I once respected, Rand Paul, has just lost any support I might have given him. He would prefer to dismantle the ACA (Obamacare) than to determine how close a relationship the Trump Campaign had with the Russians. Paul believes that no Republican should be investigating other Republicans. Paul Krugman notes that the GOP would rather choose treason to give tax cuts to the wealthy, as corruption is endemic to the GOP. Whether I'd go this far, I don't know. But it seems as if the GOP wants power for power's sake, and not to exercise it wisely.
I am concerned about giving Netanyahu options NOT to pursue a two state solution in Israel/Palestine. This region is dangerous enough now. Why give extremists any more fuel to add to the fire? Our previous Secretary of State noted that Israel could be either a Democracy or a Jewish State. But it could not be both if a two state solution is not pursued. If we support Netanyahu's actions, we may just light the fire of the next Middle Eastern war without realizing it.
- - - - - -
Often, what North Korea does is an interesting side show to the world. They tend to make bellicose statements, but can't do much to cause trouble elsewhere. Yes, they have forged $100 bills so perfect that the Federal Reserve told US banks to honor the "funny money" until they had a reliable way to detect the bogus bills. Yes, they have hacked into many computer systems, and caused organizations such as Sony Pictures much grief. But now, they have started to assassinate people outside their borders. Can this be tolerated? Yes, the fellow who was poisoned was the half brother of the "supreme leader". But who might be killed next?
- - - - - -
Russia has tested a new cruise missile that the US says violates previously signed treaties. Would this have taken place had Hillary Clinton been in office? I doubt it. With Trump in office, Putin can do no wrong. Now that US intelligence agencies no longer trust the president to keep secrets, I wonder what comes next.
These are scary times, and I don't trust our leaders to do the right things, nor do I trust the system of checks and balances to work in the presence of this much corruption in the system. I could be wrong. But when Joe Scarborough started worrying about the White House and its lack of respect for the Judiciary, we should see this as the canary in the coal mine alerting us to big problems ahead. No president should have unchecked powers, and Joe makes this clear after reviewing Steven Miller's comments on the power of POTUS.
