Monday Reading

As always, please go to the links to read the full articles/ op eds.

As we continue to note, the treasonous behavior of Putin puppet and weak Man Baby Donald "Rump" Trump is becoming harder to ignore, as is his ignorance of how international trade and trade balances work:

The United States had been working on an agreement with the European Union nations, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, but that effort was abandoned after Trump won the presidency. Japan and Canada are part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multi-country pact that Trump pulled out of after taking office. 

“The whole purpose of T-TIP was to open the U.S. market to Europe and vice versa. Now that’s been thrown under the bus along with TPP,” said Monica de Bolle, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 

She said Trump wrongly cites trade balances with individual countries, a largely meaningless metric, to attack trade deals. “Trade is a web. It’s not a buy-sell thing. It’s a web," she said. "The stupidity of this is hard to exaggerate.”  (our emphasis)

Not if you've ever followed Rump's career it isn't.

Here's a teaser from a letter from 29 European Union Ambassadors to the U.S., debunking Rump's nitwit notions on trade (h/t P.E.C.):

There has been a lot of talk recently about the trade and investment relationship between the European Union and the United States. Who wins? Who loses? 

The fact is, we are both winning and have been for years. Claims to the contrary, including that the United States is at the losing end of this relationship, deserve to be debunked. Because the United States makes more money doing business with the E.U. than with anyone else.

Make America Go it Alone!

Ruth Marcus on the Rump regime's continuing efforts to take health care away from our fellow Americans:

A continuing challenge of covering the three-ring circus that is the Trump administration is not letting the outrageous antics and statements of the president and his allies distract attention from the outrageous policies being implemented on his watch. 

One example, unfolding right now in the midst of the president’s various rhetorical wars — with our Group of Seven partners, with the special counsel, with his own attorney general — is the administration’s remarkable move not to defend the constitutionality of key parts of the Affordable Care Act. 

This is a huge deal. First, if the administration’s position prevails, millions of Americans will lose the protections they thought they had against being denied coverage if they suffer from preexisting conditions. Second, and perhaps even scarier, the administration’s behavior sets a dangerous precedent about the obligation of this and future presidents to follow their constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws enacted by Congress.

While anything is possible, most legal experts are highly dubious about the prospects for the underlying Republican lawsuit.  With this self- own by the Rump regime (combined with higher premiums due to Republican sabotage) health care is back full force as an issue in the 2018 mid- terms:

“No issue is more personal than health care, and this is a perfect storm of two of the most personal aspects of health care coming together: skyrocketing premiums and the loss of protections for people with pre-existing conditions,” Tyler Law, the national press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), told TPM. “We know voters are paying close attention to this, because there is not a district in the entire country where health care is not a major issue.”

At the "summit" (nadir?) between Rump and Kim Jong-un, one thing won't be on the table, and one thing will:

When Trump meets Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Tuesday, he will be sitting down with the leader of one of the most brutal and repressive regimes in modern history — a country that has committed "unspeakable atrocities" on a vast scale in a manner reminiscent of Nazi Germany, according to a 2014 United Nations investigation. 

But two administration officials tell NBC News the U.S. has decided not to bring up human rights at the summit. And Trump has made clear he would be willing to offer security guarantees and financial aid to Kim if he gives up his nuclear arsenal... (our emphasis)

Human rights?  Psshew!  A little bribery?  Rump's business model. America comes down another notch or ten.

We conclude with our recommendation to check out Infidel 753's excellent link round- up. If you can't find anything funny, interesting or new there, you may want to have your pulse checked!

Sabotaging Obamacare (UPDATED)

When he's not spending taxpayer dollars on private jets, weaselly HHS Secretary Tom "For Sale At Any" Price is having his press secretary munchkin put out lying screeds like this one, on why HHS isn't supporting Obamacare open enrollment events:

"... Obamacare has never lived up to enrollment expectations despite the previous administration's best efforts. The American people know a bad deal when they see one and many won't be convinced to sign up for 'Washington-knows-best' health coverage that they can't afford. For the upcoming enrollment period, Americans are being hit with another round of double-digit premium hikes and nearly half of our nation's counties are facing Obamacare monopolies. As Obamacare continues to collapse, HHS is carefully evaluating how we can best serve the American people who continue to be harmed by Obamacare's failures."

Last we checked, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is successfully insuring tens of millions of Americans and is still the law of the land. Contrary to Republican wet dreams, it's not collapsing, but that's not because Republicans aren't trying their damnedest to see that happen.

Down the road, these sociopathic clowns will want people to believe any failures of Obamacare are the result of the "collapse" of a "bad deal."  If this happens, we need to shove it back down their throats and say, "You broke it, you own it!" Better, we need to vote in a Democratic Congress that's going to protect our health insurance, not shovel tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy.

UPDATE:  Even a deep red Republican state is having none of it and is calling out Rump's sabotage. Good luck with that "It's not our fault" defense, shitheads.

States, Health And Business Industry Groups: Don't Implode Obamacare!

The following joint statement was issued by America’s Health Insurance Plans, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Benefits Council, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Federation of American Hospitals, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

“Cost-sharing reductions are used to help those who need it most—low- and moderate-income consumers. These funds, which are built into their benefits, reduce their out-of-pocket costs such as copayments and deductibles when they receive care. Without these funds, consumers’ access to care is jeopardized, their premiums will increase dramatically, and they will be left with even fewer coverage options. 

“These benefits are essential to making coverage and care affordable for American families who receive them. Clarity and commitment to this funding is needed to eliminate confusion and anxiety for consumers. 

“As medical professionals, insurers providing health care services and coverage to hundreds of millions of Americans, and business leaders concerned with maintaining a stable health insurance marketplace for consumers, we believe it is imperative that the Administration fund the cost-sharing reduction program."

As petulant Man Baby Donald "Rump" Trump "ponders" his next ignorant move on how best to trash his predecessor's legacy and the health care of tens of millions of Americans, it's worth noting that similar appeals by these groups to the extremist Republican thugs in the House and Senate apparently made exactly zero difference in their rush to crash the health care system.

Complicating matters more for Rump, the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia recently issued a decision (with an assist from the Twit- in- Chief himself) that put the brakes on his potential sabotaging of the Obamacare cost- sharing subsidies:

The procedural decision late Tuesday by a federal appeals panel in Washington has implications for millions of consumers. The judges said that a group of states can defend the legality of government "cost-sharing" subsidies for copays and deductibles under the Affordable Care Act if the Trump administration decides to stop paying the money. 

Trump has been threatening to do just that for months, and he amped up his warnings after the GOP's drive to repeal and replace "Obamacare" fell apart in the Senate last week. The subsidies help keep premiums in check, but they are under a legal cloud because of a dispute over the wording of the ACA. Trump has speculated that he could force Democrats to make a deal on health care by stopping the payments. 

The court's decision is "a check on the ability of the president to sabotage the Affordable Care Act in one very important way," said Tim Jost, professor emeritus at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia, a supporter of the ACA who has followed the issue closely.  (our emphasis)

A bipartisan group of governors is also calling on the shitgibbon to keep up the subsidy payments.

While it's important to have stakeholders like these weighing in, they may be more than counterbalanced by Rump's unbalanced, malignant narcissism and his desire to cause an "implosion" just because he can. We may know the answer soon enough. In the meantime, more proof, if any more were needed, that this is a long- term war with these knuckle- draggers, and that we need to be prepared to fight back whenever necessary.

SCOTUS Hears Obamacare Case Today

Today is the day at the Supreme Court for oral arguments in King v. Burwell, the latest (and perhaps flimsiest attempt by right-wing Republicans to take down the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and, with it, affordable health insurance for nearly 10 million Americans.  The fact that such a bogus case should never has come before the Supreme Court doesn't alter the fact that it's an extremely dangerous case, given the propensity of the five Republican "justices" to ignore precedent and intent whenever it suits their ideological ax-grinding.

For some great background in the case, take a look at Lyle Denniston's SCOTUSblog's summary. Also, Armando at Daily Kos has things to look for in today's questioning by the various justices.

Following oral arguments, it's expected the Court will have an initial vote on Friday and assign opinion responsibilities, with formal decision due in June.

Today's Reads - Poverty of the Soul Dept.

From today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle, frequent blind squirrel Dana Milbank is on a roll, discussing the Republican "War on the War on Poverty."  Could he finally be focusing his snark on the right targets?  Permit a lengthy excerpt:

The chairman of the RSC’s “anti-poverty initiative” is one Rep. Steve Southerland, a funeral director from the Florida Panhandle who is best known for heading an effort to dismantle the food-stamp program.

Southerland led five other white men in suits onto the stage Wednesday and declared the War on Poverty a failure. “It’s clear we’re now engaged in a battle of attrition that has left more Americans in poverty than at any other point in our nation’s history,” he said. There are 46 million in poverty, he added, “despite more than $15 trillion to fight this War on Poverty. Clearly the big government ideas of the past need to be improved and aren’t working to the extent that they should. We have a moral obligation to break the mold.”

CNN’s Dana Bash asked the mold-breaker what he thought of the White House’s claim that the poverty rate fell from 25.8 percent in 1967 to 16 percent in 2012. “The percentage of people in poverty today as compared to 50 years ago as a percentage is less,” he acknowledged. “But I also want to make sure it is very clear that there are more Americans living in poverty.”

Well, yes, 10 million more Americans are in poverty now than there were in 1963 — but the overall population has increased by 125 million. If you include all of the financial assistance from anti-poverty programs, the poverty rate dips to below 8 percent today. And people who are poor suffer less because they receive health care through Medicaid and nutrition through food stamps.

Finally seeing through the bullshit, are we?  Well a more reliably perceptive observer, Harold Meyerson, also writes today about the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and the continuing efforts by Republicans to deny access to health insurance (and therefore affordable health care) to millions of Americans.  Please permit another lengthy excerpt:

Which is to say, the ACA is working as planned, perhaps a little better, in the states where governors and legislatures chose to implement it, such as California and New York. It is barely working in those states where governors and legislators have refused to implement it, such as Texas. Although the number of states declining any participation probably will diminish over time, as the tea party’s grip on the Republican Party wanes or as older white conservative voters die off, the resulting red-blue division between the states probably will be a feature of the nation’s political economy for some time.

Consider the implications: A larger share of Californians will be able to afford regular medical check-ups than Texans. A smaller share of Californians is likely to be bankrupted by the expense of major medical treatment than Texans. When the law’s tax penalties take effect, a smaller share of Californians will be subject to the penalties that come with the individual mandates than will Texans. In the coming years, a smaller share of California hospitals will face financial risk for indigent care than hospitals in Texas, where fewer of the sick and poor will be covered by Medicaid.

The conservative argument that the ACA is a disaster is true only when it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy: Most of the negative consequences that right-wingers have warned against have occurred only in those places where right-wingers have subverted implementation of the law.

 When you have a poverty of ideas combined with a poverty of the soul, this is how you operate.  

Sunday Cartoon - Whose Katrina Is This?

(click to enlarge)

(Jim Morin, Miami Herald)

Rooting for the failure of the Affordable Care Act, as well as actively sabotaging it, Republicans are not only on the wrong side of history (again), but will have on their hands the blood of every American that remains uninsured and suffers based on their actions.  Their schadenfreude at the botched roll-out of the HealthCare.gov web site is likely to evaporate as more and more Americans enroll in health insurance plans.  Obama's Katrina?  We'll see which party has the liability going into the 2014 elections.