[worry]

You're not wrong. It's a horror show that's not just awful, but shameful as well. And we've gone to war for so many worse reasons. The worldwide "it's not my problem" attitude is sickening. But if it's a "best of the bad choices" situation, even in an ocean of those bad choices, Donald Trump as warleader would be at the very bottom. He is 99th percentile dumb, one of the most thoughtless people alive right now without question. He literally just questioned why the US had to have a Civil War. I wouldn't trust him to liberate a dog from its leash.

[HoosierDaddy]

Civil War is just a pseudonym for a civil trial. See you in court!

[worry]

Nice save though on this topic he has studied exhaustively & passionately, and definitely didn't learn about through half-listening to Steve Bannon rant:

[worry]

An actual sitting congressman (from Idaho):

[EmperorMagus]

worry, on 06 May 2017 - 06:14 AM, said:

An actual sitting congressman (from Idaho):

I'd really like to open up that guy's skull and see what's inside.

Do these people have cabbages instead of brains? How can anyone thing saying that to a live audience is a good idea? Does he actually believe it?

For the sake of innocent Americans I really hope Senate doesn't pass the bill.

[worry]

Senate has already said they aren't considering the House bill, but are writing their own from scratch. Which is good news in a relative sense, because the House bill is awful, but isn't necessarily good news in the affirmative sense, since Mitch McConnell is smarter than Paul Ryan by about a factor of infinity and just as evil. We'll see!

[EmperorMagus]

worry, on 06 May 2017 - 07:16 AM, said:

Senate has already said they aren't considering the House bill, but are writing their own from scratch. Which is good news in a relative sense, because the House bill is awful, but isn't necessarily good news in the affirmative sense, since Mitch McConnell is smarter than Paul Ryan by about a factor of infinity and just as evil. We'll see!

I don't think the Senate can make the bill any worse than it is right now (it wouldn't be possible, other than completely repealing the ACA and just not replacing it).

Although, If there was one man on earth I would trust with shitting on ACA even more it'd be McConnell. That guy is an affront to turtles.

[Tsundoku]

EmperorMagus, on 06 May 2017 - 07:35 AM, said:

worry, on 06 May 2017 - 07:16 AM, said:

Senate has already said they aren't considering the House bill, but are writing their own from scratch. Which is good news in a relative sense, because the House bill is awful, but isn't necessarily good news in the affirmative sense, since Mitch McConnell is smarter than Paul Ryan by about a factor of infinity and just as evil. We'll see!

I don't think the Senate can make the bill any worse than it is right now (it wouldn't be possible, other than completely repealing the ACA and just not replacing it).

Although, If there was one man on earth I would trust with shitting on ACA even more it'd be McConnell. That guy is an affront to turtles.

Wait - is "turtles" another one of those Hetan legacy word substitutions?

[EmperorMagus]

Tsundoku, on 06 May 2017 - 08:20 AM, said:

Wait - is "turtles" another one of those Hetan legacy word substitutions?

Nah, the man just looks like a turtle and I tried to be clever.

[Silencer]

The thing is, this bill (and that video, thanks for making me despair even more at the state of the world!) is mostly representative of the problem Republicans (and other right wing parties around the world) have when creating and talking about social legislation. They miss the point entirely of why health care legislation exists.

If you are a billionaire - or a congressman for that matter - you actually have *less* need for health insurance than the poor. If you have a pre-existing condition, you are in more need of health care to be subsidised, not less. Especially if that condition inhibits your ability to work in any way. Social safety nets and programs do not exist to protect the rich and powerful. And that's why they have so much trouble crafting them - they're fundamentally human-focused bills, not corporate-, not profit-, or economic-focused. They are, essentially, anti-capitalism bills. Which people who are wholly obsessed with taking capitalism to its most ridiculous extremes cannot possibly understand. Thus they create absolute disgusting messes and make statements like that instead.

Basically, it's the same problem as a room full of men legislating on abortions - they don't have any experience with the subject and therefore are not interested in, or are outright incapable of empathy.

[worry]

Speaking of, this IS the group of Senators working on their version of the bill: https://qz.com/97708...ealthcare-bill/

I don't expect anyone to be shocked. But maybe, in a "don't they even care about optics?" way.

[Gust Hubb]

Do we even know what other legislation is sneaking through on the interim? I find it hard to believe (as much as I think of Congress being nonfunctional to the point of singular focus) that this is the only bill passing through the Congress.

[worry]

Well funny you should ask. Since the totally arbitrary, unimportant, unfair 100 Days measure (that Trump himself brought up in the first place) came and passed, the Trump 2020 campaign bragged about how much he has already accomplished. So journalists took a look at those claims. Here are the 28 bills DJT has signed: http://www.npr.org/2...t-what-are-they

[HoosierDaddy]

Well, it's been a funny first 100 days of an administration that is so discombobulated that it allows itself to regularly wreck its own agenda. And there are a smorgasbord of reasons too!

Harding, eat your heart out. You will now no longer be #1.

This post has been edited by HoosierDaddy: 10 May 2017 - 02:03 AM

[Cause]

So he fired the director of the FBI.

Can we impeach him yet

[HoosierDaddy]

Nope.

Investigation should come first. Even then, Pence is just as scary in a more competent way.

This post has been edited by HoosierDaddy: 10 May 2017 - 02:18 PM

[Silencer]

HoosierDaddy, on 10 May 2017 - 02:18 PM, said:

Nope.

Investigation should come first. Even then, Pence is just as scary in a more competent way.

I think the argument goes more like: how can the investigation come first, if he just fired the person charged with making that happen? (And how will it happen if he replaces Comey with someone more openly biased?)

As much as I'd like to see an independent special prosecutor appointed, do you really believe that Sessions will do that?

Ergo, he should really be impeached for actively subverting the investigation in the first place. XD



But yes, it's not like the problems all go away if Trump is out. Then again, Pence is a lot less likely to start a nuclear war because someone was mean to him on Twitter. So overall a win?

[Vengeance]

No Pence needs to go first then Trump. But only after the midterms and we have taking back the house and the senate that way if another vice president isn't nominated it will be a democrat getting promoted. Not fucking Paul Ryan. Pence has done enough shaddy shit to be impeached.

[Silencer]

Vengeance, on 10 May 2017 - 02:39 PM, said:

Paul Ryan.

You say such scary things.


It amuses me in a terrified-horrified-depressed kind of way that the next two backups for Trump are not only equally horrible people, but are way more calculating and politically savvy/competent. Your hierarchy basically goes from narcissistic man-child, straight to actual psychopathic monsters. I feel like there needs to be some sort of epic sarcastic rainbows and unicorns emote to represent how depressing this is.

[HoosierDaddy]

Silencer, on 10 May 2017 - 02:25 PM, said:

HoosierDaddy, on 10 May 2017 - 02:18 PM, said:

Nope.

Investigation should come first. Even then, Pence is just as scary in a more competent way.

I think the argument goes more like: how can the investigation come first, if he just fired the person charged with making that happen? (And how will it happen if he replaces Comey with someone more openly biased?)

As much as I'd like to see an independent special prosecutor appointed, do you really believe that Sessions will do that?

Ergo, he should really be impeached for actively subverting the investigation in the first place. XD



But yes, it's not like the problems all go away if Trump is out. Then again, Pence is a lot less likely to start a nuclear war because someone was mean to him on Twitter. So overall a win?

That's not how America works.

Albeit a bit broken right now.

Sessions is not in it.

Congress empowers special prosecutor -> investigation -> impeachment hearings.

Senate itself can do it if enough care to start proceedings.