Thousands Gather for Dedication of Memorial to Victims of the Bowling Green Massacre

 Just Look at Those Faces Moved by the Beautiful Memorial

Coming Soon to a Pharmacy Near You – Highly Expensive Drugs That Don’t Work

A Goldmine for the Pharmaceutical Companies – They Get the Gold, You Get the Shaft

In order to a new drug to make it onto the market in the United States it has to be proven to be effective and it has to be proven to be safe.  Makes sense, why spend say $50,000 a year for treatment that doesn’t work.  But now that might change, in fact, probably will change so that drug companies can not only make money off of drugs that work but also off of drugs that don’t work.

"President Trump’s vow to overhaul the Food and Drug Administration could bring major changes in policy, including steps to accelerate the process of approving new prescription drugs, setting up a clash with critics who say his push for deregulation might put consumers at risk.

Mr. Trump has been vetting candidates to run the agency, which regulates the safety of everything from drugs and medical devices to food and cosmetics. Among them is Jim O’Neill, a former official at the Health and Human Services Department who is an associate of the Silicon Valley billionaire and Trump supporter Peter Thiel. Mr. O’Neill has argued that companies should not have to prove that their drugs work in clinical trials before selling them to consumers."

We of course they shouldn’t have to work.  It’s hard enough to make a drug that is safe and certainly unfair for a patient to expect a drug to help them.  Besides, wouldn’t approving drugs that don’t work be the pinnacle of a Trump presidency, the very symbol of the man himself.

What Trumps Ideal FDA Will Result In

Gulf Power in Florida is Leading the Way in New Electrical Pricing

And Leading in the Wrong Direction

People pay for electricity the way they pay for most things.  The more you use, the more you pay.  Don't use any, don't pay any.  Now Gulf Power in northwest Florida is wanting to change that.

"Gulf Power, the utility for Northwest Florida, is proposing a $107 million rate hike. As part of the rate hike request, it wants to increase its fixed charge on residential customers from $18 a month to $48 a month. That means that every month, customers will owe the utility a hefty sum before they even flip on a light switch. Less of the customer’s bill will be based on energy use. Normally, an electricity customer can control their bill by controlling how much power they use; less power use equals a lower bill. This new proposal throws that concept out the window with the huge increase in the fixed charge.

Gulf Power customers are already paying the highest fixed charge of any of the investor owned utilities in Florida. The attempt by Gulf to restructure rates and increase the fixed charge by 155% on families in its service territory is unprecedented in Florida."

What this means of course is that (1) if you don't use any electricity your bill (with tax) is still going to be over $50.00 a month and (2) electricity is going to be highly regressive. A low income person who uses very little power will pay a much higher cost per Kwh than a high income person who uses a lot, you know, to power the yacht for example. This is because the fixed cost will be a much higher proportion of the bill than the cost per Kwh.

So yes, the Trump voters who dominate northwest Florida are once again going to get screwed.  

Long term high fixed cost pricing is a national problem.  As more and more alternative energy and conservation measures come on line utilities will have to charge more for the fixed portion of the bill.  Utilities like Duke Power in North Carolina are already slowing down the connections of residential and commercial solar power to their network.  A balance will have to be struck, except that conservatives in charge of state regulators will not strike that balance.  The scales will be tilted, anybody want to guess which side?  

Trumpie Expected to Ban Photos That Contradict His Views

And Other Snarky Comments on the News

Irritated that clear photograhic evidence showed that attendance at his inaugural was far below what he said it was, Donnie Trumpie is expected to issue an executive order banning publication of any photograph that does not show what he has said.  Trump thought but did not say "I don't understand why some citizens insist on believing what they see with their own eyes rather than what I tell them but if that's the case, well that's what photoshop was invented for."

When asked about their failure to report that  that no, there was no Trump health care plan near completition newspaper editors around the country replied in unison that some falsehoods by Trump are just so obvious that it is not news when he is not telling the truth.

New York Jets owner Woody Johnson will be named as the ambassador to Great Britain, despite the lack of any prior diplomatic experience.  Most people think it is ok to name a billionaire NFL team owner to a government position for which they are not qualified but wonder why an owner who actually won football games was not picked.  On the plus side removing Johnson from day to day operations of the Jets is expected to improve the team's chances.

Plaudits to the Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos who acquired her billions the American way.  She inherited them and married into them.  Way to go Bets.

And it is not true that Ms. DeVos said that "while I am aware that public schools exist I can't say I ever met anybody that ever went to one of them."

In England last Sunday the entire population of voters who supported leaving the European Union said in unison "Oh Shit".

An un-named potential buyer of an NFL team was apparently rejected by the existing owners for not being greedy enough.  An anonymous source said the potential owner was "only willing to maim, but not kill his grandmother if the price were right and that's just not good enough for us".

Trump's response to the million plus who marched against him was "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? " Uh, they did you moron, which is why you lost the popular vote by almost 3 million.

Watch Keith Olberman who was on Bill Maher's show a couple of weeks ago and then write him a letter asking him to please get his personality under control, stop self-destructing and get back on mainstream TV.  A podcast for GQ ain't gonna do it.

Anybody else notice that despite Republicans campaigning on repealing ACA on day 1, day 1 passed without any legislation on Trump's desk.  

In England the police mistakenly tasered a man who instead of being a bank robber had started an organization to improve relations between the police and the black community.  Police did not say that of course they thought he was a bank robber, he's black isn't he and that anybody else seeing a black man after a crime would of course conclude that he was the criminal.  The actual explanation was that "he's holding his keys in a threatening manner" and police apparently feared he would unlock the hidden racism in their ranks.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May's meeting with Trump recently was delayed until she could be fitted with a form fitting crotch guard.  As more women meet with Trump the firm that supplies crotch guards to the stars, Pussy Grabbers R Us saw its stock price rise to new highs.

Just In - Kellyanne Conway Releases Pictures of the Bowling Green Massacre She Revealed on MSNBC and Cosmo

Finally, Proof Positive that It Really Happened!!

Congratulations to Voters in West Virginia and Kentucky – You Put the Republicans in Control

And Now They Are Going to Pollute the Hell Out of You

One of the problems of coal mining, one of the many problems, is that mine operators scrape off the tops of mountains and just dump the crap into nearby streams.  And when we say ‘crap’ we don’t just mean dirt and rocks,  we mean stuff that can pollute the waterways and cause major health problems down stream.  To stop this the Obama administration implemented rules to stop this. 

Now the Republican Congress is going to gut the regulation.

Your future,West Virginia and Kentucky - Thanks to Your Voting

Using an obscure law that allows Congress to review regulations before they take effect, the Senate voted to reverse the Stream Protection Rule, which seeks to protect the nation’s waterways from debris generated by a practice called surface mining. The Interior Department had said the rule would protect 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forests by keeping coal mining debris away from nearby waters.

So yeah people of coal mining Appalachia, your rivers and streams are going to be full of toxic waste.  Later you are going to have horrific illnesses.  Future generations will curse your memory, not understanding how you can impose disease and illness on them and leave them with a massive clean up bill all in return for a few jobs that may or may not be created.

Feel good about yourselves?  You shouldn’t, no one else does.

Dylann Roof Was Mentally Disturbed, and Other News That Is True But Disturbing

Editor’s note:  This Forum has often reported on news that was not true, and identified it as such.  So since the following is reporting and commentary on news that is true we feel it is necessary to identify it as such.  And not to worry, this Forum will go back to reporting false news, it’s so much more realistic.

From a Headlines in the Feb. 3  NYT:

Trial Documents Show Dylann Roof Had Mental Disorders

Gee, you think?

Anarchists Respond to Trump’s Inauguration, by Any Means Necessary

Well there's a sure way to kill a cause and play right into the hands of Trumpie and his supporaters.

Trump Has Provocative Words for Allies. Congress Does Damage Control.

Gosh, how bad must it be when the GOP idiots in Congress are considered the sane and rational people?

Betsy DeVos, Pick for Secretary of Education, Is the Most Jeered

For folks that think Secretary of Education nominee Betsy (I don't know nothing bout no public schools) DeVos isn't number one in at leastg one area.

Kirsten Gillibrand and the Anti-Trump Left: 2020 Foresight?

Well, that sounds good, except for this:

"When David A. Paterson, then governor of New York, appointed Kirsten E. Gillibrand to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat in 2009, there was little feeling that she would become a key voice in a movement of resistance from the left. As a Blue Dog congressional Democrat representing an upstate district, Ms. Gillibrand had an A rating from the National Rifle Association. She had an uptown bearing but talked about the guns she kept tucked under her bed. Working as a young lawyer, she defended the tobacco industry."

Yep just what the Democrats need in a national leader.

Broad Challenge to Trump Order May Center on Cleveland Doctor

What about her, well there's this.

“When she left to visit her family, she had no idea that she would become ensnared in the chaos following President Trump’s issuance of an unconstitutional and unlawful Executive Order,” her papers say. “Nor did Dr. Abushamma ever imagine then that, as a valid visa-holder living and working legally in the United States, she would be barred from reentry to the United States and unlawfully removed to Saudi Arabia.”

Darn those irksome legal things that just keep the administration from keeping us safe from a physician who was legally in the United States.  Of course it may turn out that she was treating low income individuals in which case her expulsion is perfectly justified, at least according to conservtive doctrine.

Angelina Jolie: Refugee Policy Should Be Based on Facts, Not Fear

Ok, Ms. Jolie has no cedentials for opining on public policy and only gets to because of her celebrity status but just because the messenger is unqualified does not mena the message is not correct.

Explained - Why Trump Voters Were So Mis-informed - They Got Their Info From Fox News

Instead of a Real News Station

Pew Research (for us, via Taegan Goodard) has now revealed how Trump voters were fooled into voting for him.

"Of course they did" Morticia Conway did not say, "if they had gotten real news we'd have lost by 50 points".

From Taegan Goddard's Excellent Political Site

Where 2016 Voters Got Their Election News

January 18, 2017By Taegan Goddard6 Comments

A new Pew Research survey finds that Americans who say they voted

 for Donald Trump in the general election relied heavily on Fox News 

as their main source of election news leading up to the 2016 election,

 whereas Hillary Clinton voters named an array of different sources, with 

no one source named by more than one-in-five of her supporters.

Trump to Nation: On Immigration I am the Supreme Law of the Land - Courts Have No Jurisdiction Over Me - I Can Do Whatever I Want

Be Afraid America, Be Very Afraid

Instead of just asserting he is complying with the law, the President said that he is above the law, that the courts have no power over him in immigration.  

Acting Solicitor General Noel Francisco forcefully argued Saturday night that the president alone has the power to decide who can enter or stay in the United States — an assertion that appeared to invoke the wider battle to come over illegal immigration.

"The power to expel or exclude aliens is a fundamental sovereign attribute, delegated by Congress to the executive branch of government and largely immune from judicial control," the brief says.

Want more, well there is this if your stomach can take it.  Trump according to this isn't even required to justify anything in the immigration area.

But the government's brief repeatedly asserts that presidential authority cannot be questioned by judges once the nation's security is invoked.

Congress "vests complete discretion in the President" to impose conditions on alien entry, so Trump isn't legally required to justify such decisions, it says. His executive order said the ban is necessary for "protecting against terrorism," and that "is sufficient to end the matter."

Wow, we wonder what conservatives are thinking now because the statement that the President or anyone else is above the law, not subject to the courts, can do whatever he wants is about as opposite of conservatism as one can find.  But since conservatives are hypocrites and since in the situation the President is doing what they want, well they will overlook the complete repudiation of their values.  Limits on the power of government for them only apply when Democrats are in office.

As for the rest of us, well the horror of unconstrained rule has begun.

Trump Administration Exposes Cover-Up of the Bowling Green Massacre

Finally the Truth of All Those Deaths is in the Open

A lot of people have wandered at the harshness of the Trump order banning refugees from countries that have never sent a terrorist to the United States.  But the truth is now out.  After an unprecedented cover up by the Obama administration, the news media, the Congress, the international press, mortuaries, relatives and just about everyone else world wide, the true story of the Bowling Green Massacre is now out.

“Two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized, and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre. Most people didn’t know that because it didn’t get covered.”

— White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, interview with MSNBC’s Chris Mathews, Feb. 2

So now we know why the Trumpet included Iraq in the ban on refugees, why even individuals that helped American troops and saved American lives have been denied entrance to the nation.

Ok, so Commie Conway* has now admitted she made a mistake, and of course she wants everybody to forget about her ‘mistake’ cause that’s what she does for everyone else.  But on a serious note, think about this.  This was not something just misspoken, this was a strong stated belief of someone who directs policy in the administration.  This is an indication that Trump and others believed the Bowling Green massacre actually occurred.

So now you have it, U. S. policy is based on total fiction.  But then, we knew that already didn’t we.  As for Commie Conway, we have to begrudgingly salute Trump.  Out of over 200 million adults in this nation he has found the one person with the lowest amount of principles, scruples and integrity.  No, no one else other than the former two time National Liar Championship winner Kellyanne could stoop to her level.  She's not one in a million, she's one in two hundred million.

*Named because of her uncanny resemblence to former Soviet Union press spokesfolks.

Trumpie Heroes Russia and Putin Move to De-criminalize Domestic Violence

Kinda Tells You Where Trumpie is Coming From (or Going to) Doesn’t It

Donald Trump has gushed and gushed in his admiration for Russia and its thuggish dictator in practice Vladimir Putin.  And now Russia has done something to further cement its reputation as a fascist and misogynistic state.

Family values, Russina, Putin and Trump Style

Russia’s parliament votes to decriminalise domestic violence

Speaker says measure will strengthen conservative social values promoted by the government

Russia’s parliament voted overwhelmingly on Friday to decriminalise domestic violence, a move the Kremlin claims will help support families but critics say will only worsen the problem.

Members of the lower house of parliament voted 380-3 in favour of the bill’s third reading after senior officials spoke in favour of the measure. The bill is expected to be approved by the rubber-stamp upper house before President Vladimir Putin signs it.

Vyacheslav Volodin, who became parliament speaker last year after five years running the Kremlin’s domestic policy, said earlier this week that the measure would strengthen the conservative social values promoted by the government.

“It’s important to us that nobody interferes with families, that society appreciates these issues, and that the state creates conditions for building strong families,” he said.

So there it is folks, conservative family values, Russian family values and presumably Trump family values. So look for Trump to at least consider and probably eliminate the sanctions on Russia that the world invoked for that country’s invasion of a neighbor.  As for the women and children who will be battered and bruised and maybe killed by violent family members, well you are just collateral damage in pursuit of the rule of force as opposed to the rule of reason.  

Oh and don't expect America's media to report much on this, might make Trump and the Steaming Sack of Sean mad.

Major Conspiracy Among Polling Firms to Show Trump's True Approval of 95% as 40%

News That Did Not Happen, But Delusional President Thinks It Did

Washington Jan. 2017 (APS)  An investigation by the TAT (Trumpies Against Truth) organization has found that every polling organization in the United States has altered polling result to falsely show that the American people by a substantial majority do not approve of the Trumpster. The results confirm what Trump has been saying for weeks, that his true popularity of 85+% has been hidden by pollsters who report it is only in the 40's.

"Two polls out on Tuesday — one by CNN and ORC and another by The Washington Post and ABC News — found that just 40 percent of Americans approved of Mr. Trump’s performance heading into the inauguration on Friday. NBC News and The Wall Street Journal put his approval rating at 44 percent, calling it the lowest rating ever for an incoming president.

By comparison, shortly after their inaugurations, Mr. Obama was at 68 percent and Mr. Bush was at 57 percent in Gallup surveys. Both used the time after their initial victories to preach a message of inclusion and to extend a hand to their opposition, even if it did not ultimately last."

"We found that every polling organization got together and learned that they all had Trump approval at 85% or higher" a spokesperson who refused to be identified said for fear of people laughing their asses off at her, " and they decided to report false results instead".  The unidentified spokesperson speaking from a bunker deep inside the Trump Tower of East Flatbush, Nebraska (rates by the hour) said they had proof positive of this and would reveal that proof as soon as it could be manufactured.

No reason was given for the conspiracy, but an off the record briefing from a person high up in the Trump Tower (3rd floor, this is East Flatbush, Nebraska you know) told reporters that she thought this was because the polling firms had been paid off to discredit Trump.  The head of the DNC said not only was this wrong, but that no matter how hard they tried they could not discredit Trump any more than he has already done himself.

Wondering How Trumpie Got Applause at the CIA? Turns Out He Papered the House

Wall Street Journal Outdoes Itself With Garbage on Inauguration Day

A Whole Septic Tank Full of It

The WSJ has always been a right wing nut rag, and once it was bought by the craven Fox folks the biased one sided opinions (no we don't give the other side any voice, they might illustrate to our readers how weak our arguments are) have oozed over to the news side. And on Jan. 20th the rag outdid itself.

A news story glorified Trumpie lack of management in the public sector as some type of deliberate chaos as a management style.  It's not a style, it's a reflection of his total ignorance in public policy.  See for example his health care plan.  Oh, it doesn't exist.

On the Op-Ed page there is a full page of various 'leading thinkers' who opine of the Promise of President Trump.  It turns out every leading thinker is a rabid conservatives.  And it appears the Journal ran out of 'leading thinkers' and so engaged people like Andrew Ferguson, Heather Higgins and Charles Kesler.  Even their family members haven't heard of these folks.  And of course they just gushed over Trump, which is why they were selected in the first place.  Indicative of the lack of intellectual heft is former Senator Tom Coburn who wants Trump to eliminate $400 billion of waste in the federal budget, and who does not identify dollar one of that waste.  

An editorial poohs on global warming, saying three years of record warmth is nothing to be excited about, because you know, protecting the environment even though it will help mankind may make a few billionaires less wealthy, and we can't have that can we?

But the laughable piece is a commetary by the always hilarious and irrelvant Kimberly Strassel who laments Chuck Schumer and the Democrats lack of co-operation with the incoming administration.  She sees this as un-American and lectures the Dems on hurting their own chances.  Yes obstructionism worked perfectly for the GOP but the rules are different from Dems who in her mind should capitulate.

Yes, we would cancel our subscription and probably will as soon as  soon aswe don't need it to line the bottom of the bird cage.

Mitt Romney Still Hopeful About Being Named Secretary of State Despite Senate Confirmation of Tillerson

And other news that is not true but could be

Mitt Romney is reported to be crushed by the thought that maybe he will not get to be Secretary of State after all, but aides say he has not given up hope.  "Just because the Senate has approved another person doesn't mean I am out of the running" said Mitt to friends and "I know if I just sucked up a little more to the wise and wonderful Donnie he would change his mind".  When asked about this Press Secretary Soviet Sean replied that he thought Mitt was breathing a little to much of that stuff that comes out of Mexico.

Hey Jared, that's not the part you are suppossed to
grab, don't you listen to your father in-law.

Trump's daughter Ivanka was heard telling her husband to "Get you hand off my ass" during a photo shoot that showed her and her husband attending a black tie affair while thousands of would be legal entrants to the U.S. were trapped at airports.  Later it was confirmed the remark happened at the zoo where Ivanka keeps her pet donkey named Pencie.

The newest member to-be of the Supreme Court wanted to know if he could order gay and lesbian couples to jail right now or if he had to wait until he was confirmed.

Queen Elizabeth of England is reported to be concerned about having to be in the same room as Donald Trump if he makes a state visit to Britain.  "What an asshole" she did not say in a very un-Queen like manner.

Trump explained that the reason he did not mention the Jewish people in his proclamation on the  Holocaust was that he felt that the Jews who survived would not want to be reminded of the event and so he was just thinking of their feelings.  Sheldon Adelman, a billionaire casino owner who supported Trump admitted that "Yeah, he's a putz, but he's my putz".

The President also explained that he did not fire the acting Attorney General for her refusal to defend his orders on immigration.  He said that he was an expert on acting and that her acting was terrible.  Later when an aide informed him that the acting did not mean stage or television acting Trump said that he would rescind the firing, but then changed him mind again when someone reminded him that Meryl Streep was an actor.

Jeff Sessions, soon to be Attorney General argued that he was not anti-civil rights because he had been endorsed by Atticus Finch.  When told Atticus Finch was a fictional character Sessions replied that he didn't think so, that he had met Finch when he and Sessions were being honored by the NAACP.

The fact that Rudy Giuiliani was involved in the Executive Order on immigation explains much of the meanness inherent in the action.

USA Today reported that

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, praised Tillerson before Wednesday’s vote.

“His experience and aptitude and talent will be put to work for the American people,” Cornyn said. “He’s a man of character who believes in putting his country first.”

They did not report that the laughter after this statement was heard not only in DC but in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs as well.

New GOP Plan to Rig Presidential Election

1.  Gerrymander Congressional Districts

2.  Allocate Electoral Vote in Democratic States by Congressional District

3.  Keep Republican States Winner-take-all

Can we cheat Dems of out six electoral votes in Virginia?  Yep, that should work.

As disgusting as it comes

"RICHMOND – A bill to end Virginia’s “winner take all” system of awarding Electoral College votes was approved by a House subcommittee Tuesday.

The electoral votes should be divided among presidential candidates based on how many of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts they win, the subcommittee of the House Privileges and Elections Committee decided on a 5-2, party-line vote.

HB 1425, sponsored by Del. Mark Cole, R-Fredericksburg, would give Virginia’s remaining two electoral votes to the winner of the state’s popular vote.

This system is used in Maine and Nebraska and is known as the “congressional district system.” Under the system, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would have received six of Virginia’s 13 Electoral College votes, even though Democrat Hillary Clinton carried the state last fall.

Cole said he thinks the bill would increase voter turnout because it would make people feel more like their vote mattered. He said Northern Virginia is so populous that it carries the state, and that makes people in rural Virginia feel their vote doesn’t count."

Goldman Sachs Explains Paying Ex Exec $100 million to Join Trumpie - "We'll Get Back 10 Times That Amount" They Did Not Say

Not Ten Times, Probably More

Although they didn't have to Goldman gave its departing exec about $100 million.

Gary Cohn’s Goldman Exit Tops $100 Million

Trump economic official’s Goldman holdings fully vest after departure for Washington

So why did they do this?  Well here are some possible reasons.

1.  They were worried he would feel bad because even with $100 mil he is still a pauper compared to other Trump appointees.

2.  They had the money in petty cash and didn't want to bother to take it to the bank.

3.  They felt Cohn would need at least that much to persuade  an ethical PR firm to dream up nice things Cohn could say about Trump.  Yep, it will take a cool $100 mil to find one willing to bend its principles that much.

4.  Trump apparently has a business on he side where he charges staff $10 million a visit for new advusers to meet with him and Goldman figures Cohn will need at least 10 visits before Trump remembers who he is.

5.  It's for the legal defense fund for all of the GS alumni now in government and ready to make a quick buck.

6.  It's to bribe him to tell Goldman first when Trump goes truly batshit crazy so they can short the market.

7.  Ben Carson needs a loan to pay someone to teach him what HUD does.

8.  No reason at all, just felt like doing a good deed for someone truly needy.

What We Would Like to Say to the Nation’s Leaders

Well, Someone Has to Say It To Them, It Might as Well be Us

Editor’s note:  The DPE will never get to confront anyone of national importance, so when he does this is what he will say to them.

To Speaker Paul Ryan:  Was it really worth it to abandon whatever decency and principles  you have left just to get a conservative Supreme Court Justice and a tax cut for wealthy people?

To Bill and Hillary Clinton:  Bill you could have been a great president but your personal behavior ruined it, and Hillary you should have been president and would have been a great one, but now it is time for you guys to go and fade away. 

To Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell:  Please at some time during the next four years show us that you have at least one original thought or idea in your head instead of just parroting the GOP line.

To Education Secretary to Be Betsy DeVos:  Please visit, study and try to understand the role of public education in America before you start your crusade to destroy  it. 

To Barack and Michelle Obama:  If you just continue your thoughtful commentary and allow the public to contrast your incredible dignity with the disgusting persona of your successor the nation will hold you in even higher regard.

To Joe Biden:    Ditto.

To the Washington Post:  It looks like you are rising to the highest standards of American Journalism.  Keep it up.

To the New York Times:  See comments on the Washington Post and try to keep up with them.

To Kellyanne Conway:  To quote Oliver Cromwell,

 “Go, get you out! Make haste! Ye venal slaves be gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. 

In the name of God, go!”

To Sen. John McCain:  We need the good McCain now, please permanently retire the old McCain.  You have a chance to make yourself back into the highly respected indepedent thinker.  Don't blow it.

To Melania Trump:  You are doing a great thing by maintaining a low profile for yourself and your young son.  Continue to do so and you will be much more highly regarded than your husband.

To Donald Trump and the staff he has assembled in the White House:  Again from Cromwell,

“Ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government.

Ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess?

Ye have no more religion than my horse. Gold is your God. Which of you have not bartered your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defiled this sacred place, and turned the Lord's temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices?

Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation. You were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressed, are yourselves become the greatest grievance. “

Yep, old Oliver for all his faults knew what Trump and his minions are.

In Praise of National Review and Yuval Levin’s Serious and Insightful Article on GOP Health Care Policy and Strategy

A Rare Event – A Serious Discussion Without Vitriol

Conservatism like other legitimate ideologies has a role to play in American political discourse.  Too often it abdicates this role and replaces it with pure ideological dribble, but recently Yuval Levin writing in the National Review has published a very well written, very comprehensive and thought provoking article on the state of the Republican plan to repeal and replace ACA.  It should be read by everyone with interest in health care, that is, every person in the nation.

One lesser benefit of the piece is that it exposes Trump’s statements on ‘his plan’ as the pure fiction that they are. Trump in mid January indicated that he had a plan ready to go and all that was needed was a few finishing touches and confirmation of Tom Price as HHS Secretary.  Levin confirms what everyone concluded about this statement.

”After Trump’s Washington Post interview this past Sunday, the conservative health-care universe, including some people on Trump’s own team, quickly concluded that the separate administration plan he described was entirely a figment of Trump’s imagination.”

The Levin article has a tremendous amount of information and discussion of legislative strategy, far too much to be even summarized here.  But there is one thought that bears attention.  In describing alternatives Levin says this

“Some of these would allow the states to auto-enroll uninsured people in plans with premiums equal to the federal tax credit for which they are eligible; these could amount to a kind of “universal catastrophic coverage” policy, nearly zeroing out the uninsured and then enabling a competitive market for more comprehensive coverage above that. (This is the form that would seem best aligned with Donald Trump’s rhetoric about the uninsured.) “

Ok, aside from the fact that such a plan is totally unworkable notice the deviation from conservative thinking.  Under this provision states would select an insurance plan for an individual, enroll them in the plan and the feds would then pay the premium, no individual action involved.  If such a proposal came from Democrats the outrage would be deafening. 

One of the great benefits of Levin’s writing is that it clarifies what the Republicans are thinking of in terms of universal coverage and health insurance for all.  Their thinking is in terms of catastrophic coverage, where individuals would pay out of pocket all the lower costs and insurance would be for any major catastrophic costs like cancer treatment, major surgery etc.  This debate on what insurance should be is something the nation should have, but Mr. Levin and the conservatives should not be surprised if the nation rejects their vision of health insurance where individuals have insurance but still pay thousands, maybe more than ten thousand dollars a year out of their own pocket.

So kudos to National Review and Mr. Levin, hopefully everyone will read it but more likely no one, particularly the current President, is likely to do so.

Uh, Does Anyone Else See the Problem with the Border Wall Here?

A Work-Around That's a Walk-Araround

From Paul Krugman's NYT column.

The border fence in El Paso, Tex. CreditTomas Bravo/Reuters