News From the Year 2020 - Trump to Finally Unveil His Health Care Plan - Maybe

Just Waiting for That Flock of Pigs to Fly

Donnie the Con has told the Washington Post that he is ready to release his health care plan and that it will have better coverage, lower deductibles and lower premiums.

"Trump said his plan for replacing most aspects of Obama’s health-care law is all but finished. Although he was coy about its details — “lower numbers, much lower deductibles” — he said he is ready to unveil it alongside Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)."

So how does he do this? We don't know and everone suspects Donnie does not know either. When is he going to tell us, well soon, maybe, kinda.

“It’s very much formulated down to the final strokes. We haven’t put it in quite yet but we’re going to be doing it soon,” Trump said. He noted that he is waiting for his nominee for secretary of health and human services, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), to be confirmed. That decision rests with the Senate Finance Committee, which hasn’t scheduled a hearing."

And what happens when Price is confirmed? Oh, Trumpie will think of another excuse.  But if he does follow through and unveil a plan next to Ryan and McConnell, well, can't wait to see the looks on their faces as science fiction comes out of the mouth of Trump.

WSJ Illustrates Why ACA is So Disliked – the Benefits to Those Who Oppose It are So Good

Huh?  Welcome to the Lies of Paul Ryan and Donald Trump

To hear from Republican leaders Trump and Ryan (leaders in words, not in action) ACA is a terrible law that is in a death spiral.  So the WSJ reporters, the ones who are not totally compromised took a look at the situation of Connie Brown.

“ The 53-year-old was previously treated for breast cancer and her daughter Alexandra Hulme, 18, has arthritis. The two get coverage under the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. Mrs. Brown, of Washington, Iowa, has a $990-a-month plan covering both of them, including the $8,800-monthly medication she says ensures her daughter can walk.”

Wow, no way Ms. Brown could afford that.  What does she do?

“There’s no way I could pay for that” medication bill without insurance, says Mrs. Brown, a substitute in an elementary school who pays about $200 monthly for coverage after a federal tax credit pegged to her income.”

Oh, ok, so here must be a huge supporter of ACA.  Well maybe not.

“Consumers such as Connie Brown, who is no fan of the health law, nonetheless count on getting help to defray expenses.. . . .

She says she feels she has too few choices of plans under the ACA and isn’t worried about losing insurance if it is replaced. “

Ok, lady, you are getting the deal of the century but whining because you get too few choices.  Here’s a choice for you, vote for Republicans and lose your $8,800 a month medication and all your other health care.  That the choice you want?

It’s going to be hard for us not to feel sorry for Ms. Brown and her daughter when they wake up with no insurance or with plenty of insurance options they cannot afford.  But we will try.

Oh, and by the way, what blood sucking greedy drug company charges over $100,000 a year so a child can walk?  Probably any one in America today.

Think Inquisitor to Be Jeff Sessions Believes in Religious Freedom? Think Again

Only Those of the True Religion Know the Truth

Lost in all of the useless hoopla of Trump and his morals is this quote from Jeff Sessions in his quest to be the highest law enforcement officer in the land.  Under questioning from Sen. Whitehouse,

"Whitehouse replied, with a leading, and perhaps slightly conclusory question: “And a secular person has just as good a claim to understanding the truth as a person who is religious, correct?” At which point Sessions responded, “Well, I’m not sure.” For a few seconds the Senate chamber seemed to go completely silent."

And we all know what religion gets to be truthful don't we. Boy as a American who is Jewish we just can't wait for this bozo to take office.

New Title For Press Secretary - Soviet Sean - Because

He Spouts the Lies of His Ruler, Refuses to Answer Questions, Opposes Free Press - A True Soviet Style Puppet

Update:  Soviet Sean came out of his memory hole today and yahoo news reported he 

  "said Monday that he believes that his job is to be honest with the public but said "sometimes we can disagree with the facts but our intention is never to lie."  

Since it is obvious that his intention was to lie we think a new term is now appropriate for the lexicon.  Going forward we urge everyone to refer to a pack of lies as a 'steaming sack of Sean'.  An no we are not copywriting the term, it's officially in the public domain, use it with our blessing.

End Update
In the old Soviet Union the news was a joke, because the news was state news not an independent and free press.  So if the wheat harvest, for example was a record low the press office would report something like "Wheat Harvest Sets Record".

Now Donald Trump has found maybe the one, or maybe one of many in the Republican Party who can out lie, out brazen and just out perform Morticia Conway in dealing with the press and spouting lies.  So Press Secretary Sean Spicer came out for his first press briefing, castigated the press for reporting the news that the crowd at the inauguration was smaller than Trump said, and then left without taking questions.  To defend Spicer Morticia went on TV to argue that the Trump folks were just giving 'alternative facts'.

So in honor of Mr. Spicer's performance as a perfect Soviet era press liason we are giving hin the name Soviet Sean because if the sobriquet fits, wear it.  As for Ms. Conway, well Commie Conway sounds about right and we would not want anyone to think we were slighting her because of her gender.  Any questions, see the story and video here.  But as for Chuck Todd we need to remind hin that Trumpie's pal Putin has had reporters killed, so watch your  back Chuck.  And please try to learn from all of this and stop putting Commie Conway on the air.  Please

In First Move Trump Screws Those Who Voted For Him - Makes It Harden For Them to Buy First Home with FHA Mortgage

Hard Not to Feel They Had it Coming

The banking system reacted to the financial crisis caused in part by their lending money to people unqualified for getting a loan to buy a house by not lending to people who were qualified to buy a house.  So in stepped the FHA to provide mortgage guarantees for lower income less credit worthy but qualified homebuyers who could only make a small down payment.  And President Obama lowered the mortgage guarantee cost to make it even easier for people to buy houses and to offset the rise in interest rates.

This of course infuriated Republicans who feel low income people should live in substandard rental housing, because otherwise it's unfair to slumlords.  So in his first move Trumpie reversed the Obama policy and made it a lot harder for people to buy a house.

"The reduction was scheduled to take effect on new FHA loans insured on or after Jan. 27. A buyer who this week went under contract to buy a house using an FHA loan may now find that his monthly payment has gone up. It was estimated the reduction would have saved borrowers about $500 per year.

“According to our estimates, roughly 750,000 to 850,000 home buyers will face higher costs, and 30,000 to 40,000 new home buyers will be left on the sidelines in 2017 without the cut,” William E. Brown, National Association of Realtors president, said in a statement."

The people most harmed were likely Trump voters. Ha Ha folks, you bought it, you own it. Too bad you can't enjoy that new home you thought you were getting. But hey, you're conservative, you don't think government should help out peope like yourselves, so no harm done, right.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering why the media didn't cover this story, well they had more important things to report on, like what clothes Ivanka and Melania wore.  That's what really is what the news is all about, what Jefferson and other celebrated as freedom of the press.

Do North Carolina Republicans In Favor of More Air Pollution – Apparently So

An Unbelievable but Apparently True Story

A $400 milion wind generation facility is about to go on line in eastern North Carolina except Republican legislators in that state want to stop it.  Really.

 “North Carolina legislators want the incoming Trump administration to shut down a nearly complete, $400 million wind farm they believe poses a national security threat because it’s too close to a long-distance surveillance radar installation.

Ten legislators including the leaders of the state House and Senate signed a letter sent to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, House Speaker Tim Moore’s spokesman Joseph Kyzer said Thursday.

The legislators said they worry that the 300-foot-tall wind turbine towers with blades nearly 200 feet long will interfere with a long-distance Navy radar installation in nearby Chesapeake, Va. The radar system scans hundreds of miles into the Atlantic and Caribbean for ships and planes.

The wind farm is on about 20,000 acres in rural northeastern North Carolina near Elizabeth City, an area with some of the best on-land wind potential on the East Coast.

The legislative opposition comes after all 104 towers have been constructed, about $400 million has been invested and full commercial electricity production is weeks away, said Paul Copleman, a spokesman for Avangrid Renewables, a U.S. subsidiary of Spanish clean-energy giant Iberdrola S.A.

Amazon will buy the electricity output, comparable to the power 60,000 U.S. homes use in a year, to run its Virginia data centers.”

Yes, ten legislators who are totally and completely ignorant on the subject want to over-rule DOD just because they hate non-polluting wind energy and want the pollution that comes with coal burning.  Of course all safeguards are in place.

“A 2014 agreement between Avangrid and the Navy said that although there is potential for conflict between the wind farm and the radar array, the Pentagon also sought to enhance the country’s renewable energy resources. The agreement specified placement of the project’s wind turbines and an understanding that the company would curtail operations “for a national security or defense purpose.”

“If the wind farm threatened any military readiness or capabilities, they wouldn’t have cleared us to build,” Copleman said in an email. “Specifically at this site, we reduced the size of the project, arranged specific turbines differently, ran extensive modeling in conjunction with their scientists, and will continue to share operating data once we reach full commercial operation.”

Of course the Neanderthal legislators explain how the project got military approval.

But the lawmakers’ letter said the Pentagon dropped opposition to the wind farm because of the “political correctness” of outgoing President Barack Obama’s administration.

Somebody needs to tells these people that clean air is not political correctness, it is necessary for life.  And the rest of us want everyone to live pollution free, even these idiots.

Wisconsin Republicans Take All State Support Away from Parks, and They are Left Selling Naming Rights

“Parks are For Losers” They did not Say But Thought

Government does some necessary things, like police protection, water and sewers, transportation etc but they also do some noble things, chief among them libraries and parks.  These of course provide the most benefit to that part of the electorate that is anti-government.

And in that area once again Republicans have revealed themselves as the enemy of the very people they claim to represent.  In Wisconsin several years ago the state removed all state assistance and financial support from state parks.

“In Wisconsin, lawmakers in 2015 eliminated all state tax support for the Department of Natural Resources, which oversees its state parks. That led to a $1.4 million deficit and forced the department to come up with new ways to earn revenue.”

Now one might think that the middle class would rebel as this, but as Republicans know all they  have to do is shout ‘higher taxes’ or ‘abortion is murder’ or something else to distract the populace and they can get away with anything with their base.  Cutting spending allows them to have tax cuts for the wealthy who don’t use the parks anyway, as they disdain anything that benefits middle class families.

So the parks in Wisconsin are thinking about naming rights, and one can see this as a national trend and something the Trump jerks might do at the national level.  So here are some suggestions they might be mulling.

Tidy Bowl Presents the Grand Tetons.

KKK Sponsors the Civil Rights Museum (no admittance without a white person accompanying the family).

The Philip Morris Smokey Mountain National Park – Smoking allowed cause what’s a little more smoke.

McDonald’s Washington Monument – A free Happy Meal with every ticket.

Rid X Supports the Everglades – Wants to turn it into a giant septic tank to promote development in Florida.

Jerry Falwell’s Grand Canyon – The Perfect Example of the Power of Noah’s Flood.

Well you get the picture.

Amazon to Add 100,000 Jobs, Great News But . . .

That Creative Destruction Thingee Rises Up Again

In spite of, and not because of the election of Donnie the Trump Amazon is announcing that it will be adding 100,000 jobs to its distribution activities.  This is to handle the increase in on-line sales that the company expects to take place over the next year and a half.  Sounds great, and it is good, except for this other side of the story as reported by the NYT.

"The company’s hiring plans are certainly good news. But to understand the forces roiling the American economy, it’s key to remember that online retailing has destroyed many times that number of positions at malls and shopping centers across America."

What is happening here? It's the horse and buggy industry phenomena. When automobiles took over daily transportation, all of those in the horse and buggy businesses lost their jobs. The great economist Joseph Schumpeter explained and coined a brutal term.

"The contrast between the two scenes is an example of what the economist Joseph Schumpeter termed “creative destruction,” the inevitable process in which new industries rise and replace old ones."

So yeah, this is great unless your job is in the 'creative destruction business' like a mall near Baltimore.

"Fifteen miles away in the suburbs, all that is left of Owings Mills Mall is rubble, demolition having started in the fall, after the last anchor stores, Macy’s and J. C. Penney, closed within months of each other."

It is government's job to help the victims of creative destruction, the same way it helps the victims of floods and earthquakes and hurricanes. Unless of course one is a conservative in which case government's job is to cut taxes for the wealthy and thus not have any money left over to help victims.

Trump's Crowd was Huge, Well Maybe Not

Donnie will probably claim his crowds were the biggest since Caligula, but here is a picture of his attendees.

Update:  Jan 22 - 10:22 a.m.  True to expectation Trump and his toadies have blasted the press for daring to suggest his crowd was not much bigger.  Although not said directly, Trump and his Press Scretary want everyone to believe them, and not what the public's lying eyes are showing them.

Further Update:  Jan. 22 - 12:06 p.m. From the Washington Post "Kellyanne Conway, a senior aide to President Trump, said Sunday that the White House press secretary had presented “alternative facts” on Saturday when he falsely stated that Trump’s swearing-in ceremony drew “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration.”

Really, you can't make this stuff up, we are not that clever.  But we do expect that the Trump people will say that hundreds of thousands of people were not counted because they were under those white platforms when the picture was taken because they were too emabarassed to be seen at the inauguration.

Trump's Crowd - Good Seats Were Still Available

Obama's crowds, well look at this.

Ivanka Trump and Husband Jared Kushner Are Not Good People – Not Even Good Orthdox Jews

Religion of Convenience

During the election campaign Donald Trump had to fend off charges that he pandered to and consorted with  and appealed to far right groups that were virulently anti-semitic.  His answer was that this couldn’t be him, his daughter had married an Orthodox Jewish man, converted to Judaism and was raising their children as Jewish.  Well it turns out the religion of Ivanka and Jared is one of convenience; they don’t let being Jewish interfere if they need to not be Jewish.

The problem recently was that the inauguration was on a Friday, and if Ivanka and Jared were really observant this would prevent them from celebrating Friday night, the Jewish Sabbath.  But for Trump types a law or a custom or a religious observance is something that is easily gotten around, after all they are entitled.  In this case the Kushners used a technicality.  Jewish law allows Jews to violate the tenets of the religion if it is necessary for health and safety.  Otherwise Jews would be slaughtered on the Sabbath because they could not fight back without violating the Sabbath.

So Ivanka and Jared just got an un-named pet Rabbi to invoke the “Jewish law of pikuach nefesh, which suggests preserving the safety of a specific person over any religious consideration.”  How exactly this let them go out and dance the night away on the Sabbath is anybody’s guess, but if you are a Trump, well the rules just don’t apply do they.

Just what the Talmud had in mind for Jews who observe the Sabbth.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at the Liberty Ball
on Friday evening. CreditRuth Fremson/The New York Times  

Trump of course has plans for Jared, he will make Jared the person to negotiate a peace in the Middle East.  Yeah, a sort of Orthodox Jew who is the son-in-law of a virulent anti-Islamic President is just the man the Palestinians will trust to mediate their cause. 

Note:  the DPE is Jewish, send your hate mail to the White House, not here.

Gosh Maybe Trump Did Write His Own Inaugural Speech - No Professional Writer Could Have Come Up With this Drivel

How Bad Was It - Even George Will Was Nauseated

Because most times someone else can say things better than we can, here is part of George Will's column on Donnie's first speech as President.  The really bad news, this may be the best he can do.

A most dreadful inaugural address

By George F. Will January 20 at 3:50 PM

Twenty minutes into his presidency, Donald Trump, who is always claiming to have made, or to be about to make, astonishing history, had done so. Living down to expectations, he had delivered the most dreadful inaugural address in history.

Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s White House counselor, had promised that the speech would be “elegant.” This is not the adjective that came to mind as he described “American carnage.” That was a phrase the likes of which has never hitherto been spoken at an inauguration.

Oblivious to the moment and the setting, the always remarkable Trump proved that something dystopian can be strangely exhilarating: In what should have been a civic liturgy serving national unity and confidence, he vindicated his severest critics by serving up reheated campaign rhetoric about “rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape” and an education system producing students “deprived of all knowledge.” Yes, all.

And look up any independent commentator and you will likely see the same thoughts. Oh God was it bad!

Exclusive: The Parts of Trumpet's Inauguration Speech the Press Did Not Report

Once again the failure of the mainstream media!

Donnie the Trump gave his first speech as POTUS at his inauguration, and all the press could do was to report those parts that sounded like every other speech the orange man has given.  (Apparently he hasn't noticed the election is over and everyone he knows was afraid to tell him.)  But exclusively on this site are the items that the press did not report.

Here are the parts of the speech that addressed the needs of African Americans



And here is how he plans to implement health care reform.



Not to be foregotten, his special message about bringing people together.



And what he will be about urban gun violence



History will remember what he said about protecting the environment.



Women will be thrilled to that this is how he will end gender discimination and unequal pay.



Education gets this boost



And finally, Trump was gracious and kind about those who are concerned about his ability to govern.  Here's what he told them.

A Day in the Life of Joe and Susie Conservative – They Live Independent of Government

So They Think

To celebrate the anti-government forces taking over government the DPE would like to present the following.

In honor of and homage to the conservative delusion , here is a day in the life of a typical conservative family.  Joe and Susie live in a close-in suburb of a major American city. They both work and have three children, Jimmy in middle school, Sarah in high school and Charlotte in college.  Here is what a typical day looks like for them.

Joe awakens and showers.  The water he uses is clean and pure, and is monitored and delivered by a government agency in his area.  He has bacon and eggs for breakfast, with no worries that the food is impure or will make him sick as it is all regulated and graded by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the FDA.  Susie has an economical meal of cereal from grain that is subsidized by the federal government.  All of this food is delivered to their local grocery over roads built and maintained by government.

After breakfast Joe drives to work along a beautiful and safe interstate highway, free of tolls.  He isn’t worried about crashing as he knows his car has sophisticated safety features like air bags and crash protections, features mandated by government and of course his car has undergone government safety testing and an annual government inspection.  Susie rides the bus to work, paying a small fare because the bus service is operated by a local government transit authority which uses taxpayer dollars to make fares affordable.

At work Susie learns she is getting a nice raise because it turns out her company has been paying women less than men for the same job and a government agency has made them pay equal salaries for equal work.  Susie’s friend Alice has not been in for a few weeks as she was injured on the job.  But not to worry, Alice gets Worker’s Compensation benefits and so she is not rendered economically destitute by her workplace injury.   Susie's co-worker John has been off for a few weeks to take care of his disabled father, so Susie has had to work a little harder.  She doesn't mind because federal law requires her company to keep John's job open for him, and Susie is glad to know if she has to leave for a few weeks to take care of a parent her job will be waiting for her.

At lunch Joe charges the meal to the company as a business expense even though almost no business takes place.  His company gets to deduct a portion of the tab which means taxpayers are paying for part of Joe’s lunch, but he doesn’t focus on that.  He also is not concerned about food borne illnesses as the restaurant is regularly inspected by a local government unit to insure its foods are safe and properly prepared.

Susie has to work late but will be paid overtime thanks to federal wage and hour laws.  This means Joe has to take Timmy to the doctor.  The examination and tests will costs hundreds, but Joe’s only cost is a $20.00 co-pay because he has health insurance mandated by ACA.  Also, while Joe receives an employer benefit of over $15,000 per year for the cost of the insurance, Joe does not have to pay any tax on this income as it is exempted from income taxes.  Joe’s friend Pete does not have health insurance and so has to use after tax dollars to pay his medical bills; he gets no such benefit.

Timmy goes to a very good public school which is financed by taxpayers, a majority of whom do not have children in school but want to support education because they believe the entire community benefits from a well educated population.  Charlotte’s tuition bills in college are a strain, but she has a taxpayer subsidized loan and doesn’t have to make loan payments until she graduates and leaves school.  Meantime she is covered by Joe’s health insurance thanks to a federal law. Sarah will save money on education by going to the local community college for her first two years at almost no cost to her since the community college is funded almost entirely by local and state government.

On the way to the doctor’s appointment Joe gets cash from an ATM.  Joe does not worry about the safety of his bank account as it is insured by an agency of the federal government.  He also is not worried about his brokerage accounts as they are also protected from malfeasance by the government.  And Joe gets a nice tax break for his retirements savings.

After leaving the doctor’s office Joe and Timmy stop off to see Timmy’s grandparents.   Both sets of grandparents are retired and do not work and Joe and Susie could not support them.  But they don’t have to since the grandparents have Medicare and Social Security and are able to support themselves without help from Joe and Susie. 

When they get home Timmy takes in the garbage cans as the city has picked up the trash, no charge and Joe notes that while it has rained heavily his yard is not flooded like it used to be because the county fixed a bunch of drainage problems that affected his house.  Joe’s house is very nice, more expensive than they could afford but they got help from the Federal Housing Administration and were able to make a below market down payment and have an easier mortgage than they could have gotten without federal help.  The new electrical service for the garage is coming along nicely, and Joe is not concerned about whether or not it is done right because his electrician is licensed and the city will inspect the work when she is done.

When Susie gets home she reminds Joe they have a meeting tomorrow night.  The school used to provide after school activities free of charge, but tax cuts have caused the district to propose a fee and Joe and Susie think this is wrong, that after school activities should stay free.  Sarah is going to the library to do homework and she will get a lot of help from the staff and be able to download library material and books to her tablet at no charge as all of the library support comes from government.

Finally Joe and Susie are ready for bed, and after watching Fox News both lament to each other how they have to pay taxes but get no benefits from government whatsoever.  “All our money goes to those people” Susie says to Joe’s nodding head, “why do we have to pay for them, why can't the government do something for us for a change?”

So Joe and Susie are excited about Donald Trump becoming President and getting government off their backs and out of their lives.  Welcome to Trumpworld 101 Joe and Susie.  Come for the catharsis, stay for the pain.

Ford Motor Company's New Strategy

Just Remember - Get in Financial Trouble and It Ain't the Republicans and Trump that Gonna Help You

From the NYT

DETROIT — Donald J. Trump has promised to change the way American automakers do business. Less than three weeks before his inauguration as president, he has already knocked the companies on their heels.

In a stunning reversal, Ford Motor, the nation’s second-largest automaker, said on Tuesday that it would scrap plans to build a small-car assembly plant in Mexico that Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized.

“We are encouraged by the pro-growth plans that President-elect Trump and the new Congress indicate they will pursue,” Mark Fields, Ford’s chief executive, said at an event on Tuesday.

Auto Dealers Beg, Yes Beg Government for Protection from Competition - Free Enterprise is for Everyone Else

And Don't Expect Conservatives to Fight Regulation on This

The problem with conservatives is that they talk the talk but don't walk the walk.  So if one examines government regulation which protects businesses from competition, as opposed to government regulation which protects consumers, you know, the ones who need protection well conservatives are no where to be found.  Case in point, auto dealerships.

Now even though there doesn't seem to be data on the political preferences, it is fair to assume that auto dealers are dyed in the wool conservative Republicans.  After all their record on consumer protection is, well, dubious at best so it is natural that they would want to keep government regulation out of their business.  Well, natural except when government regulation protects them and harms consumers.  Then they are first to feed at the trough.

Case in point, Tesla which is a manufacturer of electric cars and wants to sell direct to the public.  Nothing wrong with that, America wants competition, it's what the country is all about.  But no, auto dealers want government to protect them, to prohibit free enterprise, to stop Tesla from selling cars.

The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association is going to court to appeal a recent decision by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles that would allow electric automobile maker Tesla Motors Inc. to open a company-owned dealership in the Richmond area.

What regulationsa is Tesla trying to violate?  Oh this.



The dealers association opposed Tesla’s petition for a second location, arguing that under state law the company must sell its cars through independent, franchise dealerships, as other automobile manufacturers do.


State law prohibits automobile makers from owning dealerships except under certain circumstances, such as when there are no independent dealers available in a community to sell an automaker’s cars “in a manner consistent with the public interest.”

And what is the purpose of such a law?  Why to protect business.  How do consumers benefit?  They don't.  What do free market conservatives say?  Nothing.

Conservatives Love the Constitution - Except When It Does Things Like Provide Justice for Low Income People

Then It's 'What Constitution?'

The Constitution is ambiguous about a lot things.  But one thing it is not ambiguous about at all is the right to an attorney when charged with a crime.  It does not say the right is contingent on being able to afford an attorney, it is an unconditional right to be represented by counsel when one is accused.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

What part of that do the people like gun nuts who know every word of the 2nd amendment not understand?

So the right to an attorney in a criminal prosecution is every bit as strong a right as the right to carry a murderous assault weapon.  Except of course, if a state does not want to spend the money to povide an attorney.  New Mexico is one such state.

What happens when innocent people do not get attorneys

When Defendants Cannot Afford a Lawyer, and Neither Can New Mexico

"The number of felony cases in Hobbs had almost doubled since 2011, rising through the oil boom and bust even as the number of public defenders dropped by one-third in only three months.

In October, Mr. Baur ordered his lawyers here, who on average were representing 200 defendants each, to stop taking any new cases. It was a desperate and unprecedented step in this state, which triggered a nasty legal fight that has roiled this town of 43,000 for months.

“We have to turn off the spigot,” Mr. Baur said. “It is unconstitutional, inefficient and, frankly, not fair to represent more people if we can’t give them a functioning attorney.”
That's right, the public defender cannot give representation even when they do give representation.



Poor defendants almost always make a first court appearance on their own, without a lawyer present to interpret the charges against them. Routinely, they meet the public defenders assigned to represent them only moments before they are supposed to negotiate critical decisions, such as a plea deal or the conditions for their release.

Public defenders contend that they are unable to properly prepare for hearings, thoroughly interview witnesses, evaluate the evidence against their clients or file the correct motions because they are stretched way too thin.

Anyone expecting those Constitution loving conservatives to be outraged and horrified?  Anyone?