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DonViejo
DonViejo's Journal
DonViejo's Journal
June 28, 2021
Rep. Scott Peters’ opposition to so-called international reference pricing language is notable, as he voted for similar provisions in 2019 and 2020
By Peter Cohn
Posted June 28, 2021 at 8:01am
Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., says he’ll vote against a sweeping budget reconciliation package that expands health care coverage, defrays child care and college expenses and more if party leaders include drug price negotiation provisions in it to help offset the multitrillion-dollar cost.
Peters led a group of 10 House Democrats on a letter recently calling for any legislation aimed at lowering drug costs to be bipartisan. But his outright opposition to so-called international reference pricing language, which Peters confirmed in an interview, is notable considering he voted for similar provisions in 2019 and 2020 as part of broader health care legislation.
“I will not vote for that,” Peters said, even if it’s paired with an expansive fiscal package that's a top priority for President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders. “If you institute it, you won’t have cures because you’ll dry up all the private investment that does that research. ... It’s a false promise of generating revenue because that industry is going to implode — it’s going to go someplace else. Just as when Europe started regulating, over-regulating the industry, they moved here.”
House Democrats have just four votes to spare on the massive budget bill that party leaders want to pass this fall that's a cornerstone of Biden's agenda.
more
https://www.rollcall.com/2021/06/28/onetime-backer-of-drug-pricing-bill-turns-foe/
Onetime backer of drug pricing bill turns foe
Rep. Scott Peters’ opposition to so-called international reference pricing language is notable, as he voted for similar provisions in 2019 and 2020
By Peter Cohn
Posted June 28, 2021 at 8:01am
Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., says he’ll vote against a sweeping budget reconciliation package that expands health care coverage, defrays child care and college expenses and more if party leaders include drug price negotiation provisions in it to help offset the multitrillion-dollar cost.
Peters led a group of 10 House Democrats on a letter recently calling for any legislation aimed at lowering drug costs to be bipartisan. But his outright opposition to so-called international reference pricing language, which Peters confirmed in an interview, is notable considering he voted for similar provisions in 2019 and 2020 as part of broader health care legislation.
“I will not vote for that,” Peters said, even if it’s paired with an expansive fiscal package that's a top priority for President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders. “If you institute it, you won’t have cures because you’ll dry up all the private investment that does that research. ... It’s a false promise of generating revenue because that industry is going to implode — it’s going to go someplace else. Just as when Europe started regulating, over-regulating the industry, they moved here.”
House Democrats have just four votes to spare on the massive budget bill that party leaders want to pass this fall that's a cornerstone of Biden's agenda.
more
https://www.rollcall.com/2021/06/28/onetime-backer-of-drug-pricing-bill-turns-foe/
June 28, 2021
Vincent Fusca, who looks nothing like JFK Jr. is being mistaken for JFK Jr. (Photos: Paler and Wikipedia Commons)
John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash with his wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette in 1999, but some supporters of Donald Trump believe that he's still alive and supports the former president.
Such was the case during Trump's rally in Ohio over the weekend, where the man, Trump supporter Vincent Fusca, takes photos with people who think he's the son of the late president.
The Twitter account ParlerTakes has been posting photos that Trump fans took with Fusca thinking that he's JFK Jr.
-snip-
Photos of the two men side-by-side show that they look very different. When the photos are merged together, lined up with the chins, it's easy to see that their eyes are in a different place, their noses are different, and their ears are in different places. JFK Jr. also didn't have dimples as Fusca appears to.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-supporters-think-man-jfkjr/
Trump supporters flock to take photos with man they swear is JFK Jr. -- who died in 1999
Vincent Fusca, who looks nothing like JFK Jr. is being mistaken for JFK Jr. (Photos: Paler and Wikipedia Commons)
John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash with his wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette in 1999, but some supporters of Donald Trump believe that he's still alive and supports the former president.
Such was the case during Trump's rally in Ohio over the weekend, where the man, Trump supporter Vincent Fusca, takes photos with people who think he's the son of the late president.
The Twitter account ParlerTakes has been posting photos that Trump fans took with Fusca thinking that he's JFK Jr.
-snip-
Photos of the two men side-by-side show that they look very different. When the photos are merged together, lined up with the chins, it's easy to see that their eyes are in a different place, their noses are different, and their ears are in different places. JFK Jr. also didn't have dimples as Fusca appears to.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-supporters-think-man-jfkjr/
June 28, 2021
His Insurrection - Inside the Oval Office on January 6.
BOOK EXCERPT 6:00 A.M.
By Michael Wolff
Seems like quite a few crazies,” said the president.
A little more than three weeks before rioters and revelers stormed the Capitol on January 6, several thousand Trump fans and fanatics gathered in Washington, D.C. There were the Proud Boys in elaborate dress, ZZ Top beards, and tie-dyed kilts — Enrique Tarrio, a Proud Boy organizer, got in line and took a public tour of the White House — who seemed to have appointed themselves Trump’s protectors and vanguard, as the Hells Angels had once done for the Rolling Stones. There were Trump impersonators and a wide variety of other made-for-the-cameras MAGA costumes. There were veterans — or people in military gear trying to suggest patriotism and firepower. There were older men and women, too — more Las Vegas than Altamont. Virtually all without masks.
“It’s like Let’s Make a Deal,” said Trump the next day to a caller, referencing the long-running game show from the 1960s — many of his references have never left this psychic era — on which audience members dressed up in foolish costumes to get the attention of the host.
The speakers at the December 12 event were themselves a retinue of Trump attention seekers: Michael Flynn, the former general who had briefly served as Trump’s national security adviser before being rolled out of office for lying to the FBI, had, after pleading guilty, reversed himself and abjectly reaffirmed his Trump loyalty, finally getting his pardon just days before the rally. Sebastian Gorka, a figure of uncertain provenance and function in the Trump White House during its first months, was one of the early oddballs to be pushed out when John Kelly became chief of staff and had pursued a Trump-based media career ever since. Also speaking: MyPillow entrepreneur Mike Lindell, a former drug addict and a current fevered conspiracist.
more
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/michael-wolff-landslide-final-days-trump-presidency-excerpt.html
June 27, 2021
BY DOMINICK MASTRANGELO - 06/27/21 09:32 AM EDT
"Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace pressed a top aide to President Biden about rising crime rates in the United States and asked him how calls from some progressives to limit funding to police departments may have contributed to that trend.
Citing criticism of Biden this week from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Wallace asked Cedric Richmond, a senior White House aide, if Graham "has a point" when the Republican lawmaker blasted Biden's policy on crime.
Graham said: "We have a lack of prosecution. We've declared war on the police, and that is backfiring on those who have done it."
"Senator Graham doesn't have a clue," Richmond responded. "Let's talk about who defunded the police. When we were in Congress last year trying to pass an emergency rescue plan for cities, that were cash strapped and laying off police, it was the Republicans who objected to it ... the truth is they defunded the police. We funded crime intervention and a whole bunch of other things."
Wallace pressed Richmond, who separately suggested s "plethora" of illegal guns on the streets is also a contributing factor to rising crimes rates, telling the former Democratic lawmaker that even if Biden does not support defunding the police, a number of major cities in America have seen mass retirements in law enforcement and have slashed their budget allocations for police in recent months.
more + video
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/560427-fox-newss-chris-wallace-presses-biden-official-on-defund-the-police
Chris Wallace presses Biden official on defund the police
BY DOMINICK MASTRANGELO - 06/27/21 09:32 AM EDT
"Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace pressed a top aide to President Biden about rising crime rates in the United States and asked him how calls from some progressives to limit funding to police departments may have contributed to that trend.
Citing criticism of Biden this week from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Wallace asked Cedric Richmond, a senior White House aide, if Graham "has a point" when the Republican lawmaker blasted Biden's policy on crime.
Graham said: "We have a lack of prosecution. We've declared war on the police, and that is backfiring on those who have done it."
"Senator Graham doesn't have a clue," Richmond responded. "Let's talk about who defunded the police. When we were in Congress last year trying to pass an emergency rescue plan for cities, that were cash strapped and laying off police, it was the Republicans who objected to it ... the truth is they defunded the police. We funded crime intervention and a whole bunch of other things."
Wallace pressed Richmond, who separately suggested s "plethora" of illegal guns on the streets is also a contributing factor to rising crimes rates, telling the former Democratic lawmaker that even if Biden does not support defunding the police, a number of major cities in America have seen mass retirements in law enforcement and have slashed their budget allocations for police in recent months.
more + video
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/560427-fox-newss-chris-wallace-presses-biden-official-on-defund-the-police
June 27, 2021
Sen.Cassidy (R-LA) insists infrastructure like roads and bridges is a "women's problem"...
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on Sunday insists infrastructure like roads and bridges is a "women's problem" because they do the "shopping."
June 27, 2021
By Katherine HugginsJun 26th, 2021, 5:41 pm
Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax on Saturday morning that he does not think the suspension of Rudy Giuliani’s law license will hold up because “it was done without due process.”
Giuliani’s law license was suspended Thursday for “demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large.” The decision called out his work as a lawyer for former president Donald Trump and his campaign in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Dershowitz, who served on Trump’s defense team during his first impeachment and has worked with Giuliani in an advisory capacity, complained Saturday that the former NYC mayor never “had an opportunity to prove either that what he said was true or that if it wasn’t true that he didn’t know it.”
Giuliani, however, was given the opportunity to prove what he had alleged in terms of widespread voter fraud during the Pennsylvania suit, but the case was unanimously thrown out by the U.S. Court of Appeals because Giuliani’s team failed to show evidence that supported their claims.
more + video
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/alan-dershowitz-slams-decision-to-suspend-rudy-giulianis-law-license-the-criteria-is-so-vague-thered-be-no-lawyers-left/
Alan Dershowitz Slams Decision to Suspend Rudy Giuliani's Law License:...
Alan Dershowitz Slams Decision to Suspend Rudy Giuliani’s Law License: ‘The Criteria is So Vague…There’d Be No Lawyers Left’By Katherine HugginsJun 26th, 2021, 5:41 pm
Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax on Saturday morning that he does not think the suspension of Rudy Giuliani’s law license will hold up because “it was done without due process.”
Giuliani’s law license was suspended Thursday for “demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large.” The decision called out his work as a lawyer for former president Donald Trump and his campaign in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Dershowitz, who served on Trump’s defense team during his first impeachment and has worked with Giuliani in an advisory capacity, complained Saturday that the former NYC mayor never “had an opportunity to prove either that what he said was true or that if it wasn’t true that he didn’t know it.”
Giuliani, however, was given the opportunity to prove what he had alleged in terms of widespread voter fraud during the Pennsylvania suit, but the case was unanimously thrown out by the U.S. Court of Appeals because Giuliani’s team failed to show evidence that supported their claims.
more + video
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/alan-dershowitz-slams-decision-to-suspend-rudy-giulianis-law-license-the-criteria-is-so-vague-thered-be-no-lawyers-left/
June 27, 2021
By Josh FeldmanJun 27th, 2021, 9:56 am
Senator Mitt Romney (R- UT) slammed former President Donald Trump on CNN Sunday for his continued false claims about the 2020 election.
Trump held a rally in Ohio Saturday, where he continued pushing the big lie. Jake Tapper brought up the rally and a new interview where Bill Barr opened up about Trump’s “bullshit.”
Tapper asked Romney, “Do these repeated lies about the election, the whitewashing of what happened January 6th, do you think it undermines American democracy? And if so, do you think more of your Republican colleagues need to speak out?”
Romney said it is, and argued one of the problems is that autocratic nations can point to these claims and affect “the cause of democracy and freedom around the world.”
more + video:
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/romney-hits-trump-for-continuing-the-election-big-lie-where-did-he-hear-it-from-the-mypillow-guy-rudy-giuliani/
Romney Hits Trump for Continuing the Election Big Lie: 'Where Did He Hear It From? The MyPillow Guy?
Romney Hits Trump for Continuing the Election Big Lie: ‘Where Did He Hear It From? The MyPillow Guy? Rudy Giuliani?’By Josh FeldmanJun 27th, 2021, 9:56 am
Senator Mitt Romney (R- UT) slammed former President Donald Trump on CNN Sunday for his continued false claims about the 2020 election.
Trump held a rally in Ohio Saturday, where he continued pushing the big lie. Jake Tapper brought up the rally and a new interview where Bill Barr opened up about Trump’s “bullshit.”
Tapper asked Romney, “Do these repeated lies about the election, the whitewashing of what happened January 6th, do you think it undermines American democracy? And if so, do you think more of your Republican colleagues need to speak out?”
Romney said it is, and argued one of the problems is that autocratic nations can point to these claims and affect “the cause of democracy and freedom around the world.”
more + video:
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/romney-hits-trump-for-continuing-the-election-big-lie-where-did-he-hear-it-from-the-mypillow-guy-rudy-giuliani/
June 27, 2021
Tracy Wilkinson
Sun, June 27, 2021, 8:00 AM·4 min read
When he meets with Pope Francis on Monday, the United States’ top diplomat will try to avoid the elephant in the room.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken intends to speak to the pontiff about shared values and ideas — fighting climate change, people trafficking, violence and racism.
But on the minds of many involved is a festering dispute that has pitted Francis against a group of conservative American Catholic bishops who want to deny full church participation to America’s top Catholic: President Biden.
Led by Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, a majority of the bishops voted earlier this month to advance a document, still being drafted, that could potentially deny Communion to Biden and other Catholic politicians who support reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, in violation of church doctrine.
more/NO PAYWALL
https://www.yahoo.com/news/news-analysis-bidens-top-diplomat-120053139.html
News analysis: Biden's top diplomat to meet pope -- and try to ignore the elephant in the room
Tracy Wilkinson
Sun, June 27, 2021, 8:00 AM·4 min read
When he meets with Pope Francis on Monday, the United States’ top diplomat will try to avoid the elephant in the room.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken intends to speak to the pontiff about shared values and ideas — fighting climate change, people trafficking, violence and racism.
But on the minds of many involved is a festering dispute that has pitted Francis against a group of conservative American Catholic bishops who want to deny full church participation to America’s top Catholic: President Biden.
Led by Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, a majority of the bishops voted earlier this month to advance a document, still being drafted, that could potentially deny Communion to Biden and other Catholic politicians who support reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, in violation of church doctrine.
more/NO PAYWALL
https://www.yahoo.com/news/news-analysis-bidens-top-diplomat-120053139.html
June 27, 2021
In the final months of the administration, the doggedly loyal attorney general finally had enough.
By Jonathan D. Karl
6:00 AM ET
Donald Trump is a man consumed with grievance against people he believes have betrayed him, but few betrayals have enraged him more than what his attorney general did to him. To Trump, the unkindest cut of all was when William Barr stepped forward and declared that there had been no widespread fraud in the 2020 election, just as the president was trying to overturn Joe Biden’s victory by claiming that the election had been stolen.
In a series of interviews with me this spring, Barr spoke, for the first time, about the events surrounding his break with Trump. I have also spoken with other senior officials in the Trump White House and Justice Department, who provided additional details about Barr’s actions and the former president’s explosive response. Barr and those close to him have a reason to tell his version of this story. He has been widely seen as a Trump lackey who politicized the Justice Department. But when the big moment came after the election, he defied the president who expected him to do his bidding.
Barr’s betrayal came on December 1, over lunch in the attorney general’s private dining room with Michael Balsamo, a Justice Department beat reporter at the Associated Press. Also in attendance were the DOJ chief of staff, Will Levi, and spokesperson Kerri Kupec. Balsamo was not told the reason for the invitation. When Barr dropped his bombshell between bites of salad, he mumbled, and Balsamo wasn’t sure that he had caught what the attorney general had said.
“Just to be crystal clear,” Balsamo asked, “are you saying—”
more
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/william-barrs-trump-administration-attorney-general/619298/
William Barr Speaks
In the final months of the administration, the doggedly loyal attorney general finally had enough.
By Jonathan D. Karl
6:00 AM ET
Donald Trump is a man consumed with grievance against people he believes have betrayed him, but few betrayals have enraged him more than what his attorney general did to him. To Trump, the unkindest cut of all was when William Barr stepped forward and declared that there had been no widespread fraud in the 2020 election, just as the president was trying to overturn Joe Biden’s victory by claiming that the election had been stolen.
In a series of interviews with me this spring, Barr spoke, for the first time, about the events surrounding his break with Trump. I have also spoken with other senior officials in the Trump White House and Justice Department, who provided additional details about Barr’s actions and the former president’s explosive response. Barr and those close to him have a reason to tell his version of this story. He has been widely seen as a Trump lackey who politicized the Justice Department. But when the big moment came after the election, he defied the president who expected him to do his bidding.
Barr’s betrayal came on December 1, over lunch in the attorney general’s private dining room with Michael Balsamo, a Justice Department beat reporter at the Associated Press. Also in attendance were the DOJ chief of staff, Will Levi, and spokesperson Kerri Kupec. Balsamo was not told the reason for the invitation. When Barr dropped his bombshell between bites of salad, he mumbled, and Balsamo wasn’t sure that he had caught what the attorney general had said.
“Just to be crystal clear,” Balsamo asked, “are you saying—”
more
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/william-barrs-trump-administration-attorney-general/619298/
Profile Information
Name: DonGender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
Number of posts: 60,536
