March 4, 2016

Any Dem who opposes Bernie's health care plan is carrying water for the right wingers...

Simple logic and the example of other developed countries tell us it is very possible--

We keep getting told that Bernie's plan will cost $18 trillion (right wing talking point repeated by Hillary operatives).

However, simple logic and the example of many other countries proves that they are supporting a rapacious, insurance company driven system that by objective measures is a failure (except for those who profit immensely from running it.)


US Spends More on Health Care Than Other High-Income Nations But Has Lower Life Expectancy, Worse Health

New Report Finds Americans Have Fewer Doctor and Hospital Visits Than People in Other Nations; Outsized Spending Likely a Result of More Technology, Higher Prices For Care and Prescriptions Drugs

New York, N.Y., October 8, 2015— The U.S. spent more per person on health care than 12 other high-income nations in 2013, while seeing the lowest life expectancy and some of the worst health outcomes among this group, according to a Commonwealth Fund report out today. The analysis shows that in the U.S., which spent an average of $9,086 per person annually, life expectancy was 78.8 years. Switzerland, the second-highest-spending country, spent $6,325 per person and had a life expectancy of 82.9 years. Mortality rates for cancer were among the lowest in the U.S., but rates of chronic conditions, obesity, and infant mortality were higher than those abroad.

“Time and again, we see evidence that the amount of money we spend on health care in this country is not gaining us comparable health benefits,” said Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D. “We have to look at the root causes of this disconnect and invest our health care dollars in ways that will allow us to live longer while enjoying better health and greater productivity.”

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/press-releases/2015/oct/us-spends-more-on-health-care-than-other-nations

March 4, 2016

Trump now in favor of H-1B visas

In an unusual move, Trump said from the stage in Detroit that he now wants an increase in visas for highly skilled foreign workers. He has previously argued for the opposite this campaign season, during which immigration has taken center stage as an emotionally charged issue.

“I’m changing it and I’m softening the position because we need to have talented people in this country,” Trump said at the debate with Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-changes-stance-on-skilled-worker-immigration-during-detroit-debate-2016-03-03

What could have prompted this? I don't think this will be popular with his supporters.

February 24, 2016

Donald Trump attacks rivals as "liars," yet he is the biggest liar of all!

The ‘King of Whoppers': Donald Trump

http://www.factcheck.org/2015/12/the-king-of-whoppers-donald-trump/

Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015 Lie of the Year

http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/

PolitiFact checked 77 Trump statements and found that 76 percent of them were Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015-12-21/fact-checking-website-donald-trump-lies-76-percent-of-the-time

Yet, the opponents and the media rarely call him out on this. Of course, we know that his lies reinforce the Republican bubble of ignorance and alternate reality. Will the wider electorate recognize that his rants are a load of manure?

February 23, 2016

Trump has his own system of ethics. He might soon have his own version of the Bible.

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Behold ... the Trump Bible!

Check out some of the new passages

And lo, the Lord hardened the heart of the Pharaoh, who said, “Send all the Hebrews back to their own country, wherever that is, and then build a wall so they can’t come back, and then send them the bill.” And it was done as he had said. And then the Egyptians found that there was nobody left to do all the really crappy jobs for very little pay, and so the streets went unswept and a head of lettuce suddenly cost fifty smackeroos, and there was sadness across the land.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/donald-trump-doesnt-need-the-good-book-hes-got-the-best-book-ever-2016-02-23

February 22, 2016

Republicans have made claims about dead people voting, now they endorse the practice!

Republican lobbyist and anti-government lawyer, Kory Langhofer, is helping to lead the GOP directly into the insane asylum by actually trying to argue that Antonin Scalia should be allowed to continue voting on SCOTUS cases while dead.

Yes, this sounds ridiculous but it isn’t a joke. He really said this in front of television cameras. Langhofer’s statement is as follows:

"There’s no Ouija board required to figure out how Justice Scalia would vote on these things, he’s already voted. We’re at the second-to-last step in how these cases unfold when Justice Scalia died. We know exactly what he thought. And it’s not unprincipled to say we should give affect to that."

http://winningdemocrats.com/conservative-lawyer-wants-scalias-ghost-to-vote-for-hate-from-the-grave-video/

February 16, 2016

George W. Bush lies again!

“On the way to Air Force One, from that school, Condi called me and said
a plane has hit the Pentagon,” the former president said, referring to
Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser at the time. “I felt the first one
was an accident, the second was an attack, and the third one was a declaration
of war. I became something that no president should ever want to be — a
wartime president.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/opinion/in-election-years-a-history-of-confirming-court-nominees.html?emc=edit_th_20160216&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=70251688

Two Years Before 9/11, Candidate Bush was Already Talking Privately About Attacking Iraq, According to His Former Ghost Writer

According to Herskowitz, who has authored more than 30 books, many of them jointly written autobiographies of famous Americans in politics, sports and media (including that of Reagan adviser Michael Deaver), Bush and his advisers were sold on the idea that it was difficult for a president to accomplish an electoral agenda without the record-high approval numbers that accompany successful if modest wars.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1028-01.htm

O'Neill: Bush planned Iraq invasion before 9/11


(CNN) -- The Bush administration began planning to use U.S. troops to invade Iraq within days after the former Texas governor entered the White House three years ago, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told CBS News' 60 Minutes.

"From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go," O'Neill told CBS, according to excerpts released Saturday by the network. "For me, the notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do, is a really huge leap."

February 8, 2016

I got this fruitcake for Christmas,,,how can I re-gift it?

February 5, 2016

Christie is going down! And I don't just mean in the polls!

BrideGate Defendants Can Subpoena Christie Office Docs

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The two former allies of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie charged in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case will get a second chance to force the release of documents from the law firm whose taxpayer-funded 2014 report absolved Christie of blame.

U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton on Friday said attorneys for Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly can subpoena the Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher law firm for what they contend are thousands of pages of relevant documents, particularly communications between people in Christie's office and the bridge's operator during the September 2013 closures.

In its response to a grand jury subpoena by the U.S. attorney's office when it was assembling the indictment, the firm provided a list of documents — some thousands of pages long, defense lawyers say — it said were privileged communications by Christie staffers that couldn't be released.

- more -

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/bil-baroni-bridget-kelly-subpoena-christie-docs

February 4, 2016

Christie, a stellar performer, a mediocre governor

Star-Ledger Editorial Board By Tom Moran | Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on February 04, 2016 at 6:00 AM, updated February 04, 2016 at 11:04 AM

MILFORD, N.H. — It is almost tragic, really, to watch Gov. Chris Christie perform in the final days of his long-shot quest for the presidency.

He chose drug treatment as his topic to get this town hall rolling Wednesday evening. And he was so compelling, so sensible, so moving, that you wanted to stand up and cheer. When it comes to the art of persuasion, the raw political skill, there is simply no one in the field who comes close.

So where is the tragedy? The tragedy is that it's a performance, one that crumbles into pieces when you examine his actual record in New Jersey. The mismatch between word and deed is beyond grating.

- more -

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/02/christie_a_stellar_performer_a_mediocre_governor_m.html#incart_river_home