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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#178826: Mar 21st 2017 at 1:13:57 PM

[up][up]Okay, this is getting dangerous. If every single major right-wing organization in the US is involved with Russia it makes prosecuting this case extremely difficult. Republicans already have a massive persecution complex and feel like government thugs are going to break into their home and arrest them any day now. If the RNC, Fox News, Infowars, Breitbart, and NRA are all a part of this conspiracy then breaking it up would require proving their worst fears true. There's virtually no way to make them see reason in this sort of situation. Going after all these people at once virtually guarantees a second Civil War.

edited 21st Mar '17 1:14:44 PM by Kostya

HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#178827: Mar 21st 2017 at 1:17:37 PM

The world could do without the NRA to be honest.

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#178828: Mar 21st 2017 at 1:18:49 PM

[up][up]

Going after all these people at once virtually guarantees a second Civil War.

Well, I guess that settles it then. First thing's first though: Who's going to be the new Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Jon Wilkes Booth?

edited 21st Mar '17 1:19:22 PM by kkhohoho

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#178829: Mar 21st 2017 at 1:23:58 PM

Civil War II? Probably not. Now, a spree of far-right terror attacks ala Oklahoma City? That's very possible.

And there's no way such a crackdown would occur while the GOP controls the Justice Department.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#178830: Mar 21st 2017 at 1:26:16 PM

FBI Reportedly Looking At Breitbart, Info Wars As Part Of Russia Probe.

Hey, Tobias, didn't you once speculate maybe Bannon is the liaison between Trump and Putin?

I did, yes. I find the amount of power and influence he holds over Trump and his ability to be utterly immune to any kind of retribution from the infamously petty Trump to be suspect.

Steve Bannon could pee on Trump's desk and Trump would be like, "That was a good thing he did, very manly, very strong. We should all be more like Steve Bannon." It's really suspicious, given his temperament towards literally everyone else.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#178831: Mar 21st 2017 at 1:28:25 PM

Maybe peeing on a desk isn't the best analogy given certain rumors about Trump....

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#178832: Mar 21st 2017 at 1:28:54 PM

No one told me Winter Soldier was a documentary.

[lol]

The thing I keep thinking about the GOP and health care is that they have to metaphorically die on this hill after standing on it for so long, and they will face consequences.

edited 21st Mar '17 1:29:35 PM by BearyScary

Do not obey in advance.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#178833: Mar 21st 2017 at 1:50:41 PM

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-limits-presidents-appointment-powers/2017/03/21/9c62cb82-0e48-11e7-9d5a-a83e627dc120_story.html

[[quoteblock]] The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it more difficult for the president to quickly fill vacant top government jobs in a case centered on the appointment powers of the executive.

In a 6-to-2 ruling, the court limited the president’s ability to put certain high-level officials in positions in an acting capacity while awaiting confirmation by the Senate.

The court was reviewing the scope of a federal law intended to prevent presidents from temporarily slipping someone into a top position to circumvent the Senate’s process for reviewing an appointment to the permanent post.

The majority rejected the government’s view that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 applied only to people serving in the role of “first assistant” and not to other officials. The statute, the court said, prohibits anyone who has been nominated to lead a federal agency from performing the job in an acting capacity, according to the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. [[/quoteblock​]]

edited 21st Mar '17 1:52:46 PM by sgamer82

CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#178834: Mar 21st 2017 at 1:50:47 PM

Well, some of them are nailing their colors to the mast.
Tom Price in the spotlight as point man for GOP health plan

WASHINGTON —

Under the bright studio lights and a red, white and blue set, moderators and audience members at a recent CNN town hall event took turns grilling Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price about the way the GOP health care bill treats the sick, the vulnerable and the elderly.

Questions oscillated from the personal to the emotional to the fiscal.

A since-recovered cancer patient spoke of how Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion saved his life and prevented financial ruin. “Why do you want to take away my Medicaid expansion?” Brian Kline asked.

“Thank goodness that things are going well from your health care standpoint,” Price told Kline. “I practiced medicine over 20 years and took care of a lot of patients with cancer. And it was one of those challenges that, when it faces you as an individual or someone in your family, you want to make certain that you’ve got access to the highest quality care that you can receive.”

“Wolf, you’re falling into the same old trap of individuals who are measuring the success of Medicaid by how much money we put into it,” he told Blitzer when pressed about the funding cuts.

Price’s town hall performance offers a glimpse into why the former orthopedic surgeon landed the job he did in the Trump administration.

Price, 62, is firmly rooted in his conviction that health care decision making should be shifted away from Washington’s corridors of power and toward states and doctors’ offices. He has entered his second month as health chief seemingly well aware of his position’s unparalleled power to help determine how care gets delivered in America.

He was among the first and only House Republicans to offer a comprehensive alternative to Obamacare as early as 2009. The Empowering Patients First Act later became the starter dough for the current GOP replacement bill, but it was stricter in some aspects, including in its immediate repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.

Price would tutor fellow Republicans on how to talk about health care and other policy issues on the campaign trail, and lawmakers would sometimes approach him on the House floor to seek medical advice only half-jokingly.

Price’s role as top salesman hasn’t been without its hiccups. He had a major unforced error last weekend when he said that “nobody will be worse off financially” under the GOP bill. Critics compared the comment to President Barack Obama’s notorious “if you like your health care plan, you can keep it” pledge during the previous health care debate, and Price later backed away from the remark at the CNN town hall.

Price’s biggest chance to make his mark on the health care system could come administratively, regardless of whether the Republican replacement bill passes.

Through special rule makings, guidance and regulatory tweaks at HHS, Price can make what are essentially unilateral changes to loosen the grip of the Affordable Care Act or tweak aspects of Medicare that could have a major impact on doctors and patients.

More than most other health secretaries in recent memory, Price is viewed by many observers as a master of such minutiae.

Price has already begun doing some behind-the-scenes tinkering to clear a path for the White House-backed bill, recently writing a letter to states that some said opened the door for adding work requirements to Medicaid, long a priority of conservatives.

The White House has been vague about other specific changes that Price may seek, but some experts interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Price could look to water down what are known as “essential health benefits.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans on the individual market have to cover nearly a dozen such benefits, but “the outlines of that in the law were very vague,” said Thomas Scully, who led HHS’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the George W. Bush administration. “So the details about how those are designed and what are in those packages are basically all administrative.”

Up to Price’s interpretation, Scully said, are how such plans cover issues like mental health.

It’s a similar story for the types of birth control that insurers must offer free of charge under the Affordable Care Act, Martin said. The Obama administration told insurers they had to cover all approved methods of birth control, she said, but Price could change those requirements.

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#178835: Mar 21st 2017 at 1:52:24 PM

Bit more parochial: State has too much daytime electricity - California has built itself too much solar power capacity to the point that their power grids are becoming strained.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#178836: Mar 21st 2017 at 2:25:48 PM

Why does the grid exclude LA and Sacramento? Do they have separate ones?

HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#178838: Mar 21st 2017 at 2:43:09 PM

Yeah, that'll go over well.

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
math792d Since: Jun, 2011 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#178839: Mar 21st 2017 at 2:53:46 PM

Would that be enough? I mean, 2.2 billion is the operating budget of a couple Danish universities put together, and they only have to cover an area with about 1.5 million residents.

While yeah, operating costs are lower in the US, I don't think 2.2 billion per annum is enough to make college free for California residents considering the staggering amount of Cali residents.

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#178840: Mar 21st 2017 at 2:56:45 PM

This Swiss citizen would like to suggest that Cali not rely solely on college but also on apprenticeships and the like.

And in the name of all what is holy or horny, build more housing.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#178841: Mar 21st 2017 at 2:58:57 PM

We are. It's just all in the godforsaken desert instead of rebuilding in the already populated areas for a bunch of stupid reasons.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#178842: Mar 21st 2017 at 3:04:30 PM

Really? My impression is that it's way insufficient. And with a way insufficient density. I am not proposing something like 150000 people/km2 as I do in my setting (in fact that setting's CA has begun doing it as well), but at least redevelop into denser building without having to wade through a sea of red tape.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#178843: Mar 21st 2017 at 3:11:57 PM

I've literally watched a city spring up out of nowhere.

Denser living would help, but it's the red tape you mentioned keeping developers away from building anything except stupid expensive single family homes. There is some truth to regulations hurting development, but the vast majority of it comes not from the federal government, but homeowners associations and local city laws.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#178844: Mar 21st 2017 at 3:31:56 PM

California should look into solar batteries. They store energy generated during peak energy generation periods and allow it to be used at other times. Hawaii actually just partnered with Telsa to build a solar field with large scale storage units.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2017/03/10/teslas-kauai-solar-storage-facility-offers-a-glimpse-of-the-companys-future/amp/

edited 21st Mar '17 3:38:04 PM by megaeliz

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#178845: Mar 21st 2017 at 3:39:04 PM

The article mentioned officials are looking into those actually. Tesla came up specifically.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#178846: Mar 21st 2017 at 3:44:58 PM

There's also a smaller scale project in Vermont that uses solar batteries. I believe Bernie Sanders called it revolutionary.

Forgot links:

http://www.cleanegroup.org/ceg-projects/resilient-power-project/featured-installations/stafford-hill/

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.usatoday.com/story/32060851/

edited 21st Mar '17 3:55:13 PM by megaeliz

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#178847: Mar 21st 2017 at 4:09:10 PM

Neil Gorsuch, Supreme Court Nominee, was not asked by Trump about Abortion at any time before his nomination, and if he was, he would've 'walked out the door'. He also says, despite his own personal feelings, that Roe v. Wade is Precedent.

I don't know if I trust what he says completely, but I do think that he won't try to get rid of Abortion entirely.

edited 21st Mar '17 4:09:32 PM by DingoWalley1

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#178848: Mar 21st 2017 at 4:37:42 PM

It's kind of sad that we are surprised when a Republican nominee for the Supreme Court declares that they will uphold precedent.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#178849: Mar 21st 2017 at 5:05:55 PM

Lol, fuck that. I'm going to assume just about everything coming out of his mouth is a lie until his actions prove otherwise.

As far as I'm concerned he doesn't belong anywhere near the fucking SCOTUS, especially after his smug indirect dismissal of Garland at his hearing.

New Survey coming this weekend!
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#178850: Mar 21st 2017 at 5:13:57 PM

Yeah, that'll go over well.

Well not with the wealthy but you have to remember that the Berniecrats took over the California Democrat Party.

And Berniecrats are now ramping up the push for single payer in CA.

Also Big Oil companies are now trying to bribe centrist Democrats im California to vote in their interests. It's been found that California Democrats who took big gifts from oil companies vote in their interest 2.5 times more than when they don't.

With large Democratic majorities in California, the oil industry has pinned its hopes in the state on a group of so-called “moderate” Democrats that it has assiduously courted in recent years. (Republicans have tended to vote in lock-step with the oil industry.) Reporters have investigated how the oil industry has showered those Democrats with campaign contributions, but our analysis is the first that systematically looks at the gifts that oil companies and their allies have given to Democrats, in the form of free international and domestic travel, hotel stays, dinners, baseball tickets and bottles of wine and booze.

edited 21st Mar '17 5:26:41 PM by MadSkillz


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