May 6, 2017

Andrew Sullivan: Obamacare Works

A word on Obamacare. I relied on it until just recently when I joined New York’s staff and went on an employer’s plan, and, to tell the truth, part of me didn’t even want to make the change — even though it will obviously save me a lot of money. What Obamacare did for me, living with the preexisting condition of HIV, was, first of all, give me far more independence and freedom. It gave me the confidence to quit a previous job and start my own little media company — my blog, the Dish. It gave me peace of mind when I subsequently shut that business down and was able to stay on the same plan. It allowed me to be a freelance writer without fear of personal bankruptcy. I got no subsidy, but I was glad to pay the premiums for me and my husband because it gave me a sense of control over our finances and our future. I knew I wouldn’t suddenly find myself facing soaring health-care costs or no health care at all — and the premium actually went down a smidgen last year.

You might think Obamacare would violate my generally conservative principles, but it didn’t. In fact, it seemed to me to be an effective marriage of conservative principles and, well, human decency. The decency part comes from not blaming or punishing the sick for their condition. The conservative part comes from the incremental nature of the reform, and its reliance on the private sector to provide a public good. For good measure, it actually saved the government money, and it slowed soaring health-care costs. The exchanges, with predictable early hiccups, largely worked — a case study in the benefits of market competition. The law allowed for experiments to test how efficient health care could be. It even insisted on personal responsibility by mandating individual coverage. And the concept of insurance is not socialism; it’s a matter simply of pooling risk as widely as possible. If any European conservative party were to propose such a system, it would be pilloried as a far-right plot. And yet the Republican Party opposed it with a passion that became very hard for me to disentangle from hatred of Obama himself.

The Trump GOP’s attempt to abolish it is therefore, to my mind, neither conservative nor decent. It’s reactionary and callous. Its effective abandonment of 95 percent of us with preexisting conditions will strike real terror in a lot of people’s hearts. Its gutting of Medicaid will force millions of the poor to lose health care almost altogether. It will bankrupt the struggling members of the working and middle classes who find themselves in a serious health crisis. It could hurt Republicans in the midterms —though that will be cold comfort for the countless forced into penury or sickness because of Trump’s desire for a “win.” But it’s clarifying for me. It forces me to back a Democratic Party I don’t particularly care for. And it destroys any notion I might have had that American conservatism gives a damn about the vulnerable. It really is a deal-breaker for me. I hope many others feel exactly the same way.



http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/trumpcare-destroys-notion-that-gop-gives-a-damn.html

May 6, 2017

Go F*ck Yourselves: Bill Maher Goes Off on Liberal Purists Who Didnt Vote for Clinton

With President Donald Trump‘s first 100 days out of the way, Bill Maher tonight asked “liberal purists” how they feel now about decrying Hillary Clinton as “the lesser of two evils.”

“Quite a bit lesser,” he observed, “wouldn’t you say now?”

He pointed to comments made by Jill Stein and Cornel West saying that either a Trump or Clinton presidency would be a disaster. But Maher argued that a lot of the things liberals are up in arms about in the era of Trump wouldn’t have even been an issue if Clinton won (the Supreme Court, for instance).

Maher even singled out Edward Snowden‘s (since-deleted) tweet that read, “2016: a choice between Donald Trump and Goldman Sachs.” He pointed out that Trump has chosen people from Goldman for his administration.

And he followed up with this comment for people who said Clinton was “just as evil”:

“Just wait until the 5 to 4 decisions start rolling in, gutting unions, making it harder for minorities to vote, siding with polluters, overturning abortion rights. Then maybe you’ll join me in saying to the liberal purists: Go fuck yourselves with a locally-grown organic cucumber.”

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/go-fck-yourselves-bill-maher-goes-off-on-liberal-purists-who-didnt-vote-for-clinton/

May 5, 2017

Nazareth - Love Hurts (VIDEO)

May 5, 2017

Ivanka Takes a Selfie at Obamacare Repeal Beer Bash

https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/860310043463483392

May 5, 2017

President Trump arrives at the Intrepid to boos from protesters and chants of "New York hates you!"

Protesters took to the streets in New York on Thursday evening as President Trump returned to his home state for the first time since his inauguration more than three months ago.

"This crowd, although not that big, got very loud," NBC News's Stephanie Gosk reported on MSNBC's "Hardball."

"We're in the hundreds here, probably started around a thousand," she said.

Demonstrators were gathering near the decommissioned USS Intrepid aircraft carrier on Manhattan's West Side, where Trump was slated to speak Thursday evening.

Trump is speaking at the Intrepid museum to honor the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, during which the U.S. and Australian forces fought together against the Japanese in World War II.



http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/332027-protesters-turn-out-for-trumps-new-york-return

May 5, 2017

THIS! is why NO LIBERAL SHOULD EVER SIT OUT ANOTHER ELECTION DAY

https://twitter.com/TVietor08/status/860209068211806209

May 5, 2017

CALIFORNIA: Let's make these seven vulnerable Republicans pay

https://twitter.com/SteveKornacki/status/860204371723857922/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slate.com%2Fblogs%2Fthe_slatest%2F2017%2F05%2F04%2Fthirteen_republicans_from_clinton_districts_voted_yes_on_ahca.html

May 5, 2017

House Republicans drink beer on party bus after voting to repeal Obamacare

Following the narrow House vote in favor of the Obamacare repeal bill, House GOP members were met with protesters while leaving the Capitol. The Republicans didn’t give a shit, however, ’cause they had beer to drink on the party buses headed over to the White House rose garden to hear President Trump praise the virtues of a bill neither he nor most of the members of the House GOP had read.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.deathandtaxesmag.com/328639/house-republicans-drink-beer-on-party-bus-after-voting-to-repeal-obamacare%3Famp%3D1

May 4, 2017

House Republicans planning beer bash to celebrate Obamacare repeal

https://twitter.com/ajjaffe/status/860189985856770048

May 4, 2017

GOP 'giddy' as Obamacare repeal vote nears

Washington (CNN)The mood among House Republicans is jubilant Thursday morning as they prepare to vote for their bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The first test vote easily passed along party lines, with a final vote on the bill expected in the 1 p.m. ET hour on the legislation, would dismantle the pillars of the Affordable Care Act and make sweeping changes to the nation's health care system.

The final vote will be very close, but many Republicans were already in a celebratory mode in a morning meeting in the House basement. The theme song to "Rocky" played as members filed in.


http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/04/politics/health-care-vote/index.html