After meeting with pharma lobbyists, Trump drops promise to negotiate drug prices



http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/31/14453740/trump-medicare-prescription-drugs

A lot happened in the 2016 campaign, but one of the things Donald Trump did to win the election was shift to the left on a number of key issues — promising to avoid cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits and adopting a longstanding Democratic pledge to let Medicare negotiate bulk discounts in the price it pays for prescription drugs.

Today, after a meeting with pharmaceutical industry lobbyists and executives, he abandoned that pledge, referring to an idea he supported as recently as three weeks ago as a form of “price fixing” that would hurt “smaller, younger companies.” Instead of getting tough, Trump’s new plan is that he’s “going to be lowering taxes” and “getting rid of regulations.”

New drugs are generally covered by patent monopolies, so drug companies have a lot of pricing power; other companies can’t produce the same drug without paying royalties, so there’s little competition. But most countries use their nationalized health care systems to negotiate a good deal on drug prices. Manufacturing pills is cheap, so it’s usually still profitable for a company to sell medicine at a pretty steep discount.

The United States doesn’t have a nationalized health care system, but we do have Medicare for senior citizens, and since the USA is a very large country, that’s still a huge potential bulk purchaser. But a 2003 law written by congressional Republicans and signed by George W. Bush prohibits the federal government from using that negotiating power.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday insisted that Democrats had a responsibility to confirm any “qualified” Supreme Court nominee even though Senate Republicans had refused to hold hearings for President Barack Obama’s nominee.

“The default is if you are generally qualified and not extreme you are confirmed,” Spicer told reporters ahead of the Tuesday night announcement of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

One reporter pointed out that Republicans had not followed that standard after Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland.

“There’s never been a situation in which you had a fourth term, someone that late in an election cycle,” Spicer opined. “That had never occurred before. And I think the Senate Republicans were very clear that we should wait and let the voters have a choice. And that’s exactly what happened.”

In fact, Obama nominated Garland in the fourth year of his second term, 10 months prior to the election.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/sean-spicer-merrick-garlands-supreme-court-snub-is-different-because-it-was-obamas-fourth-term/

Group leaks White House staffers’ direct phone numbers after Trump kills Obama’s feedback line



http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/group-leaks-white-house-staffers-direct-phone-numbers-after-trump-kills-obamas-feedback-line/

President Donald Trump’s White House has made it nearly impossible for his constituents, the people of the United States of America, to offer feedback over his actions.

The White House used to have a public comment line that individuals could call to speak with a staffer about everything former President Barack Obama did in his eight years to cause some outrage. But Trump, not a fan of bad reviews, has taken that down.

An anonymous group of citizens has found a way around Trump’s closed comment line — or rather, they have taken the time to dig up all the direct phone numbers to reach staff at the White House.

The group set up a website called “White House Comment Line” where it has listed all the numbers to reach White House staff, and a guide as to what you should say when you call, who will answer your call, and other questions you might have.

‘Waste of my f*cking time’: Hot mic at GOP press conference catches griping as Paul Ryan walks away

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/waste-of-my-fcking-time-hot-mic-at-gop-press-conference-catches-griping-as-paul-ryan-walks-away/



House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) concluded the press conference on Tuesday by answering a question about whether President Donald Trump excluded Republican lawmakers from his executive order banning travel from seven majority-Muslim countries.

“We were briefed on the contents of it as it was being rolled out,” Ryan admitted. “Clearly, none of us want to see people with green cards get implicated in this. And that’s not the goal here.”

As Ryan, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and other GOP leaders walked past the podium to exit the briefing room, someone could be heard griping about the press conference.

“Waste of my fucking time,” the person uttered under his breath.

Trump Is Treating His Supreme Court Decision Like ‘Celebrity Apprentice’

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-scotus-celebrity-apprentice_us_5890cdfbe4b0522c7d3d715d?9f4hm80e4g8tfn7b9&



In a move that should surprise no one, President Donald Trump is reportedly bringing the two reported finalists for Justice Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court seat to Washington to create a sense of intrigue ahead of Tuesday’s primetime reveal.

Or “to build suspense,” as CNN’s Pamela Brown put it in her report on Tuesday.

“This is all an extraordinary measure ... to keep the selection private ahead of tonight’s announcement,” Brown said of what increasingly looks like a piece of political theater.

Finalists Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman ― both of whom are highly respected in conservative circles ― are either in Washington or en route for the 8 p.m. announcement, according to CNN. Trump has already said he’s made his choice. So is the purpose of this arrangement to give the president one last sit-down with the nominee just to make sure?

Under normal circumstances, a president’s choice for the Supreme Court is shrouded in secrecy. The chief executive meets with the candidates in the days leading up to the nomination and may not make a decision until moments before the announcement.

Senate Democrats Boycott Key Votes On 2 Top Trump Nominees
Republicans don’t have the quorum needed to move forward.
01/31/2017 10:44 am ET | Updated 32 minutes ago

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/senate-democrats-boycott_us_5890ae26e4b0c90eff001c3c?

WASHINGTON ― Senate Democrats deployed a dramatic eleventh-hour maneuver to deny committee votes to two of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks Tuesday, arguing that those nominees had lied to them.

Senators on the Finance Committee were set to vote on Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin to lead the Treasury Department. But on Tuesday morning, they simply didn’t show up for the votes, denying Republicans the quorum they needed to move forward toward confirmation. At least one Democrat needs to be present for the vote to happen.

Explaining the boycott, Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said the two nominees “misled the public and held back important information about their backgrounds.”

With their plans to quickly confirm Trump’s nominees upended, Senate Republicans were outraged, suggesting even that they’d consider changing committee rules to eliminate the need for a minority member to be present.

Asia Co-Founder and King Crimson Vet John Wetton Dead at 67



http://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-wetton-dies/

John Wetton, the bassist and frontman for Asia as well as a former member of King Crimson and U.K., has died at the age of 67 after a battle with cancer.

Wetton first came to rock fans’ attention in 1972 when he joined a revamped King Crimson lineup, sticking with the group over a two-year span that included the records Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black, and Red. Upon Crimson’s temporary disbandment, he served stints with Roxy Music and Uriah Heep before co-founding U.K. with Yes vet Bill Bruford and embarking on a solo career.

All that early success, however, was just a warmup for the multi-platinum frenzy that surrounded his next project. With A&R legend John Kalodner acting as musical matchmaker, Wetton joined up with former Yes members Geoff Downes and Steve Howe and ex-Emerson, Lake & Palmer drummer Carl Palmer to form Asia — a so-called prog supergroup whose self-titled debut topped the charts in the U.S. on its way to more than four million in sales.

Asia’s quick start presaged a turbulent period for the original lineup, as they struggled to maintain their momentum, temporarily parted ways with Wetton, and ultimately disbanded following 1985’s little-heard Astra LP. A late ’80s reunion ended with Wetton departing to resume his solo career, while Downes soldiered on with a new version of the group that persisted throughout the ’90s and early aughts.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/pastor-flees-naked-and-afraid-begs-forgiveness-for-tryst/394897072



According to a Tallahassee Police report, officers went to the Sienna Square apartments on Capital Circle Northeast in the middle of the afternoon of Jan. 17 after a woman called to report that her husband was angry and had a handgun after he encountered his wife and Simmons having sex in the daughter's bedroom. The man came home early after the school called him to pick up his sick son. The school had tried unsuccessfully to reach the wife.

According to the woman, Simmons came over to discuss starting a business and providing less fortunate kids with clothes and shoes, but they ended up in bed together. The woman told police she and Simmons began “establishing a relationship” last October.

After the husband interrupted the tryst, he yelled, "I'm gonna kill him," and ran to the master bedroom for his handgun; Simmons fled the apartment naked and hid behind a nearby fence.

The wife then called the police and her husband left with Simmons' clothes, wallet and car keys, which he threatened to drop off at the church. He also threatened to expose Simmons on Facebook.