Broken health-care pledge tests Collins-McConnell relationship

Source: The Hill

BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 12/21/17 06:00 AM EST

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) will be a crucial swing vote for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) next year, but it may be tougher to strike deals with her after McConnell failed to fulfill a pledge on health care.

The moderate senator told reporters this month that she had an “ironclad” commitment from McConnell and Vice President Pence to pass legislation by the end of the year to stabilize ObamaCare premiums. She wanted that assurance before committing her vote for tax reform.

But that vote has now been delayed until January due to opposition from House Republicans.

Collins isn’t accusing McConnell of breaking his pledge, but she is disappointed in the outcome, according to sources familiar with the negotiations on health-care legislation.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/365922-broken-health-care-pledge-tests-collins-mcconnell-relationship

Senator Sanders Blasts GOP Tax Bill: "It's a Disgrace"

From a few hours ago:

Turkish PM calls Rohingya killings in Myanmar 'genocide'

Source: Reuters

DECEMBER 20, 2017 / 10:50 AM

COX‘S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Turkey’s prime minister on Wednesday dubbed the killing of minority Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar by its security forces “genocide” and urged the international community to ensure their safety back home.

Binali Yildirim met several Rohingyas in two refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in neighboring Bangladesh.

Almost 870,000 Rohingya fled there, about 660,000 of whom arrived after Aug. 25, when Rohingya militants attacked security posts and the Myanmar army launched a counter-offensive.

“The Myanmar military has been trying to uproot Rohingya Muslim community from their homeland and for that they persecuted them, set fire to their homes, villages, raped and abused women and killed them,” Yildirim told reporters from Cox’s Bazar, before flying back to Turkey.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-bangladesh-turkey/turkish-pm-calls-rohingya-killings-in-myanmar-genocide-idUSKBN1EE1RL?il=0

Elizabeth Warren: The GOP Tax Bill Is For The Rich, And No One Else (HBO)

2:10 mark

US outnumbered 14 to 1 as it vetoes UN vote on status of Jerusalem

My 10th Post

A Pact With Satan: The Bill Belichick Story

The New England Patriots had lost two Super Bowls before Belichick became their head coach. But the crucial event occurred during that one day he spent as coach of the New York Jets, a position he never had any intention of occupying.

During that day with the Jets, he went into the city and located an Evil Shaman, who connected him to the Devil for a one-on-one consultation, during which Belichick sold his soul in exchange for a guarantee that, while Belichick was their coach, the Pats would never lose a "clutch" game, regular season or playoffs.

"But William," I can hear you say, "what about the two Super Bowl losses to the Giants?" Well, that's where proof that the Forces of Light remain powerful in this world comes from!

Saul Sumeebian was a construction worker who helped build Giants Stadium. He was an ardent NYG fan. More importantly, though, his wife was from New Orleans, and cast a Blessing of Righteousness over the newly-relocated Giants, giving them the ability to always defeat the Powers of Hell. This is exactly why the G-men have defeated the Patriots in both Super Bowls they've played against them.

Now, of necessity, this also means that teams who have, indeed, defeated the Giants in clutch games are not evil, including the 2000 Ravens, with potentially-murderous Ray Lewis on their roster. But what, do I look like a theologian to you???

The smoking gun that proves my statements here are absolute truth is this: Look at the Demon Coach's name again: It ought to be pronounced Belichick, but yet is always pronounced Belichek, as though a tough, blue-collar Eastern European name, rather than a whitebread surname that has "chick" in it, a fact that Beelzebub Bill considered an insult to his bloated sense of masculinity. This was the final stipulation on Belichick's part in order to seal the deal with Satan.

And now you know!