Days 194-199 since Nov 8 2016 election and days 124-129 since Jan 20th inauguration of No45
the rich asshole's Trip Was a Catastrophe for U.S.-Europe Relations
Angela Merkel has served formal notice that she will lead the German wandering away from the American alliance.
BPA Agency via Reuters
· 4:41 PM ET
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Seven years after the end of the Second World War, on the 10th of March 1952, the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the newly established Federal Republic of Germany received an astounding note from the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union offered to withdraw the troops that then occupied eastern Germany and to end its rule over the occupied zone. Germany would be reunited under a constitution that allowed the country freedom to choose its own social system. Germany would even be allowed to rebuild its military, and all Germans except those convicted of war crimes would regain their political rights. In return, the Allied troops in western Germany would also be withdrawn—and reunited Germany would be forbidden to join the new NATO alliance.
Historians have long debated whether the note represented a genuine offer or a cynical ploy. (Current consensus: ploy.) There’s no debate about what happened next. Determined to anchor Germany securely in the Western camp of nations, German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer rebuffed the “Stalin note.” West Germany would enter NATO in 1955, build the European Union, and develop as an Atlanticist liberal democracy. The Soviets did not quit, however. Again and again through the Cold War they would probe for ways to split Germany from the West, and especially from the United States. They probably came closest in the early 1980s, when millions of Germans marched in the streets against NATO nuclear missile deployments. (The 1983 song, “99 Luftballons” is probably now the most enduring memento of that dramatic moment.)
But in the end … it didn’t work. The alliance held. The Soviet bid for dominance collapsed, as did the Soviet Union itself. Germany was reunited on Western terms: liberal and Atlanticist from the Moselle to the Oder. The deft diplomacy of President George H.W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft over-mastered the objections of Moscow—and not just Moscow. “I love Germany so much that I am grateful there are two of them” went a quip usually attributed to the French novelist Francois Mauriac. For many in London and Paris, Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterrand very much included, the quip was no joke. Much of the present malfunctioning architecture of the European Union—including the lethal euro currency—originated in French demands for reassurance that reunification would lead to “a European Germany, not a German Europe.”
Without the United States, German reunification would never have proceeded so smoothly or rapidly. That assistance is still gratefully remembered in Germany. But gratitude cuts only so much ice in international relations. When the U.S. tried to mobilize the European powers to manage the breakup of Yugoslavia, Germany balked at the risk. But it was the George W. Bush-Gerhard Schroeder split over the Iraq war in 2003 that definitively ended German deference to American leadership.
Since then, Germany has deferred less and less to the United States—and walked more and more its own path. Germans cheered candidate Obama in 2008, but German-U.S. relations if anything sank even lower under President Obama than under President Bush. Merkel ignored Obama’s pleas to reflate the German economy after the financial crisis of 2008 and the euro crisis of 2010. The Snowden revelations—including exaggerated claims that the United States had tapped Merkel’s ubiquitous personal cellphone—poisoned the mood even more deeply. In June 2014, Germany took the unprecedented step of expelling the senior U.S. intelligence officer in Berlin, even announcing the action over Twitter. (Never mind that it soon emerged that German intelligence had itself scooped up a Hillary Clinton phone call.) Here’s a link to an RT story gleefully—but accurately —noting that the percentage of Germans expressing trust in the United States had plunged from 76 percent after Obama’s election to 35 percent by 2014. Sixty percent of Germans characterized Edward Snowden as a hero.
Whoever was elected president in 2016 would face quite a challenge renewing and rebuilding the German relationship. the rich asshole has instead done further damage.
Since the war, German politics has been founded on two fundamental commitments: to liberalism at home; to Atlanticism abroad. Only a tiny minority question the first, but a much larger minority doubt the second. Like Americans, the Germans remember the Nazi past. Much more than Americans, the Germans remember that British and American bombers burned the cities of Germany to the ground. Germans have gained voice to speak about their own history—and to express their own emotional distance from partners they no longer need so much as they used to. “We will never be family,” a semi-inebriated German Air Force general once insisted to me at a NATO conference in Tallinn. “Americans, British, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders: You are family. We will never be.” That feeling is reflected in strategic decisions like the German hesitation to join the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing agreement.
some rich asshole is giving permission to U.S.-skeptic elements in Germany.
I offered the following warning in mid-November of last year:
Yet even in the face of all these strains and difficulties, German friends of the United States have retained one clinching argument and decisive asset on their side of the debate: a wide and deep public intuition that people highly critical of the United States were probably animated by extremist and illiberal ideas. So long as the Germans most hostile to the U.S. alliance espoused various shades of fascism and communism, then the mighty German middle would cling determinedly to the U.S. alliance as a bulwark of stability and liberalism.
The election of some rich asshole to the presidency up-ends German political assumptions about the United States, at a time when Germans are already ready to have those assumptions up-ended. …
Ominously, the U.S.-Germany rift coincides with the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union—an exit that will greatly weaken London’s clout versus Berlin. Britain will need to renegotiate access to the EU market; Germany will have power to approve or refuse. The post-1945 vision of a secure and liberal Germany joined in an intimate partnership to the United States and the United Kingdom will fail. In its place: a Germany more distant from its former English-speaking allies, more vulnerable to an aggressive Russia, more polarized and afflicted by extremism in the wake of Merkel’s welcome of almost 2 million Middle Eastern and North African migrants.
Polls show that German confidence in the United States, already lowered under Obama, has collapsed under the rich asshole to a level barely better than Putin’s Russia. Facing elections in the fall—and reassured that she has gained a congenial partner in France’s President Macron—Merkel has served formal notice that she will lead the German wandering away from the American alliance. In a speech before 2,000 people on Sunday, she declared that Europe cannot at this time rely on the U.S. and the U.K. “The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I've experienced that in the last few days,” she said. “We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands.” Notice that she said “Europeans,” not Germans. Notice too that she did not rule out that Europe might rely on the U.S. and U.K. in the future: The door is not closed. But the old order has passed.Join those words to the rich asshole’s ostentatious refusal to endorse NATO’s famous Article 5, the guarantee of mutual defense, at the NATO summit, and it’s hard to imagine that the messaging of the rich asshole’s first trip could have been more perfect for Vladimir Putin if he’d written the script himself.
There’s an effort now to spin words to present this trip as something less than an utter catastrophe for U.S. interests in Europe. National-Security Adviser H.R. McMaster has insisted that President the rich asshole did indeed affirm Article 5. Compare the rich asshole’s words to those of his predecessors, and you can see for yourself how untrue that is. The Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker, went on record to declare that he could not have been more pleased with the trip. If true, that would reflect poorly on Senator Corker’s judgment. I prefer to think that the statement reflects poorly on his candor.
Here’s what’s really true: some rich asshole is doing damage to the deepest and most broadly agreed foreign-policy interests of the United States. He is doing so while people associated with his campaign are under suspicion of colluding with Vladimir Putin’s spy agencies to bring him to office. The situation is both ugly and dangerous. If it’s to be corrected, all Americans—eminent Republicans like Bob Corker above all—must at least correctly name it for what it is.
European Union considering its own nuclear weapons program over fears it cannot rely on the rich asshole’s America
some rich asshole with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's hand (Photo: Screen capture)
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As German Chancellor Angela Merkel floats the notion that Europe cannot rely on the United States in the capacity is has in the past, core U.S. allies are ramping up discussions of a European Union nuclear weapons program—or “Eurodeterrent”—that would place France’s weapons arsenal under a common European command, the New York Times reports.
Though proponents are in the minority on the European continent, the idea is a sign of growing concern that the United States, under President some rich asshole, is not committed to the defense of Europe in the same way his predecessors were.
German Council on Foreign Relations head Jana Puglierin said some senior European officials have “triggered a public debate about this, taking place in newspapers and journals, radio interviews and TV documentaries.”
“That in itself is remarkable,” she added. “I am indeed very astonished that we discuss this at all.”
Foundation for Strategic Research deputy director Bruno Tertrais told the Times he previously would have said, “don’t bother, there’s no story here,” but said such a plan could be enacted provided “a serious loss of trust in the U.S. umbrella.” And, given Britain’s pending departure from the E.U., “the French might feel they have a special responsibility” to protect Europe.
Such a loss in trust may be on the horizon. the rich asshole is just now returning from a trip to a NATO summit, which House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi said “disrespected out closest allies.” He also failed to voice support for NATO’s Article 5, which is the principle of collective defense that guides the alliance. It commits member nations to protect fellow members and was invoked for the first time after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
On Saturday, Chancellor Merkel argued, “the times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days.”
“’We Europeans must take our destiny into our own hands,” she added.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Vipin Narang, who was originally skeptical of a “Eurodeterrent,” acknowledged “there is a logic” to such a plan.
“I never thought we would see this again. I never thought there would actually be this concern,” he said. “You can see where the debate is surfacing from.”
the rich asshole administration unable to fill Justice Department jobs because lawyers are avoiding him ‘like the plague’
some rich asshole (Photo: Screen capture)
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The the rich asshole Administration — already behind in making political appointments — now finds itself unable to fill important jobs connected to the Justice Department because attorneys, mindful of their reputations, want nothing to do with the scandal-plagued White House.
According to Politico, the President’s staffers are are coming up empty when it comes to tracking down legal minds interested in working for the president.
“They were dealing with a pool that had already shrunk and, now, of course, some people will be avoiding it like the plague,” one GOP lawyer who worked in President George W. Bush’s administration told Politico. “The lesser-known folks are wondering if they’re going to take a huge reputational hit if the president of the United States starts tweeting about them. … There’s definitely some poisoning of the well going on in terms of who would take a job at this point.”
At issue: the rich asshole’s abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey — who he also referred to as a “nut job” — and fear of being caught up in the looming Russian scandal that could bring the whole administration down and lead to the rich asshole’s impeachment.
Politico notes that the pool of candidates the White House had to choose from was extraordinarily small to begin with, as many mainstream conservative attorneys signed “Never the rich asshole” pledges prior to the 2016 elections — which could also prove a hindrance since the White House has pushed for appointees to make a “loyalty pledge” to the president.
As it stands now — as the rich asshole enters the fifth month of his presidency — the administration has yet to fill scores of seats on the federal bench and 93 U.S. attorney posts around the country sit empty after the president demanded the immediate resignation of all attorneys appointed by his predecessor, President Barack Obama.
Additionally the the rich asshole administration has also found it difficult to find a replacement for Comey with potential nominees wondering how they’ll last working for a volatile president currently under investigation by the same department.
“It certainly doesn’t help when the stated basis for firing your predecessor is that he was a ‘nut job,’” suggested Paul Rosenzweig, a lawyer who served under President George W. Bush. “I look around at people considering going into the the rich asshole administration and the same names come up for every open job…It’s the same six names for every open job—the people who are both qualified and willing to serve.”
One anonymous the rich asshole adviser said that the hiring problems at the Department of Justice aren’t as bad as they seem and that things are actually worse at the State Department.
“That’s been a bit of a problem for the administration, but not as much at DOJ,” the adviser said. “That’s been a very serious problem over at the State Department. A lot of the conservative foreign policy establishment were ‘Never Trumpers…’ The proportion is much higher at the State Department and the White House.”
The rich asshole Organization Says It's 'Not Practical' to Comply With the Emoluments Clause
The president’s business tells lawmakers it is too difficult to track all its foreign revenue in accordance with constitutional requirements, and it hasn’t asked Congress for a permission slip.
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Now, however, the rich asshole Organization is telling Congress that determining exactly how much of its profits come from foreign governments is simply more trouble than it’s worth.
In response to a document request from the House Oversight Committee, the rich asshole’s company sent a copy of an eight-page pamphlet detailing how it plans to track payments it receives from foreign governments at the firm’s many hotels, golf courses, and restaurants across the globe. But while the rich asshole Organization said it would set aside all money it collects from customers that identify themselves as representing a foreign government, it would not undertake a more intensive effort to determine if a payment would violate the Constitution’s prohibition on public office holders accepting an “emolument” from a foreign state.
“To fully and completely identify all patronage at our Properties by customer type is impractical in the service industry and putting forth a policy that requires all guests to identify themselves would impede upon personal privacy and diminish the guest experience of our brand,” the rich asshole Organization wrote in its policy pamphlet, which the company’s chief compliance officer said had been distributed to general managers and senior officials at all of its properties.
The statement drew an angry response from the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who said the policy “raised grave concerns about the president’s refusal to comply with the Constitution.” In a letter replying to the company, Cummings said it would be easy for a government like Russia to funnel money to the rich asshole Organization through unofficial entities, such as RT, its state-run television station. “Those payments would not be tracked in any way and would be hidden from the American public,” the Democrat wrote.
While the committee’s Republican, Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah, joined Cummings in the original request for documents from the rich asshole Organization, he did not sign the latest missive in response. Chaffetz has announced he will resign from Congress at the end of June. A spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
In a statement accompanying his letter, Cummings said the president had two options if his company could not adequately track payments from foreign governments. One would be to do what Democrats and independent ethics officials have long urged: fully divest from his businesses. Short of that, the rich asshole could submit a proposal to Congress asking for its consent to a different arrangement.
The president has given no indication he intends to do so, and his attorneys have described his decision to donate foreign government profits to the Treasury as voluntary, since they argue the president is not subject to the emoluments clause of other conflicts-of-interest laws governing most federal employees. Ethics experts in both parties, however, have disagreed with that interpretation. “Rep. Cummings is right,” tweeted Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “This is a wholly inadequate response to the president’s constitutional violations.”
‘Pope looks like he’s being held against his will’: The internet goes nuts over the rich asshole’s weird Vatican photos
the rich asshole family meets the pope (AP screen shot/Twitter)
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President some rich asshole and some of his family members met Pope Francis — and social media users couldn’t help but notice the Holy Father didn’t look too happy about it.
the rich asshole appeared grinning in photos with the Pope, whose dour expression never changed, and both first lady Melania the rich asshole and Ivanka the rich asshole wore black veils.
Who died? Oh yes. DEMOCRACY.
Pope stiffens in anticipation of possible lightning strike as he stands near the living embodiment of all that is unholy.#TrumpVatican
@yashar The 30 seconds of Trump forcing a smile and the Pope looking down was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever seen.
is there some reason why ivanka and melania are dressed for a sicilian funeral?
We've got us an archetypal record scratch, freeze frame moment here.
sopranos reboot looks weird
SCOOP: In Private Meeting, Trump Pressured Pope To End Eternal Damnation Probe
Trump: "Also the Pope told me there is no evidence I colluded with Russia."https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/867354520526872576 …
Among the gifts Pope Francis gave President Trump was a copy of Laudato Si', his encyclical on the environment on climate change
Even the people in the painting are disappointed by Donald Trump. https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/867294148180791296 …
In my entire life, I have never once seen the Pope meeting somebody and thought, wow the Pope fucking hates that guy
buddies, like the Two Corinthians
Trump: Why do you keep saying "the power of Christ compels you" and hitting me with water?
Pope: Testing a theory.
Pope: Testing a theory.
I'll totally watch this gritty BBC drama about a corrupt undertaker & his weird goth lackeys locked in a power struggle with a rural priest
Pope: God commands us to serve the poor
Trump: Have you seen the Electoral College map?
Pope: And to preserve the Earth
Trump: Red means...
Trump: Have you seen the Electoral College map?
Pope: And to preserve the Earth
Trump: Red means...
"I'm getting too antiquus for this excrementum"
Pope: "You touched the orb, didn't you?"
"I don't feed my husband anything," Melania replied.
"He dines on the pain of others, salted by tears of children."http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/pope-francis-jokingly-asks-lady-feeds-trump-article-1.3191700 …
"He dines on the pain of others, salted by tears of children."http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/pope-francis-jokingly-asks-lady-feeds-trump-article-1.3191700 …
Pope Francis jokingly asks First Lady what she feeds Trump
Pope's face when he found out he has to hear Trump's confession.
Pope to Trump: “When you’re a Pope, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the feet. You can just wash them.”
fun to think about how conservative catholic groups would have reacted to the pope reacting to Obama the same way he did to Trump
Why the Pope look like he is being held against his will? https://twitter.com/abc/status/867268476552990720 …
@FeministaJones Pope John Paul II looked happier meeting with the man who'd shot him than Pope Francis does meeting with Donald Trump.
Even Pope Francis doesn't want to meet with Trump
tfw you touched the orb and now not even the pope can stop you
TRUMP: Isn't this nice? We're like 2 Corinthians. You soft on divorce? Vatican got Fox News? You got an orb I can touch?
POPE: You're fired.
POPE: You're fired.
Things done changed.
"The Aristocrats!"
MAY 23 2017, 5:35 PM ET
some rich asshole’s Budget Breaks These 7 Campaign Promises
When the White House officially unveiled its 2018 budget Tuesday, President some rich asshole's budget director took pains to insist that the blueprint represents campaign promises kept.
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said that the president is making good on his vow to save Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, among other things, and said that they are not kicking anyone off who needs the programs.
Yet deep cuts to many aspects of the American safety net indicate otherwise.
Here's where the president's proposal breaks his promises — and at times his own self-proposed contract — to voters.
the rich asshole's budget would cut Medicaid by a lot, despite the president telling the Daily Signal days before launching his White House bid, "I'm not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I'm not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid."
The administration proposes reducing spending on Medicaid programs by more than $600 billion over the next decade, a massive cut that appears to go on top of $839 billion in Medicaid cuts included in the House health care bill the rich asshole is supporting.
Mulvaney insists that the proposed reduction in spending isn't a cut — it's simply growing less than the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office expects the needs of the program to be.
"There are no Medicaid cuts in terms of what normal human beings would call cuts, we are not spending less money than we did the year before," Mulvaney said.
the rich asshole's budget proposes slashing the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), a $31.4 billion change to the program that pays monthly benefits to over 10 million disabled individuals under the retirement age.
Mulvaney argued that SSDI isn't "what most people would consider to be Social Security" and said he would "hope" less people receive the program once they remove individuals who "should not" be getting it. It's unclear how the administration determined there is that much fraud in the system.
The president promised to fully fund a border wall, with plans to make Mexico pay for it later, in his "Contract With the American Voter." The president's budget would allocate $2.6 billion for planning, designing, and constructing the border wall and its surrounding securities, but Republican leaders estimate the wall could cost as much as $15 billion.
"While we did not get as much money as we wanted for 2017 omnibus we did get a lot," Mulvaney said. "We are going to continue to press on."
This is another contract promise. the rich asshole's administration has tried to restrict funding to so-called "sanctuary" cities — jurisdiction that don't enforce federal immigration priorities and cooperate fully with federal authorities — but their efforts were halted by the courts.
This budget doesn't include any kind of limit on federal funding, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions narrowed the scope of the rich asshole's executive order on the issue in a memo Monday.
the rich asshole's budget would increase funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs, but the budget proposal doesn't appear to focus money on PTSD or mental health issues.
It would, however, slash $3.2 billion from the "individual unemployability" benefit, which the budget says will be "modernized." The program allows the VA to more fully compensate disabled veterans, including those with PTSD, whose disability renders them unemployable.
the rich asshole promised resources for training in his voter contract, as well. This budget aims to increase funding for more border agents and immigration judges, increased immigrant detentions, and fighting the opioid crisis, but it does not earmark additional funds for training police.
Barring the kind of hyperbolic growth the rich asshole has promised and economists have disputed, the rich asshole's budget would do little to combat the national debt. Rather, it would potentially increase it.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment for this story
Saudis gave the U.S. $360b in deals. Now they want the rich asshole to rescind 9/11 lawsuit law.
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RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA
President some rich asshole struck a series of deals with Saudi Arabia on his two-day visit but the kingdom is still anxiously waiting for him to deliver on something else: the repeal of a contentious 2016 law that allows relatives of 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom for their deaths.
Saudi officials have been quietly lobbying the administration and Congress to overturn theJustice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which led more than 800 families to file suit in New York in March.
The problem: the rich asshole supported the bill and can’t do much to change it even if he wanted to. Still, Saudis are convinced the man they consider the ultimate salesman will make a deal.
“Do you think he will agree after all these activities we are doing for him?” askedAbdulnasser Gharem, a well-known Saudi artist who went to high school with two of the 9/11 hijackers in his hometown of Namas. Altogether, 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.
PRESIDENT SOME RICH ASSHOLE DEPARTED SAUDI ARABIA ON MONDAY FOR ISRAEL. HIS NINE-DAY MAIDEN FOREIGN TRIP ALSO COMPRISES STOPS AT THE VATICAN, BRUSSELS AND SICILY.
the rich asshole was welcomed like a member of the royal family in Riyadh over the weekend as he looked to restore relations with the country, which had soured during his predecessor’s tenure.
He was welcomed at the airport with a long red carpet, booming cannons and seven Saudi jets that flew overhead in V-formation, trailing red, white and blue smoke. A large image of the rich asshole was beamed onto the exterior of his posh hotel. He even received the gold medallion, known as the King Abdul Aziz Collar, considered the kingdom’s highest honor.
Gharem, who has incorporated the 9/11 attacks into his artwork – he says he’s forbidden from showing it in Saudi Arabia – said Saudis, too, had suffered.
“We were the same; we were victims. Someone like me in the middle of nowhere was affected by what happened in New York, but no one was listening to us,” he said during an interview at his Riyadh studio.
I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT. WE WERE IN THE SAME CLASS. WE GOT THE SAME KNOWLEDGE. WE HAD THE SAME CONDITION, THE SAME ENVIRONMENT. HOW WASN’T IT ME? WHY IT WASN’T ME?
Saudi artist Abdulnasser Gharem, who went to high school with two of the 9/11 hijackers
U.S. and Saudi officials did not raise the issue publicly during the rich asshole’s visit, the first stop on the first foreign trip of his presidency, and White House and National Security Council staff declined to comment on the issue. A Saudi official downplayed the topic, saying the kingdom had many pressing issues to discuss with U.S. officials, including the war in Syria, threats from nearby Iran and the civil war in Yemen.
But Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Khalid al Falih, said in an interview in March that his nation believed that the new administration and Congress would eventually reverse course, and others here see it as a major source of conflict.
“If the rich asshole supports the JASTA, he will lose the relationship with Saudi Arabia,” Mohammed Alhamza, a social researcher and writer, said bluntly through a translator during an interview in his Riyadh home, reflecting a view heard widely among Saudis.
“Do you expect the rich asshole will pass JASTA after (billions of) Saudi riyals went to the United States?”Alhamza asked, a reference to a series of agreements the rich asshole and Saudi King Salman had signed totaling $360 billion in weapons sales and economic development.
Like many Saudis, Alhamza thinks someone else helped the hijackers commit their sophisticated attacks and he is angry about a law he said was passed with no evidence that his nation was to blame and that could hurt his country economically.
The Saudi hijackers lived in Florida, California, Virginia and New Jersey before the attacks. All of them died in the worst terrorist attack in history, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
the rich asshole, however, has little incentive to revisit the law, which is popular with his supporters who want someone punished for the terrorist attack. He’s lost leverage on Capitol Hill, even with members of his own party, as the White House remains embroiled in investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the presidential election.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article152029102.html#storylink=cpy
White House Claims the rich asshole Was Too ‘Exhausted’ To Say ‘Radical Islam’ In His Speech
Once upon a time, during a dumpster fire campaign, some rich asshole criticized President Obama and Hillary Clinton for not saying the words “radical Islam” when referring to ISIS and other extremist groups. “I am going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,” the rich asshole said at a rally in Ocala, Fla., in October, adding that Clinton “won’t even use the term.” Remember that? According to Donny, it really mattered a whole bunch that leaders refer to ISIS that way because some reasons and stuff that he, and other Republicans, could never really explain. Fast forward to the rich asshole’s first speech to Muslim leaders and….wait for it….he said:
That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamic extremism, and the Islamists and Islamic terror of all kinds. And it means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews and the slaughter of Christians.
Interesting! President the rich asshole didn’t utter the phrase that he thought was super important. Of course, the White House was asked why the president decided to Obama his speech and the response from one senior official is as hilarious as you’d expect:
He’s just an exhausted guy.
LOL, what? He was so tired he forgot to say words that he thinks proves he’s manly and against terrorism? How is that even possible?
It’s not. He’s just a liar who fed his supporters a bunch of bullshit while running for office and never had any intention of following through. Every single thing that comes out of his mouth is nonsense. He has to be the most corrupt and dishonest president we have ever had and the fact that his administration actually thought people would by that ridiculous excuse is insulting. But, it won’t matter; after all, he did say his supporters were “poorly educated” and would love him even if he stood in the middle of the road and shot someone. Sadly, he’s right.
the rich asshole Might Be About To Viciously Sabotage Healthcare, All To Try And Blame Obama (DETAILS)
We all know that President some rich asshole has wanted to blow up the “disaster’ that is Obamacare for months now, however, his latest vision of bringing better healthcare to the people of America will actually stop billions of dollars in payments to health insurance companies that serve the poorest enrollees in the Affordable Care Act.
If the President stops these payments, the entire health insurance system will be thrown into complete chaos, resulting in higher prices and fewer choices, if any, for consumers. Insurance companies would most likely increase the premiums of people using exchanges such as HealthCare.gov and Covered California, or stop selling to them altogether. Without the rich asshole’s payments, this aspect of healthcare will simply fall apart under his watch.
The main issue behind all of this are cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments, reimbursements to health insurance companies made in order to reduce out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and copayments for low-income customers. The House of Republicans filed a lawsuit in 2014, which is still pending, against the Obama administration questioning the legality of these payments. According to one White House official, the rich asshole administration has agreed to make the CSR payment for the month of May, but has made no commitment after that. As some rich asshole himself said about the healthcare system in January during a pre-inauguration speech, “The easiest thing would be to let it implode in ’17 and believe me, we’d get pretty much whatever we wanted.”
In the rich asshole’s unhinged mind, ending what he has referred to as these “bailout payments” would force democrats to negotiate repealing the Affordable Care Act, however, they don’t seem too keen on doing so, nor do the majority of the American people, with 60 percent stating that they don’t approve of negotiations that disrupt insurance markets according to a survey conducted last month by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Three-quarters of those surveyed also believe the ACA should be kept running and two-thirds, including a majority of Republicans, believe that the repercussions of any further problems stemming from changes to healthcare in the USA sit squarely on President the rich asshole’s shoulders.
Still, the President continues to ignore any advice given to him and remains in favor of cutting the payments. To be eligible for the cost reduction, enrollees in exchanges can earn up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level, which equals $30,015 per person. With the CSR payments being made by the government, deductibles of thousands of dollars are reduced to just hundreds for the consumer, a subsidy that has been received by seven million people between November 1, 2017, and January 31 this year, equating to 58 percent of exchange enrollees.
Without the rich asshole administration making these CSR payments, insurers would need toraise premiums by an average of 19 percent on top of any other price increases next year.
