Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:26 pm

This is one of the worst things I have ever watched.

2 pages?!

Christ, this feeds Trump's supporters and their theories of a media persecuting them.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:31 pm

The big scandal revealed by Rachel Maddow and this bearded guy...

Trump is rich.

It's Al Capone's Vault Part 2.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:02 pm

with enemies like this, who needs friends

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:13 pm

I guess the only takeaway is how fast Trump released his tax return ahead of her doing it, thereby showing how bullshit his audit truly is?

Or maybe that if there's this small a leak, a bigger leak will follow?

Also, the internet is buzzing with this:

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:25 pm

Steve of phpBB wrote:
mister d wrote:
Steve of phpBB wrote:Think of it this way - when you read an article talking about how gloves cost a hundred bucks, or how much an MRI costs, or the latest insane price increase for a drug, think of who is paying for that - it's usually health insurers. Based on articles I have read over the years, their profit margins are in the range of 5-10%. That is not that high. Their executives make millions, of course, but that is because executives in every big business make millions. They have no more shame than anyone else.
Where does it stop being as simple as "I could either sell you a penis drawing for $5 or I could sell it to BSF for $5 and he can sell it to you for $8"? Like the middleman is here and making 5-10% profit, but on what overall gains or efficiencies?
I think health insurers do a couple different things that make that example inapplicable. The first is to spread risks/losses. Instead of having to pay you for $50,000 for a penis drawing, we can each pay $1000 to the insurer and the insurer pays for all the penis drawings we need that year.

The other thing they do is use market power to get a better deal than you would individually. Just like there is a discount insurance rate at a body shop, the rates charged to insurers are discounted compared to what you would get on your own.

When I was in that bike wreck in 2009, the sticker price on my hospital bills was $80,000. But my health insurance company only had to pay $28,000. If I was on my own, I probably could have gotten discounts off the sticker price, but I don't know if I would have gotten a 65% discount.

The other efficiency or convenience they add is by setting up networks to buy from. I wasn't really in a position to shop around for emergency rooms or compare prices or services. The health insurance had already done that. The buyers from the insurers are in a better position to know the market for emergency room services than most average schmoes are.

So it's not selling a penis drawing for $5 which is then resold for $8. You may like the penis drawing enough to pay $8, but the insurer knows the market and has the negotiating power to get the drawing for only $3, which it then resells to you for $4.

So then the question becomes whether the net benefits insurers add are outweighed by the inefficiency of having a middleman. On that, I have no real idea.

OTOH, medical providers grossly inflate charges knowing the insurance companies will only pay 30% (or whatever) of the bill. Hospitals have to grossly overcharge for everything to make up for all of the uninsured people they treat who are unable to pay. If you got rid of the insurance industry, the charges would drastically reduce immediately. If a patient is uninsured and paying cash, a medical provider won't charge them the same rate they submit to the insurance company. As an example, I went to a doctor who charged $400 to my insurance. When I switched insurance, she wasn't covered, and charged $150. If you go in and negotiate a hospital bill, they will always knock down charges.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:51 pm

Right, in a "socialist" system, none of those hypotheticals bear out. That's the US version of why we need insurance companies for some of our benefit, no? Like all of that is based on a hierarchy of healthcare and the need for everyone to not have the same generic access that something like education provides.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 10:04 pm

America is three things simultaneously.

Married to the profit motive. Entitled. Sue happy.

It's why we can't have nice things.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:50 am

Johnnie wrote:America is three things simultaneously.

Married to the profit motive. Entitled. Sue happy.

It's why we can't have nice things.

Angry seems to fit as well.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 7:07 am

Pruitt wrote:
Johnnie wrote:America is three things simultaneously.

Married to the profit motive. Entitled. Sue happy.

It's why we can't have nice things.
Angry seems to fit as well.

I agree with that.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:55 am

Snoop got him mad:

It's over the mock shooting in this video:

https://youtu.be/7mKezG03MpA

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:22 am

Well, trump does kind of have a point.

Just another sign of how low the level of discourse has sunk.

duff · Post by **duff** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:39 am

So Trump is admitting that he is a clown?

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:40 am

Pruitt wrote:Well, trump does kind of have a point.

Yeahyeahyeah. But the "Jail time!" statement just bugs me. As if he's either being magnanimous by not having Snoop arrested, or BO was a delicate snowflake who would have called in the Secret Service over a goof.

duff · Post by **duff** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:44 am

And I am sure we could search and find different videos of 'famous' people hanging BO and other images that were much worse than a bang flag.

Post by **Sabo** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:00 am

Nothing to see here, move along.

Department of Justice charging Russian spies and criminal hackers in Yahoo intrustion

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:30 am

rass wrote:
Pruitt wrote:Well, trump does kind of have a point.
Yeahyeahyeah. But the "Jail time!" statement just bugs me. As if he's either being magnanimous by not having Snoop arrested, or BO was a delicate snowflake who would have called in the Secret Service over a goof.

Eminem was investigated over a rap lyric back in '03.

Secret Service would probably go about an investigation independently if they felt there was a credible threat. Snoop's overall point according to a statement yesterday was there's far more substantial bullshit and damaging things by Trump himself than a music video mocking him getting shot.

Little Marco responded to Snoop. I await Snoop's response back to him.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:47 am

duff wrote:And I am sure we could search and find different videos of 'famous' people hanging BO and other images that were much worse than a bang flag.

Oh I know.

It's all rather disgusting and disheartening. It's a race to the gutter - ad for the first time the President seems to be winning.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:26 am

AZ claimed, without evidence, that Pataki had "all kinds of undercovers coming at (him)" and the governor's office didn't even respond. Times have changed.

Post by **Shirley** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:45 am

That Snoop song is just terrible. 1992 was a long time ago.

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:47 am

duff wrote:And I am sure we could search and find different videos of 'famous' people hanging BO and other images that were much worse than a bang flag.

I'm pretty sure I remember Ted Nugent, on stage, with a machine gun, telling Obama to "suck on this".

Ah, here it is:

Ted Nugent -- the proud gun-owner, poorly coiffed Michigander, and washed-up rocker -- has said some silly and offensive things in the past, and not just while performing "Cat Scratch Fever." In 2007, he said the following during a concert: "Obama, he's a piece of shit. I told him to suck on my machine gun. Hey Hillary [Clinton], you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch."

And he still is free to walk the earth...

Post by **brian** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:48 am

Didn't like it when Nugent did it and not a fan of Snoop Dogg doing it. Two wrongs not making a right and all that.

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:59 am

brian wrote:Didn't like it when Nugent did it and not a fan of Snoop Dogg doing it. Two wrongs not making a right and all that.

I mean, I can respect your opinion and all that..but it's not just about replacing your divots. Your opponent is subtracting strokes from his scorecard.

It's 2017. It's time to bring the bigger weapon to the fight, and let facts be discovered after the fact when the books get written.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:57 pm

Shirley wrote:That Snoop song is just terrible. 1992 was a long time ago.

Snoop has been really uncool (and unfunny) for far, far longer than he was cool. Total legacy play at this point.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:02 pm

Also, has anyone addressed what the hell Maddow was doing actually releasing that tax form? 25% effective rate is pretty huge relatively speaking unless she was thinking people are too dumb to know rich people pay well under the bracket rate. Seemed stupid all around.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:09 pm

mister d wrote:Also, has anyone addressed what the hell Maddow was doing actually releasing that tax form? 25% effective rate is pretty huge relatively speaking unless she was thinking people are too dumb to know rich people pay well under the bracket rate. Seemed stupid all around.

It seemed like she had never seen the papers until she was on the air. Seemed like some pretty nervous ad-libbing as she read the numbers. As soon as she held them up and said that she had the "two pages" you knew that it was going to be a disaster.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:09 pm

spitballing here, but ratings and attention?

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:13 pm

Ratings, sure, but there should be some long-term damage done here. If she supposed to be one of the smarter critics, shouldn't she have some idea what is and isn't a damning effective tax rate?

(And infinitely more so when the long standing rumor for Trump has been "0%"? Like if someone said "Trump's personal income tax return for 2005 only was leaked and he paid 25%", would you really guess "not Fox News" for who leaked just that singular year?)

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:23 pm

Trump played her. Hard.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:25 pm

I don't watch a ton outside of election night coverage, but I would have guessed her towards the end of the list of someone who would have done that. She seemed actually smart.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 2:05 pm

The twitter account and public statements emanating from the executive branch are magician's patter.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:26 pm

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 4:59 pm

Brontoburglar wrote:

Oh damn! Is that treason?

Post by **Shirley** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:22 pm

Just idiots all around. Both sides.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:27 pm

It's just weird seeing a POTUS rolling around in the twitter mud along with the other mudders.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 6:15 pm

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 7:46 am

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:35 am

But he gets great reviews.

Jesus.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:20 am

Is this a typical Republican budget or has it gone further?

On Thursday, the Trump administration released a preliminary 2018 budget proposal, which details many of the changes the president wants to make to the federal government’s spending. The proposal covers only discretionary, not mandatory, spending..

To pay for an increase in defense spending, a down payment on the border wall and school voucher programs, among other things, funding was cut from the discretionary budgets of other executive departments and agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department and the Agriculture Department took the hardest hits. The proposal also eliminates funding for these 19 agencies.

African Development Foundation
Appalachian Regional Commission
Chemical Safety Board
Corporation for National and Community Service
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Delta Regional Authority
Denali Commission
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Inter-American Foundation
U.S. Trade and Development Agency
Legal Services Corporation
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
Northern Border Regional Commission
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
U.S. Institute of Peace
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

P.D.X. · Post by **P.D.X.** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:29 am

What do those account for? 0.1% of the budget? It's all bullshit.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:44 am

You could probably replace the funding for all those agencies by having Melania move from NY into the White House or by otherwise having all the Trumps reduce their Secret Service-related expenses.