Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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- Pruitt
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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.
2 pages?!
Christ, this feeds Trump's supporters and their theories of a media persecuting them.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
- Pruitt
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
The big scandal revealed by Rachel Maddow and this bearded guy...
Trump is rich.
It's Al Capone's Vault Part 2.
Trump is rich.
It's Al Capone's Vault Part 2.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
with enemies like this, who needs friends
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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:
Or maybe that if there's this small a leak, a bigger leak will follow?
Also, the internet is buzzing with this:
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
- The Sybian
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
Steve of phpBB wrote: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.mister d wrote: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?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.
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.
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
-Pruitt
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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.
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
America is three things simultaneously.
Married to the profit motive. Entitled. Sue happy.
It's why we can't have nice things.
Married to the profit motive. Entitled. Sue happy.
It's why we can't have nice things.
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
- Pruitt
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
Angry seems to fit as well.Johnnie wrote:America is three things simultaneously.
Married to the profit motive. Entitled. Sue happy.
It's why we can't have nice things.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
I agree with that.Pruitt wrote:Angry seems to fit as well.Johnnie wrote:America is three things simultaneously.
Married to the profit motive. Entitled. Sue happy.
It's why we can't have nice things.
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
- Pruitt
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
Well, trump does kind of have a point.
Just another sign of how low the level of discourse has sunk.
Just another sign of how low the level of discourse has sunk.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
So Trump is admitting that he is a clown?
To quote both Bruce Prichard and Tony Schiavone, "Fuck Duff Meltzer."
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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.Pruitt wrote:Well, trump does kind of have a point.
I felt aswirl with warm secretions.
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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.
To quote both Bruce Prichard and Tony Schiavone, "Fuck Duff Meltzer."
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
Nothing to see here, move along.
Department of Justice charging Russian spies and criminal hackers in Yahoo intrustion
Department of Justice charging Russian spies and criminal hackers in Yahoo intrustion
THERE’S NOWT WRONG WITH GALA LUNCHEONS, LAD!
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
Eminem was investigated over a rap lyric back in '03.rass wrote: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.Pruitt wrote:Well, trump does kind of have a point.
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.
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
- Pruitt
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
Oh I know.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.
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.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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.
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
That Snoop song is just terrible. 1992 was a long time ago.
Totally Kafkaesque
- DaveInSeattle
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
I'm pretty sure I remember Ted Nugent, on stage, with a machine gun, telling Obama to "suck on this".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.
Ah, here it is:
And he still is free to walk the earth...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."
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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.
Bandwagon fan of the 2023 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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.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.
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.
Noli Timere Messorem
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
Snoop has been really uncool (and unfunny) for far, far longer than he was cool. Total legacy play at this point.Shirley wrote:That Snoop song is just terrible. 1992 was a long time ago.
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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.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.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
spitballing here, but ratings and attention?
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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?)
(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?)
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
The twitter account and public statements emanating from the executive branch are magician's patter.
“The running, the jumping... a celebration of life.”
- Brontoburglar
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
"We're not the smartest people in the world. We go down the straightaway and turn left. That's literally what we do." -- Clint Bowyer
- Pruitt
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
Oh damn! Is that treason?Brontoburglar wrote:
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
It's just weird seeing a POTUS rolling around in the twitter mud along with the other mudders.
"What a bunch of pedantic pricks." - sybian
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
"What a bunch of pedantic pricks." - sybian
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
I felt aswirl with warm secretions.
- Pruitt
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
But he gets great reviews.
Jesus.
Jesus.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
- degenerasian
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Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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
Kung Fu movies are like porn. There's 1 on 1, then 2 on 1, then a group scene..
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
What do those account for? 0.1% of the budget? It's all bullshit.
Re: Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...
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.
"What a bunch of pedantic pricks." - sybian