Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Donald Trump appoints an ardent anti-Obamacare Congressman as his Secretary of Health, and seems determined to adopt an anti-climate change platform. And so it begins.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:

President-elect Donald Trump has selected Georgia Rep. Tom Price, a leading critic of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care law, to head the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a person familiar with the decision. 

If confirmed by the Senate, Price will play a central role in Republican efforts to repeal and replace the current health care law. Trump has pledged to move quickly on overhauling the landmark measure, but has been vague about what he hopes to see in a replacement bill. 

The president-elect has said he favors keeping provisions that allow young people to stay on their parents' health insurance and that prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.

That last part will of course be impossible if Trump does away with the insurance mandate, but hey that's the kind of attention to detail that he and his followers simply cannot be bothered with.

Really all you need to know about Congressman Price is that this guy is over he moon at his appointment.
Yeah if Paul "Let's kill Medicare" Ryan is for putting this guy in charge of HHS, then you know he should NEVER be put in charge of HHS.

But hey, that is not even the worst news coming out of the Trump transition team.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Trump is appointing countless climate science deniers to key positions, which tells you vastly more about what he believes and what he’ll do than his latest semi-coherent ramblings. As I wrote last week, Trump’s repetition of the phrase “open mind” during his Times interview was meant to distract from his constant repetition of long-debunked denier talking points. 

Priebus confirmed Trump wasn’t being forthright with the Times, telling Wallace, “As far as this issue on climate change — the only thing he [Trump] was saying after being asked a few questions about it is, look, he’ll have an open mind about it but he has his default position, which most of it is a bunch of bunk, but he’ll have an open mind and listen to people.”

You know having an "open mind"  and a "default position" are two mutually exclusive ideas.

Climate change is no longer something that somebody should have to maintain an "open mind" about. It is clearly here, and it is clearly already causing devastation all around he planet.

The fact that Donald Trump is still clumsily finding his way around these topics is just another indication that he is chronically unfit for this job, and a signal to the rest of the world that America is no longer a country on which they can rely for guidance and assistance in dealing with the vast number of problems facing us all.

44 comments:

  1. He's putting Mitch McConnell's wife in charge of Transportation.

    At least she has had some experience under H.W. Bush.

    What is it with him choosing people from Reagan and H.W.?

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/elaine-chao-transportation-trump_us_583da3f9e4b06539a78a6c47

    Chao and Romney, if he chooses Romney, may be the youngest cabinet members. He's going to be constantly replacing them as they die off.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous2:31 PM

      They can't die off soon enough for me.

      Delete
  2. I guess now we know Trump dismissed everything that "Kenyan usurper" advised him.

    "President-elect Donald Trump will name an ultra-conservative surgeon, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), to run the Department of Health and Human Services.

    The choice, which Trump’s transition team announced on Tuesday morning, would appear to signal Trump’s determination to proceed with a major overhaul of federal health care programs ― including not just Obamacare, which Republicans have sworn to repeal, but also Medicare and Medicaid."

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-price-hhs-obamacare_us_583d0444e4b06539a78a3d45?8b6hwwig4vl323xr

    "Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), a potential pick for secretary of Health and Human Services, has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights. If President-elect Donald Trump nominates him, or someone like him, advocates fear the new administration will undermine important protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.

    “Price’s hateful record on LGBTQ issues shows that he lacks an understanding of basic human rights and dignity,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy organization. That record renders him “completely unfit for secretary of Health and Human Services,” she added."

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-health-and-human-services-lgbtq_us_5834a2e7e4b09b6055ff4bb6

    ReplyDelete
  3. There are days when I am glad that I'm 65 and my husband is 72. And that none of our offspring has managed to produce an heir. Selfishly I believe that perhaps Trump is incapable of wreaking any havoc that will affect me or mine before we die. Of course that is not true if he manages to start WWIII or brings some sort of retaliatory conflagration upon our country.

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    1. Anonymous1:19 PM

      I'm 50, my brother is 46 and the parents are 70. We've given them no grandchildren either.

      My parents voted for Trump and we've become estranged because of it but my brother and I moved west a long time ago and only go back east two or three times a year but we're pretty much done with mom and dad now after their new view on how things should be with this country.

      They are decent people and thanks to them for giving us life, and a really good life, but we no longer have anything in common except for the fact that they made us, so we're all going to enjoy the rest of our lives with minimal contact, except for this one last vacation from hell that we're all obligated to in 2 weeks.

      It's going to be the vacation from hell and brother and I have already changed our hotel reservations to one where mom and dad aren't staying.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:35 PM

      I felt sick to my stomach reading this post."They are decent people and thanks to them for giving us life, and a really good life." Yet you want to throw them out of your life because of politics. I grew up without a father he died in a car crash when I was three. My mother was mentally and physically abusive; my childhood was full of bruises and hunger. You don't know how incredibly fortunate you are. I hate living in this planet.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous1:48 PM

      The Trump election will cause the same type divisions as when the press started reporting that kids were claiming that they had been molested and raped by priests and that the church and law enforcement were covering things up.


      Some families were split because

      ‘Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not’

      This time it will be on much larger scale.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous1:51 PM

      Good gravy, I'm with you 1:35.

      Estranging elderly parents over politics? You may be 50, 1:19, but it is time to grow up.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous2:04 PM

      Linda at 12:06 pm. I understand how you feel but we senior citizens are going to feel the chaos as well as Social Security, Medicare and the ACA get tossed under the bus. I grieve for my son and his children. Ordinary lives are hard enough. None of us needs Donald Trump's America. And we didn't even vote for it!
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  4. Anonymous12:09 PM

    Trump needs to be brought up short! He could care less the harm he is already bringing to our country and Americans! Fear, anger, racism and hate are his mode of operation!

    Who in the Hell actually cast their vote for him? Just wait when those voters realize everything he said he'd do (during the campaign) will never be accomplished!

    Plus, all of our lives are going to change drastically. The poor will be even more doomed than they were! And, the middle class is going to run into trouble as well.

    The rich will survive in grand style and further control and divide our country. History is in the midst of repeating itself - go back in history and review the facts.

    Our country is going down under his pending rein. He'll be just like Adolph Hitler! He is already dictating and showing how he plans to rule. Review the histories of the folks he is appointing to positions within his administration. They will scare the living Hell out of you!

    Plus, he has voiced his opinion as to being anti minorities and Muslims!

    Protect each other - make sure you are secured and ready when his directed military and/or enforcement cops come knocking on your door!

    Protect each other! Especially those in advanced age....we will ALL need each other.

    Do NOT trust any Republican! We've got such a mess on our hands already. How do we all rise up and stop them now that they control all three levels of our government?

    Many states throughout our country are in massive debt due to Republican control of their State Legislatures. Alaska is one of them!

    Make a point of voting Republicans out of office when they come up for reelection - especially the ones that have long tenures and have majority control!

    And, stop sending Republicans back to their seats in the U.S. Congress - such as Lisa Murkowski, Don Young and Dan Sullivan. They could care less about their constituents!

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    1. Anonymous12:19 PM

      Who voted for him? White men and women, white millennials, basically white people of all ages.

      Delete
    2. Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader, has all but said they are not going to investigate Trump for conflict of interest or move on the emoluments clause.

      So you can kiss impeachment goodbye.

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kevin-mccarthy-trump-conflicts-of-interest_us_583dc491e4b06539a78a984d

      Delete
  5. Anonymous12:11 PM

    He has appointed Mitch McConnell's wife, Elaine Chou, for Transportation Secy. Really is draining the swamp - not.

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    1. Anonymous2:05 PM

      Seriously? What qualifications does she have.... oh yeah. Trump doesn't care about no credentials. You "like" him? Then the job is yours!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous12:20 PM

    "• In the real world, there are only two ways to deal with corporate misbehavior: One is through government regulation and the other is by taking them to court. What has happened over 20 years of free-market proselytizing is that we have dangerously weakened both forms of restraint, first through the craze for "deregulation" and second through endless rounds of "tort reform," all of which have the effect of cutting off citizens' access to the courts. By legally bribing politicians with campaign contributions, the corporations have bought themselves immunity from lawsuits on many levels."

    “I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag.”

    Molly Ivins

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    1. Anonymous12:57 PM

      Oh how I miss Molly.....

      RJ in Brownbackistan

      Delete
  7. Kevin McCarthy, House majority leader, says Democrats should lay off the conflict of interest complaints.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kevin-mccarthy-trump-conflicts-of-interest_us_583dc491e4b06539a78a984d

    Yeah, the same people that went after Clinton endlessly for some fucking e-mails are already planning to give Trump a pass on the emoluments clause.

    You just watch. He'll continue exactly as he has been and the Republicans in the House and Senate will do NOTHING. There may be one or two that call for a vote but they will be voted down every single time.

    Corporatism. Their fascist dictator is Trump.

    "McCarthy also did not want to say he’d definitely hold hearings about how Trump is handling potential conflicts once he’s sworn in and the Trump administration is up and running.

    “I never think in Congress that you just pick, to go in the instance that you’re going after someone, and there’s not something there,” McCarthy said.

    “Why don’t you give him a opportunity, when he’s just now appointed a legal counsel, to go through, put it in order and display that to the American people of what the structure is before we’re saying Trump needs to be investigated?” he asked.

    And, likely to the amazement of Democrats who have complained about endless probes into Hillary Clinton’s behavior, McCarthy argued that it’s time to back off on investigations.

    “I think for too long, some of these rules have been used that way, and I think it’s been a bad thing, and it’s harmed the ability for people all to work together,” McCarthy said. “Let’s take a deep breath. We’re going into a new year, we’ve got big problems before us.” "

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    1. Anonymous1:43 PM

      We’re going into a new year, we’ve got big problems before us.” "

      Like the Orange Anus in Chief?

      Delete
  8. Anonymous12:34 PM

    $ee who Just Pooped out>“I supported Mr. Trump!”
    http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2016/11/quayle-visits-trump-231952

    NOW what is going on?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. He's dredging up all these moldy oldies from previous administrations (Reagan, H.W.) so why not offer Quayle a position too? The average age of his cabinet is going to be 70, just like President Pussygrabber.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous12:40 PM

    "The fact that Donald Trump is still clumsily finding his way around these topics is just another indication that he is chronically unfit for this job, and a signal to the rest of the world that America is no longer a country on which they can rely for guidance and assistance in dealing with the vast number of problems facing us all."<ABSOLUTELY

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous12:49 PM

    People who think in terms of biblically qualified scare me. No one is biblically qualified for anything. Bible standards are awful, anti-female, and anti-human.

    Now, parts of the bible should be treated like chex mix, meaning they can help people improve their lives.

    But biblical standards are stupid. Men's power over women is slowly decreasing and more and more females are even keeping their names at marriage. Even better, they're giving kids their names in some capacity. REAL men want to include a women in their kids surnames.

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    1. Anonymous1:21 PM

      Religious people have something wrong in their brains; religion IS a mental illness and the moment I find that a person has "faith" I just write them off and call them crazy.

      I've not hired more than a few people for positions because they didn't pass my religious litmus test.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous1:04 PM

    So...Don the Con, the national ring master and carnival barker, is draining the swamp and putting together a sideshow of old reptilian Republicans from what seems like prehistoric times.

    RJ in Brownbackistan

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    1. Anonymous2:13 PM

      I've become convinced that these appointments are supposed to be extreme and attention getting so we'll all be arguing about how a Climate denier is head of the EPA, etc. and not paying attention to the Conman-elect's plundering of the treasury. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:53 PM

      "KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE">MONEY!

      Delete
  12. Anonymous2:02 PM

    When I see my doctor in January for my annual physical (probably the last one ever because there will be no Medicare to cover it), I plan to tell her that my future medical choices will all be limited by what little I'll be able to afford in what is left of healthcare in the US. Leave it to the Republicans to want to destroy everything that has made this country great since it was begun. In the future we'll have "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" for the rich only. No room for the aspirations or needs of ordinary people. We are all becoming Trump "losers."
    Beaglemom

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You have to take into consideration most of them thought the last time America was GREAT was 1850.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous2:03 PM

    I seriously think Trump intends to dismantle democracy in the USofA. He wants to be the Dictator -- of everything. I am really worried about his Cabinet choices. This is truly frightening, since there seems to be no check on his policies.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous2:14 PM

    There goes my insurance and the insurance of 20 million others. If we could have gotten it any other way in the past, we would have, but we were turned down flat over and over and this was the only way we could get. I better get my house in order because so many of us have depended on it for several years and were very grateful to finally be able to get it. To all the morons that voted for Trump, I hope all your sick relatives deposit themselves on your front doorsteps.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous2:19 PM

    You know, the more I read about this orange S.O.B., the more I believe he wants to prove his point he made some time ago: the one where he said he could stand in the middle of 5th Ave in NYC and shoot and kill someone, and nothing would happen to him - on the contrary, he would get even more supporters.
    A very, very sick mind, that potentially is actually crying out for help, crying out to be stopped by SOMEONE in their right mind...
    .
    .
    .

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous2:47 PM

    http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/investor-wilbur-ross-expected-to-be-named-us-commerce-secretary-nbc-news/

    79yr old man

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous2:58 PM

    "Democrats tried to warn seniors that this would happen if they voted for Trump, and it looks like all of their warnings are about to come true.

    Tom Price isn’t coming to HHS to save Social Security. Price is coming to destroy it."

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    1. Anonymous3:13 PM

      I'm 50, I don't care if they dismantle social security and medicare and pay me off what I've paid in, with accrued interest.

      I could invest that money better than the gov't ever did and after 15 years of private investment I'll have 20 times more than they would be giving me when I'm aged into my benefits.

      I'm a progressive, but really, these two programs have never been the best use of our monetary contributions and they are two prime examples of where the private market can outplay and out monetize the government market any day. I've never agreed with any government mandate requiring me to pay into retirement or healthcare.

      This could be one of the biggest favors that the Trump administration does for those of us not yet partaking of social and medicare.

      It won't work out that well for those that are already trying to live on it but I have a feeling they'll be grandfathered into coverage for the next decade or so, and if not, well Betsy Mccaughey and Sarah Palin both warned of "death panels", however I don't think they realized they'd be playing out under a republican regime; unintended consequences, right?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:59 PM

      Dream on, 3:13! They will NEVER give us back what we paid in - especially not PLUS the accrued interest! No, my dear head-in-the-sand (supposedly) Progressive fellow citizen. You will NOT get ANY of that money back, and you will have to fight for anything that might be rightfully yours.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous4:13 PM

      I hate to tell you, Anon at 3:13 pm, you'll never recoup and get ahead. Many years ago, a friend calculated that his mother-in-law had gone past all that she had invested in Social Security in her first six years of retirement; after that, she was benefitting from the big pot. I'm frankly horrified at the prospect of seeing the end of Social Security - in part because I'm now over 70, in part because of the damage it will cause all those whose disabilities prevent them from being able to work, in part because so many working-class Americans (most of us) don't have significant enough savings to go it alone. You won't either unless you're rich now. Imagine the damage that the economy will suffer when the "return-to-the-gold-standard" guy is in charge of the Treasury Department. And then there's the privatization of Medicare; enjoy that. I'm not. We pay over $800. per month for our supplemental. That supplemental covers the 20% that Medicare doesn't cover. And all of the medical bills submitted to Medicare end up with really significant cuts in what providers are paid. Take away Medicare and we're all on our own. Not a good plan but then they're Republicans and they don't care about their fellow citizens once they've popped out of the womb.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
    4. Anonymous7:55 PM

      Just sue to get what you paid in. Run fir office so you too can get free money from everywhere. Certainly, these office holders have all benefits for themselvrs. Come on people we the people run the govt, get up and dtart asking yourself how can I get my money I paid in all theses years. Answers will start coming in.

      Delete
    5. 3:13.

      What makes you think you're going to get any money back, let alone what you paid in? That money is GONE. You're NEVER going to see it and you're not going to get those benefits you paid for either.

      As for being able to invest it better? Dream on.

      Trump's Cabinet picks are going to crash this economy worse than 2008, worse then the Great Depression. You invest any of that money you are going to lose it.

      I would suggest simply sewing it into your mattress because at least it could afford a little padding to your aging mattress. We are going to end up bringing wheelbarrow loads of bills to the store to buy a loaf of bread.

      Even buying Euros won't protect you as once the U.S. economy tanks, we'll take the rest of the world with us.

      I think the only thing we can do is sit back and patiently wait, then when the Deplorables start to scream bloody murder, remind them of their choice and scream back "TOLD YOU SO!" (refrain from adding "you dumbass dipshit.")

      Delete
  18. Anonymous3:23 PM

    Welcome to hell, can you guess his name? What was that song again? hmmmmm....stones or who?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Chenagrrl4:14 PM

    Climate denying while Tennessee burns.

    ReplyDelete
  20. "Kellogg is pulling advertisements from Breitbart, a website that traffics in racist, sexist and anti-Semitic content.

    A Kellogg spokesman told The Huffington Post that consumers alerted the food company to its ads on Breitbart.

    “We regularly work with our media buying partners to ensure our ads do not appear on sites that aren’t aligned with our values as company,” Kellogg spokesman Kris Charles said. “This involves reviewing websites where ads could potentially be placed using filtering technology to assess site content. As you can imagine, there is a very large volume of websites, so occasionally something is inadvertently missed.”

    Breitbart did not immediately return a request for comment. Its executive chairman, Steve Bannon, has been named chief strategist and senior counselor to President-elect Donald Trump.

    Kellogg is only the latest company to sever relations with Breitbart, whose incendiary headlines include “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive And Crazy” and “Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew.” Last week, the massive ad distributor AppNexus deactivated Breitbart’s access to its advertising tools. Other companies to pull advertising from the site include Allstate, Nest, EarthLink, Warby Parker and SoFi, Bloomberg reported. "

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kellogg-breitbart_us_583db639e4b04b66c01bde6a?section=us_politics

    And so the pushback also begins.

    Can we get advertisers to drop Breitbart? Remember when the LimpBall lost all his advertising?

    Time to make a list and support companies that are humane to PEOPLE. Those that offer a living wage and healthcare.

    Businesses that support Trump are probably treating their employees and even their customers deplorably.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous8:19 AM

      Why would Kellogg have ever sponsored Breitbart in the first place?
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  21. Anonymous10:59 PM

    I will be 62 in January. I share similar concerns to other posters about social security, Medicare and health insurance. I won't be surprised under Herr Trump we will be financially hurt.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous2:38 AM

    The new cabinet and scam. On the job training poor deplorable twisted silent majority. The great deplorable sea of para abnormals trying to be normal.

    ReplyDelete

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