The Trump Presidency: Part 18

[Minoosh]

Why would you get health insurance that doesn't even offer any insurance coverage?

Well, in some places you legally _have_ to get insurance, so people take the minimum plan, which essentially covers nothing.

As far as I know the ACA is still in effect. Per my understanding, the main (only?) change is that you won't pay a penalty (tax) if you drop the expensive policies that actually cover stuff. I was in a sweet spot last year - paid about $9K in premiums but got almost all of it back as a tax credit because my income was right at the federal poverty line. I don't use my insurance, which is stupid, since I'm about 10 years overdue for every screening test known to man. But I don't dare drop it, even without getting the tax credit. I can budget for $9K a year plus co-pays and deductibles - I do have assets - but I can't budget for an absolutely open-ended US-style medical catastrophe.

I mention denial because I bet that's part of what's going with the $59 monthly plans. My guess is that people are dropping $700-$800 plans and betting against a catastrophe, but still want a fig leaf. That may even make superficial sense at the individual level, but I doubt if it's good public policy, because that's how people go medically bankrupt. And then they're going to be subsidized by other taxpayers or other ratepayers.

I'll never forget that while Blue Cross Blue Shield would not cover me at any cost, Obama wanted me to have good health insurance. Even Mitt Romney wanted me to have good health insurance. After 6 months of no coverage I became eligible for the federal Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a quasi "Medicare for all" arrangement.

In theory the ACA could have worked great and still is, IMO, the sensible way to move forward. But you need a mandate with teeth. You need a standard suite of benefits. The default then becomes that people are presumed to have decent insurance. Between Romney and Warren, the Senate could probably hammer out a much-improved bipartisan ACA. But the sad truth is that for the moment, most of the GOP doesn't give a **** about health care.

tl;dr: The U.S. has a good template for transitioning to UHC. Romney knows this. But math-challenged Trump and Moscow Mitch won't let it happen on their watch. *That's* Trumpcare: Repeal the ACA, replace it with placebo policies that will ensure more bankruptcies and further incentivize the denial-of-care industry.

 

[Minoosh]

Because they don't realize it's no good until they need to use it. This is the kind of scam that the ACA was intended to reduce; the Trumpers have allowed it to resume.

Yes, this.

 

[lobosrul5]

Well, in some places you legally _have_ to get insurance, so people take the minimum plan, which essentially covers nothing.

Well, there is a legal maximum out-of-pocket expense per year of $7,900. So having insurance is at least a sort of medial bankruptcy protection instrument I suppose.

 

[alfaniner]

Lewis Lukens on Twitter:
"I was in charge of the US embassy in London for much of Trump’s first year. We didn’t hang his picture either. Why? It took the WH almost 15 months to get official photos sent to embassies to hang. And we were instructed not to print other photos. https://politico.com/amp/news/2019/"

https://twitter.com/LukensLewis/status/1197912792642269187

Others are confirming the not-so-well-staffed White House failed to send pictures to other embassies.

They could have used one of those (fake) Time Magazine cover prints.

 

[Armitage72]

They could have used one of those (fake) Time Magazine cover prints.

Given that Trump seems to be unable to look good in a photo, anything other than something shot after extensive posing and preparation would look ridiculous.

"That's an ... interesting photo Mr. Ambassador. Was he having a seizure?"

 

[Distracted1]

Well, there is a legal maximum out-of-pocket expense per year of $7,900. So having insurance is at least a sort of medial bankruptcy protection instrument I suppose.

These "policies" often have a yearly cap as well, so they don't even prevent that.

Ironically, they can also discourage preventive medicine, since the cost of a test like a colonoscopy is equal to, or greater than the yearly premiums. A person in financially precarious circumstance that could manage $1500 for a test like that will need to forgo it in order to pay their years premiums.

 

[Minoosh]

What I find remarkable is that articles from Kos and Beast have been entered into the congressional record as factually credible "without objection". Thus, anyone who reviews the records of these proceedings will have to regard these online sources with the same legitimacy that was once accorded the print media.

There's nothing that makes blogs inherently less reliable than printed material - but they do probably enable echo-chambers.

For example, Republicans know damn well that Russia was the big meddler in 2016 (and ongoing). That doesn't stop them from firing off Hail Marys of misdirection regarding Ukraine. They know their target audience is Fox viewers (including Trump). They probably also know that the Kos etc. articles are for the most part factually correct. But they are following a script that promotes a more limited narrative. I hope at least a few of them are hearing some pushback from constituents. But then, maybe those voters aren't following developments quite as obsessively as, say, some ISF members.

 

[Minoosh]

These "policies" often have a yearly cap as well, so they don't even prevent that.

Ironically, they can also discourage preventive medicine, since the cost of a test like a colonoscopy is equal to, or greater than the yearly premiums. A person in financially precarious circumstance that could manage $1500 for a test like that will need to forgo it in order to pay their years premiums.

I'm hazy on details but I think certain screening tests are still heavily subsidized. I'll know when I finally get a colonoscopy/mammogram/Pap smear.

Anyway, it's probably true that health insurance is actually bankruptcy insurance. Which is well and proper IMO.

 

[dudalb]

SO the much cited IG report that was going to prove a massive "Deep State" conspiracy against Trump is pretty much a bust?
Not surprised at all.

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Anyone remember the national debt clock? The Tea Party? All the rage about trillion dollar deficits?

The federal government, which ended the 2019 budget year with its largest deficit in seven years, began the new budget year with a deficit in October that was 33.8% bigger than a year ago as spending hit a record.

The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the deficit last month totaled $134.5 billion, up from a shortfall in October 2018 of $100.5 billion.

The government ran up a deficit of $984.4 billion for the 2019 budget year that ended Sept. 30, 26% larger than in 2018.

The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting that the deficit for 2020 will hit $1 trillion and will remain over $1 trillion for the next decade. The country has not experienced $1 trillion annual deficits since 2009 through 2012 following the 2008 financial crisis.

The projections of trillion-dollar deficits are in contrast to President Donald Trump’s campaign promises in 2016 that even with his proposed tax cuts he would be able to eliminate future deficits with cuts in spending and growth in revenues from a stronger economy.

The previous period of surging deficits spawned a political backlash that put Republicans back in power in the House, but the current surge in deficits has not sparked a similar uproar. Republicans are considering another round of tax cuts and Democrats running for president are putting forth big new spending proposals such as Medicare for All.

Linky.

 

[Ladewig]

Genius! Don't send pictures and forbid the use of unofficial pictures, complain that they're not using a picture of you, and then fire them!

What? That’s crazy!

But it just might be crazy enough to work.

 

[Minoosh]

Well, there is a legal maximum out-of-pocket expense per year of $7,900. So having insurance is at least a sort of medial bankruptcy protection instrument I suppose.

They had to cut me a check, because I'm that person who pays for insurance and never uses it. Only it turns out the feds picked up that bill, at least for TY 2018.

 

[Minoosh]

What? That’s crazy!

But it just might be crazy enough to work.

Trump is so easy to debunk, it's embarrassing.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Actors, surely ?

Edited maybe to make it look like 100% of the answers were that poorly informed, but actors are not necessary to get those answers. Jay Leno used to do this all the time (Jay walking) and people really are that poorly informed.

 

[Venom]

Perhaps it was a life size photo and her wall wasn't wide enough.

 

[Aridas]

I said "somewhat" dismissive and it doesn't mean that everyone should dismiss it.

My apologies if I misinterpreted what you said there.

I'm glad they're doing it; I'm glad you post the links. It's just that I can't tell if any of the punches are landing.

Mmm. I don't really consider them punches? Some of our resident Republicans may feel that way about such and they are indeed welcome to poke at things that they consider to be of interest, of course... but I consider what I'm doing to be more along the lines of raising awareness than attacking.

Still, coincidentally, there's a Daily Kos article that looks like it would be of interest on the general topic.

Why FOX Attacked LTC Vindman - a chilling report by a former FOX employee

It's a bit heavier on the opinion side based on an NYT article, but... outrage honestly is well warranted when it comes to Fox News.

But then, maybe those voters aren't following developments quite as obsessively as, say, some ISF members.

I'd suggest that most of the population likely isn't following it all that closely, regardless? Even when it comes to me, I'm not actively seeking out news. I tend to take a peek at Daily Kos and see if anything catches my interest each day, though. Some of those things I find worthy of spreading here, obviously.

To poke at some other things...

I poked at Nunes yesterday and today?

Parnas implicated him in this mess.

(CNN)A lawyer for an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani tells CNN that his client is willing to tell Congress about meetings the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee had in Vienna last year with a former Ukrainian prosecutor to discuss digging up dirt on Joe Biden.
The attorney, Joseph A. Bondy, represents Lev Parnas, the recently indicted Soviet-born American who worked with Giuliani to push claims of Democratic corruption in Ukraine. Bondy said that Parnas was told directly by the former Ukrainian official that he met last year in Vienna with Rep. Devin Nunes.

<snip>

According to Bondy, Parnas claims Nunes worked to push similar allegations of Democratic corruption.
"Nunes had told Shokin of the urgent need to launch investigations into Burisma, Joe and Hunter Biden, and any purported Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election," Bondy told CNN.

Looks like a House Ethics complaint has already been filed in response to that.

May Nunes get his just desserts.

Also, for those who might be interested... American Oversight obtains state dept docs linking Pompeo and Giuliani. Updated- video

They apparently get into the smear campaign against Yovanovich and more general coordination of BS being pushed out by, for example, John Solomon. Oh, and Trump's immediate staff tends to be in the loop.

 

[Stacyhs]

Lewis Lukens on Twitter:
"I was in charge of the US embassy in London for much of Trump’s first year. We didn’t hang his picture either. Why? It took the WH almost 15 months to get official photos sent to embassies to hang. And we were instructed not to print other photos. https://politico.com/amp/news/2019/"

https://twitter.com/LukensLewis/status/1197912792642269187

Others are confirming the not-so-well-staffed White House failed to send pictures to other embassies.

Sadly, the morons who believe everything that Trump tweets will wholeheartedly believe this lie. They'll swallow it whole just as willingly and eagerly as they swallow all his other lies and then deny he is a pathological liar.

 

[smartcooky]

Also, for those who might be interested... American Oversight obtains state dept docs linking Pompeo and Giuliani. Updated- video

They apparently get into the smear campaign against Yovanovich and more general coordination of BS being pushed out by, for example, John Solomon. Oh, and Trump's immediate staff tends to be in the loop.

I've just been reading through some of them. Boy, their release is big news and a severe blow to the Trump Administration's stone-wall. These are documents that the White House ordered the State Dept not to release to Congress. Now a FOIA request has resulted in a court order for their release, and Congress, and the impeachment investigation is about to get them.

What I have gleaned so far is that they clearly show Pompeo knew about the smear campaign by Giuliani on Amb Yovanovich, and the attacks on US Foreign Service officers and staff, and didn't lift a finger to help.

 

[Matthew Best]

Has anybody ever wondered what it would be like if Donald Trump were vocalist for Steely Dan?

No, didn't think so. But just in case, if you did wonder, then wonder no more, for this is probably more or less what it would be like:

 

[calebprime]

Has anybody ever wondered what it would be like if Donald Trump were vocalist for Steely Dan?

No, didn't think so. But just in case, if you did wonder, then wonder no more, for this is probably more or less what it would be like:

a narrow, non-political reaction to just the music:

Heh. Watched a little, listened a little, nausea too strong, had to bail.

There are many problems with musical timing -- something Becker and Fagen were fussy about -- that make this a highly unpleasant listening experience. Anti-groove.