Given that Donald Trump is issuing executive orders that endanger Social Security and Medicare and usurp Congressional appropriations authority, we should perhaps be happy if Il Duce could be tricked into signing executive orders that simply restate existing law:
Over the next two weeks, I’ll be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions for all customers. That’s a big thing. I’ve always been very strongly in favor — we have to cover pre-existing conditions. So we will be pursuing a major executive order, requiring health insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions for all of its customers.
This has never been done before, but it’s time the people of our country are properly represented and properly taken care of [Donald Trump, remarks at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, NJ, 2020.08.07].
Never been done before? It’s been done for ten years, by the Affordable Care Act, signed by President Barack Obama. That protection is currently under threat from Trump’s own attacks in the Supreme Court:
…insurance companies are already required to cover patients with pre-existing conditions under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, which Trump has consistently attempted to dismantle during his time in office.
“Under current law, health insurance companies can’t refuse to cover you or charge you more just because you have a ‘pre-existing condition,'” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website states. “That is, a health problem you had before the date that new health coverage starts.”
The rule applies to all health insurance plans bought after March 23, 2010.
…In June, the Trump administration urged the Supreme Court to repeal the act, as millions have lost their health insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court will make a ruling in the fall [Jason Lalljee, “Trump Weighing Executive Order to Force Insurers to Cover Pre-Existing Conditions, Something Obamacare Does,” USA Today, 2020.08.08].
And of course, President Obama would remind us that, to make that wonder or any other major health care reform, happen, Presidents have to go through Congress:
It’s dubious that any president could enact such protections through an executive order, or Obama would never have needed to go to Congress to get his health law passed. Likewise, President Bill Clinton could have simply used a presidential decree to enact his health plan, or major parts of it, after it failed to get through Congress [Hope Yen, “AP Fact Check: Trump’s Smoke and Mirrors on Executive Orders,” AP via Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2020.08.10].
Next up: Trump will order that elderly Americans receive monthly subsidies, that the federal government pay for senior citizens’ medical bills, that every worker be guaranteed a minimum wage, and that the Census Bureau count every person living in the United States.
A friend gave me a wonderful hat: “Make Lying Wrong Again.”
This person with the people surrounding him elected by people suckered by him and with the balz to hope upon re-election is the most despicable man ever to ride down an escalator! Sadly, the current GOP definitely deserves him as their leader. The GOP used to have some respectable prominent spokesmen/women but have become quite destitute.
trump highlights a major problem with many Americans, our ignorance to know how well the ACA/Obamacare protects us. Most of us have not taken the time nor the interest in actually seeing what this Affordable Care Act actually does and how it has saved billions of dollars and countless lives. We seem to be to busy trying to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads, but we need to do that to insure that we have both and then some.
trump is a lying liar and so are the two senators, the house member and of course, the governor who all sit and listen to these lies and say nothing. They all are complicit in the slaughter of American citizens through their neglect. trump virus numbers keep rising.
Ah Jerry …… not lyin’ liars, but lyin’dicks .
As trump tries divisive distracting issue after issue, BE CLEAR:
Heat-trapping emissions must be cut in half by 2030 to avoid catastrophic, possibly irreversible climate impacts, scientists say. That will require transforming the world economy at an “unprecedented” scale and speed. Humanity’s race to meet this deadline is the defining story of our time***People may think climate is one menu item when you go in to vote….’ ‘No, it’s the whole restaurant,’” said Bill Weir, the chief climate correspondent at CNN. “Everything on that menu ties back to the health of a living planet. Foreign policy, economics, social justice, civil unrest, novel viruses—all of these things just get intensified in a warmer world.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/election-paris-accord-climate/tnamp/?__twitter_impression=true
Cont.
The 2020 US elections carry staggering consequences for life on this planet, and the climate story will only get bigger in years to come.
On November 4, the United States will officially leave the Paris climate accord. The accord, agreed upon five years ago by virtually every country on earth, commits governments to keeping global temperature rise “well below” 2 degrees Celsius—a sensible ambition considering the record heat waves, hurricanes, and other forms of climate chaos now erupting around the world after “only” 1 degree of warming. Whether the US departure from the accord is sustained (in the event that Republican president Donald Trump is reelected) or reversed (if Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins) is one of many critical issues making the 2020 US election, as much as anything, a climate-change election. The Nation
I have a couple of friends here that have renounced their citizenship and are bugging out.
“NEW YORK, August 6, 2020 (Newswire.com) – Americans are continuing to renounce their citizenship at the highest levels on record, according to research by the Enrolled Agents and accountants Bambridge Accountants New York.
· 5,816 Americans gave up their citizenship in the first six months of 2020
· Showing a 1,210% increase on the prior six months to December 2019, where only 444 cases were recorded.” https://www.newswire.com/news/americans-continue-giving-up-citizenship-at-record-levels-reports-21189052
They wish to move to a place where they can afford to live safely and afford the healthcare and a general higher quality of life itself.
If any are interested in considering this move, there is a nice book called “Getting Out Your Guide to Leaving America” The book is by Mark Ehrman.
Here is drumpf’s revision of pre-existing condition kerfluffle….
Aaron Rupar
@atrupar
·
15h
Trump claims that when he falsely claimed preexisting conditions aren’t already required to be covered by law, he simply meant that there has never been an executive order reaffirming that 🙄
Mr Jerry, Canada is adamant they don’t want any Americans to flee across their border.
jerry – it is not only how the ACA works that too many Amer4ican’s are unaware of – or frankly care not to know about. The fact is that Trump’s and many if not most Republicans’ support DEPENDS on Americans being as ignorant as possible about how ALL of government works.
There is a new book out called “Evil Geniuses (The Unmaking of America: A Recent History) that describes how there has been a deliberate effort over the past 60 years to demonize the government and elevate private business and its operators to saint-hood and it has succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of those (inclusive of the GOP).
It is the cadre of Americans who have bought into this POV who are the must ardent of Trump’s supporters. They can believe anything he has to say about any previous government as gospel, because he is the President who represents the inherent, native superiority of private $$$ manipulators over government they have been indoctrinated to “take to the bank” to the nth degree.
If you really want to go, you can go. No one can stop you from going to Hawaii or to Alaska (through Canada) as they are states. Same goes for Puerto Rico or any of the territories. Once there, you can go wherever you want to go…that will take you.
Of course, it takes some time to do your planning and to find out what is required as far as financials go for the country you chose. Before anything, make sure you have a passport. When you get ready to go, make sure you have an International Driver’s Licence and make sure you have a vaccine. If trump and Putin steal the election again, my suggestion is to use them.
What about the Postal System? How many years has EB5 Short Rounds, Thune and Dirty dreamed of shutting that down? The republican goal has always been that and they are now succeeding! If you’re a veteran, order your meds now, don’t wait or you may never get them…seriously. We have allowed this to happen to our country because republicans have lied their collective arse’s off and told us that it’s a huge waste and that Fed Ex and the United Parcel Service are so much better. We seem to be the most gullible idiots in the world to loose the envy of the world so easily. No one demands the senators (sic) to do their damn job.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/8/11/1968343/-Small-businesses-worry-as-Trump-s-mail-delays-add-to-their-COVID-19-problems
Well, and there’s this:
“…[it is a] matter of national security that President Obama, Vice President Biden, and members of their national security team knew…*and* (Biden, incidentally, was personally warned by former CIA chief Woolsey about Flynn’s participation in “a covert step in the dead of night to whisk this [Turkish dissident living in Pennsylvania] away.”)
Now: let’s say you’re in a position of great authority [*like an outraged federal sentencing judge*] and you find out that Mike Flynn has been freelancing in illicit ways with any number of foreign powers, some hostile, and playing both sides. If you’re Joe Biden, you want him investigated and eighty-sixed from government. If you’re Donald John Trump, you make him your national security adviser. That’s the difference between the two candidates.”
In the long run, it may be a good thing that Flynn has botched his plea agreement. This gives us another shot at finding out what he knows, and, hopefully, charging him with more serious crimes. No less an authority than [federal] Judge Sullivan, remember, said to Flynn, “You sold out your country,” and even mentioned the “t-word.”
The more sunlight we have on this traitor, the better. As I said up front: if we know who Flynn is working for, we know who Trump is working for. https://gregolear.substack.com/p/the-masked-traitor-the-mysterious
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/opinion/michael-flynn-trump-barr.html#click=https://t.co/qJPJ4ik7pB
Cont.
Steve Vladeck
@steve_vladeck
·
3h
The lawyering strategy here is … interesting. I’m not at all sure seeking mandamus *before* Sullivan ruled on DOJ’s motion was in *Flynn’s* best interest.
At best, it was in *DOJ’s* interest—to prevent Judge Sullivan from creating a record of what happened behind the scenes.
And also there’s this:
Trump’s lanky 30-year-old senior policy adviser and speechwriter had connections in the Border Patrol and ICE unions from his time derailing a bipartisan immigration reform bill as communications director for then–Alabama Senator (soon-to-be Attorney General) Jeff Sessions. Miller reached out to the Border Patrol union’s president, Brandon Judd. It was the first in a long chain of decisions that would help transform the Department of Homeland Security—with its mandate to defend against everything from terrorism to pandemics—into a tool for pushing Trump’s political agenda, focused on strangling legal immigration and social justice causes. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/stephen-miller-dhs/
So we’ve got dependent on the 2020 elections:
1. Trump/GOP “Compromised DOJ” (c)
2. Trump/GOP “Compromised SCOTUS and Federal Justice system” (c)
3. Trump/GOP “Compromised DHS (CBP/FPS/ICE)” (c)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created after 911 now umbrellas the largest group of federal law enforcers anywhere/160,000 officers/agents.
Trump apparently doesn’t yet “own” FBI or Secret Service cultures which would not be so supplicant to his political whim.
Uncredited camouflaged roles starred Customs and Border Protection (CBP) racist cowboys; and Bill Barr’s camouflaged shock troops stationed elbow to elbow in front of the Lincoln Monument during recent BLM protests, the Federal Protective Services (FPS);
and, US Marshalls Service, and ICE-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (apparently one anti-all “poor and down trodden” immigrants) agency was not enough, and on Seattle streets.
4.) “Trump’s” GOP Compromised Obamacare pre-existing coverage.
5.) Trump/GOP Compromised Senate.
(c) my copyright list will continue.
6.) Trump/GOP compromised SOS under hyper partasain Army/lawyer congress man Mike Pompeo. More on this on a related thread a few days ago, and to come….
7.) Of course Trump/GOP “Compromised CDC/OSHA/NIH (Ntl Inst Health)”. See last my last few posts at…
https://dakotafreepress.com/2020/08/02/u-s-must-restore-global-cooperation-to-avert-coronavirus-depression/
8.) McConnell/GOP “Compromised DOT”.
9.) Trump/GOP “Compromised EPA and DOI (Interior)”.
Cont.
A different example of right wing racist extremists embedded in LEO:
Hispanic Caucus
@HispanicCaucus
Aug 6
@CBP
agents shared vulgar images of men sexually assaulting
@RepAOC
They mocked
@RepEscobar
They joked about migrants dying.
They wrote racist comments about Latinos.
Now
@CBP
is obstructing an investigation & protecting agents from accountability.
[twitter post photo shows black CBP “US Border Patrol” shoulder patch] which on their pretend-soldier camouflage storm trooper suits were Green on Brown “emblazoned” POLICE patches (same colors) “clearly showing” their identity in Seattle streets at night away from federal property from unmarked rental vans as they picked up, interrogated and then released with no charges, protestors. At least according to a 32 year federal agent angered at allegations that “acting” leadership for DHS/CBP/FPS shock troops were violating constitutional rights. So far no federal charges have been reported announced.
6.) cont. from above:
Senate Foreign Relations: Trump has failed to nominate Ambassadors and others—1/3 of positions are vacant. Before that recent hearing, the Democratic staff of the Committee released its most recent oversight report titled “Diplomacy in Crisis: The Trump Administration’s Decimation of the State Department.” Lawfare podcast 8.04.20