Many expressed frustration that Obamacare plans cost way too much, that premiums and deductibles had spiraled out of control. And part of their anger was wrapped up in the idea that other people were getting even better, even cheaper benefits — and those other people did not deserve the help.

There was a persistent belief that Trump would fix these problems and make Obamacare work better. I kept hearing informed voters, who had watched the election closely, say they did hear the promise of repeal but simply felt Trump couldn’t repeal a law that had done so much good for them. In fact, some of the people I talked to hope that one of the more divisive pieces of the law — Medicaid expansion — might become even more robust, offering more of the working poor a chance at the same coverage the very poor receive.

While January 2017 marked the deadliest month for police brutality since 2015, one thing marks a stark contrast between now and then. Then, we knew the names of the victims and their stories dominated the American media. Now, I’d be hard-pressed to find a single person in this country, outside of a few activists and the families who were affected by this violence, who knows the names and details of a single person killed by American police last month.

In the past administration there was a White House Comment Line: 1-202-456-1111. Now a phone call to that line is met with a message that “the White House comment line is closed” and an invitation to submit a comment through the website.

Roger Dorn wrote:Kellyanne Conway went onto networks today and told people to buy Ivankas products. She's on federal payroll. Is anyone upset about this? Are we good with this? Ethics committee won't do anything so we can pretend everything is fine.

The bill still requires a vote in the House, where a similar version passed last year, with support just shy of a two-thirds majority.
The bill is based on model legislation from the Washington-based National Right to Life Committee and is making its way through the nation's most conservative statehouses and, potentially, Congress. In Pennsylvania, it is opposed by the state's largest doctors' group, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, and the Pennsylvania section of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Supporters maintained during more than two hours of debate that they were standing up for the humane treatment of the unborn. No hearing was held on the bill, and opponents attacked the lack of expert medical testimony on it as reckless and potentially carrying unforeseen and dangerous consequences for doctors and people facing difficult decisions.
The primary feature of the bill would ban elective abortions at 20 weeks from a pregnant woman's last menstrual period, compared with 24 weeks in current law. As many as 16 states have a similar ban, and an Ohio law will take effect in March, according to groups that track abortion laws.
The bill leaves in place exceptions to protect the mother's life or major bodily functions. It does not offer exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape and incest, or for serious fetal abnormalities.
Supporters say the 20-week limit reflects medical advances that make fetuses viable at earlier stages of pregnancy. Opponents say viability has barely budged in decades, and one opponent, Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne, her voice trembling, told of hearing from doctors that her unborn baby daughter, well after 20 weeks of pregnancy, would not live past birth because of a rare genetic condition.

“He's honest. He's fair. He's been a friend to many of us, on both sides of the aisle,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. “It's been tough to watch all this good man has been put through in recent weeks. This is a well-qualified colleague with a deep reverence for the law. He believes strongly in the equal application of it to everyone.”

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump was confused about the dollar: Was it a strong one that’s good for the economy? Or a weak one?

So he made a call ― except not to any of the business leaders Trump brought into his administration or even to an old friend from his days in real estate. Instead, he called his national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, according to two sources familiar with Flynn’s accounts of the incident.

Flynn has a long record in counterintelligence but not in macroeconomics. And he told Trump he didn’t know, that it wasn’t his area of expertise, that, perhaps, Trump should ask an economist instead.

Trump was not thrilled with that response ― but that may have been a function of the time of day. Trump had placed the call at 3 a.m., according to one of Flynn’s retellings ― although neither the White House nor Flynn’s office responded to requests for confirmation about that detail.

Richard Nephew, a State Department expert on Iran sanctions under Obama, said some of the leaks from the agencies are likely efforts to let the public know that their advice has not been followed, in the event something bad happens down the road. “This, I think, is about making it clear that these folks have tried to do the right thing and there is only so much they can do with a hostile administration,” Nephew said.

pacino wrote:Sessions is a Southern gentleman

“He's honest. He's fair. He's been a friend to many of us, on both sides of the aisle,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. “It's been tough to watch all this good man has been put through in recent weeks. This is a well-qualified colleague with a deep reverence for the law. He believes strongly in the equal application of it to everyone.”

Warszawa wrote:

pacino wrote:Sessions is a Southern gentleman

“He's honest. He's fair. He's been a friend to many of us, on both sides of the aisle,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. “It's been tough to watch all this good man has been put through in recent weeks. This is a well-qualified colleague with a deep reverence for the law. He believes strongly in the equal application of it to everyone.”

Guess it was even tougher in 1986

meatball wrote:I haven't been imbued for weeks.