In other news.... I got to see Big Tobacco swing its mighty dick today at a Minneapolis City Council Hearing. The intention was to vote if the City of Minneapolis would raise the purchase age of menthol cigarettes to 21. The group I now work for had assembled our speakers, tobacco theres, the hearing went on. Lots of insights from the hearing, but I'm sure no one really cares. The most remarkable thing was at the end, the council members were getting were getting ready to pass their votes. Literally they were about to call for a vote, then suddenly one council member gets up and leaves abruptly and no vote can be held because there is no longer a quorum. So some insights anyway because you guys know I don't get into politics for a hobby. I think I'm a policy oriented policy and support those who support the policies I do, I don't chose by color. Anyway, the arguments made by the pro-tobacco lobby were fairly outrageous, ranging from the outright racist (they (being the black community) have bigger problems why worry about this), to just the outright false (if convenience stores can't sell menthol cigarettes to persons aged 21 and under each store will on average lose 250K/year)
This might not be appropriate for this thread but I'm going to put it out there anyway. I'm really concerned about what kind of breeding program Trump has planned by breeding his daughter with Kushner. He has less personality than Hillary.
Before he became the darling of America's rednecks and retards, his singular goal in life was to ascend to the highest rung of New York City's social strata. My guess is he was trying to breed Patrick Bateman.
Really? My impression has been that the base is putting the blame solely on congress. All I hear is that Trump is doing everything they can while the GOP senators and house have their heads up their ass. I'm not saying that that's correct, but it seems to be the perception among most republicans right now. I feel like we're almost at the point where he could change literally nothing in the entire ACA other than replacing it with an identical bill called Trumpcare and the base would enthusiastically applaud. It also seems like exactly the kind of the thing Trump would do. Not going to lie. I kind of hope that happens just for the lolz.
I just have the feeling the republican base will actually punish them at the polls if nothing on healthcare gets done. It's not like they'll go in and vote for the opponents out of spite and primaring them with hardliners is a recipe for disaster. I just think the long term effects of repeal and/or replace with no plan will be a total loser. Edit: they will not punish them.
The Republican base will continue to fragment, and neither Trump, Ryan, McCain nor McConnell can do anything about it. There are a few who will "punish" them based on healthcare, but I think it's reached a point where the only way forward is single-payer or greatly expanding Medicare/Medicaid for most folks, and that's still a very hard sell. Repeal/replace with worse options just turns the whole industry into a cycle depending on whether the lobbyists are wearing red or blue any given year. The states will end up pushing an agenda forward. Maryland might be a test case: https://theintercept.com/2017/07/24...e-that-is-quietly-revolutionizing-healthcare/ It's motherfucking ridiculous, however. My deductible is $5500/year, and it's completely disaster insurance: I won't spend that much on healthcare in a year. Thus, my asthma meds are out of pocket, to the tune of $400/month for one medication, $100/month for another and $25/month for prescription allergy meds. My mother, on Medicare has a $900/year deductible and will get the EXACT same medication for a little more than $1000 for the entire year. In my mind, there is no reason that she pays $1000 and I pay $5500 for the same thing. Until these hilariously inexplicable clusterfucks get solved, the healthcare debate will circle the drain. Again, this takes VISION, LEADERSHIP and an ability to COMPROMISE. In this environment, with this administration and both parties, it might as well require dragon dick, a magic wand and Harry Potter's virginity.
The weird thing to me is that is already pretty fragmented before the election. It feels like the unifying (haha) issue was "Trump is shitty, but at least he'll repeal Obamacare" or something. And, that is a fail so far. The problem is that the healthcare system sucks balls for the actual users and payers, because Totally agree with this. I have no hope that there is anything that Republicans or Democrats can (or did) do that's going to fix this in the current climate. I have resorted to writing "bite me" on the "for" line on monthly premium check.
Someone's mic was left on and caught some funny conversation: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...enators-on-hot-mic-trump-is-crazy-im-worried/
I don't know how you can sit there, as a proud Texan, realizing that that hoverhanding neckbeard is basically Navy SEAL copypasta'ing a sitting US Senator, and not wonder where the fuck you went so drastically drastically wrong as a state and as a people.
It is possible to be a proud Texan and also embarrassed by those elected to govern you (or more specifically, embarrassed by those who voted for them). See: Perry, Rick.
So... Trump just tweeted (which I guess is now the equivalent of a press release?) that transgender people will not be accepted or allowed to serve in any capacity in the US military.
According to the press his tweet is now as legally binding as a constitutional amendment. Part of me admires him shoving his thumb in the eyes of the SJW types that have to push their agenda in every level of our human existence. The other part of me realizes this combative nature is 95 % spite and doesnt help in the long term rational discourse. Im not even sure what logistical issues would arise from accommodating trans people in the military, would it be more than your average gay in the military? I could imagine there being a simple logistical equation they'd run as far as resources needed for such a insanely small minority of the population's accomidation against the readiness and capabilities of the whole. THAT'S at least semi rational as far as approach. Ive mostly just seen the gung ho military types take it as "Good we don't need no fuckin' queers in the military."
That's not what the Tweet said.... https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/742771576039460864 "Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs." Oh... wait... my bad... that was from last year.
The argument from the Pentagon is that is more to dissuade people already in the military from transitioning and having the government pay for it and the associated treatment, as well as needing to retrofit facilities. Not saying I agree, but thats their argument. How many trans people are actively trying to join the military? Is the number more than 50? Is it even more than 25? We waste a shit load of time on a demographic that represents about .5% of the population.
Juice captures the point well. I think a healthy amount of these people are "trans" because it gets them attention and special treatment. In my personal experience about 5% are legitimately trans and would undergo a full transition. The other 95% bask in the attention, or like thumbing their nose at gender roles, which strikes me as youthful rebellion but in the most fundamentally WTF way. However, there was a Navy Seal who transitioned, and Chelsea Manning: http://api.digg.com/api/v5/redirect...ontent_id=2uAYd9r&source=homepage.top_stories I can see the legitimate argument against: "join the army and they'll foot the bill for the transition". Yet another issue that would likely dissolve if healthcare wasn't contingent on employment.