I’d be fine offering Bill Clinton as tribute. The fact that we still let that guy headline the convention while it took approximately 30 seconds to bury Al Franken has always mystified me.
Another good article that is detailing how this administration is doing yeoman's work on fostering suspicions about the government. "We shouldn't trust the economic numbers? We shouldn't trust the CDC recommendations? We shouldn't trust the FBI?"
Terrific job by the Trump admin and the complicit media structure to fracture the nation. Love it.
And to exploit the feckless Democrats? Just amazing. Chef's kiss
Luckily Mamaw and Peepaw are gonna fall for it and continue to believe they are just one paycheck from becoming a millionaire because all those brown foreigners are gone thanks to Daddy Trump.
Donnie's spiral is going to be spectacular, but it's the aftermath and who on the MAGA right that scares me the most. The vacuum he will create will be worse than most of the stuff he's doing now.
I really hate to root against the country, but there has to be enough pain and consequences for people to get us off this road to authoritarianism. The propaganda and information environment is so bad that reality is literally going to have to punch them in the face.
I continue to higly regard your insights. Something that has been on my mind but not devled into beyond some top line comments in the blogosphere is how the reconciliation bill (bbb) is designed to dismantle our healthcare system. It is most definitely not designed to reform it as falsely stated by the R and supporers of the bill. With the stroke of a pen R’s and POTUS choked off necessary funding that hospitals and their affiliated entities (clinics, surgical centers, specialty outpatient services) need to continue to provide healthcare seevices. I say choked off because not only does it reduce reimbursement (aka payment) it reduces the number of people that can qualify for medicaid Insurance. It also goes so far as to tying the hands of the states eliminate to create/use a medicaid tax to balance the lack of federal medicaid funding for dreimbursement (in some patient categories). Over the last 50 years our healthcare system has been built upon and relies ipon a model that focues on reimbursement funding to run the system. Taking that away needs something to replace or fill the gap left.- or the sustem will collapse. Yet this abomination of a bill prohibits states from utilizing tax schemes help patients continue to get care and hospitals to get reimbursed for care they provide. The extent of the financial hit is so extreme it is beyond anything any hospital can do to effectively mitigate by trying to capture more revenue (Such as, reducing length of stay, improving quality and efficiency) It is inevitable that hospitals will close and other hospital systems will cut services and staff to save money. As any successful company knows- improving financial performance requires innovation and resources- something that will be impossible for hospital systems and hospitals. Furthermore, the absence of resources mean less care is available and this means patients will wait longer into their illness to get care. Sicker patients require more intensive care. The combination of this & with less staff will drastically increase the system’s exposure to errors and less safe care comes at a cost that includes … you got it- liability. In urban settings financing for the risk of medical malpractice in a health system runs into hundreds of millions dollars annually. As if this isn’t enough add this to the the financial burden created by diminished scientific healthcare research funding. Less research less knowledge.
So while hospitals nwill do their best to chase after ever diminishing reimbursement it won’t be enough to keep the system functioning because there is nothing to chase after. Hence my conclusion the system will collapse as our healthcare system cannot be sustained in this environment. We need to talk bout this openly as it affects us all.
It IS stunning that his statement to Americans that the heat would make the virus go away and 15 would be zero.....and 9 months later 500 thousand would be dead.....and he now faces no repercussions from that is mind blowing to me. By November 2024 people 'forgot'. If Obama had performed like that his political career would have been over that month.
Yes, Brian, I agree that the "smash-and-grab" nature of the regime has yet to be fully appreciated. Potential regime allies will be able to bargain for real treasure in this scenario, when Trump is coming to them for help.
Certainly a better Democratic party could effectively hasten his demise. But yet again I see old Chuck at the podium, glasses on his nose, droning on about something or other that NOBODY latches onto. I know there are more fighters out there! Come on! Let's GO! Drown this guy in his own BS.
"What would Trump do faced with a hard-to-kick recession or stagflation, if not change policy? My guess is immense scapegoating. . . ."
Yes. At the risk of sounding like a paranoid Jew (because I am a paranoid Jew), he will choose the usual scapegoat, the most obvious one when it comes to economic collapse.
He will blame the Jews, starting (but not ending) with Soros, natch. From there, he'll go on to naming many of the Jewish bankers and hedge fund billionaires, esp. those who did not support him, but eventually even those who did.
1. Every news story about the BLS numbers scandal should remind readers or listeners that what Trump wants from the BLS is what he was convicted for as head of his private business interests.
2. Like Dershowitz, Bob Woodward should be shunned by respectable people. Woodward sat on information that might have saved lives if the truth about Trump's awareness of how dangerous Covid was had come out early enough. Trump's public dismissal of the dangers led many MAGA people to dismiss the threat and engage in reckless behavior that led to their own harm or led them to become carriers to others. Much of that did not have to happen had Trump's real awareness been made public.
I wish our predicament could simply be laid at the feet of Trump. But he is only a symptom of something far worse: Willingly corrupted Republican elected and appointed officials at ALL levels of government--federal, state, local-- backed by a Supreme Court whose majority, some with very questionable intregrity, makes its judgements along ideological lines rather than fairness or respect of precedent, then justifying those decisions through legalistic verbal acrobatics-- or delaying hearing cases long enough to make an issue moot. Underpinning this mess are sufficient numbers of American voters who will keep electing these officials to office--no matter what-- choosing to happily abandon evidence, credible information sourcing, critical thinking, and simple common sense.
I think this is a correct description of the corner Trump has got himself (and us!) into. His cut-rate charisma isn't going to get him out this time. Meanwhile, we suffer, and the country goes down the tubes.
I will posit another option for Trump to escape (sic) the consequences of his failed leadership: he resigns.
Citing some bs medical reason, which he's shown he's fully capable of believing himself if it suits him, he steps down and Vance becomes president. Trump continues to claim successes, which again he'll believe even though the facts say otherwise, he'll have gobs of money (all that really matters to him), and will be protected from any sort of prosecution by a Republican president. If the mid-terms flip the House or Senate, or both, he might be endangered by Congress, but that's a big If. The likelihood of his being prosecuted by some Democratic administration post the 2028 elections is questionable; the urge would be to move on if he hadn't been in office for years by that time.
Do I think this will happen? No, not really. But it could, and at the least should be listed as one possible avenue of escape for Trump.
This is astute. In fact I'll be surprised if it *doesn't* happen. He'll make up some medical reason and bug out. The only kicker will be, he'll try to make a deal with Dems not to prosecute him for his many crimes. I don't necessarily believe they'd agree to that, however feckless they've been to date. That said, this is what he should do. He's gotten his revenge and his money. All he wants to do anyway is play golf and bang hookers.
I doubt that we will have a recession any time soon. It looks more like we are headed for the dreaded stagflation which is much harder to cure since cutting interest rates to spur growth or introducing new spending programs will lead to more inflation. Ask the ghost of Jimmy Carter how well that turned out for him.
The decrepitude of the Democratic Party continues to horrify me. I am a lifelong Democrat who no longer wants to be associated with that band of snivelers. We have to force the oldsters (like me!) to give way to youth, vigor, and new ideas. And stop trying to break guys like Mandani.
I’d be fine offering Bill Clinton as tribute. The fact that we still let that guy headline the convention while it took approximately 30 seconds to bury Al Franken has always mystified me.
Al Franken self-deported. Not sure why. He did nothing wrong, for chrissakes!
Another good article that is detailing how this administration is doing yeoman's work on fostering suspicions about the government. "We shouldn't trust the economic numbers? We shouldn't trust the CDC recommendations? We shouldn't trust the FBI?"
Terrific job by the Trump admin and the complicit media structure to fracture the nation. Love it.
And to exploit the feckless Democrats? Just amazing. Chef's kiss
Luckily Mamaw and Peepaw are gonna fall for it and continue to believe they are just one paycheck from becoming a millionaire because all those brown foreigners are gone thanks to Daddy Trump.
Donnie's spiral is going to be spectacular, but it's the aftermath and who on the MAGA right that scares me the most. The vacuum he will create will be worse than most of the stuff he's doing now.
I really hate to root against the country, but there has to be enough pain and consequences for people to get us off this road to authoritarianism. The propaganda and information environment is so bad that reality is literally going to have to punch them in the face.
I continue to higly regard your insights. Something that has been on my mind but not devled into beyond some top line comments in the blogosphere is how the reconciliation bill (bbb) is designed to dismantle our healthcare system. It is most definitely not designed to reform it as falsely stated by the R and supporers of the bill. With the stroke of a pen R’s and POTUS choked off necessary funding that hospitals and their affiliated entities (clinics, surgical centers, specialty outpatient services) need to continue to provide healthcare seevices. I say choked off because not only does it reduce reimbursement (aka payment) it reduces the number of people that can qualify for medicaid Insurance. It also goes so far as to tying the hands of the states eliminate to create/use a medicaid tax to balance the lack of federal medicaid funding for dreimbursement (in some patient categories). Over the last 50 years our healthcare system has been built upon and relies ipon a model that focues on reimbursement funding to run the system. Taking that away needs something to replace or fill the gap left.- or the sustem will collapse. Yet this abomination of a bill prohibits states from utilizing tax schemes help patients continue to get care and hospitals to get reimbursed for care they provide. The extent of the financial hit is so extreme it is beyond anything any hospital can do to effectively mitigate by trying to capture more revenue (Such as, reducing length of stay, improving quality and efficiency) It is inevitable that hospitals will close and other hospital systems will cut services and staff to save money. As any successful company knows- improving financial performance requires innovation and resources- something that will be impossible for hospital systems and hospitals. Furthermore, the absence of resources mean less care is available and this means patients will wait longer into their illness to get care. Sicker patients require more intensive care. The combination of this & with less staff will drastically increase the system’s exposure to errors and less safe care comes at a cost that includes … you got it- liability. In urban settings financing for the risk of medical malpractice in a health system runs into hundreds of millions dollars annually. As if this isn’t enough add this to the the financial burden created by diminished scientific healthcare research funding. Less research less knowledge.
So while hospitals nwill do their best to chase after ever diminishing reimbursement it won’t be enough to keep the system functioning because there is nothing to chase after. Hence my conclusion the system will collapse as our healthcare system cannot be sustained in this environment. We need to talk bout this openly as it affects us all.
It IS stunning that his statement to Americans that the heat would make the virus go away and 15 would be zero.....and 9 months later 500 thousand would be dead.....and he now faces no repercussions from that is mind blowing to me. By November 2024 people 'forgot'. If Obama had performed like that his political career would have been over that month.
Horrifying! But, I agree. I think this decrepit, demented, damaged man still has it in him to do further atrocious acts 😱🤑😤
Yes, Brian, I agree that the "smash-and-grab" nature of the regime has yet to be fully appreciated. Potential regime allies will be able to bargain for real treasure in this scenario, when Trump is coming to them for help.
Certainly a better Democratic party could effectively hasten his demise. But yet again I see old Chuck at the podium, glasses on his nose, droning on about something or other that NOBODY latches onto. I know there are more fighters out there! Come on! Let's GO! Drown this guy in his own BS.
"What would Trump do faced with a hard-to-kick recession or stagflation, if not change policy? My guess is immense scapegoating. . . ."
Yes. At the risk of sounding like a paranoid Jew (because I am a paranoid Jew), he will choose the usual scapegoat, the most obvious one when it comes to economic collapse.
He will blame the Jews, starting (but not ending) with Soros, natch. From there, he'll go on to naming many of the Jewish bankers and hedge fund billionaires, esp. those who did not support him, but eventually even those who did.
1. Every news story about the BLS numbers scandal should remind readers or listeners that what Trump wants from the BLS is what he was convicted for as head of his private business interests.
2. Like Dershowitz, Bob Woodward should be shunned by respectable people. Woodward sat on information that might have saved lives if the truth about Trump's awareness of how dangerous Covid was had come out early enough. Trump's public dismissal of the dangers led many MAGA people to dismiss the threat and engage in reckless behavior that led to their own harm or led them to become carriers to others. Much of that did not have to happen had Trump's real awareness been made public.
I wish our predicament could simply be laid at the feet of Trump. But he is only a symptom of something far worse: Willingly corrupted Republican elected and appointed officials at ALL levels of government--federal, state, local-- backed by a Supreme Court whose majority, some with very questionable intregrity, makes its judgements along ideological lines rather than fairness or respect of precedent, then justifying those decisions through legalistic verbal acrobatics-- or delaying hearing cases long enough to make an issue moot. Underpinning this mess are sufficient numbers of American voters who will keep electing these officials to office--no matter what-- choosing to happily abandon evidence, credible information sourcing, critical thinking, and simple common sense.
I think this is a correct description of the corner Trump has got himself (and us!) into. His cut-rate charisma isn't going to get him out this time. Meanwhile, we suffer, and the country goes down the tubes.
I will posit another option for Trump to escape (sic) the consequences of his failed leadership: he resigns.
Citing some bs medical reason, which he's shown he's fully capable of believing himself if it suits him, he steps down and Vance becomes president. Trump continues to claim successes, which again he'll believe even though the facts say otherwise, he'll have gobs of money (all that really matters to him), and will be protected from any sort of prosecution by a Republican president. If the mid-terms flip the House or Senate, or both, he might be endangered by Congress, but that's a big If. The likelihood of his being prosecuted by some Democratic administration post the 2028 elections is questionable; the urge would be to move on if he hadn't been in office for years by that time.
Do I think this will happen? No, not really. But it could, and at the least should be listed as one possible avenue of escape for Trump.
This is astute. In fact I'll be surprised if it *doesn't* happen. He'll make up some medical reason and bug out. The only kicker will be, he'll try to make a deal with Dems not to prosecute him for his many crimes. I don't necessarily believe they'd agree to that, however feckless they've been to date. That said, this is what he should do. He's gotten his revenge and his money. All he wants to do anyway is play golf and bang hookers.
I doubt that we will have a recession any time soon. It looks more like we are headed for the dreaded stagflation which is much harder to cure since cutting interest rates to spur growth or introducing new spending programs will lead to more inflation. Ask the ghost of Jimmy Carter how well that turned out for him.
The decrepitude of the Democratic Party continues to horrify me. I am a lifelong Democrat who no longer wants to be associated with that band of snivelers. We have to force the oldsters (like me!) to give way to youth, vigor, and new ideas. And stop trying to break guys like Mandani.
Thank you Brian