Last post before today, 12-01-2016, and all in the same thread.
Alive? Leaving a trail of maggots and slime?
Did anyone else see Pres. Dipshit’s utterly inept Commerce Secretary on Meet The Press? There is a short clip on the Meet The Press site, but it isn’t the whole thing. Laughably inept is putting it nicely. He was trying to defend Trump’s imported metals tariff brilliance.
Diane Feinstein has always been seen as a fairly mainstream Democrat, though definitely on the left side of the mainstream. The fact that she is now unacceptably right-wing for California Democrats tells you just how far to the left the party has moved, at least in that state.
I think the problem with DiFi is the one nobody wants to say out loud: she’s 80 years old.
Ah, this is nothing new at all - San Francisco progressives have always despised her, including when she was mayor*. Mainstream she is, but I’m not even sure that she’s on the “left side of mainstream”. She might appear that way on the national stage because of her long-standing visibility around the gun control issue, but since her first election as senator she been the moderate half of the delegation opposite the more liberal Boxer. As California Democrats go she’s probably about as centrist as they come. Part of the frustration among the progressive left in CA may be that Harris is probably a little closer politically to a Feinstein than a Boxer.
Chatter from the progressives aside, I’m pretty sure Feinstein would easily cruise to another victory if she felt like running. You’ve got to not make the mistake of equating “California Democrats” with “California progressives.” The two over lap but are hardly identical, which is why Hilary Clinton easily cleaned Bernie’s clock here in the primary.
*There are two predominant political factions in SF, the progressives and the usually slightly more powerful moderates. Feinstein, Harris and Newsome were moderates. Meanwhile SF conservatives meet in a phone booth once every leap year.
Nobody’s keeping that quiet.
The primary opponents are saying the same thing about Nancy Pelosi.
Back in the eighties there was a period where the chair for the San Franciso Republican Central Committee was a Democrat. No Republican had filed for the job so a prankster stepped in.
In my mind’s eye, I see an image meme of him holding a sign reading something like, “IT’S NOT MY FAULT. THEY HAVE MY FAMILY”.
The old Grace Slick/“We Built This City” defense. 
Remember how the moron-in-chief undermined his various travel bans (which were totally not bans on Muslims, why would anyone think that?), in the courts by tweeting and saying publicly that the intent was to ban Muslims? He’s at it again.
The president has the power to impose tariffs unilaterally for national security reasons, not for trade negotiation purposes. Normal, non-national security tariff authority lies with congress. So his tweets about dropping the whole thing if Canada and Mexico renegotiate NAFTA to his satisfaction kinda undermines his authority to impose them. Slate opinion piece here.
The only redeeming quality this monster has is his incompetence.
“Trump Org Ordered Golf Course Markers With The Presidential Seal” because of course they did. Using the presidential seal in this way may be breaking a law that restricts the use of the seal. This would be about #1,936 down the list of the top 4,000 laws Trump has broken, but I report it for sake of completeness.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-organization-golf-course-presidential-seal
Well, it’s not like he has anything else to do with his time.
Government will spend $33 billion more to cover 8.9 million fewer Americans, as premiums soar
Pay more! Get less!
FWIW, Republican meddling that caused insurance rates to rise dramatically led my employer to not offer a traditional health plan. Instead, we had a choice between two Health Savings Account plans. Yes, the premiums are lower for the HSA than the traditional plans we had previously. But as near as I can tell, an HSA plan works like this: ‘You give us a few hundred dollars per month, and we let you pay 100% of your health care costs until you meet your deductible.’ I bought some medicine last week. Under the old plan I was paying $4 out-of-pocket. Under the HSA, I paid $74 out-of-pocket. And barring accidents and/or serious illness, it’s unlikely I’ll meet my deductible. At least my employer is giving us $50 for our HSA accounts.
The real formula is:
Pay more!
Get less!
Profit!
That’s the real point of maintaining a private health care system: corporations are able to siphon off money from the people who are paying for health care. And then they donate a portion of those profits to the Republican politicians who keep the private health care system intact.
Yep. If you ever hear a Republican politician complaining about a law or policy being bad because it redistributes wealth, it means that the redistribution is in the wrong direction.
NPR said this morning that it is legal if the President signs off on it…which Trump didn’t (or hasn’t yet). If so, that should push it further down your list, maybe into the 3500 range.
Well, damn. I’m annoyed that the President has that power. I guess this is another one of those unenforceable “norms” that have been holding our system of government together. On the bright side, this could open up a new revenue stream for the federal government. Corporate sponsorship could bring in millions a year. “McDonald’s: Official French Fries of the President of the United States!”
Cannot sell anything with the Presidential Seal:
No sweat. Presidential tchotchkes would be given away free…for anyone purchasing a super premium membership at Mar-a-Lago.