GOP Sabotaged Their Own Bill By Trying to Go It Alone: With Their Own Party in Disarray, How Could They Possibly Hope to Pass Anything Until Their Ducks Are in a Row?

I’m trying to comprehend how a political party that is as fractured as the GOP possibly thought they could ramrod their incomplete health care bill through the House with every Democrat prepared to vote “No” on it.  

The attempt to do this was done in extreme haste, and without doing the groundwork first.   Votes should never have been scheduled until the GOP had their entire party on board, which they never did with the health care reform bill.   Moderate Republicans thought the bill went too far, the conservatives didn’t think it went far enough, and everybody else was scattered across the divide.

The GOP couldn’t have more than twenty-one of their members vote against the bill; in between thirty and forty indicated that they wouldn’t support it.  That number, combined with the Democratic numbers was enough to cause the GOP leadership to pull the vote.

If this kind of GOP thinking continues, and they don’t do their homework, I fully expect this kind of thing to happen again on the other agenda items that President Trump has.  I’d prefer he didn’t rule by Presidential fiat in the same way that President Obama did (through Executive Orders). 

I don’t know if Speaker Ryan will be able to hold onto his leadership position, given the kind of defeat he’s just been handed.  If he can’t control his own party in the House, he can’t be expected to control the direction of the whole House either.

Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

GOP Effort to Repeal and Replace Obamacare Will Likely Fail: Their Plan, Quite Frankly, Isn’t As Good as What They’re Attempting to Repeal, So They Should Probably Focus on Fixing What’s Already in Place

I can’t support the Republicans on their plan to repeal and replace Obamacare until they present a plan that is much better and less expensive than what’s already in place.

Which leads me to this point: the original Affordable Care Act was put into place with a plan to put amendments in to fix shortcomings of the law, but the wind direction shifted in Washington and the GOP got control of both houses of Congress, and those amendments were never made.

Someone in Washington needs to look at those amendments and see if they are viable fixes that will help fix the problems, or if they’ll make the situation worse.   Nobody in Washington seems to be talking about this.

People see and feel the monthly premiums the most, and many states have seen double-digit increases in their monthly premiums; insured citizens in Arizona will see a 116% jump in 2017.   This isn’t right or affordable. 

I think the GOP needs to focus on fixing what’s already in place.   Those who are saying that if the GOP screws this up are right: they (the GOP) will pay a heavy price during the midterm elections if millions lose their health insurance.

It may be “Obamacare Light”, but it will have a better chance of succeeding in both houses of Congress, especially with enough of the Republicans in open revolt over supporting the GOP alternative.

They need to do what is necessary to lower premiums, lower costs, and get rid of the mandate. 

Get it right, GOP, or suffer the consequences at the next election.

Police Agencies Should Be Reimbursed for President’s Weekend Trips to Florida and for Protecting Trump Tower: Local Police Aren’t Equipped to Protect President and His Family 24/7/365

President Trump seems to be asking a lot of police departments in New York City and in Florida.   They’re being required to supplement the Secret Service and provide equipment and personnel to protect the President and his family in areas of the country where it’s traditionally not happened before.

Presidential vacations are one thing, but the First Family is residing in Trump Tower in downtown NYC, instead of the White House, and President Trump has spent 1/4 of his Presidency living in Florida.

What gives?  He tweeted in 2016 that he was going to be so busy that he wouldn’t leave the White House.  Yet he’s been in Florida every weekend at his resort, resulting in $60,000 a day in police protection that was not budgeted by Palm Beach County for their Sheriff’s Department.  Residents shouldn’t have to have their taxes raised to pay for President Trump’s protection.

In New York, where the First Family is, it’s even worse.  It’s $146,000 per day, which is actually down from the November-January transition time, which cost NYC $308,000 per day.

The sooner that the First Family moves to the White House, the better.  That way the Secret Service can boost their personnel on the White House grounds, and provide better protection to the President and his family.  Recent security problems at the White House illustrate the need for more Secret Service agents to be on the grounds.   Taking 17 minutes to detect someone (who has no military or infiltration training) who hopped the fence?  That’s a huge problem.

The federal government should reimburse Palm Beach County and New York City for the extra protection that they’re providing.   And President Trump should spend more weekends at the White House to give the residents of Palm Beach a break.

Also, President Trump’s budget will cut federal funding to cities for anti-terrorism efforts, so why is he asking them to spend more while cutting the budget for their police forces?  That doesn’t make sense.

Arrangements need to be made, and a policy written or updated for the future protection of the First Family.

Streisand Tweets That Trump is Making Her Gain Weight: No, Mrs. Streisand, Your Choices Are Doing That

Understand that this is not a fat shaming post as I despise fat shamers.

Barb Streisand tweeted over the weekend that President Trump was causing her to gain weight.

With all due respect to Mrs. Streisand, her choices in foods and when she eats them are responsible for all that, not another person.   If the news is causing stress, turn it off.   Throw the maple syrup out if it’s causing a problem and switch to something else.

Hypothetical: I just ate fifty jelly donuts, and it’s Barbara Streisand’s fault because I don’t like her political stands.   It’s all her fault for my eating fifty jelly donuts and putting on 200 pounds as I eat fifty jelly donuts a day.   Barbara Streisand is going to kill me!   Sound utterly ridiculous?  Now read the story in that vein.

Reality: I hate jelly donuts.   And I eat what I want because I want to.  That’s on me.   Barbara Streisand and her political beliefs have nothing to do with it.   It’s all about making personal choices and taking responsibility for them.   That’s how I see it.

Where Did Trump Get His Information About Wiretapping Going On at Trump Tower From? Did He Get a Briefing on It? And If So, Who Gave It?

If President Trump doesn’t get his act together fast, and start providing information on where he got the notion that Trump Tower was being wiretapped, his adversaries are going to multiply exponentially.

Trump needs allies in Washington if he’s going to make anything of his first term of office, and going off the way he has based (according to some) on the meaningless prattling of an ultra-right wing radio show host (not Rush Limbaugh) simply will not do.  The petulant child routine from President Trump is getting real old, real quick, whether the Tower was bugged or not.

Was President Trump briefed by someone at 6am in the morning?  His first tweet at 6:35am said that he had just found out that the Tower had been wiretapped.  Context, please, Mr. President.

I liked the President Trump I saw on TV addressing Congress.  That’s the one that needs to be out in front, not the Twitter lunatic.

Yes, he should be upset at the Russia story upstaging him again.   And Sessions probably should have talked to the White House as a professional courtesy before having his press conference.

Trump’s chief of staff isn’t doing his job in coordinating the efforts of the Administration.   It’s time to get rid of some people, starting with the chief of staff.