Bernie Sanders is now dunking on journalists on Twitter

https://medium.com/senator-bernie-sa...e8f#.v4v1q4abi

This is giving the administration entirely too much credit.

I would've believed 4D chess like that back in July or something but the sheer unrelenting incompetence that we've seen over the past 46 days makes me doubt any kind of brilliant planning.

What's been incompetent other than random trump rambling and well, the part where they were too dumb to think russian conversations were being listened to or noted by anyone. Trump just can't be controlled to stick to it but speed is more important than execution or quality of anything and nobody who voted for him cares at all about any of that. No, they wanted the first ban and worse than that. This isn't usual politics. They want it all.

I think he's still doing better than dems in america's opinion so lol everyone in this thread. Sure healthcare 1.0 is something stupid they just drew up in a day probably but that doesn't matter as he's not going to get the blame for it.

Dems should jump on board "ryancare", probably the best they could do in terms of policy, rather than letting the more conservative republicans shift the replacement further right. Probably bad polictics (couldn't blame the R's in 2018). Would be fun to see Trump and the far righties twist in the wind deciding what to do.

You're kidding, right? Those are brown people with money, they're the good ones.

The cost of publicly embracing this plan would be a PR nightmare. There is virtually zero chance any Dem votes for this esp in the Senate.

I'd go with uniform opposition to change (obviously unless it's something actually better). It doesn't seem too far fetched that they can't get anything at all through.

Rodent Clearly Making Its Way Through Steve Bannon’s Body Throughout National Security Meeting

Yeah oppose, oppose, oppose. As soon as they get this passed they are gonna move on to the next legislation gutting the social safety net. Keep this stymied and they'll be stuck on it indefinitely.

Except it's not some advanced play. It's a basic political move that even the most mundane people know how to use. I'm not saying that Trump was the one who set out the plan himself. But to believe that a guy like Bannon or Pence doesn't have the know how to plan this out is a gross underestimation imo.

I will donate to the primary opponent of any Democrat who votes for a bill that passes. And I'm the cheapest guy in the world.

was that picture photoshopped or is that a real pic of his face during a meeting? guy is one of the most disgusting looking humans

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/stat...98166738219008

spicer is the official mouthpiece for the president. if the only thing the president knows about the health care bill is the number of pages... then that would definitely be subject of his statement.


***
earlier. the oval office.
***

aide: mr president, this is the new health care bill, we think it's our best chance at achieving our goals in this congress.
potus: wow, that kinda big, isn't it? how many pages is it?
aide: it's 124 pages, sir, it's way WAY shorter than obamacare. in fact half of the bulk is just to repeal the job-killing disaster obamacare
potus: that's good! we gotta tell people that!
aide: alright well here ya go
potus: thanks you can leave now

You missed the part where Trump shushes him to wait for the commercial.

Chuck Grassley is more concerned about whether Franken asked Sessions a "gotcha" question than the perjury committed by Sessions at those confirmation hearings. (8:30)



Our Congress is broken.

Chuck Grassley 515-288-1145

Was reading more into this bill and if they pass it, it's political suicide. I say let them do it, I can't wait for the hard 180 from all the whiny boomers when they realize their costs are gonna go way up.

Maybe that's a price they'll be willing to pay if it screws over enough brown/poor people but I doubt it.

Not the worst idea to let them own this but it's just so bad that the size of the collateral damage in this case is pretty massive.

There's no way the Ds can stop them right? So Rs are kind of screwed either way now. Either Rs are pissed that they didn't keep their word and repeal, or they pass this disaster. All their bull**** is coming home to roost. Their only strategy of blaming Ds for everything and obstructing is no longer viable.

The problem with rooting for them to pass this disaster is that people will literally die.

It was set in stone that people were going to die after the night of nov 8th

Supposedly they can pass it with reconciliation, so they only need 50 votes in the Senate (VP Pence would cast the tiebreaking vote). Some of it is controversial, though, like the 30% surcharge for people who went 60 days without coverage (for a whole year!!!!).

The interesting issue is the debate that any rational Republican congresscritter has to conduct in his or her own mind.

Do I believe that my constituents are so stupid that I can directly harm them with impunity because they'll believe anything I say once the lobbyists pay for the campaign to trick them again, as has been true literally throughout my entire political career, or is this issue the first time they've achieved sentience and might actually understand that passing these tax cuts hurts them?

We're watching Republican reps and senators make that calculation in real time. The ones who hate this bill because it doesn't HARM PEOPLE ENOUGH are all-in that their constituents are stone dumb; the ones who think it harms their constituents are GAMBLING that reliable Republican voters possess sentience, whether passing or otherwise.

Really interesting to watch when you convince yourself to overlook the crippling depression of it all.

No Ds are going to vote for this. A few moderate Rs in purple states are going to oppose it. It will fail. Most Rs will just move on. They will still bitch about Obamacare when its politically expedient. The tea party, freedom caucus, types probably won't let it go, and will keep dragging the party right into crazy land.

They don't have the votes to pass it, looks like five republican senators are a hard "no" at this point.

Man he had trouble even keeping a straight face there.

I'd almost lay even money that a day comes where Spicey just bursts out laughing at one of his own answers. He's gotta be on the precipice with stuff like this.