Summations Only

Actually, the flags were being sold by some folks out in the lobby. They had "TRUMP" printed on them in the blue field in the middle. The convention was being trolled but few realized. So many of them politically suave conservative patriots had no idea what they were waving around. The convention staff recognized what had happened and went around the hall trying to confiscate the Ruskie tropes. Too late for all the photo ops. StoryEdited by AZPaul3, : Added story

It's a good joke on them, but probably not many people know those red, blue and white stripes are the Russian flag. That joke would probably work at any political gathering regardless of party.--Percy

Though the Trump administration claimed that the travel ban did not target Muslims, the courts ruled that it did. Now the data are in and it has been revealed that the courts were correct. In the week before the travel ban was overturned only 15% of refugees were Muslim, compared to 45% normally.Reported in the New York Times: Muslims Admitted at Lower Rate During Travel Ban

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WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s choice to be secretary of the Navy, businessman Philip Bilden, said Sunday he was withdrawing from consideration for the post, citing concerns about privacy and separating himself from his business interests.

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From The Washington Post.

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One of the things I spent a lot time doing was trying to convince a person like Vladimir Putin, for example, to accept the notion of an independent press, Former President George W. Bush says.

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sourceHe goes on to say:

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I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy. That we need the media to hold people like me to account, Bush told Matt Lauer, anchor of NBC’s Today show. I mean, power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive and it's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere.

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One of the things I spent a lot time doing was trying to convince a person like Vladimir Putin, for example, to accept the notion of an independent press, Bush said. And it's kind of hard to, you know, tell others to have an independent, free press when we're not willing to have one ourselves.

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Edited by jar, : add second part of the quote to place the headline quote in context.

An investigation in Ohio has revealed that of over 5 million votes cast less than .002% were cast by non-citizens. News article: Ohio Secretary of State concludes investigation; here’s how many non-citizen votes were cast in 2016If similar levels of non-citizen voting occurred in the rest of the country then that would be only a couple thousand votes nationwide. Trump is going to have to cast a much wider net if he's going to find those 3 million fraudulent votes.Prediction for tomorrow night's State of the Union speech: Trump's speech will be over the top, and at some points he will be booed. Before the speech's conclusion some will have walked out.I can't recall watching a State of the Union address in a very long time, probably since Carter or Reagan, but I plan to watch this one. My bet? Highest ratings in television history for a SOTU address. Current record holder: Clinton in 1993. This should make Trump very happy. He'll of course claim the biggest crowd in history no matter what, but this time he'll probably be right.--Percy

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"I am for an immigration policy that is welcoming and that upholds the law."

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And Bush goes on to say:

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"One of our great strengths is for people to be able to worship the way they want to or not worship at all,"

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sourceAfter the attacks of 9-11 Bush had made a point of supporting Muslims and praising Islam's teachings as peaceful.

The US is currently welcoming this man to high level intel briefings at the highest Governmental level.Harjit Singh Sajjan is a Liberal Party Sikh and the Canadian Minister of National Defense and has direct personal access to Lieutenant General James L. Terry Commanding General, U.S. Army V Corps.He, like Sadiq Khan the Muslim Mayor of London and Labour Party member are examples of the rising influence of the Indian migration after the 1947 breakup of India. Sadiq Khan was elected with the largest personal mandate in the history of UK elections and the third highest in Europe.
Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP at Has Labour lost the plot on crime? [CC BY 2.0 (Creative Commons — Attribution 2.0 Generic — CC BY 2.0 )], by Policy Exchange, from Wikimedia Commons

The courts once again have rejected the Trump Administrations request to put the Trump Travel Ban case on hold. The issue this time again hinges on what Trump has said publicly; both that a new policy will be issued as a replacement and also that it would appeal. Since the very words of the President are contradictory the court found it could not reasonable put the case on hold. sourceOnce again the problem is that no one can believe or trust what Trump and the Trump Administration say.

In tonight's State of the Union message, president Trump is expected to lay out more details about how he plans to repeal and replace Obamacare, about which he said yesterday in a meeting with governors, "Now, I have to tell you, it's an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew health care could be so complicated."But health care is not complicated. It's actually very simple. What makes Trump's task complicated is the mutually exclusive goals he's set himself:

• Make health insurance better.
• Make health insurance less expensive for both consumers and the government.
• Don't take health insurance away from people who currently have it.
• Keep the provision against exclusions due to preexisting conditions.
• Make participation voluntary.

This is, of course, impossible. Trump has been using the euphemistic "complicated," but actually it's impossible. It will be interesting to watch Trump work out his differences with those in the Republican party who want simply to eliminate Obamacare while addressing his contradictory goals.--Percy

Thirty-two of the current Thirty-three Developed Nations have Universal Health Care systems.Here is a list: sourceSome of these nations figured out how to do it before WWI.It really is simple. Pick one and do what they did.Edited by jar, : add source for table

Where did you get that graphic? I would like to use it and refer to source.

Added the source but I made the jpg.And what process should congress use to pick the plan?The House has 435 members. There are thirty two countries on the list. Divide the House Membership up by drawing names out of a hat into thirty two teams of 13-14 members each. Assign one nation to each team and send them and their wives off on a vacation to their assigned nation.When they return they must each prepare a Bill supporting choosing the plan from their assigned nation.All thirty-two bills get sent to the Senate where the Senate passes one bill that then becomes the US Universal Healthcare Plan for a term of not less than ten years. At the end of every ten year period the Congress can vote to repeat the process or renew the US Healthcare Plan.

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But health care is not complicated. It's actually very simple. What makes Trump's task complicated is the mutually exclusive goals he's set himself:

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Make health insurance better.

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Make health insurance less expensive for both consumers and the government.

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Don't take health insurance away from people who currently have it.

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Keep the provision against exclusions due to preexisting conditions.

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Make participation voluntary.

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This is, of course, impossible. Trump has been using the euphemistic "complicated," but actually it's impossible. It will be interesting to watch Trump work out his differences with those in the Republican party who want simply to eliminate Obamacare while addressing his contradictory goals.

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The "make health insurance less expensive" is the scary part. The scary parts are essentially the parts about cost controls, which typically Democrats favor (and moderate Republicans), and Republicans haven't been super big on - in the past (the great exception it Tort Reform). If all he is talking about is ending the mandates and selling insurance across state lines, then that isn't too much to fear.Canadians have to come here to get operations and check-ups due to "cost controls" (this is a separate issue from the single payer system issue which has a very good type of "cost control" in that the insurance companies aren't in existence). Paul Krugman and endless Democrats talk about "making Obama Care stronger" by denying operations (like hip replacements) to seniors.We all know thousands of Canadians personally who have to come hear because Canadian healthcare, in their own words, "sucks".Watch out for "cost controls" and "making ObamaCare stronger" b.s. It is code for cutting over $700 billion per year (as Peter Orzag and Ezekiel Emanuel wanted badly to do) from healthcare spending.Trump might join the slash and burn ship, and this Titanic might be irreversible. It much simpler to cut social programs than to fund them. If there are significant cuts to healthcare (say $500 billion per year), then the few who propose restoring the coverage (with its associated costs) to the system will be accused of proposing a "crazy" amount of spending increases that will "bankrupt" our nation with "unrealistic" healthcare costs as a percentage of both the GDP and government budget.Getting Republicans to support the termination of much that makes up healthcare coverage would seem a big change from the past, as Democrats have been the main proponents of specific "cost controls", but it isn't as big a leap as one might expect. Trump could be the (ruinous) game changer.On the other hand.He is in a debate with his own party on an area of the budget where he wants increases.

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Wall Street Journal (blog) (subscription)

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Trump to Propose 'Historic' Increase in Military Spending

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Wall Street Journal (blog) (subscription) - Feb 27, 2017

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Speaking at a meeting with governors, President Donald Trump said on Monday his first budget will include a "historic increase" in military spending. He said the proposal will focus on public safety and national security. Photo: Reuters. Transcript +.

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Western Journalism
See realtime coverage

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McCain Denounces Trump's $54 Billion Defense Budget Increase: 'We Can And Must Do Better'

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Western Journalism - 18 hours ago

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Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is slamming President Donald Trump's proposed $54 billion increase in defense spending, saying it is not enough of an increase to meet the demands of 21st century warfare. President Trump intends to submit a defense budget ...

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Trump to Propose Significant Increase in Defense Spending

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Wall Street Journal (subscription) - Feb 26, 2017

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WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump's first budget will seek a sizable increase in military funding but won't make changes to the largest future drivers of government spending: Social Security and Medicare. Work to prepare the president's first budget ...

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Reuters

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Trump vows military build-up, hammers nationalist themes

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Reuters - Feb 24, 2017

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NATIONAL HARBOR, Md./WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said he would make a massive budget request for one of the "greatest military buildups in American history" on Friday in a feisty, campaign-style speech extolling robust nationalism to eager ...

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Once all the congressmen are in their assigned nations get the president to issue an executive order to bar the republicans from returning.