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Author Topic:   The 2017 Republican Controlled U.S. Congress
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4320
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.4


Message 1 of 86 (796801)
01-04-2017 5:47 PM


I think we should have a thread that follows how the U.S. Congress responds to Trump and to the American people. Percy introduced The Trump Presidency today but we need to follow what these guys are doing also, since they seem focused on dismantling the federal government.
Edited by Tanypteryx, : corrected the time warp.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by Phat, posted 01-04-2017 6:09 PM Tanypteryx has replied
 Message 5 by Dogmafood, posted 01-04-2017 8:11 PM Tanypteryx has seen this message but not replied

  
Phat
Member
Posts: 18248
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 2 of 86 (796802)
01-04-2017 6:09 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Tanypteryx
01-04-2017 5:47 PM


Dismantling
What has been specifically proposed? Im out of the loop...

Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. —RC Sproul
"A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." —Mark Twain "
~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith
Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.~Proverbs 28:26

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Tanypteryx, posted 01-04-2017 5:47 PM Tanypteryx has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 3 by jar, posted 01-04-2017 6:52 PM Phat has seen this message but not replied
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jar
Member (Idle past 384 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 3 of 86 (796805)
01-04-2017 6:52 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by Phat
01-04-2017 6:09 PM


Re: Dismantling
Nothing yet.

My Sister's Website: Rose Hill Studios My Website: My Website

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Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4320
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.4


(1)
Message 4 of 86 (796808)
01-04-2017 7:35 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by Phat
01-04-2017 6:09 PM


Re: Dismantling
Privatizing Medicare and Social Security and doing away with Medicaid and of course repealing the Affordable Care Act. Those are just to start. Repealing all regulation of banks and the financial sector, consumer protection, clean water and air protections, etc. Giving public lands to the states, who do not have the resources to manage them, so they will be sold to the 1%, who will lock the rest of us off them while they rape them. Oh, they will expect the big, bad, over-reaching federal government to take care of fighting any wildfires, but otherwise stay out.
What has been specifically proposed? Im out of the loop...
This might be a good time to start paying attention because the shit-storm is just starting.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 2 by Phat, posted 01-04-2017 6:09 PM Phat has not replied

  
Dogmafood
Member (Idle past 339 days)
Posts: 1815
From: Ontario Canada
Joined: 08-04-2010


(7)
Message 5 of 86 (796811)
01-04-2017 8:11 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Tanypteryx
01-04-2017 5:47 PM


... since they seem focused on dismantling the federal government.
They don't want to completely do away with it, just to make it small enough to fit inside a woman's vagina.
Also, I heard it suggested that if women would simply register themselves as a corporation then they might get the Republicans to recognize them as a person.

This message is a reply to:
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Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4320
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.4


(3)
Message 6 of 86 (796862)
01-05-2017 6:02 PM


Planned Parenthood would lose funding
Planned Parenthood would lose funding as part of Obamacare repeal, Ryan says
Planned Parenthood prevents many thousands of abortions every year by providing birth control to women. The also provide basic health care to tens of thousands.
They are the good guys and the GOP in congress clearly are not.
quote:
Republicans plan to strip Planned Parenthood of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding as part of their rapid push to repeal President Obama’s health-care overhaul, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Thursday.
quote:
Ryan said a defunding measure would appear in a special fast-track bill that is expected to pass Congress as soon as next month. Planned Parenthood legislation would be in our reconciliation bill, he said at a news conference in response to a question about plans to defund the organization.
Reconciliation is a special congressional procedure allowing legislation to bypass a Senate filibuster, meaning it would need only a simple majority of senators to pass rather than a 60-vote supermajority.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

  
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4320
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.4


(3)
Message 7 of 86 (796869)
01-05-2017 9:52 PM


U.S. House changes its rules to ease federal land theft
U.S. House changes its rules to ease federal land transfers
quote:
On the first day of its new session, the U.S. House passed a new rule designed to make it easier to transfer federal lands to states, local communities or Indian tribes by assuming that these transfers would not cost the federal government anything.
quote:
The change was approved Tuesday 233 to 190 as part of a broader collection of rules which will govern how the House will operate during the 115th Congress ranging from budget guidelines to ethics standards. The lands transfer provision didn’t figure in the debate. Previously, when Congress wanted to transfer public lands managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management or other federal agency, the Congressional Budget Office, Congress’ research arm, calculated the cost to the U.S. Treasury by computing what revenues the lands provide over 10 years, such as grazing fees or oil and gas royalties. Under House rules, before a bill approving a transfer could be adopted, budget cuts would have to be made in other federal programs equal to the value of that land. The rules change eliminates that budgetary barrier to land transfer bills.
quote:
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, who sponsored the change, is one of Congress’ strongest voices for giving federal lands to states and localities. Bishop, who chairs the House Resources Committee, argued that the Congressional Budget Office’s traditional accounting missed key benefits of land transfers.
quote:
Allowing communities to actually manage and use these lands will generate not only state and local income tax, but also federal income tax revenues, Parish Braden, the committee’s communications director, said in an email. It also will reduce the federal government’s need to subsidize communities adjacent to federal lands with programs such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes or Secure Rural Schools, he added: Current budget practices do not fully recognize these benefits, making it very difficult for non-controversial land transfers between governmental entities for public use and other reasons to happen.
This is all pure bullshit. Bishop is a strong supporter of the thieves who tried to steal Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last year.
What is clear is the western states do not have the infrastructure or revenues to manage these lands and so they will either be degraded and mismanaged or sold to corporations and the wealthy to exploit.
This land belongs to us, the citizens of the United States and future generations. This is an attempt by these traitors to steal our land and turn it into the kind of region that we see in the rest of the country where there is hardly any public land. Where you can't go out and walk anywhere without paying or getting permission.
No one generation or group of corrupt politicians has the right to steal our heritage.
Edited by Tanypteryx, : No reason given.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

Replies to this message:
 Message 8 by jar, posted 01-06-2017 7:21 AM Tanypteryx has not replied

  
jar
Member (Idle past 384 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


(1)
Message 8 of 86 (796876)
01-06-2017 7:21 AM
Reply to: Message 7 by Tanypteryx
01-05-2017 9:52 PM


Re: U.S. House changes its rules to ease federal land theft
No one generation or group of corrupt politicians has the right to steal our heritage.
Historically rights are superseded by power.

My Sister's Website: Rose Hill Studios My Website: My Website

This message is a reply to:
 Message 7 by Tanypteryx, posted 01-05-2017 9:52 PM Tanypteryx has not replied

  
LamarkNewAge
Member (Idle past 728 days)
Posts: 2236
Joined: 12-22-2015


Message 9 of 86 (796885)
01-06-2017 5:39 PM


I wonder how the mid term elections will go.
Democrats have to defend an unreal number of Senate seats in 2018.
Republicans have to defend just 8 (Nevada will be about the only tough one), while Democrats must defend 25. 25 of the 48 Democratic seats!
Democratic seats in Missouri, West Virginia (where that once popular idiot Joe Manchin came out for some really bad "gun control" after he won reelection in 2012), and Indiana seem like they are already lost.
Democrats have murdered themselves in the somewhat liberal state of Montana over the gun control issue. Jon Tester might not be able to hold on (if he even decides to run), which is sad because he is a decent guy (unlike the 3 disgraces already mentioned above).
North Dakota will probably flip from the Democrats to the Republicans over the national party taking a sad stand since December 2012 on the gun issue.
The Democratic Florida seat might be slightly in the Republicans favor too. Nelson only won 54% to 46% in the (Obama winning) Presidential year of 2012, Turnout is much lower in mid-term elections, and with the gun issue in play again, the GOP should have about a 50-50 chance to win.
New Hampshire, Virginia, and Pennsylvania are vulnerable. Especially the latter. Senator Bob Casey only won 54% to 45% in 2012, and that was when he was running with a Barak Obama who opposed even the Assault Weapons Ban (in NOVEMBER of 2012 that is). New Hampshire and Virginia Democratic Senators were reelected with less than 1% in 2014. Jean Shaheen and Mark Warner. I predict that Tom Kaine (who won by about 6 or 7 point in 2012) will loose this time.
I think the Republicans will get 60 seats unless Trump decides to support the NRA and Democratic minority (with a lot of Republicans) on mental discrimination I mean background checks.
If he does, then it will hurt Republicans enough that they might only gain a few seats at worst ( for them) and they sure wont reach 60 under any circumstance.

  
Taq
Member
Posts: 9944
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 4.8


(2)
Message 10 of 86 (796992)
01-09-2017 10:55 AM


Health Care
From what I can see, the Republicans have two choices when it comes to a health care system: Keep Obamacare in place, or go to a single payer system. I think we can all agree that the Republicans are not going to create a socialist single payer system, so that's leaves Obamacare as their only real option.
Obamacare really is the only sane system if you are going to keep private health insurance in place and force private companies to insure everyone at affordable rates regardless of health or income.
1. If you are going to insure sick people then you need healthy people paying into the system which requires some sort of mandate to be in the system.
2. If you are going to make it affordable, then you have to limit the amount that you charge sick people. This means having healthy people pay more.
3. If prices are too high for even the middle class (which it often is), then you need to subsidize their insurance by taxing the higher income brackets.
There is already a law in place that does all of that. It's called Obamacare. If there is one aspect of Obamacare that Republicans really hate it is the mandate to buy insurance. The people least likely to buy insurance are young and healthy people. The result is massive increases in cost for older and sick people.
This reality is probably starting to sink in within the Republican ranks. Paul Ryan made this statement recently:
We want to make sure there is an orderly transition so that the rug is not pulled out from under the families who are currently struggling under Obamacare while we bring relief.
That statement turns into pure energy due to the meeting of matter and antimatter. If people are truly struggling under Obamacare and need relief, why would they be having the "rug pulled out from under them"? It is massive contradiction.
If I were to use an analogy, I would describe the Republicans as a guy up in the stands who is yelling and screaming at the umpire in a baseball game. Suddenly, the umpire takes off all of his equipment, goes into the stands, drags the douchebag by the scruff, and then drags him down to the field. Once there, the umpire dresses him the equipment and forces him to call balls and strikes. What does the douchebag learn? It's a lot harder to umpire than it is to cry foul from the stands. That's what Republicans are suddenly learning. It's a lot harder to govern than it is to be constant douchebags that criticize every move that someone else makes.

Replies to this message:
 Message 11 by jar, posted 01-09-2017 11:10 AM Taq has replied
 Message 12 by 1.61803, posted 01-09-2017 1:32 PM Taq has not replied

  
jar
Member (Idle past 384 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 11 of 86 (796996)
01-09-2017 11:10 AM
Reply to: Message 10 by Taq
01-09-2017 10:55 AM


Re: Health Care
The problem with your scenario is that it assumes the Congress will produce something with at least a passing nod to reality.
If you are going to insure sick people then you need healthy people paying into the system which requires some sort of mandate to be in the system.
Only if you want it is actually be fiscally neutral.
2. If you are going to make it affordable, then you have to limit the amount that you charge sick people. This means having healthy people pay more.
See above.
3. If prices are too high for even the middle class (which it often is), then you need to subsidize their insurance by taxing the higher income brackets.
Or simply let them suffer and pass the costs down to the local levels.

My Sister's Website: Rose Hill Studios My Website: My Website

This message is a reply to:
 Message 10 by Taq, posted 01-09-2017 10:55 AM Taq has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 14 by Taq, posted 01-10-2017 10:38 AM jar has seen this message but not replied

  
1.61803
Member (Idle past 1494 days)
Posts: 2928
From: Lone Star State USA
Joined: 02-19-2004


(1)
Message 12 of 86 (796999)
01-09-2017 1:32 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by Taq
01-09-2017 10:55 AM


Re: Health Care
Taq, you forgot about all the "death squads" coming to round up grandma.
Taq writes:
There is already a law in place that does all of that. It's called Obamacare.
The Republicans are already blaming the Obama administration for the failure of something they themselves have been torpedoing and chiseling away on since it began. How ironic!!
"Repeal and Replace" they will replace the Obama in Obamacare with the Trump in Trumpcare. If it fails it will be Obamas fault if it is a success it will be Trumps doing.
Edited by 1.61803, : No reason given.

"You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative" William S. Burroughs

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Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4320
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.4


(1)
Message 13 of 86 (797013)
01-09-2017 6:54 PM


Senate Confirmation Hearings
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled a bunch of simultaneous confirmation hearings this week, before the background checks and financial disclosures are complete, as well as a huge vote-arama of amendments to bills before anyone could possibly read them all, let alone discuss them.
What a scumbag hypocrite.
The level of corruption we can expect from the GOP in Congress and the Whitehouse is unprecedented.
A shit-storm and a cluster-fuck are cross-breeding and we are going to be truly screwed.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

  
Taq
Member
Posts: 9944
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 4.8


(2)
Message 14 of 86 (797039)
01-10-2017 10:38 AM
Reply to: Message 11 by jar
01-09-2017 11:10 AM


Re: Health Care
jar writes:
The problem with your scenario is that it assumes the Congress will produce something with at least a passing nod to reality.
That is the ultimate question, isn't it.
Up to this point, Republicans have had the luxury of making grand claims about what they would and wouldn't do in a time where they knew none of their bills would get past the White House. Now they are in control and their ideas have a real chance of being made into law.
The question they have to answer is if their loyal followers are really as gullible as they sometimes appear to be. If they are that gullible, then they can storm ahead with really bad policies dressed up in party ideology. If their followers are not that gullible, then they stand to lose political control if they enact what they have been threatening to enact for the last 8 years.
There are already a handful of Senate Republicans who are trying to put the brakes on the repeal of Obamacare because they do know that Obamacare is good legislation at its foundation. It could stand some tweaks here and there, as do all programs, but Obamacare is the best you can do outside of making healthcare public (i.e. socialist). Not only that, Obamacare used to be the Republican's health care plan back in the 1990's.
If one were a disinterested observer, the most interesting political theater will involve the conflict between the "traditional" Republican caucus and the nutjob Tea Party. Will the self destructive ideology that the Republican party fomented over the last 8 years come back to bite them? Time will tell.

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Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4320
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.4


(2)
Message 15 of 86 (798596)
02-03-2017 4:36 PM


House votes to end rule that prevents people with mental illness from buying guns
House votes to end rule that prevents people with mental illness from buying guns
The Republican-controlled House voted 235-180 on Thursday 02-02-2017.
quote:
The Republican-controlled House voted 235-180 in an apparent effort to improve gun ownership under President Trump. The rule affected nearly 75,000 Social Security recipients diagnosed with mental health conditions, such as extreme anxiety and schizophrenia, and are considered incapable of managing their own affairs.
quote:
Republicans and gun-rights activists have argued that the rule stigmatises those with mental health issues and unfairly strips them of their Second Amendment rights.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy

Replies to this message:
 Message 17 by NosyNed, posted 02-03-2017 5:46 PM Tanypteryx has replied

  
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