The Politics Thread

[DRW50]

More on the Dutch elections.

 

http://www.politico.eu/article/how-to-lose-but-win-5-takeaways-from-the-dutch-election-mark-rutte-geert-wilders/

[Juliajms]

That really is next level ugly. It reminds me of the Grinch reaching down from the chimney to take the last little crumb from Cindy Lou Who.

[ReddFoxx]

Food programs struggle enough as it is even without cuts like this. At the local level, seniors and the disabled are really going to suffer, which is a shame.

[Juliajms]

^ It's really disheartening. I feel like every day we wake up to find out something awful that's being done to the most vulnerable among us. I've read Meals on Wheels doesn't just serve food, but gives seniors a tiny bit of company and someone to check in and make sure they are ok. I hope people are really waking up and vote out everyone who is going along with these terrible policies.

[Vee]

[DramatistDreamer]

This thread lays out all the cuts to services that Trump's budget intends to target.

[DRW50]

So it looks like a lot of the backbiting over the ACA changes may just be a shell game on the part of the GOP to get away with gutting Medicaid. 

 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/obamacare-repeal-medicaid-trojan-horse

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Who didn't know tearing down Medicaid was a major GOP goal?!  

 

The Republicans despise poor people and would just rather they die out. Their venom spewing has been quite obvious to me. If the GOP could make poverty a punishable offense, they would.

Edited March 16, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

 

I think most people knew it. What the article seemed to be suggesting, to me anyway, is that a lot of the bickering over this plan that has gotten most of the attention in the press and among a lot of activists is a cover to help their real plans get through more smoothly.

[DramatistDreamer]

Oklahoma senator and anti-trans bathroom bill advocate being investigated after found in a motel room with a teenage boy.

You knew there would be at least one of these. SMH.

 

Oklahoma state senator under investigation by Moore police

[Wales2004]

I don't buy that because there are republicans whose states will be impacted by a decrease in Medicaid and devastated by a total loss. And some of them are downright adamant about gutting it and tax credits. The idea that those dummies who had seven years to come up with something better are a bunch of evil geniuses is laughable.

[DRW50]

 

I don't think it's Rove-style machinations, I just think they have a basic goal in all of this which is hidden somewhat more than it should be by all the focus on GOP infighting. Most of the infighting is real, but I think it's also probably somewhat encouraged if it helps distract from the unified goals they do have that will be spun to the public and the press as, "It could have been worse." 

[DramatistDreamer]

Even McDonald's, not exactly known for good taste, is disgusted with Dump.

 

McDonald's investigating after official account tweets insult at Trump

[Vee]

Oh, it's not a shell game. It's not a brilliant plan. It's just incompetence and internecine warfare. This chaos is real. If something gets done by the more experienced GOP hands amidst their own mess it will be by the skin of their teeth, not because we focused on the wrong things. Sustained public outcry against their plans for health care was essential here and it's happened.

[DramatistDreamer]

White, Irish, and undocumented in America