[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by GGG

Well he signed an executive order on the ACA which basicly can extend the hardship exemption to everyone meaning that their is no longer a mandate to purchase health insurance.

The executive order could also be interpreted to eliminate Obama requirements requiring that contraceptives be provided in all plans without a copayment

Without the mandate Health Insurance premiums will rise for anyone not insured by Medicaid or through their jobs. And costs for contraception went up for everyone so that will lead to additional pregnancies in lower income populations.

So yes on day 1 he has done that. It's impressive he was able to do it so quickly.

And for a ton of small business owners, that cost will also jump up. Our costs for a 15 person business dropped about 50% once the ACA went into effect (they've gone back up since then, but they're still lower than pre-ACA). I can only imagine what our insurance is going to jump up to next year.

Millions of Americans are completely screwed by repealing the ACA, but not a one of them cares because it was Obama's legacy and they just can't wait to dismantle all of that.

Originally Posted by GGG

I do think the media is continuing to fail at their coverage.

They should only ask policy related questions that specifically ask how it will affect average Americans. Informing people of the consequences of Trumps and Congresses actions is the only way to hold them to account.

The bickering over truth while it should be important isn't important with Trump. Maybe just run a fact check side bar. Or a CNN type scrawl at the bottom of the screen

The problem is that for every fact-check, every actual reality put forward to the American people, most of Trump's voters just ignore it, because Trump said it was fake, and Kellyanne Conway says there are "alternate facts" that they should believe instead, etc.

It comes right back to the question of how do you deal with people who refuse to accept fact in the face of overwhelming evidence? If someone will only believe what Trump tells them is true, no amount of fact-checking from the press is going to convince them otherwise.

Originally Posted by REDVAN

I still think some of what he says (if you can positively read between the lines) is worthwhile and could actually "Make America Great Again." But I gather most people (here, there and everywhere) see the negative buffoonery he's doing and just assume the worst. I guess I can't blame them, but it's such a poor outlook to have on a President in his 4th day of office.

Until something actually happens, I will reserve judgement. I don't care about American home ownership as I believe too many own homes as it is. I do think some of the Obamacare copay stuff is bad but that's just my Canadian bleeding-heart Liberalness.

1) What has he said "between the lines" that you believe is actually attainable? What has he said that will actually help the base that voted him into office, and not just his fellow millionaire/billionaires?

2) The problem with the homeownership issue is that small things like that can help people buy homes, because in all too many places, rents are astronomically high, so owning a home is a better option in some cities, but Trump has just made that possibility much harder to attain for exactly the type of people who voted for him.

3) Trump has a huge base that currently benefits from the ACA, and he's going to crush the ACA and leave many of them without care.

So far the only thing he's done that I agree with in any form is ending the TPP, but as others have mentioned, that was likely dead in the water anyway. Otherwise, between his executive orders and his cabinet appointments, he's actually been far worse than I expected on November 9th.

Originally Posted by calculoso

Devil's advocate.... I wonder if (hope that?) this will truly turn out good in the end. Instead of just trusting what is being said and reporting on it as if it is fact, journalists/reporters will now have to dig for the truth... truly work for what the truth really is.

I think this is actually a good point. The next four years look to be pretty awful, but there are a few silver linings, including this point about journalism possibly making a comeback to push against his lies.

There's also the fact that he may have just pushed a button in a lot of younger people--women especially--that will push them to farther push the envelope in politics. It will push more women to run for office, it will push younger generations to have a stronger voice in the conversation politically. It can turn some of these people into activists, and that can't be a bad thing.

Originally Posted by REDVAN

Excellent point. But it worked on over half* of American electors.

But it really didn't, it worked on a minority of American voters country-wide, and even in the swing states that he won, he eeked out a victory on a tiny number of votes (80 thousand votes, spread out over four states in which over 20 million people voted).

If the electoral college wasn't a winner-take-all for each state, Trump wouldn't have won.

Originally Posted by Flamenspiel

Mortgage insurance is not a human right, he just reversed an Obama order to lower it. Its very similar to CMHC increasing mortgage insurance.

It absolutely is not a human right, but Trump ran on a platform of getting things back to when America was "great," when people owned homes and had jobs. He just made it harder for the people who voted for him to own homes. It goes distinctly against what he promised those people to ensure their vote.