American Politics Thread: Orange is the new POTUS

[Senator Clay Davis]

And then he makes this utterly pathetic speech. Goddamn what a maverick.

[FlameOn]

Paul Manafort subpeonaed to testify publicly tomorrow in front of the House Judiciary Committee. Highly irregular because of short notice. I am hoping this is not what other users have said and them Grassly and Trump Jr trying to pin this on the Democrats

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/politi...aju-sot-nr.cnn

[ResAlien]

Wow this is such a surprising and unexpected turn of events.

[ResAlien]

And McCain's legacy? The guy voted to keep MLK day from being a holiday. His legacy is he's an ####### that lived in a box once.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I also like how he said he wouldn't actually vote for the bill, it's all about procedure and decorum. Because keeping decorum has been the Senate's MO the past 5-7 years. Wish he had the courage to just admit he's a party hack.

[FlameOn]

Trumps pick to run the DOJ criminal division worked for Russian bank. It's now a job requirement for any Trump related position more or less.

“President Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s criminal division, Brian A. Benczkowski, has disclosed to Congress that he previously represented Alfa Bank, one of Russia’s largest financial institutions, whose owners have ties to President Vladimir V. Putin,” the New York Times’s Charlie Savage and Adam Goldman reported last night. “Alfa Bank was at the center of scrutiny last year over potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia after computer experts discovered data suggesting a stream of communications between a server linked to the Trump Organization and a server linked to the bank. Reports about the mysterious data transmissions fueled speculation about a back channel. The F.B.I. investigated the matter, however, and concluded that the servers’ interactions were not surreptitious exchanges between the campaign and Russia, according to current and former law enforcement officials.”

The decision to take on such a controversial Russian client raises questions about Benczkowski’s judgment that could come up during his confirmation hearing today.

Benczkowski, who helped manage Trump’s transition team for the Justice Department, has signaled that he plans to be evasive when questioned about the specifics of his work for the Putin-linked bank: “(E)thical considerations prohibit me from disclosing confidential legal advice or any other information protected by the attorney-client privilege under any circumstances,” he wrote in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.22c40b5361c0

[Frequitude]

Is this vote passing really a big deal? As much as I'd love to simply see Trump fail, and will hate him boasting about this being a huge success, didn't they just vote to debate and amend the house bill? Is that really a bad thing? The real vote is a vote on whatever the bill ends up looking like.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Is this vote passing really a big deal? As much as I'd love to simply see Trump fail, and will hate him boasting about this being a huge success, didn't they just vote to debate and amend the house bill? Is that really a bad thing? The real vote is a vote on whatever the bill ends up looking like.

the new bill is amended from the House bill, which incidentally, a lot of house members didn't even bother to read, instead kicking the can to the senate to "Fix" it.

While the latest vote isn't a death knell for Obamacare, it is one step closer to passing the Trumpcare replacement...as opposed to being killed before even seeing debate...

opening it up for debate might allow the Dems to finally comment on it, but there is now the potential for the bill to pass as a consequence to the Senate making further amendments to the bill to appease other members of the GOP

I had thought that the deadline for reconciliation was expired, but apparently not...

[Senator Clay Davis]

It's a big deal because now McConnell will simply vote buy the remaining holdouts. I guess if anything the Dems can try and add unlimited amendments as some quasi filibuster. But unless the backlash in the next 24 hours is as fierce as any bill ever, this will probably go through.

[ResAlien]

C'mon now we all know it's gonna pass. It could contain a provision requiring a senator to murder a baby alpaca whilst singing the Russian national anthem every day on live television and it would pass.

[dash_pinched]

Tom Tomorrow ✔ @tomtomorrow
Guy with brain cancer travels across country to take away people's health care is hamfisted satire. You'd roll your eyes if it were a movie.

[Lanny_McDonald]

The passing of this vote is enough to make me sick, but based on what this is going to do to healthcare in the United States, I can't afford to get sick!

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

the new bill is amended from the House bill, which incidentally, a lot of house members didn't even bother to read, instead kicking the can to the senate to "Fix" it.

While the latest vote isn't a death knell for Obamacare, it is one step closer to passing the Trumpcare replacement...as opposed to being killed before even seeing debate...

opening it up for debate might allow the Dems to finally comment on it, but there is now the potential for the bill to pass as a consequence to the Senate making further amendments to the bill to appease other members of the GOP

I had thought that the deadline for reconciliation was expired, but apparently not...

There wasn't even a new bill being voted on was there?

I have to agree mostly with Frequtude. It doesn't seem like there is a very clear path forward, and I don't think anyone knows what the starting point for a bill even is.

All in all, it's probably a good thing that this is going to get debated in public rather than in closed doors.

I don't know how Trump could be any more useless in this whole effort though. Has he given any direction on what he'd want or doesn't want? I feel like he'd sign anything that came to him and brag about what a big win it is. Whether is be just repealing the mandate, repealing the whole thing, universal healthcare for all, or even just changing the name from ACA to Trumpcare.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

From earlier today. The answer is yes.

David Corn‏@DavidCornDC
Will cancer-stricken @SenJohnMcCain help a draft-dodger who called him a loser take health care from millions? Then this will be his legacy.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I don't know how Trump could be any more useless in this whole effort though. Has he given any direction on what he'd want or doesn't want? I feel like he'd sign anything that came to him and brag about what a big win it is. Whether is be just repealing the mandate, repealing the whole thing, universal healthcare for all, or even just changing the name from ACA to Trumpcare.

Bang on. The only thing I could really see him doing was bullying GOP senators publicly to make them vote yes. It worked, I guess.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

There wasn't even a new bill being voted on was there?

I have to agree mostly with Frequtude. It doesn't seem like there is a very clear path forward, and I don't think anyone knows what the starting point for a bill even is.

All in all, it's probably a good thing that this is going to get debated in public rather than in closed doors.

I don't know how Trump could be any more useless in this whole effort though. Has he given any direction on what he'd want or doesn't want? I feel like he'd sign anything that came to him and brag about what a big win it is. Whether is be just repealing the mandate, repealing the whole thing, universal healthcare for all, or even just changing the name from ACA to Trumpcare.

in theory it is a "new bill" as it has been modified from the bill that passed in the house... this is what is being debated... how much is "new" is precisely one of the issues with the current bill and the procedural failures that McCain is somehow complaining about.

with Obamacare, one can argue about how important the GOP amendments adopted were, however, the Democrats were very transparent and allowed many, many opportunities for the GOP to participate and understand the Bill as it was being written.

The GOP have taken the anti-democratic process, relying on secrecy and partisanship to hammer out their revised bill... this is what will be debated.

EDIT: the new bill hasn't passed... but the door is now open to it potentially passing, whereas most thought it was dead dead....and would have to go back to the House and be rewritten

[Senator Clay Davis]

New bat#### WSJ interview where Trump says Sessions only endorsed him because of....you guessed it, the big crowds. I mentioned long ago OD'ing on his own ego. Maybe this is what that looks like.

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/tru...ons-1501010025

[Duruss]

The ealier talk of genocide is imo the wrong word. We should use Pogrom; it's the best word, it's Russian.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

He just keeps campaigning, keeps bashing Hillary and Obama. Keeps playing to his base. Nobody with a brain believes stuff like this, right?

Ben Jacobs‏@Bencjacobs
Trump: Our Second Amendment is sound again. It would have been gonzo, it would have been gone"

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

From earlier today. The answer is yes.

David Corn‏@DavidCornDC
Will cancer-stricken @SenJohnMcCain help a draft-dodger who called him a loser take health care from millions? Then this will be his legacy.

I don't see it that way. I see it as McCain voting to get on to actually debating and amending the bill in a non-partisan fashion as a properly functioning senate should. In his speech he said that although he was voting to send it to debate, he certainly wouldn't vote in favor of the bill in its current form.

All in all, I think McCain nailed that speech. He called out the bipartisanship that has gripped politics of late. He called out Trump as the Senate's equal, not their superior. Good on him.