The biggest reason Obamacare repeal and delay is a crock.
GSA tells Trump he has to fully divest himself of his new DC hotel before he gets inaugurated.
For all the criticism and intrigue about Rex Tillerson’s ties to Russia, his lack of any conventional foreign policy experience (despite having contended with various world leaders) and status as an oil company executive, just why did Trump pick him? Like no conspiracy theories, just why? Were they old friends? Is there some business connection? This Politico article gives a more detailed version of the story I’ve now heard in a number of press accounts: Trump had no prior relationship with Tillerson. But he was recommended to Trump by Bob Gates, Condi Rice and finally James Baker.
I’m proud to see TPM becoming the go-to place for reporting on the legislative fate of Obamacare, Medicare and now Social Security, all of which are now under varying degrees of threat under unified Trumpite Republican rule. Here’s a quick run-down of the GOP plan for drastic cuts to Social Security. Notably, this is not phaseout, not privatization. It’s a broad-ranging series of hikes to the retirement age, and cuts to benefits, mostly engineered through changes in the cost of living adjustment formulas, with some means testing thrown in for good measure.
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Anderson Cooper and Kellyanne Conway from short time ago on CNN …
COOPER: Congressman Adam Schiff tweeted today saying “If Trump was as smart as he claims to be he’d understand how little he knows and how much he’ll come to depend on the Intel community. ” Why doesn’t —
Watching Republicans try to spin the Russia story is both bizarre and hilarious. Here’s Steve Scalise, third-ranking Republican in the House, explaining to Wolf Blitzer that we shouldn’t just be focused on Russian election interference but also people who had their credit cards and personal information hacked.
Transcript after the jump …
A new Kaiser Family Foundation study says that 52 million Americans have conditions insurers use to deny coverage. Most of those are able to get insurance because they are part of group plans. But many do not and those people are about to become uninsurable again when the GOP Congress repeals Obamacare. They’re claiming they’ll replace it and that no one will lose what they currently have. But that’s certainly not true because they’re cutting the funding for Obamacare. Republicans are not going to pass a tax increase to fund whatever GOP replacement they finally come up with for Obamacare. So the human costs are quite here. Here’s the story.
A year as unprecedented, jaw-droppingly ridiculous and frequently horrifying as 2016 has only one proper close: TPM’s 10th annual Golden Duke Awards.
As you know, each year TPM’s toasts outlandish behavior, great feats in public corruption and abuses of the public trust and other outstanding representatives of The Crazy by awarding The Dukes, named in honor of Congressman-turned-convicted felon and inmate Randy “Duke” Cunningham. We’re seeking for your input for Dukes nominations: of all the corrupt, absurd, twisted happenings this year, what stood out to you, bigly?
Dreamers advised by immigration advocacy groups not to be traveling abroad when Trump is sworn in.