Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Poopymonster]

A lot of anti-ACA proponents on this board kept saying how they are against medicare-for-all because want to keep their workplace insurance which is better. They may want to rethink that statement.

Same coronavirus treatments. Very different price tag.

The article itself talked about the difference in cost for COVID-19 treatment in the US and Italy. However, there is a pertinent paragraph in the article.



This is true not only for United Healthcare. Which, btw, is the largest US workplace health insurance provider in the US.

Can confirm, I'm on the hook for the test, went to an in network place, getting charged. United Health through my job. Contacted state gov't office about it.

[Rasulis]

https://www.newsweek.com/florida-sto...report-1501090

"Lists from the medical examiners had shown a higher number of deaths than the official count from the Florida Department of Health (FDH), according to reporting from the Tampa Bay Times."

you mean something fishy like this...

Even in California, that does not hide the state numbers, the death count may be undercounted. The state data shows that California's total deaths of all causes have spiked by nearly 10 percent so far in 2020 above the state's historical average mortality rate in recent years. Suggesting deaths from complications of the coronavirus or otherwise related to the pandemic could be well above the official death toll. If the other states are showing the same mortality rate pattern then they probably have the same undercounting problem.

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Can confirm, I'm on the hook for the test, went to an in network place, getting charged. United Health through my job. Contacted state gov't office about it.

Sorry to hear that. It should not be that way.

[Edge-]

Talking Points Memo non-paywalled article.

I'm surprised we don't have a popcorn shortage at this point.

[cubby]

Honestly, I think they will try and handwave it away, pretend that they died by something else, or play it up as a sacrifice for the Economy Gods

I could see the GOP elected peeps doing that, and then I could see the staff getting fucking pissed, and burning them down with leaks to the press.

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only if that staffer is connected to someone of importance like a donor.

Lol, painfully good point. If/When a GOP Rep/Senator dies, I will be very curious to see how they react.

[cubby]

When you have to start with this....

Let's ignore the fact she already has lied. A lot.

That statement is a lie. Times two. Amazing she would start out lying about not lying. Well, I guess par-for-the-course (see what I did there?) for the Deplorable Administration.

[Belize]

I'd like to apologise for calling McEnany a dumb bitch.


In reality, she's an insultingly condescending dumb bitch.

[Acidbaron]

A good documentary highlighting the first few weeks mistakes of the federal government if you can stomach any more of it is.

Coronavirus Pandemic: A tale of two Washingtons

Although probably old news to most Americans.

[Edge-]

I want to see her notes so badly. She apparently has them for every major question that they thought would come up.

That's not uncommon, to be fair. You prep for expected questions and have canned answers ready, it's pretty routine stuff. That would actually be one of the only positive things I could say, at least it looks like she's "prepared" and not just winging it.

[Poopymonster]

Short and full of shit, it seems.

Looks like she got her load of answers directly from the Despi-cheeto.
Did anyone tell her she had some on her chin during the presser?

[Breccia]

DeVos sued for garnishing wages due to student loans during the coronavirus.

"Wait, I thought the CARES Act was supposed to stop that?"

As listed here and here, starting March 13th, if you have a federally-held student loan, your payments are suspended and interest drops to 0% until Sept 30th. I am making the assumption that the lawsuit in question involves such loans, or else it wouldn't be big news, just someone who didn't read the law.

According to the lawsuit, however, paychecks are still being garnished. Hence the class-action lawsuit. The Dept of Education has promised to refund the money at some point eventually, and have promised to ask pretty please for the people they hired responsible for garnishing wages to please stop doing what they were required by law to stop doing six weeks ago.

"This sounds familiar."

It should. This letter signed by 40 Democrats and sent to DeVos publicly asked her to stop illegal wage garnishing. It was dated April 16th, two weeks ago. Hence, lawsuit.

Yet more proof the Trump administration does not care about the law. They just want your money.

[Edge-]

Yeah, but flipping through a three ring binder the way she was is a bit unusual when the questions are softballs. “Hold on, I have a page on Kushner...”

Wait...what? Was she literally flipping through a binder to read the answers? Like...that's some amateur hour bullshit. You're supposed to mostly know the canned answers off the top of your head, with a handful of notes to prompt you to remember if necessary. Like...my company wouldn't let any spokesperson go to an interview or do a Q&A with our fucking briefing book right in front of them, and this is the fucking Press Secretary for the President of the United States of America. I'd think standards would be higher for her, especially since her job is literally to deal with the press, than it would be for "Small developer X who is not a communications professional."

[Adam Jensen]

Should we have a pool for how long the new Press Secretary will last? I say 4 mooches.

Best part of her performance? She opened up by saying "I will never lie to you"

That was a lie.

[Odinfrost]

Wait...what? Was she literally flipping through a binder to read the answers? Like...that's some amateur hour bullshit. You're supposed to mostly know the canned answers off the top of your head, with a handful of notes to prompt you to remember if necessary. Like...my company wouldn't let any spokesperson go to an interview or do a Q&A with our fucking briefing book right in front of them, and this is the fucking Press Secretary for the President of the United States of America. I'd think standards would be higher for her, especially since her job is literally to deal with the press, than it would be for "Small developer X who is not a communications professional."

I mean, with how they are starting to rotate Press Secretaries, I am pretty sure the only standard you need to have now-a-days is "Being Pretty" and "Blonde Woman"

[Breccia]

Like...that's some amateur hour bullshit.

Look back at the last three years. Do you think a qualified professional would be given this job?

Press Secretary McEnemy was the main blonde host of Trump's Facebook TV propaganda during his first year. Nothing about her past suggests she's interested in an honest appraisal of the situation. To go further into this:

We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here ... and isn't it refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama
-- McEnemy, Feb 25th

McEnemy is a Harvard lawyer. She's not really trained for this, unless your qualifications are "say nice things about Trump and have better-than-average tits". But again, look back at the last three weeks. Trump isn't looking for competent people. Trump fires competent people. Trump keeps yes-men.

[Edge-]

McEnemy is a Harvard lawyer.

If nothing else, this administration has proven that Ivy league degrees mean a whole helluva lot less than we once though.

[Ivanstone]

Sounds like an appropriate time for this.

[cubby]

The lies were expect - this is the Deplorable Administration after all. But she seemed to be on point with the answers. I know she was flipping through a binder for answers, but that's not only expected, but what lawyers do. Prep answers and then counter-answers and then...you get the idea.

The question is - how was her performance? Did she seem like she was struggling for answers, outside of searching the binder?

People have been calling her dumb - and she might be a lot of things, and she's certainly a lying duplicitous shill (that's in the job description) but Harvard Law doesn't typically turn out dumb people.

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If nothing else, this administration has proven that Ivy league degrees mean a whole helluva lot less than we once though.

You know, that's an interesting point. Harvard Law just doesn't put out dumb people. So she's smart, but she's also lying for Trump, on a daily basis. So why? Why are genuinely smart people backing and even worse shrilling for Team Deplorable? It has to be the part of the GOP that is out for itself, material/status gain.

I wonder if there are those with "smart" degrees that are so deep in the kool aid they actually believe what they are saying.

[beanman12345]

The lies were expect - this is the Deplorable Administration after all. But she seemed to be on point with the answers. I know she was flipping through a binder for answers, but that's not only expected, but what lawyers do. Prep answers and then counter-answers and then...you get the idea.

The question is - how was her performance? Did she seem like she was struggling for answers, outside of searching the binder?

People have been calling her dumb - and she might be a lot of things, and she's certainly a lying duplicitous shill (that's in the job description) but Harvard Law doesn't typically turn out dumb people.

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You know, that's an interesting point. Harvard Law just doesn't put out dumb people. So she's smart, but she's also lying for Trump, on a daily basis. So why? Why are genuinely smart people backing and even worse shrilling for Team Deplorable? It has to be the part of the GOP that is out for itself, material/status gain.

I wonder if there are those with "smart" degrees that are so deep in the kool aid they actually believe what they are saying.

She's may not be dumb, but she's capable of taking advantage of dumb to make money, to raise her profile, to make even more money. She's smart enough to realize sucking up as a student to trump on CNN, is the way to raise through the ranks, which she's done, to be where she is now. The portrayal of being a dumb bimbo is just as you said, for material/status gain.

[eschatological]

If nothing else, this administration has proven that Ivy league degrees mean a whole helluva lot less than we once though.

I trust my law degree from Boston College more than I do Harvard law degrees. Harvard is notorious for patronage, where rich donors and important people send their kids and Harvard just opens their doors wide for them. To some extent it's a problem at most of the Ivys, but Harvard is by far the worst. Yale has been trying to cut back on it since the embarrassment which was the Bush Jr presidency exposing them as rubes. You're better off trusting lawyers from top 30 schools who aren't Ivys than Harvard lawyers, like AOC (Boston University) or yours truly.

FWIW, Columbia is the only Ivy I'd really trust the lawyers of to be actually competent 100%. Getting into Columbia is hard as balls, and they don't seem to bend the rules for anyone. Non-Ivys to not really trust: Georgetown, which is the D.C. area's law school of choice for rich assholes who are unqualified.

[cubby]

Yes, she was. It was like a middle school student or some shit.

It's actually pretty smart, in a sense, because she is more than likely using "approved answers" - i.e. Kushner approved answers. So as an attorney she is well suited to the role ("binders" were/are used by attorneys in their work to sort out the myriad of information they have to juggle for each case/client).

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She's may not be dumb, but she's capable of taking advantage of dumb to make money, to raise her profile, to make even more money. She's smart enough to realize sucking up as a student to trump on CNN, is the way to raise through the ranks, which she's done, to be where she is now. The portrayal of being a dumb bimbo is just as you said, for material/status gain.

That's my take on it as well. She's out for her own piece of the pie.

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I trust my law degree from Boston College more than I do Harvard law degrees. Harvard is notorious for patronage, where rich donors and important people send their kids and Harvard just opens their doors wide for them. To some extent it's a problem at most of the Ivys, but Harvard is by far the worst. Yale has been trying to cut back on it since the embarrassment which was the Bush Jr presidency exposing them as rubes. You're better off trusting lawyers from top 30 schools who aren't Ivys than Harvard lawyers, like AOC (Boston University) or yours truly.

FWIW, Columbia is the only Ivy I'd really trust the lawyers of to be actually competent 100%. Getting into Columbia is hard as balls, and they don't seem to bend the rules for anyone. Non-Ivys to not really trust: Georgetown, which is the D.C. area's law school of choice for rich assholes who are unqualified.

Thanks for that - I really wasn't aware that patronage could get so many people into some of those schools. I knew it happened, just not so much.