Tag: Republicans

Republican senators celebrate the 4th in Russia

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

I don’t shock that easily anymore, but damn. This is something else:

Republicans trying to pass info from investigation to White House

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

The White House

How do you solve a problem like The Donald?

Officials at the department believe that the conservatives have now gone too far with document requests related to continuing investigations that the lawmakers clearly do not support, including the inquiry led by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into Russia’s election interference. A former federal law enforcement official familiar with the department’s views said that Mr. Rosenstein and top F.B.I. officials have come to suspect that some lawmakers were using their oversight authority to gain intelligence about that investigation so that it could be shared with the White House.

After Nunes, you’d think they would take that as a given.

Mr. Trump’s threat on Wednesday to intervene bolstered those voices and could undermine the Justice Department’s ability to protect some of its most closely held secrets. Lawmakers conducting oversight are usually given summaries of the information, but not the intelligence collected directly from wiretaps and sensitive sources.

[…] “The department recognizes the keen interest that Congress has in the special counsel’s investigation, but, respectfully, we must adhere to the longstanding position of the department that congressional inquiries pertaining to ongoing criminal investigations threaten the integrity of those investigations,” Stephen E. Boyd, an assistant attorney general, wrote in the letter, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times…

“If we were to just open our doors to allow Congress to come and rummage through the files, that would be a serious infringement on the separation of powers,” Mr. Rosenstein said at an event in Washington. “It might resolve a dispute today, but it would have negative repercussions in the long run, and we have a responsibility to defend the institution.”

Thom Hartmann: How the GOP used a two Santa Clauses tactic to con America

~ susie ~ 2 Comments

Santa Claus

The only thing wrong with the U.S. economy is the failure of the Republican Party to play Santa Claus. -Jude Wanniski, March 6, 1976 The Republican Party has been running a long con on America since Reagan’s inauguration, and somehow our nation’s media has missed it – even though it was announced in The Wall Street Journal in the 1970s and the GOP has clung tenaciously to it ever since. Continue reading “Thom Hartmann: How the GOP used a two Santa Clauses tactic to con America” →

Oh look, alleged reason for making Obamacare look bad was a lie

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

Wells Fargo Center, 1 Independent Drive, Jacksonville, Florida, USA / Architect: KBJ Architects / Completed: 1974 / Architectural Style: Modernist

I AM SO SHOCKED:

Aetna claimed this summer that it was pulling out of all but four of the 15 states where it was providing Obamacare individual insurance because of a business decision — it was simply losing too much money on the Obamacare exchanges.

Now a federal judge has ruled that that was a rank falsehood. In fact, says Judge John D. Bates, Aetna made its decision at least partially in response to a federal antitrust lawsuit blocking its proposed $37-billion merger with Humana. Aetna threatened federal officials with the pullout before the lawsuit was filed, and followed through on its threat once it was filed. Bates made the observations in the course of a ruling he issued Monday blocking the merger.

Aetna executives had moved heaven and earth to conceal their decision-making process from the court, in part by discussing the matter on the phone rather than in emails, and by shielding what did get put in writing with the cloak of attorney-client privilege, a practice Bates found came close to “malfeasance.”

The judge’s conclusions about Aetna’s real reasons for pulling out of Obamacare — as opposed to the rationalization the company made in public — are crucial for the debate over the fate of the Affordable Care Act. That’s because the company’s withdrawal has been exploited by Republicans to justify repealing the act. Just last week, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) cited Aetna’s action on the “Charlie Rose” show, saying that it proved how shaky the exchanges were.

For those of you in the Philly area, the Republicans will be meeting here this weekend to plot how to carve up the ACA. Trump will be speaking to them at noon Thursday, so there will be a march from City Hall to Loew’s hotel, approximately at 11:30.

There will be another rally outside the hotel at 4pm.