Category Archives: Donald Trump
Bull in the Swamp
When President Trump rides high so does the stock market. The Dow Bull has surged 2,700 points since his election.
Trump and Bull Get Swamped
But as allegations from unnamed sources rise in the media, President Trump sinks in the swamp. Apparently, so does the stock market. The Dow lost 373 points on Wednesday. The experts say investors worry that if Trump goes down so will his agenda for tax cuts, less regulation, and more growth.
Most experts that is. Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel, says the market could spike 1,000 points if Trump resigns.
Update: Well, as of noon Friday the Bull has clawed back over 200 points of Wednesday’s losses. Maybe I was just looking for an excuse to draw an alligator.
Jim Comey Had A Very Bad Nixonian Russian Firing Day
Let’s recap:
Comey went public with Hillary’s email server crimes.
And Republicans loved it.
But he said she lacked intent and couldn’t be prosecuted.
And Democrats loved it.
But then he said someone sent classified documents to pervert Carlos Danger’s laptop.
And Republicans loved it.
But then he said, “Never mind.”
And Hillary blamed him for losing the election.
And Comey became mildly nauseous.
Then Trump fired him.
That somehow outraged Democrats. They called it the Tuesday Night Massacre. Like the Saturday Night Massacre of Watergate lore.
They said Trump is Nixonian. Nixon, through Henry Kissinger, had Detente with Russia. Democrats say Trump had collusion with Russia.
And then Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak showed up at the White House.
And then Henry Kissinger showed up at the White House…
Deep State Russian Dragnet
Daniel Henninger in the WSJ calls the Obama/Lynch decision to allow the NSA to spread raw intel to the other 16 agencies the Rosetta Stone for the Russia story:
As with Hillary’s server, there is a Rosetta Stone for the Russia story. It is the Barack Obama/Loretta Lynch decision in January to sign rules permitting the National Security Agency to disseminate “raw signals intelligence” to 16 other intelligence agencies without privacy protections for individuals.
Russian Dragnet
Two months later, it was reported by the New York Times that Obama administration officials had done this to dispense information across the intelligence bureaucracies “about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians.”
Of course, those “contacts” leaked into the water-collection barrels of the entire Washington press—either from officials inside 17 U.S. intelligence agencies or from Obama officials themselves, such as it-wasn’t-me Susan Rice.
The predictable tumult from the Obama-originated mass leaks then intimidated Congress into sending the House and Senate intelligence committees chasing after these “suggestions” of collusion.
Beyond Mike Flynn and Carter Page, why haven’t we seen more leaks pushing past the original stories? Why have the leakers gone silent, unless they leaked everything they had? Indeed why hasn’t there been a mega-dump into the press by now of all the original NSA “raw signals intelligence” à la the Pentagon Papers?
Instead, calls are now bubbling up from this swamp—what else can you call it?—to appoint a special prosecutor, presumably to get to the bottom of the Russian collusion swamp, though without subpoena powers in Moscow.
American Healthcare Act Pre-existing Conditions
House Republicans passed a bill last week to sort of repeal and replace ObamaCare. It’s called the American Healthcare Act.
The idea of insurance is to spread the risk of the cost of getting sick. According to The Health Care Blog, if you’re already sick when you buy health insurance it’s “not really insurance”. It’s just health care coverage. And it has to be subsidized.
Pre-Existing Condition
ObamaCare requires companies to sell insurance to people with pre-existing conditions at the same rate as healthy people. The AHA would allow states to apply for waivers to that requirement. HHS Secretary Tom Price says those states could then set up “high risk” pools to help subsidize coverage of the already sick with federal funds.
Here’s a list of pre-existing conditions CNN says the bill might not cover.
Washington Swamp Tour Guide
Ann Coulter thinks The Washington Swamp is winning.
In her latest column, titled Swamp People 47; Trump 0, she says, “If this is the budget bill we get when Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the presidency, there’s no point in ever voting republican again.”
Meanwhile Vice President Pence got past Mr. Snerdley, the call screener, only to have Rush Limbaugh ask him, “Mr. Vice President, why vote Republican.”
And finally WSJ‘s Daniel Henninger asks, What is a Republican for?
If, after voters delivered control of Congress to them in 2016, these same Republicans can’t – or will not – produce an ObamaCare reform, those voters may reasonably ask in 2018: Why do we need these people?What is a Republican for?
Update: The House narrowly passed a bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
