All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[Malvolio]

True. You want to watch more coverage of Puerto Rico than of Roseanne? Watch the PBS News Hour.

[PaulBullion]

I respectfully disagree. The tax cuts are making the one percenters richer than they already are now.

You know what? A lot of that money would have "trickled up" to them anyway. Give poor people money and they will buy more stuff that is produced in the factories rich people own.

[Tami]

Palestinian Medic Killed by Israeli Soldiers at Gaza Protest

A Woman Dedicated to Saving Lives Loses Hers in Gaza Violence

[Tami]

Trump Plan to Lower Drug Prices Could Increase Costs for Some Patients

At the heart of the president’s plan is a proposal to switch some expensive drugs from one part of Medicare to another part — moving them from Part B, the medical benefit created in the original 1965 Medicare law, to Part D, the outpatient drug benefit added by Congress in 2003.

Under Part D, the government contracts with private health insurance companies to manage the benefit and negotiate discounts with drugmakers. There is no such negotiation for the drugs covered by Part B, which are administered by infusion or injection in doctors’ offices or hospital outpatient departments.

But Medicare beneficiaries typically pay a larger share of the costs for Part D drugs. Many beneficiaries have supplemental insurance, such as a Medigap policy, to help pay their share of the bill for drugs covered under Part B. Medigap policies are not allowed to cover Part D expenses.

AARP, the lobby for older Americans, and advocates for cancer patients are already expressing concerns. The problems are not inevitable, they say, but will be difficult to solve.

“People may see a lot higher out-of-pocket costs if a drug moves from Part B to Part D,” said David M. Certner, the legislative policy director of AARP.

Under Part B, beneficiaries are generally responsible for 20 percent of the Medicare-approved charges for drugs and doctors’ services, but the most popular Medigap policies cover the beneficiary’s share. By contrast, in Part D, beneficiaries may be responsible for 30 percent of the cost of some drugs, or more, depending on the terms of coverage set by their drug plan.

[Gray Lensman]

Trump Plan to Lower Drug Prices Could Increase Costs for Some Patients

In that case the solution seems really simple. Change the law so that medigap can cover part D expenses. Of course, being what should be such a simple/obvious fix means it won't happen with our current congress.

[Tazirai]

Palestinian Medic Killed by Israeli Soldiers at Gaza Protest

A Woman Dedicated to Saving Lives Loses Hers in Gaza Violence

I got into it with a guy on HuffPo because he kept shouting about the woman being from Hamas, and people LIT INTO him. Because it doesn't matter if she was Hamas or umboomfufu. A human was trying to help another human.
But these Authoritarians don't care. He vilified her for being Not a jew from Israel. But if it was him, he'd cry victim. He's the person who is okay with cops beating the hell out of citizens, here in the states.

[worstblogever]

Melania's "disappearance" has also led to people digging back into a story of what was described as a supposed "Trump elevator video" aka "Trump's Ray Rice video" where cam footage of him beating Melania in an elevator prior to the 2016 elections exists. Rumor is, TMZ bought that footage in a "catch and kill" scenario, and now some are wondering if there are Michael Cohen payments that made it all go away.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tmz-go...ps-best-friend

[Tami]

Black doctor and family attacked in Florida luxury resort pool — called ‘black b*tches’ and ‘n*ggers’

Dr. Covey Banks, a physician, and her family were vacationing in Florida when they were attacked in a hotel pool.

In a Facebook post with video of the family yelling and calling her a “black b*tch” and “n*gger,” Banks described an encounter that started because she dared point the direction of the restroom to a woman who wanted a child to simply pee in the pool at the Omni luxury hotel.

[GindyPosts]

Black doctor and family attacked in Florida luxury resort pool — called ‘black b*tches’ and ‘n*ggers’

She gets cussed our for not encouraging Florida behavior in Florida.

[Tazirai]

Bye Newsbroke ><

[Malvolio]

You know what? A lot of that money would have "trickled up" to them anyway. Give poor people money and they will buy more stuff that is produced in the factories rich people own.

If that's true, then it leads me to one of two conclusions. Either rich people aren't as smart as they say they are, or making sure poor people stay poor is more important to them than making themselves richer.

[PaulBullion]

Melania's "disappearance" has also led to people digging back into a story of what was described as a supposed "Trump elevator video" aka "Trump's Ray Rice video" where cam footage of him beating Melania in an elevator prior to the 2016 elections exists. Rumor is, TMZ bought that footage in a "catch and kill" scenario, and now some are wondering if there are Michael Cohen payments that made it all go away.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tmz-go...ps-best-friend

If True, it's said to see how little things changed since the days when the media covered up for Nixon beating his wife so badly he put her in the hospital.

In 1974, he writes, Hersh heard that Nixon’s wife Pat was in hospital after being punched by her husband. It was not an isolated occasion. He did not report on the story, he told Nieman Foundation fellows in 1998, because it represented “a merging of private life and public life.” Nixon didn’t make policy decisions because of his bad marriage, went the argument. Hersh was “taken aback” by the response from women fellows, who pointed out that he had heard of a crime and not reported it. “All I could say,” Hersh writes, “is that at the time I did not—in my ignorance—view the incident as a crime.”

[Gray Lensman]

If that's true, then it leads me to one of two conclusions. Either rich people aren't as smart as they say they are, or making sure poor people stay poor is more important to them than making themselves richer.

Think of the plot from Goldfinger. In order to increase the value of his wealth, he plans to destroy the wealth of others.

[JCAll]

If that's true, then it leads me to one of two conclusions. Either rich people aren't as smart as they say they are, or making sure poor people stay poor is more important to them than making themselves richer.

If you gave money to the poor and waited for it to trickle up to the rich, then the poor people will be getting things in exchange for that money. Making sure you have everything while the poor have nothing makes your disproportionate wealth even more disproportionate, and thus it looks even bigger by comparison.

[PaulBullion]

"Mango Mussolini" gets less funny the more we actually slip into a dictatorship.

Trump lawyers' secret memo argues president has complete control over federal investigations

Lawyers for President Donald Trump argued in a secret memo submitted to special counsel Robert Mueller III in January that Trump could not have obstructed the FBI's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election in part because, as president, he holds complete control over federal investigations.

The president has the power to "order the termination of an investigation by the Justice Department or FBI at any time and for any reason," Trump lawyers John Dowd and Jay Sekulow argued in the letter to Mueller, which was published Saturday by the New York Times.

As the nation's chief law enforcement officer, Trump could "even exercise his power to pardon if so desired," they argued. A person familiar with the letter confirmed its authenticity.

They literally feel he could shoot somebody on 5th avenue,