Health Care

  • Non-Sequiturs: 07.28.17
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 07.28.17

    * At a rally in front of Long Island police, Trump said that he was okay with police being “rougher” on arrested suspects. And the officers roared their approval. I grew up on Long Island. The first person to ever call me the N-word to my face was a Long Island police officer when I was a tween. I can’t explain to you guys how absolutely chilling and terrifying this moment was for me. I wish you MAGA people, you soft bigots who think that this is a game of your guy versus political correctness, could understand why people like me will never stop fighting people like you. [Lawyers Guns and Money]

    * I’ve kind of moved passed the point where the courts tell Donald Trump that he cannot block people on Twitter, because I expect that will be a fairly obvious decision. I’m now wondering if the courts can order the specific performance of Trump unblocking those he doesn’t wish to hear. And, naturally, I’m wondering if people tweeting at him, day and night, things he can’t block, will make him cry. [Slate]

    * This guy argues, more or less, that partisan gerrymandering is not the cause of our factionalized democracy, it’s merely one of the results. I think it’s more of a feedback loop: we’re factionalized, which leads to gerrymandering, which leads to more factionalization, and so on, until we get to the point where 60 million people can elect a crazy person to lord over a country of 320 million souls. That also probably explains why Dunkirk is going to win an Oscar. [Election Law Blog]

    * I’d like to think of John Roberts vacationing in New Zealand like Gandalf visiting The Shire. I can picture him, smoking some pipe weed, setting off some fireworks, enjoying a moment untrammeled by thoughts of what’s happening back at home in Mordor. [Constitution Daily]

    * I assume the GOP will now move onto tax reform, which is codenamed: “Operation Cannot Possibly Fail, Again.” Tax Prof blog has put together a fine collection of links on where we stand with that. [Tax Prof Blog]

    * Checking in with white American news sources, it would appear that Fox News doesn’t recognize the defeat of the Republicans’ signature policy proposal for the past seven years as “headline” news. They’re much more interested in getting a special prosecutor to look into a couple of women who hold no public office, and the FBI director who handed them an election. But they’re not totally ignorant of what’s going on. “Couple jump to their deaths because they ‘can’t afford’ health care,” is a below-the-fold story. The Republican plan wouldn’t have reduced costs for this couple, nor made it easier for them to get the mental health services that could have saved their lives. But when you support a president whose stated policy goal is “implosion,” human tragedy furthers your aims. [Fox News]

    * In case you missed last night’s dramatic moment:

    https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/890815543258865664

  • Non-Sequiturs: 07.21.17
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 07.21.17

    * Akie Abe, first lady of Japan, played Donald Trump so hard. She, evidently, pretended she didn’t know how to speak English to avoid having to talk to our boor of a president. I’m telling you guys: World War III: this time the Axis powers are the good guys. [National Post]

    * On this day that Trump turns over his press team, it’s worth mentioning that the media’s war against Trump is doomed to fail. Honestly, this first press conference with Anthony Scaramucci just emphasizes the point. The media asked him two questions in a bunch of different ways: 1. Will you be nicer to us than the last guy? 2. Why does this administration suck? The answers were “sure” and “we’re great,” respectively. [The Guardian]

    * Walls don’t just keep people out, they lock people in. Like East Germany before, the White House takes its first totalitarian step to… oh, they’re just banning travel to North Korea. Honestly, that’s a pretty solid idea. [CBS News]

    * Kentucky was ordered to pay $222,695 in legal fees to people who had to deal with Kim Davis’s BS. [Louisville Courier-Journal]

    * Exxon fined $2,000,000 for “reckless disregard” for sanctions against Russia while current Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in charge. In response, Exxon sued the U.S. Treasury Department, naming Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as a defendant, arguing they had received a special carve-out. Everything is so dirty. [ABA Journal]

    * Remember when Republicans cried and complained and sniggered that Obama was a “Muslim” whenever he would bring over a Guantanamo detainee for trial in the U.S.? The Trump administration just brought over a Guantanamo detainee for trial in the U.S. This administration is very much like Linkin Park, just do what the black guy did but with white faces and more guitar, and people will like it. [New York Times]

    * Breitbart is fapping itself over Anthony Scaramucci, so I checked out Red State and found this gem: “Beating the filibuster just takes guts and a desire to win.” The argument is that Republican leaders should not be afraid of a Democratic filibuster on health care, because if Republicans are strong they’ll refuse to conduct any other business until health care gets a vote, and Democrats won’t shut down the government to save Obamacare. Two points: (a) Republicans don’t have 50 votes now, and (b) NOTHING would make Democrats happier than to shut down the entire Republican legislative agenda by making a principled stand defending the right to health care. But hey, if y’all think you have the “guts” to shut down the government in order to “win,” by all means, bring it the eff on. [RedState]

  • Non-Sequiturs: 07.17.17
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 07.17.17

    * Hmm… I wonder if the officer who shot and killed the unarmed white lady is going to be in a little more legal trouble than any of the officers who shoot and kill unarmed black people? [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

    * John McCain’s excellent health care is temporarily delaying his ability to take health care away from millions. May he have the same recovery that people kicked off of Medicaid can expect. [VICE]

    * If you told me that R. Kelly has a Midwestern sex cult where he holds women against their will, I’d believe you. In fact, the only shocking thing to me about that statement is the modifier “Midwestern.” [Buzzfeed]

    * James Comey is writing a book. I assume the working title is “How To Lose Friends And Alienate People.” [Slate]

    * “Ezekiel Elliott can tote the rock tho.” — Cowboys fans who have nothing else of value in their lives. [Deadspin]

    * Is the decentralization of our elections a strength, or a weakness? It’s weird, if you were only worried about a nincompoop like Donald Trump and his band of family idiots fixing the election, it’s comforting to know that our system is too complicated for them to understand. But if you are worried about a capable global villain like Vladimir Putin, suddenly I don’t feel so good. [Brennan Center for Justice]

    * Where does he get such wonderful toys?

    https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/887035702977933312


    Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

  • Sponsored

  • Non-Sequiturs: 06.26.17
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 06.26.17

    * Maybe the news outside of the Supreme Court is a little more positive today? Oh, looks like the CBO scored the GOP healthcare bill and figured out that 22 more people will be… uninsured. Wait, that can’t be right. That’s not what Trump promised and we know that he never, ever lies. [CNN]

    * Donald Trump is now accusing Barack Obama of colluding with the Russians to help Hillary Clinton. Lately, I’ve been really trying to think back to kindergarten to try to remember what precisely I said when a kid said “I’m rubber, you’re glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you.” And I realize, I didn’t have a response. I didn’t have a strategy or polemic designed to blunt the effectiveness of that argument. Kids just, you know, grew up and stopped saying it. … I worry about our future. [NBC News]

    * Note to self: challenging white people on white people television is dangerous for my career. Note from every black intellectual ever: Duh. [The Root]

    * Middletown, Ohio councilman suggests that EMS should stop immediately responding to overdose emergencies to save money. I wish I could be there when the final cost of the wrongful death lawsuit is put into the Middletown budget. Like, it’d almost be worth one of his constituents dying just to see his crying, stupid face when the jury awards damages. [NY Daily News]

    * But not actually worth it. Philando Castile’s family settled with the city for $3 million. And it just reminds me that the cities would rather pay millions of dollars every few times their police officers murder someone, instead of doing anything to stop the murderers and hold their officers accountable. [NPR]

    * Martin Shkreli’s fraud trial started today, but everyone in the jury pool obviously knows the price-gouging douche-bro. So once again we’re in a situation where we’ll need to find jurors who don’t know Shkreli, because to know him is to loathe him. [Are Technica]

Sponsored