Category: Politics

everything to do with the execution of politics

Here Comes The “Shutdown” Again

September is quickly approaching and if you know you government then you will realize the the debt conversation is looming….and while it does so the whole subject of a “Shutdown” awaits this years debate.

Every year there is a back and forth over the debt and every year there is the rumblings of a governmental shutdown.  And every year it is Right versus Left in these deliberations.

Since the installing of this Trump person there seems to be some clear skies in DC…..some …wait for it…..bi-partisanship…..something that has been missing for decades.

A bipartisan group of House members is working on a proposal to address the most urgent issue facing Congress when it returns in September: how to keep the government open and avoid the first-ever default on the nation’s debt.

Members of the Problem Solvers Caucus are drafting proposals to present to the entire 43-member caucus when Congress returns after Labor Day, said caucus co-chairman Tom Reed, R-N.Y.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has warned congressional leaders that the government will run out of money to pay its bills by Sept. 29 unless lawmakers vote to raise the debt limit. Funding to keep the government open is set to expire two days later, on Oct. 1, unless Congress can agree on a spending deal during the approximately three weeks it will be in session in September.

Source: Bipartisan group of House members drafting proposal to avert shutdown, default

Is this the beginning of the return to bi-partisanship….the beginning of the Congress working together to solve out problems….or is it just a fluke?

Me? I believe that any bi-partisanship will be temporary….soon it will be beack to the “trench warfare” of American politics.

Mr. Bannon Departs?

There seems to be a rash of departures from the White House….and the Oval Office loses another player….

Steve Bannon is out as White House chief strategist, or will be soon. President Trump told his senior aides he has decided to remove Bannon, two administration officials tell the New York Times. Officials warn that Trump could change his mind; they say Bannon’s future was still being discussed by Trump and Bannon as of Friday morning and that Trump is still discussing with other officials when and how to proceed. Another source says the resignation was actually Bannon’s idea, and that it was supposed to be announced at the beginning of the week but the Charlottesville violence delayed it. The Drudge Report also reported Friday that Bannon would be “moving on” after an “impressive run” as senior adviser to the president, and that he may return to Breitbart News. Vanity Fair reporter Gabriel Sherman says the latter is true.

Following the reports from Drudge and the Times, other outlets including Fox News cited their own sources in reporting that Bannon will be leaving the White House. And ABC News echoes the Times source who said Bannon submitted his own resignation; per ABC, the resignation date was supposed to be Aug. 14, exactly one year after Bannon joined Trump’s campaign. His reported ouster comes after increasing clashes with other Trump advisers, including Trump family members. Known as a right-wing nationalist, calls for Bannon to be removed increased after the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that ended in violence. Earlier this week, Trump insisted that Bannon is “not a racist,” but said “we’ll see what happens” with regard to his future at the White House. Also this week, Bannon gave an unsolicited interview in which he called the far-right “clowns.”

We should have seen this coming…..in his last interview Pres. Trump referred to him as Mr. Bannon….not a title of someone in his good graces.

Did he leave on good terms?  If not, then Breitbart may not be a Trump cheer leader anymore.  Trump needs Breitbart and the like to keep his base in line.

This situation will be worth watching…it could be the best drama of the year…..so far.

Who’s The Enemy Today?

I re-blog this from my opinion blog, GSFP, it is the most clicked on post that I have had on that blog…not going to break any records but it felt good to see that many people wanted to read. chuq

Gulf South Free Press

Since I began writing and analyzing stuff the US has had a wide array of so-called “enemies”…..those entities that pose a problem to the American worldwide agenda.

Until the 1990’s Russia was our leading adversary….We have had Grenada, Panama, the Balkans, al-Qaeda, the Taleban, ISIS, Iraq and so many minor “enemies” and in all that time, since 1979, the one constant has been Iran.

These days there seems to be a couple constant ones also……Russia (again), the various terrorist organizations, Iran (as always) and North Korea.

I am an old fart so I can look back at recent history and see the long line of potential “enemies”….it is almost like the soup du jour…..it changes on a whim from the powers that lead.

I do a lot of reading daily and the other day I was reading a pro-Libertarian site, Hornsberger’s Blog, that was covering this ever changing landscape of…

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Those Damn High Drug Prices

The health care debate is silent for now….but it will return if Congress has its way……

Whenever the subject of a health care bill comes up one of the first issues they talk about but never do anything about is that of the High Cost of Drugs.

But who can we blame for the high costs?

First of all Bill Clinton…..and then on from him….

Why do Americans continue to pay the highest prices for medicine in the world? The answer lies in the fact that lawmakers have sculpted specific policies, often not found in many other nations, that boost pharmaceutical industry profits. Meanwhile, the drug industry has spent $61 million on state elections and nearly $67million on federal elections since 2010.

Amid rising public anger over the issue, Republican President Donald Trump campaigned for president on a promise to reduce drug prices — and, as recently as Monday, excoriated Merck & Co. CEO Ken Frazier, demanding that he “LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” Democrats, in the meantime, have long depicted themselves as fight-for-the-little-guy populists crusading against pharmaceutical industry fat cats.

However, key players from both parties have made pivotal decisions at the federal and state levels that have kept drug prices high — and pharmaceutical industry profit margins wide. As part of International Business Times’ ongoing coverage of the fight over drug prices, what follows is a look at six of those individuals, and how their actions have shaped America’s prescription drug market.

Source: Why Are Drug Prices So High? These Politicians Might Have The Answer

Now you know why we pay more for drugs than anyone in the world and thanx to the system these people set up….we will always pay more than they are worth.

Who will step up and make the high cost of drugs a priority?  The Dems?  Of maybe the GOP?

Closing Thought–16Aug17

Recently the news came out that a woman had made the cut and could start training as a Navy SEAL….this is good news since a woman had finished Army Ranger school….and since the new thing that women were allowed into the combat arts I say why not?

This was my post on this news….

Source: Closing Thought–25Jul17 – In Saner Thought

Since I reported this news more has come out on this young lady……

The woman on track to become the first female Navy SEAL officer has voluntarily exited the training pipeline, multiple Naval Special Warfare Command sources have confirmed to Task & Purpose.

The female midshipman, identified by Military.com in July as a ROTC junior at an unnamed U.S. college, was the elite SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection (SOAS) program’s first female entrant since the Department of Defense lifted restrictions on female applicants for combat arms and special operations forces roles in 2016.

Had she completed the three-week course, she would have been eligible for review by the NSW officer community manager and officer selection panel in September and, if selected, received orders by October to report to NSW’s grueling 24-week Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training course.

Source: The Navy’s First Female SEAL Officer Applicant Just Dropped Out

Sad news for this young lady….but I am sure that some mindless Neanderthal will find this good news…you know the type that think women should be bare foot and pregnant….in short a Trump supporter.

She has the option of trying again at a later date….maybe do some work to be better prepared for the next attempt.

Will Dems Feel The Pain?

The Dems have been on a vision quest to find a message for the upcoming mid-terms…….right now they have nothing but slogans….maybe they think because one person can win with mindless slogans that it will work them as well.

Appears the health care is the proving ground for the next election……the progressive wing of the DNC is pushing for all to recognize and get behind a Medicare for all provision.

House and Senate Democrats have wondered for months whether Bernie Sanders’ supporters might choose to focus their energy on launching primary challenges to party moderates in 2018. They’re about to get an answer.

Sanders has decided the moment is right to launch his proposal for the single-payer health insurance system that helped form the backbone of his presidential message. And Democrats who don’t get behind it could find themselves on the wrong side of the most energetic wing of the party — as well as the once and possibly future presidential candidate who serves as its figurehead.

Source: Sanders ‘litmus test’ alarms Democrats – POLITICO

I see that the normally liberal media is jumping on the DNC to try and prevent it from moving more Left than they are now….

Thirty Democrats disillusioned with their party’s struggles in Middle America have unveiled a new group aimed at expanding its base beyond just the two coasts. The initiative, which comprises current and former mayors, governors, cabinet members and lawmakers, comes complete with a catchy new title, “New Democracy.”

If that name sounds familiar, it’s because it was the same as that given by Mao Zedong to his theory of democracy in communist China.  (of course it does not sound familiar because no one remembers that far back….but it makes for a great political attack)

“In a word, new-democratic culture is the proletarian-led, anti-imperialist and anti-feudal culture of the broad masses,” Mao wrote on New Democracy in 1940, nine years before coming to power in China.

Source: Democrats new slogan borrows from communist China

A shame when even a liberal media would use such yellow tactics against the Dems…..but their efforts may be a moot point….for you see the DSA is making headway against these cowards in the DNC……

The Democratic Socialists of America are meeting there this week as part of the group’s biannual convention. In the wake of a surge of new interest over the past year, the organization announced earlier this week that it now has 25,000 dues-paying members — a historic peak for the group that makes it the largest socialist organization in the country since World War II.

David Duhalde, DSA’s Deputy Director, was brought on by the organization in 2015. He told The Intercept that shortly before the November election, the organization had between 7,000 to 8,000 members. On November 9, they started seeing supporters of Vermont’s Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential run and others flooding into DSA.

Source: Democratic Socialists of America Celebrate Record Membership in Chicago. Now What?

I for one think that this turn is for the best…..time for the DNC to return to being where it belongs….with the working class.

So the question is….will the Dems return to being the party of working America or will they stay in the lane with big money?

What say you?