kanesrealm

The new session of Congress officially began yesterday. The super duper amped up Republican control of all branches of government is at hand and up first in the House on the night of January 2, while no one was watching a group of Republican delinquents moved to get rid of the Independent House Ethics Commission. Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McCarthy didn't want this to happen but they were ignored which tells you they have no power over their own caucus. But the public was watching and reached out in rage bombarding Congress with phone calls. Even Donald Trump tweeted his displeasure that they had chosen this as their first act. To be clear, Trump doesn't mind them getting rid of the ethics commission, he just feels they should wait, (read the tweet.) So down the drain went this first initiative. So what to do? Oh yes, the chestnut, the official introduction of the Bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If you read regularly you're about to experience dejavu, get u...

Writing is like using a muscle, if you stop it atrophies. My problem as it relates to our current political environment in America is that I am not shocked by anything Trump is doing. Absent outrage over an unexpected atrocity makes it hard to crank out a regular commentary. Now, if I were being paid to produce this little plop of crap for you, I most certainly would muster the energy necessary to do so. But I'm not. What is there to say. Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump in the popular vote by 2.7 million, proving the Electoral College needs to be abolished, but I yawn. Trump has Mike Pence by his side waiting to implement a national assault on gay people and the reproductive rights of women, a Christian Jihad if you will, is Trump going to allow it? Trump has appointed a conspiracy theory nutbag, General Michael Flynn, as National Security Advisor but fortunately is nominating General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense, yes I support the waiver because he will be the san...

As always when addressing the healthcare topic I begin with reminding readers there is no such thing as Obamacare. Republicans, most notably Mitt Romney in his 2012 Presidential Campaign dubbed the Affordable Care Act "Obamacare" in an effort to demonize it and turn it into a negative. Obama in a very clever political maneuver embraced it and turned it into a positive. Just a week out from the general election, the news is jam packed with all the headlines that insurance premiums are going up in the A.C.A. insurance exchanges from 22% to 25% or as much as 40% depending on whose figures you use, big discrepancy between 22 and 40, don't you think? Here are some basic facts about the increases, less than one percent of those using the exchanges will face an increase directly from their pocket. For the rest, because they can't afford it, the federal subsidies will pick up that increase. Does that mean the impact on that one percent doesn't matter? Absolutely not. It ...

Aetna C.E.O. Mark Bertolini threatened the Justice Department in July that if it was not allowed to buy Humana Healthcare it would withdraw from the Affordable Care Act. Aetna didn't get what it wanted and yesterday announced they were leaving the A.C.A. marketplace citing diminishing profit margins. They're lying of course, it's nothing more than hardball revenge with no concern for the Americans it will hurt. No big surprise. The Affordable Care Act was written by and embraced by the major insurers, pharmaceutical and hospital corporations of this country. They got everything they wanted including killing a public option. I have been writing about this subject for over eight years and living it most of my adult life, it is a disgrace that in the richest nation on Earth we are still debating whether healthcare is a right or privilege. The Affordable Care Act has problems, starting with corporate influence, that needs to be fixed. There is no reason that we cannot achiev...

The Hypocrites Oath is a time honored political tradition, I promise to say one thing and do another. Senator and Presidential candidate Ted Cruz has spent every moment of his time in the Senate demanding the repeal of The Affordable Care Act, what he always calls Obamacare. Literally, every moment. He attacked it again during his campaign kick-off at Liberty University. Cruz' wife is an executive at Goldman Sachs and he has been on her insurance. Now his wife is taking a leave of absence while he runs for the Republican nomination so they would be losing their health insurance. What ever will they do? Don't worry, Cruz has a solution, he signed up for Obamacare. (You know I don't like that word but it's relevant to Cruz.) Do not be fooled by any justification offered by old Ted. He doesn't have to use the government exchange set up by the Affordable Care Act. He can go to any insurance company he wants and buy a plan for his family. He's not doing that becau...