The Art of the Fail

The Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act failed yesterday when the House of Representatives could not muster the votes necessary to pass the American Health Care Act replacement bill. It would be easy for opponents of the GOP plan to gloat over the failure but that would serve no more purpose than the seven years Republicans have wasted preaching vitriol about Obamacare and the need to repeal and replace it.

Obamacare is not perfect but it does improve access to healthcare for millions of Americans. Had Republicans spent the last seven years attempting to work in a bipartisan manner to fix the ACA's shortcomings imagine what could have been accomplished. Instead, GOP leadership dug in playing politics and pandering to special interests by refusing to acknowledge the merits of the ACA even if imperfect. Republicans held fast to an ill fated repeal and replace strategy as the only way forward. That partisan miscalculation has cost us all by squandering seven years that could have been used to to improve a tangible start.

Republicans demonstrated they had no idea the impact Obamacare had on citizens in their districts.  They were attacked at town halls and inundated with phone calls from constituents demanding they preserve the benefits Obamacare afforded. The outcry clearly took the GOP ivory tower by surprise and facilitated the series of defections by House members that eventually led to the AHCA's withdrawal. Republicans began their march to sell the AHCA tone deaf to the voters that put them in office and ended their push with an embarrasing failure. Instead of working methodically to legislate reform through a series of deliberative actions, Republicans tried to rush a poorly crafted bill that had little to do with improving healthcare and everything to do with party ideology.  Perhaps the failure will be a wake up call that reframes the conversation to allow for bipartisan cooperation on improving Obamacare. More likely, it will not if the GOP looks to President Trump to lead the way forward.

Let Obamacare explode. That was Trump's statement Friday after the Republican plan collapsed. In typical fashion, Trump's words sound like that of a five year old scorned because he didn't get his way as opposed to leader of the free world. If Trump truly believes Obamacare will explode, as President of the United States, it is his job to bring both sides together to forge and alternative. Yet, there is no plan B from the GOP. Trump and the Republicans have only been interested in winning a war of ideology. They've shown no interest or aptitude in actually governing an America of real people with real problems.

The AHCA was a terrible bill but its defeat is not for celebrating. The fact the richest and most technologically advanced democracy in the world cannot figure out how to provide quality, affordable healthcare for its citizens nullifies any victory lap over the fact Republicans didn't make matters worse. Obamacare does need help to become future proof but in the current climate that help is not likely to come without a serious dose of bipartisanship. There are slim odds of that becoming reality. The alternative is another two years wasted to wait out the results of the next congressional election.

Try not to get sick in the meantime.

The Club

America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again is the title of the federal budget draft that President Donald Trump released this past week.  The document itself reads like a blueprint to create a dystopian wasteland more fitting of a Mad Max movie than the United States.  Trump proposes eliminating a combined 62 agencies and programs targeting nearly everything that does, in fact, make America great including slashing programs to help the poor, gutting environmental protection, defunding scientific research initiatives, and ending support for the arts.

In Trump's America, the disadvantaged are on their own, clean drinking water is secondary to business profits, science is inconvenient, and art is defined by gold plating.  Trump does hold true to his promise of making government smaller but his budget does nothing to reduce overall spending particularly thanks to a $54 billion increase in military spending.  To hear Trump tell it in the preface message to Congress the country is under siege, "To keep Americans safe, we have made tough choices that have been put off for too long."

Everyone is for keeping the country safe.  Everyone is for American service personnel having the necessary tools to defend themselves and our interests.  However, Pearl Harbor wasn't bombed yesterday nor is the military the first line of defense against individual domestic terror attacks most widely cited as a major public concern.

Military might alone doesn't make a America great.  American is great when it shows not only strength but compassion. America is rich not only because of its wealth but because of the scientific and cultural achievements that wealth enables when it's directed toward the common good instead of the top one-percent.

Many Republicans have lost sight of the common good. Trump's budget unabashedly delivers on the double standard the GOP has long perpetuated. It's fine to cut public education because privileged Republicans send their children to exclusive private schools.  Public assistance is not a priority for the GOP except when it comes in the form of bailing out big banks pushed to the brink of failure by mismanagement and greed. Who needs museums when rich GOP collectors can just buy a Picasso?

Republican power brokers live in an exclusive club that anoints its members as the entitled - which is almost funny given how entitlement is a four letter word in the GOP public persona. It's less funny given the club's blind eye turned toward the hypocrisy it practices. Melania Trump doesn't want to leave her posh New York City digs in Trump Tower, fine, she's in the club; therefore, she's entitled, which makes the $200,000 spent daily on security to keep her there a justified expense. Compare that decision to her husband's proposal to ax the mere $3.5 million spent annually by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness used to keep the non-entitled in their homes to illustrate the GOP double standard.

Not all Republicans believe the Trump budget to be a blueprint to make America great again. None of it can be enacted without congressional approval. The question is how many Republicans are willing to resign from the club to advocate for those things that truly do make America great. Given the GOP is currently tripping over itself trying to defend an indefensible health care bill and cannot even find the courage to call out Trump over his baseless wiretapping claims, it seems unlikely enough Republicans will find the conscience to actually put America first in the next federal budget. And that, to use a Trumpism, is sad.

The Best and Brightest?

Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt last week made an about face statement on carbon dioxide saying, "...no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see."  Not only does this statement dispute the research, NASA, the EPA itself, and 31 major American scientific societies affirm, it also flies in the face of what Pruitt himself told congress at his confirmation hearings.  To senators, Pruitt said of the EPA's own findings on the significant impact greenhouse gas has on climate change, "there is nothing that I know that would cause a review at this point." Perhaps Pruitt's position evolved over the last 8 weeks or perhaps he's just a liar.  Either way, during a week where the midwest experienced a damaging weather event with sustained wind speeds typically measured during tropical storms, Pruitt's denial of science is another troubling reminder of how far away Trump administration officials are from the best and brightest.

Betsy DeVos cannot spell, Ben Carson called slaves immigrants, Stephen Miller dared anyone to question the President as if he were a king, Jeff Sessions likely lied under oath, and Trump himself slandered President Obama over alleged wire tapping.  The list of egregious falsehoods and incompetence gets longer each day. Government service today is not attractive to many and Trump's lowbrow team demonstrates the worst of what is attracted to public service today.  The scrutiny, hostility, and personal cost of service have made it such that the best and brightest are not willing to endure the campaign.  Altruism has lost out to opportunism and compromise to partisanship.

The political environment is not entirely the fault of politicians themselves.  Voters have been unwilling to put in the work it takes to understand the issues and seek candidates to tackle them responsibly.  Instead, voter hope has turned to apathy and due diligence in understanding facts has lost out to fake news delivered in 140 characters or less.  Persona has won out over credibility and the result is that America is now led by a TV reality star.

On Trump, Vanity Fair contributing editor Fran Leibowitz commented during the campaign, "He's a poor person's idea of a rich person."  That statement was extended to an internet meme reading: Trump is a poor man's idea of a rich man, a dumb man's idea of a smart man, and a weak man's idea of a strong man.  Fundamentally, the statement explains how the idea of Trump as president became reality.  His surface perceptions of wealth, easily understood ideas, and strength played well to many voters that simply were looking for someone that could change a status quo they didn't fully understand and felt powerless to affect.  Trump represented everything they are not, everything they want to be, and often expresses himself through bravado.

In reality, Trump has money but is not self made, his ideas are easily understood because they are simplistic not solutions, and he wears his insecurities on his sleeve such that any adversary can easily undermine his strength of position.  He will never help the people that elected him, not necessarily because he doesn't want to, but rather because he is incapable of doing it.

The administration is today mired down in allegations over colluding with the Russians to sway the outcome of the election.  Moves on immigration, regulation reform, and transgender rights reek of authoritarianism rather than democracy.  The GOP healthcare plan is - to use a Trumpism - a disaster. Nearly half way through the first 100 days of his presidency, Trump has executed on some idealogical promises yet none will materially or positively impact the day to day lives of those that embraced the rich, smart, strong idea of the meme.

As the Trump agenda fails them, those disenfranchised risk turning to more radical demagogues to solve their problems for them.  The rest, busy fighting Trump, risk losing sight of the fact they've not delivered an alternative candidate to demonstrate a different way forward.  Now is the time to start putting forward new leaders in the opposition.  The current Democratic party leadership has a demonstrable record of failure in reaching all Americans culminating in the disastrous outcome of the 2016 election.

The recent Democratic National Committee leadership change did little to advance the cause for change.  New faces, new ideas, and a new message are paramount to the long term defeat of the sentiments that caused Americans to turn to Trump. It's also the only way to attract the best and brightest join in the cause.

Thin ICE

President Trump indicated during a joint address to Congress this past week his administration is dedicated to pursuing tough, thoughtless policies around immigration. The moves he's already made in the name of keeping America safe have had costly impact to immigrant families and human decency.  Trump says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are arresting "bad dudes" engaged in violent criminal activities. However, ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seem to be targeting exactly the opposite, preying on non-violent immigrants, properly documented travelers, and even some American citizens.

The catalog of recent ICE actions against immigrants includes these lowlights: pulling a young woman from her car after she spoke out on behalf of DREAMers, arresting a legal immigrant newlywed in front of his pregnant wife on the grounds of a misdemeanor marijuana possession, arresting an undocumented woman in a hospital during treatment for a brain tumor, arresting a restaurant manager called a "local pillar" by his community, and picking up an undocumented father dropping his daughter off at school. CBP has also bravely stepped up border enforcement with recent airport detentions of such threats as a 70-year old Australian children's author, a NASA scientist, a French holocaust historian, and Muhammad Ali's son.

None of these incidents involved individuals that posed a threat to safety. It's even unclear in some instances what provoked the detentions. Anyone that's crossed the border, even to Canada, understands customs agents are not known for their warm rapport but if these are the best results CBP and ICE can deliver from a crackdown on violent offenders, both now appear wildly incompetent in executing the stated mission. 

President Trump called ICE activities against illegals a military operation during a recent press conference. No American should be complacent about that statement. Trump's police state vision of immigration reform is as reprehensible as the actions of the stumbling army he's empowered to carry it out.

The new American normal cannot include packs of unmarked cars rolling into communities to pull people off the streets. Airport detainment of citizens and documented visitors alike is not acceptable as routine. Effective law enforcement is based on respect not fear. Effective immigration policy and border security can also be accomplished without the fear tactics Trump's protection squadrons employ. Protection squadron is the literal translation of the name Schutzstaffel. The last group to use it relied on fear to become the foremost agency of security and surveillance in the world.

Trump also prefers to wage fear since respect is an accolade he rarely earns.  That puts us all on thin ICE.

The Fear of Fear Itself

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his famous inaugural line "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." he was trying to inspire a nation frightened by economic depression.  The origin of the line dates back to a 1908 book Thought Vibration; or, the law of attraction in the thought world, by William Walker Atkinson where it read, "Remember, the only thing to fear is Fear, and—well, don't even fear Fear, for he's a cowardly chap at the best, who will run if you show a brave front."

Fear is something President Donald Trump's administration and the GOP at large have become masters at peddling.  It's the go-to tool of misdirection used to distract the pubic away from policy decisions that pander to business and other big money supporters and instead focus on threats imagined from places like seven predominantly Muslim countries and middle school bathrooms.

Listening to residents in middle America lament over fear of terror is - to use a Trump catchphrase - sad.  Many of these people live in cities and states that no member of ISIS could even find on a map but that do have real needs the administration is actively undermining.  But somehow the GOP has managed to get these people to believe ISIS, Muslims, and immigrants are more of a threat to their safety than environmental pollution on the scale of Flint, lack affordable healthcare, or trampled civil rights.

Conservative advocates of this week's rollback of Obama era rules on transgender rights cite the fear of male predators in women's bathrooms as reasoning for the move.  When have men needed to put on a dress and head into a women's bathroom to become predators?  If the GOP truly wanted to address violence against women that would be admirable.  The reality is Republicans are using the fear of male predators to drive opinion against the entirely unrelated issue of transgender equality.

Of course the pièce de résistance of fear mongering this week came from the Trump administration as Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been empowered to act as the American version of the East German Secret Police.  ICE agents have been rounding up alleged illegals in raids across the country and have used their Stasi modeled tactics even on American citizens.  Two weeks ago a U.S. citizen and NASA scientist was forced by ICE to unlock his phone when returning to the country from vacation in Chile.  Last week, agents demanded passengers on a domestic flight, yes, a domestic flight, show identification when disembarking at JFK in a search of an individual that turned out to not be on the aircraft.  All this over the generated fear of crime, terror, and a belief immigrants are taking jobs and benefits from "real" Americans.

The outcome of using fear to manipulate public opinion is tragic.  This week an assailant in Kansas shot and killed an Indian national allegedly yelling, "Get out of my country" before pulling the trigger.  Hate crimes continue to rise across the nation.  Fear breads more fear and spreads across all cultural boundaries with Republicans peddling yet more to consolidate their power position as the perceived solution.

It is imperative that we as a nation do not succumb to the GOP fear mongering.  Amid the bad news there have been some bright spots.  Citizen across the country have been standing up to be heard at Republican congressional town halls across the country.  GOP lawmakers have endured difficult questions around the proposed rollback of the Affordable Care Act, the ban on immigration, Trump accountability, Russia, and more.

These town halls have exposed fear mongering Republicans and validated what Atkinson said about the cowardice of fear.  Rather than face the questions several Republicans have now refused to hold town halls with constituents.  Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is appearing in front of paying supporters but not general constituents.  Coward.  Texas representative Louie Gohmert even went so far as to declare he would not hold a town hall due to fear leftists will shoot him.  Not only is Gohmert a coward, he is also a hypocrite given he stated after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting more guns are the answer to prevent such massacres.  Texas is an open carry state thanks to the efforts of other scared white GOP lawmakers like Gohmert.  Wear a side arm Louie, you should have nothing to fear.

McConnell, Gohmert and other Republicans refusing to meet with constituents are living proof of the cowardice behind fear.  Of course, their cowardice isn't driven by the same fear they are marshaling in public.  McConnell isn't afraid of terrorists attacks in Kentucky.  He sees the intelligence reports detailing that unlikelihood.  McConnell's fear is losing wealth, power, and influence.  In response to protests at a speech last week, McConnell declared "winners make policy and losers go home."  That is not the statement of a man that is a representative of the people - all the people.  McConnell blatantly it made clear he doesn't represent everyone in Kentucky and has no intention of working on behalf of anyone in the opposition in any, even small, way.  He will stand as a coward rather than face his critics.

Government cannot function with a McConnell-like mentality.  Democracy becomes tyranny.  McConnell, Gohmert, Trump, and others like them are unworthy of their offices, unworthy of the trust of the people, and unconditionally on the wrong side of history.  The push back must continue.   Constituents must demand accountability and representation for all the people.  Stand courageous against the fear men like these peddle.  They will crumble for they are afraid of Courage as Fear is truly is a cowardly chap.

The Only Thing Wrong with Planned Parenthood is its Name

Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides health care services to 2.5 million men and women in the United States.  This includes, cancer screenings, STI/STD screenings, contraception, and OB/GYN care.  A Government Accountability Office report released in March 2015, stated nearly 80% of Planned Parenthood clients had incomes at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.    Statistic after statistic demonstrates Planned Parenthood provides a heath care safety net for millions (predominantly women) in the U.S.  Yet, there is only one statistic that seems to matter to Republican congressional members (predominantly men) and that is the fact that 3% of all Planned Parenthood health services are abortion services.  The Republican controlled House voted Thursday to make it easier for states to deny federal family-planning funds to groups such as Planned Parenthood that also perform abortions.

Regardless of which side of reproductive rights argument anyone defends, there is no logical, let alone humanitarian, defense to a move that threatens to erase healthcare access for so many women and low income families in America.  Congress long ago limited federal money from being used to provide abortions starting with the Hyde Amendment in 1976.  There is no budgetary advantage to defunding Planned Parenthood.  In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the government would spend nearly $130 more over the next decade by axing funding for Planned Parenthood.  The current move is simply punitive punishment to appease the pro-life wing of the GOP.  It will allow congressional Republicans to use Planned Parenthood's name in newsletters and sound bites to show how they are anti-abortion while ignoring the fact they are cutting healthcare access to women and the poor.

Somewhere along the line Planned Parenthood's name became synonymous with abortion.  Donald Trump and Mike Pence call it an "abortion factory."  While that's a term that makes just as much sense being figuratively applied to describe their administration, the misconception around Planned Parenthood needs to change or the argument will never get reframed to encompass what's actually at stake.  

Planned Parenthood needs a rebranding.  It should be descriptive of the core preventative health mission, perhaps:  Health Care for Women and Low Income Families.  With a rebranding, the newsletter clips and sound bites pro-life pandering Republicans would be forced to use would be accurate.  Instead of being able to chest pound the statement "I am against funding Planned Parenthood" they would have to use the more accurate, "I am against funding Health Care for Women and Low Income Families."

A branding change seems like a ridiculous idea to shift the conversation to where it belongs but the conversation itself has become so ridiculous maybe the idea has some merit.  The abortion debate isn't likely to go away and but it needs to be separated from basic preventative health care.  Maybe it's that easy.  Few things are but maybe.

The GOP's Summary Execution of Net Neutrality Has One Tiny Bright Spot

This week the Trump administration continued its assault on the senses, common sense in particular, with the confirmation of a clueless Education Secretary and an alleged racist Attorney General.  Trump advisor and Kellyanne Conway cited a fake terrorist act to justify defense of the administration's indefensible immigration ban and she also broke federal ethics rules by shamelessly hawking First Daughter Ivanka Trump's fashion line on Fox News.

One story moving beneath the circus-like fray is the Federal Communications Commission's new partisan agenda that threatens to end any hope of net neutrality and endorses big media conglomerates to carve up the internet.  Net neutrality rules bar internet access providers from slowing consumer access to web content.  Without them, Comcast or AT&T could chose to prioritize traffic to their own services over competitors like Netflix or Amazon Video.  Internet service providers could also impose extra fees for access to those competing services or exempt traffic to their own services from data caps effectively penalizing consumers that choose alternate products.

During the Obama administration, the FCC moved to subject internet providers to heavier regulation, with the FCC effectively taking over regulatory jurisdiction on issues like privacy from the Federal Trade Commission.  The Open Internet Order essentially codified net neutrality and treats internet service providers as utilities subjecting them to tighter scrutiny under Title II of the Telecommunications Act.

President Trump is on a mission to strip government regulation period and the GOP overall has an abysmal consumer advocacy record.  Killing net neutrality and removing regulations that offer consumer protections are top priorities for the now GOP controlled FCC.  New Republican FCC chair, Ajit Pai has stated repeatedly that net neutrality's "days are numbered."  It's surprising he's not calling the rollback the "separate but equal" clause since the spirit of the this move is the equivalent of digital discrimination.  It's a pretty simple proposition, internet service providers (aka big cable companies) will be able to gate and/or charge more for access to content they cannot monetize directly, content that is equally accessible by all today.

The problem is magnified since the ISP cable giants now also control so much content in addition to distribution.  During the Obama administration a merger deal between the top two cable provider ended when Comcast abandoned its attempt to buy Time Warner Cable after it became apparent the Justice Department planned to file an antitrust lawsuit to block it.  Under the Trump administration, a bid AT&T has made for Time Warner Inc. (a different company than Time Warner Cable) is expected to move ahead unchallenged.

AT&T is already the third largest TV/internet provider between DirecTV and U-Verse.  Adding Time Warner gives it control of properties such as CNN, HBO, and the Harry Potter franchise.  Comcast is the nation's largest TV/internet provider and controls NBC-Universal which includes a vast selection of television and motion picture properties.

Last year the FCC noted cable rates were rising at four times the rate of inflation.  Less competition is unlikely to drive down prices and further threatens internet access for the poor.  Between the death of net neutrality and even larger media conglomerates consumers should expect to be frustrated with fewer choices and higher prices.  The same people that created the cable bundle that forces consumers to buy forty channels they never watch in order to get the four channels they do watch, all for one high price, are being being given carte blanche to re-package streaming and surfing experiences in the same way.

Oddly enough, there could be one side benefit from this consumer nightmare.  Comcast owns MSNBC.  AT&T will own CNN.  Between the two they will control the majority of the distribution networks.  The aptly named Fox Entertainment Group owns the not aptly named Fox News but it doesn't own a major cable or internet distribution network.  As the two giants try and choke out competition in both content and delivery, Fox News could potentially get shut out or require a premium to watch.  While 130+ million subscribers are today willing to pay a premium to watch content like the most decorated drama in television history on HBO (Game of Thrones with 35 Emmy wins) it's hard to imagine the dubious contribution Sean Hannity makes nightly to broadcast journalism will be an equal draw if made available for an added fee.

Sure the death of Fox News is a long shot but it's the single bright spot to look forward to after the Republican controlled FCC dooms us to subjugation by the corporate internet overlords.