Healthcare

Trump Visits Fox News to Wax Idiotic About Both Economics and Pandemics

Posted by on March 6, 2020 at 12:32 pm. 2 Comments :

From the first days that the coronavirus was reported to be spreading throughout the world, including in the United States, Donald Trump has sought to minimize the risks and the potential that it could escalate into a full blown pandemic. He has understated the infection rate and the number of fatalities. And he has focused his attention on the economic impact, rather than the cost of human lives.

Donald Trump TV Set

On Thursday evening Trump appeared on Fox News for a town hall meeting. it was his second Fox News interview in as many days (the first being a suck up phone-in with Sean Hannity). The Fox News town hall was rife with the sort of lies and disinformation that is the hallmark of both Trump and Fox. For instance, Trump claimed that he would protect Social Security, even as he explicitly said he would be cutting entitlements. He also promised to provide “great healthcare,” despite never having offered any proposals, and actively fighting in court to kill Obamacare.

With regard to the coronavirus, which is currently the most pressing issue on the table, Trump continued his efforts to trivialize the very real vulnerabilities the nation faces. “I think we’re in great shape,” he lied, and “I think we made a great move. We closed it down. We stopped it.” Of course, he has not come close to stopping the coronavirus. It has actually spread to twenty-one states with over 225 cases in the U.S. And its containment is far from certain because we don’t even have enough test kits to identify those infected.

RELATED: Are Trump’s Cult Rallies Breeding Grounds for the Coronavirus?

However, perhaps the most troubling remarks Trump made were in connection to how the virus might impact the U.S. economy. He presented his deranged viewpoint that there is a fiscal silver lining to the suffering and death that the virus has already caused. Surely the families of the victims will be pleased to hear this (video below):

“A lot of people are staying here. They’re going to be doing their business here. They’re going to be traveling here. They’ll be going to resorts here. And, you know, we have a great place … we’re going to have Americans staying home.”

Virtually everything in that comment is patently false and without even a hint of factual basis. First of all, there is no evidence that Americans are traveling more within the U.S. To the contrary, more people are avoiding all travel, even domestically. Airlines are canceling flights due to the absence of bookings. As for doing more business, that too is unsupported by any data. Many Americans are staying home rather than risk exposure in public places like restaurants and theaters. Businesses themselves are canceling participation in conferences and trade shows, and they are limiting their employees’ travel.

What’s more, even if there were some sliver of truth to Trump’s bizarrely rosy scenario, it wouldn’t provide an economic benefit for the country. That’s because the U.S. makes more money from the spending by tourists coming here than it would lose from Americans going overseas. So there would be a net loss of revenue if Americans spend at home, while foreigners decline to visit.

There is also something notable about the alleged revenue that Trump falsely claimed would be realized by a virus-driven quarantine of travelers. Virtually all of it would come from businesses that Trump himself operates (hotels, resorts, etc.). How convenient! But the fact that the stock market has declined sharply indicates that most investors believe that the broader American business landscape is going to be hurt severely by the repercussions of this budding pandemic.

The impact on the economy by the coronavirus is really the only thing that Trump cares about. And even that isn’t because he’s concerned about people’s financial welfare. He’s only worried about how it will affect his prospects for reelection. Consequently, he needs to lie about both the inherent dangers the virus portends for human life, as well as how it influences the direction of the market. And anyone dumb enough to believe Trump’s self-serving blather is going to end up much sicker and poorer.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Are Trump’s Cult Rallies Breeding Grounds for the Coronavirus?

Posted by on February 27, 2020 at 12:55 pm. 6 Comments :

On Wednesday Donald Trump held a press conference wherein he typically underplayed the risks of the spreading coronavirus (Covid-19). He repeatedly portrayed it as being effectively under control, which is not remotely true. He even contradicted the officials he introduced as the team he was putting in charge of the matter. With the exception of Vice-President Mike Pence, they were decidedly more cautious and stressed aggressive actions to confront the impending dangers. See the video below where Rachel Maddow breaks down this contradiction.

Donald Trump Virus

Around the world there are preventive measures being taken to mitigate the risks. International conferences and festivals are canceling their events. Amusement parks, concert and sporting arenas, schools, and other locations that attract large gatherings are closing down to reduce the potential for exposure and infection. But despite these precautions being undertaken by concerned operators, there is a conspicuous enterprise that is thumbing its runny nose at the advancing virus: The Donald Trump Reelection Campaign!

That’s right. Trump is continuing to schedule and host the rallies that assemble thousands of his cult followers in sweaty, confined venues where they are tightly packed and subject to precisely the sort of transmission conditions within which the virus proliferates. None of these StormTrumpers are screened for symptoms, and their anonymity would make it impossible to trace infection origins should some of them later be diagnosed with the virus.

Ordinarily this might be regarded as an alarmist position considering the low (at this point) infection rate in the United States. And one could reasonably complain that the same concerns should be raised about Democratic political events. However, there is a profound difference that makes the prospective perils entirely dissimilar.

By belittling the scope of the coronavirus threat, Trump is actually increasing its potential for harm. And the Trump-fluffers in the press (especially Fox News) are making matters even worse by not just undercutting responsible warnings, but actually advancing conspiracy theories that assert there is no threat whatsoever. Rush Limbaugh told his listeners that the virus was nothing more than the common cold, and that it was being hyped by Democrats to hurt Trump.

This campaign of trivialization is insuring that it is Trump’s supporters who are the least informed about the reality of this budding pandemic. They are, therefore, the most likely to dismiss the risks and behave in ways that could escalate the incidence of infection. So while supporters of Democratic candidates may gather in public, they are likely to be heeding common sense advice to wash their hands, use sanitizers, cough or sneeze safely, and even stay home if not feeling well. But the Trump cultists who aren’t buying the seriousness of the outbreak, will be more likely to ignore such precautions. Consequently, they will be more likely to transmit and acquire the infection.

This is by no means a call for all Americans to cower in their basements like doomsday preppers awaiting Armageddon. But it is a warning that there are real concerns and that some simple measures can be taken to mitigate risk. But if any community of people are dismissive of the facts that are available, those communities should be avoided. Suffice to say that you are likely to be safer among a crowd of cautious Democrats who trust science, than a swarm of oblivious Republican Trumpsters in denial.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Trump Wants to ‘Work with Democrats’ on Healthcare After Calling Them ‘Crazy’ and ‘Treasonous’

Posted by on December 17, 2018 at 12:37 pm. 2 Comments :

Donald Trump and his Republican Nationalist Party got exactly what they wanted for Christmas: A federal court ruling that the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) is unconstitutional. Trump’s PR division at State TV (aka Fox News) literally celebrated the decision as a Christmas “gift.” And although many legal experts predict that the ruling will be overturned, The Trump administration is giddily slopping it up and basking in the afterglow of millions of Americans losing their healthcare coverage.

Medicare For All

In the meantime, Trump is gloating at what he mistakenly believes is a final victory in his war against all things Obama. His immediate responses to the ruling were to brag about having predicted it, followed by totally disingenuous calls for the two parties in Congress to work together to craft a brand new healthcare bill from scratch:

Never mind that Republicans had eight years to offer a replacement healthcare bill but could never do so. Now, to these insensitive remarks that ignore the suffering that millions of Americans would be forced to endure if ObamaCare were to actually be revoked, Trump added another on Monday morning:

The notion that Trump really wants to work with Democrats is laughable on its face. He has been the most hostile president to the opposing party in modern times. He has not simply disagreed with Democrats on policy or advocated for the positions of Republicans. Trump has lashed out with malicious and personal insults aimed at the party and individual members. More than two years after the election he is still shrieking at Hillary Clinton over matters that have long been resolved. And his seething hatred for Democrats still dominates most of his thoughts. For instance:

  • Trump declared that Democrats “…want Open Borders and Unlimited Crime.”
  • Trump said that “Anybody that votes for a Democrat now is crazy.”
  • Trump inexplicably claimed that “The Democrat plan would obliterate Obamacare – It will destroy Medicare.”
  • Trump even accused Democrats of being traitors for not applauding him at the State of the Union address: “Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean, they certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much.”

So now that Democrats have won majority control of the House of Representatives, Trump is feeling harmonious. Now that whatever leverage Trump had has been eroded due to the multiple criminal investigations encircling him and his crime family, he is pretending that he wants to work with Democrats to restore healthcare benefits that he and his GOP accomplices have deliberately sabotaged. Yeah, right. And this is all going down simultaneously with his threats to shut down the government over his idiotic and useless border wall.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

There is one thing in Trump’s latest tweet that has a ring of truth to it, although not in any way that he intended. When he says that “A confirming Supreme Court Decision will lead to GREAT HealthCare results for Americans,” he may be right. Because it could lead to the implementation of Medicare-for-All. It’s already a program whose popularity is growing by the day. And with the GOP putting ObamaCare in jeopardy, more Americans, and their representatives, are going to insist on the protection of their rights and the pursuit of what’s best for their families. So we may owe Trump and his comrades some thanks for advancing universal healthcare and pushing the United States into the ranks of the rest of the civilized world.

An Ugly Celebration: Fox News Cheers the ObamaCare Ruling that Will Cause Millions to Suffer

Posted by on December 15, 2018 at 11:47 am. 5 Comments :

On Friday evening an ultra-conservative judge in Texas handed down an obtusely argued ruling that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. His reasoning hinged on the fact that Republicans in Congress, who have long aspired to kill the popular legislation, amended the law in a manner that rendered it invalid. This was a well orchestrated plot to kill a program that has helped millions of Americans and saved lives.

Fox News Donald Trump

So what was the reaction on Fox News? Well, it began with an early morning episode of Fox and Friends (video below) that should put to rest forever any doubt that these cretins are sadistic, uncaring, and filled with hatred for their fellow citizens. The program that Donald Trump watches religiously began with this exchange by co-hosts Ed Henry, Pete Hegseth, and Jedediah Bila:

Henry: Today, a little gift ahead of Christmas.
Hegseth: I already got a gift today. I got a gift last night.
Henry: It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Hegseth: Well, I don’t know what your gift was but …
Henry: I know what you meant. Obamacare is unconstitutional. That is what a federal judge is ruling in Texas. He said the Affordable Care Act is invalid as open enrollment closes today. What’s fascinating about it this is that the judge is saying that the whole law, the entire Affordable Care Act should in fact be torn down because the individual mandate demanding that you buy health insurance is unconstitutional.
Bila: It’s about time. I mean we’ve been having this debate for a long time. I was so happy to see this. This was completely unconstitutional from the start.

This is their idea of a Christmas “gift” that “keeps on giving”? This is something that they are “so happy to see”? Do they realize that millions of Americans depend on this program for critical healthcare? That means medical services and pharmaceuticals for people with potentially lethal illnesses. It means care for sick children and pregnant women. If ObamaCare is struck down then everyone with a preexisting condition will once again be shut out of the insurance market. It means that young people on their parents’ insurance plans will lose their coverage. It means the return of discriminatory pricing and the elimination of preventative care. And even for those who don’t have serious medical problems, it means much higher premiums.

Republicans have chanted “repeal and replace” for eight years, but in all that time have failed to offer their “replacement” for ObamaCare. Now the ACA could be lost with nothing to protect those who rely on it. And this makes the Foxies shiver with glee. Of course, it wasn’t just the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox News who threw a party for this ruling. Donald Trump tweeted his own holiday joy at seeing millions of people thrown into healthcare nightmare, calling it “Great news for America.”

Watching these grotesquely inhumane gasbags laugh about this ruling as a gift for Christmas is painful in itself. It almost makes one wish that they would have to go through this hardship themselves, or with a loved one. They have no concept whatsoever of empathy or concern for other Americans. But if there is any silver lining to this, it’s that there will be stronger demand for Medicare-For-All than ever before, and for the Democrats who support it.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

https://twitter.com/EastTNVol/status/1073897774691876865

In One Tweet Trump Reveals Why No One Should Vote for Any Republican, Unless They Support Tyranny

Posted by on October 18, 2018 at 2:31 pm. 1 Comments :

It’s becoming a fairly routine part of America’s morning. Donald Trump awakes and takes to his Twitter machine to babble incoherently on subjects he knows nothing about. Or more accurately, subjects that he is deliberately lying about. This Thursday morning is no exception. In fact it’s one of the best examples of Trump’s dishonesty and repulsiveness to date.

Donald Trump Tyrant Dictator

Now you might think I’m referring to Trump’s tweets about Democrats “leading an assault on our country” by central American refugees. But that isn’t it. Nor is it his threat to deploy the military to the border to confront these unarmed and frightened refugees. It’s not even his re-posting a video originally posted by crackpot GOP Rep. Matt Geatz that alleged that these refugees were paid by George Soros. Neither Trump nor Gaetz provided any evidence that the video was of refugees, or that they were being given money, or anything else that they claimed. Trump didn’t even make a claim, he just re-posted the video without any explanation.

Those tweets would be bad enough by themselves, but Trump posted something even more disturbing. It reflects his proclivity for lying at every opportunity, regardless of the subject matter. And it shows that he clearly recognizes that he and his fellow Republicans are headed for a massive defeat in November. Trump himself is the main reason for the GOP’s electoral troubles, but recent polls also reveal that healthcare is the top issue for most voters. So Trump tweeted this blatant lie:

This is one of the easiest of Trump’s lies to debunk. His administration is currently supporting a lawsuit by twenty GOP-led states to end insurance plans that offer coverage for pre-existing conditions. And Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell recently promised to take another stab at repealing ObamaCare. What’s more, Trump’s alleged defense of Medicare is laughable. He and Congress are currently proposing to cut Medicare, along with Social Security due to the exploding budget deficit they created by giving a trillion dollars in tax cuts to the wealthy.

However, the most grotesque part of Trump’s tweet may be a little something that he probably thought was a throwaway line to demonstrate how strong and persuasive he is. He qualifies his lie that all Republicans support coverage for pre-existing conditions by saying that “if they don’t, they will after I speak to them.” Of course, that means nothing since he doesn’t support it himself. But he’s also suggesting that his unchallenged power will force every Republican to do exactly what he tells them to do. He believes that there is only one branch of government, with him at the helm. He thinks that Congress is, and must obediently act as, his servant. That’s the behavior of an unabashed dictator.

What’s especially frightening about this is that Trump is actually correct in declaring that Republicans will do whatever he tells them to. They have proven that repeatedly over the past couple of years. And that’s what you’re voting for when you vote for any Republican. They have shamelessly abandoned their constitutional duty to be a check and balance on Trump and to exercise oversight of his breaches of ethics and law. In fact, they help him to cover up his crimes by refusing to investigate or leading sham investigations. They have supported him unquestioningly on every policy, no matter how unwise or unpopular. Even those who were critics have become slobbering sycophants. For instance Ted Cruz, who once said Trump was a pathological liar. And Lindsey Graham who called Trump a kook who is unfit for office (video below).

Trump is certifying his desire to rule like the kinds of tyrants he most admires: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, etc. And he regards it as a symbol of strength. But what it is not, is American. This country cast off the bounds of tyranny when we overthrew the British monarchy. Trump wants to bring back an even worse version of it. And his Deplorable cult followers are so blind and ignorant and filled with prejudice and rage that they are fully on board. If you’re a patriot who values freedom, that ought to be sufficient to get you vote Democratic and to get to the polls this November 6. And to get as many of your friends and family to join you.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Fox News Ignores Trump’s Attack on ObamaCare – While Criticizing the Media for Ignoring It

Posted by on June 11, 2018 at 3:30 pm. 2 Comments :

Last week Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he would not mount a defense of the provision in the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) that prohibits insurance companies from discriminating against people with preexisting conditions. It is now the official position of Donald Trump’s Justice Department that if you have ever been diagnosed as diabetic, a had migraine, been pregnant, taken cholesterol medication, or suffered any of a thousand other common maladies, your insurance company should be allowed to charge you exorbitant rates or refuse to cover you at all.

Fox News, Howard Kurtz

This decision could result in millions of citizens losing their health insurance and risking the lives of themselves and their families. It is a coldhearted and utterly unnecessary action on the part of an administration that long ago proved it doesn’t care about ordinary Americans. The decision was covered by most news organizations last week. Perhaps not with the frequency and urgency it warranted, but there was broad coverage by the likes of the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS. Notice anyone missing?

The conspicuous absence of Fox News in this list should not surprise anybody. The Justice Department, under direction of the White House, has just taken a position that could seriously damage the electoral prospects of dozens of Republican candidates. The provision protecting for preexisting conditions may be the most popular part of ObamaCare. So Fox News appears to have made a deliberate decision to bury the story. And that possibility became more plausible on Monday when Fox’s chief media correspondent addressed the matter in a web-only video. Howard Kurtz, host of Fox News MediaBuzz, acknowledged both the significance of the issue and the limited coverage (video below):

“It was the most important issue in American politics for years. I’m talking here about ObamaCare. You’ll recall that the House Republicans – what – repealed ObamaCare about a thousand times while President Obama was still in office.” […]

“Now the Trump administration seems determined to strangle the law. And this news, it was covered and there’s been some newspaper stories but very little on television. The administration is now going to court – or getting involved in a court suit in which it says it will no longer defend really the pillar of ObamaCare which is no ban on preexisting conditions. This is pretty stunning news because if there’s one thing that almost everybody likes about the law – and lots of things that people did not like about the law – but it was the idea that if you were sick, you had a condition, you had a heart problem, you had cancer, whatever it was, insurance companies could not turn you down or charge you four times as much as any other people who got insurance.”

There’s just one glaring problem with this video. It never aired on Fox News. Kurtz spent four minutes decrying the sparse treatment this issue received on TV, but he said nothing about it on his own hour long media-focused program on Sunday. In this video he says that the “relatively little television coverage” the matter got was “striking” to him. But if he thought it was that important, then why didn’t he bring it up it on his show? And why didn’t he note that every other national television news network did multiple segments on it, but not Fox News? He is as guilty as his colleagues of ignoring this story, and maybe more hypocritical.

However, Kurtz is right about this issue needing more attention from the media. And it will likely get that attention as the November election gets closer and Democrats make an issue of it. Kurtz even pointed out that a recent poll showed that seventy-five percent of Democrats, and sixty-three percent of Republicans, approve of the law protecting people with preexisting conditions. He even noted that Trump had supported it during the 2016 election. But the only coverage you’ll see of this on Fox News will be in the service of Republicans as they attack proponents of healthcare during their upcoming campaigns. Or maybe in web-only videos that most people will never see.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Confederacy of Morons: Trump Thanks Fox and Friends for Funneling Him Another Blatant Lie

Posted by on February 5, 2018 at 12:11 pm. 4 Comments :

It’s Monday morning and Donald Trump is deeply embedded in his ritual of “Executive Time,” stretched out with last night’s cheeseburger and his (not very) smart phone. As usual, he is glued to his daily so-called “intelligence” briefing from the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends, who are his most trusted advisers on pretty much every issue. What could possibly go wrong?

Fox News

The crew at Fox News prepared a lengthy report on alleged problems with Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). They invited ultra-rightist British politician, and Fox News contributor, Nigel Farage, in for a well-scripted segment bashing universal healthcare (video below). The apparent inspiration for these eight minutes of unadulterated hogwash was a report that thousands of protesters took to the streets of London to express their dissatisfaction with the U.K.’s health care system. And our TV-addicted president was paying close attention. He tweeted that:

And giving credit where credit is due, Trump shortly after acknowledged his pals at Fox and Friends for enlightening him:

You have to wonder why Trump sounds “soooo much” like a thirteen year old girl when he tweets. But more to the point, you should wonder why he is soooo oblivious to the truth. The President, following his marching orders from Fox News, completely misunderstood the British rallies. The people were, in fact, protesting the Conservative government that has been cutting funding to the NHS and curtailing services. The marchers were in favor of their universal healthcare and were demanding that the NHS be properly funded. British leaders, including the Conservative Party Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, lashed out at Trump’s ignorance:

The Farage interview on Fox News brazenly lied about the purpose of the demonstrations and the state of British health care. And to make matters worse, Farage went to great lengths to blame what he alleged were problems on immigrants:

“The National Health Service has turned into the International Health Service and we’re providing a lot of healthcare for people coming into Britain from all over the world.”

True to form, Fox News is seeking to make immigrants the cause of every problem that rich, pseudo-patriotic, white, Christianists suffer through. Whether it be the supposed hoards invading the U.K., or the imaginary masses streaming into the U.S. across the Rio Grande. Foreigners always seem to be the cause of whatever these bigots happen to be upset about at any given time. And America’s first TV game show president buys into it and spreads his diseased ignorance to the glassy-eyed disciples who worship him. it’s a closed loop of hate and stupidity that feeds off of itself.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

ObamaCare Signups Breaking Records Despite Trump’s Sabotage and Declaring it Dead

Posted by on November 7, 2017 at 2:59 pm. 2 Comments :

Last month Donald Trump gave a definitive assessment of what he considered the status of ObamaCare. “ObamaCare is finished,” he began. “It’s dead. It’s gone. It’s no longer – You shouldn’t even mention it, it’s gone. There is no such thing as ObamaCare anymore.” Never mind that he sounded like the Monty Python sketch about the deceased parrot. In this case, the departed bird is actually showing signs of life.

Obama Trump Tweet

In fact, the number of people signing up for the Affordable Care Act this year is exceeding all records. It’s still the first week of open enrollment, but this surge is an unmistakably positive sign. As reported in The Hill:

“The surge in sign-ups, which was confirmed by an administration official, comes despite fears from Democrats that enrollment would fall off due to the Trump administration’s cutbacks in outreach and advertising.

“On the first day of enrollment alone, Nov. 1, one source close to the process told The Hill that more than 200,000 people selected a plan for 2018, compared with about 100,000 last year. More than 1 million people visited healthcare.gov that day, compared to about 750,000 last year, the source said.”

In one respect these numbers should not be all that surprising. The polls show that ObamaCare has an overwhelmingly positive approval rating. When asked if Trump should make the ACA work seventy-one percent said that he should. That includes a plurality (48%) of Republicans.

Which makes it all the more puzzling that Trump and the GOP are trying so hard to kill the program. They attempted three separate votes to do so, and all failed. So Trump took it upon himself to try to sabotage the healthcare plan. Among the steps he took to deliberately destroy a popular policy:

  • Trump pulled the plug on all Obamacare outreach and advertising in the crucial final days of the 2017 enrollment season.
  • Trump attempted to bribe health insurers to support his bill to kill ObamaCare.
  • Trump misdirected funds intended to encourage enrollment into a public relations plan aimed at strangling it.
  • Trump stopped paying the cost-sharing reduction [CSR] payments that subsidize many individual policies.

The resiliency of ObamaCare demonstrates the enduring appreciation the American people have for its benefits. They continue to support it, and even to expand it. That’s why the movement to implement a universal “Medicare-for-all“ plan continues to pick up steam. At the same time, Trump’s cynical and destructive efforts to kill ObamaCare will continue to fail. The people recognize it as a hostile assault on their interests and welfare. And it’s one of the primary reasons he is suffering with such historically low approval ratings.

Open enrollment began on November 1, and it continues until December 15 (some states have extended that date. Be sure to enroll or renew within those dates. And since the Trump administration has slashed promotional efforts to inform people, please pass this information on to everyone you know.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Here is Trump being an asshole:

Unbelieveably Stupid: Fox News anchor wonders why poor people would want to be healthy

Posted by on October 16, 2017 at 7:34 pm. 2 Comments :

If you’ve spent any considerable amount of time watching Fox News (and why would you), you are already used to some astonishingly idiotic comments and punditry. But every now and then they endeavor to outdo themselves in the dimwitted department.

Fox News Bozo

Today on the morning program, Happening Now, anchor Jon Scott went above and beyond the call of doofus. In a discussion about health insurance and the subsidies that Donald Trump recently halted, Scott asked a question so ludicrous it deserves special recognition (video below). Are you ready?

SCOTT: What’s the motivation? If these are the poorest Americans who are getting their co-pays and things like that covered, what’s the motivation for them to try to live a healthier lifestyle? I mean if it doesn’t cost them anything to go to the doctor, what’s the motivation?

Um, WHAT? Apparently Scott thinks that poor people don’t want to be healthy simply because it’s preferable to being sickly. He thinks having a low income makes one less appreciative of the blessings of good health. They must not care if their children or other loved ones are sick either.

According to Scott, the benefit of having society assist people of limited means to pay for medical care is too much fun to pass up. So they will deliberately eat junk food, or play on the freeway, so they can enjoy doctor visits that are partially paid for. They will let their kids develop diabetes or maybe a brain tumor in order to stick it to the government. What a thrill it must be for them to have their co-pays covered by Uncle Sam. No wonder they would lack motivation to stay healthy and keep their families that way as well. “We’ve got free healthcare kids. Go crazy.”

So Scott is puzzled by what would motivate poor people to live a healthy lifestyle if the government pays their medical bills. Does he also wonder why rich people would be motivated since they have more than enough to cover any malady they might contract? Does he wonder if everyone who lives in Canada or England or any other industrialized country lacks the motivation to stay healthy? Is he confused about the motivations of military personnel whose healthcare is paid for by the government?

Or maybe all people just want to stay healthy so they can enjoy their lives and spend more of it with those they love. That concept may be too complex for a Fox News anchor – or viewer. But the fact that he could ask that question out loud, on the air, reveals something about the culture at Fox News. They seem to not care how ridiculous they sound so long as they can demean poor people. And that’s a sickness I’m not sure their doctor can cure.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

In his own words: Trump reveals the real, spiteful reason he is sabotaging ObamaCare

Posted by on October 13, 2017 at 3:33 pm. 5 Comments :

On Wednesday Donald Trump signed an executive order that significantly damages the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare). It’s purpose is to force people into the old “junk” plans that failed to provide necessary coverage. What’s more, it will remove the protections for people with preexisting conditions. And he wasn’t finished with his mission to deliberately destroy ObamaCare.

Donald Trump

Later the same day the White House released a statement advancing their assault on affordable healthcare. They announced that the administration would stop paying the cost-sharing reduction [CSR] payments that subsidize many individual policies These subsidies mainly go to lower and middle income families who otherwise would be unable to purchase insurance.

It’s a monstrously cruel decision on Trump’s part that defies reason. Except that Trump took a few questions from reporters Thursday morning wherein he helpfully offered the reason himself (video below):

“If you take a look at CSR payments, that money is going to insurance companies. To prop up insurance companies. That money is going to insurance companies to lift up their stock price. And that’s not what I’m about. Take a look at who those insurance companies support, and I guarantee you one thing. It’s not Donald Trump.”

And there you have it. Trump is taking out his vengeance on an industry that he thinks hasn’t been generous enough to him. Like almost every other decision he makes, it’s all about Trump or go suck an egg. Like his attacks on media that is critical of him, including recent threats to revoke their licenses. That, by the way, ha cannot do because the federal government doesn’t license TV networks or journalists. But never mind the facts, Trump is openly admitting that his healthcare policy is driven by partisan politics and donations.

To make matters worse, the foundation for Trump’s revenge fetish is utterly false. In this morning’s rant he repeatedly complained about insurance companies making too much money. Let’s set aside the inappropriateness of a president castigating an American industry for being successful. Trump is wrong on the facts. The insurance sector’s equity growth over the past three years (14%) has only slightly exceeded that of the S&P 500’s financials index (12.5%). What’s more, his contention that the industry doesn’t support him could not be more off base. A look at the campaign contributions from big insurers shows that Republicans received far more than Democrats. Consequently, since his anger at insurers is so badly misdirected, his actions are just plain nasty and hurtful. And the victims are wholly undeserving of his wrath. That, of course, includes the people whose coverage will now be out reach. According to analysts at CNBC:

“Two months ago, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that individual health plan premiums would be 20 percent higher than originally projected if the [CSR] payments ceased. It also projected that premiums would be 25 percent higher than they otherwise would be by 2020, and that the federal deficit would be increased by almost $200 billion if the subsidies ended.”

Trump promised that he would provide more and better healthcare at lower cost. But his imperial executive actions yesterday ensure that millions will lose their health insurance, those who don’t will pay more, and the nation’s deficit will increase. And by taking this action unilaterally, without any input from the people’s representatives in Congress, Trump is essentially invoking the repeal of ObamaCare without any effort to replace it. It’s a disaster in the making that will be fully owned by Trump and the Republican Party, if they go along with it.

UPDATE: Now Trump is bragging that he hurt an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of Americans. And his reason for hurting it, as stated above, was because he thinks it didn’t support him. That, by the way, is illegal and another to reason to impeach his fat ass.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.