In the largest measure, the basic problem is in 2009 Harry Reid passed the ObamaCare legislation in the Senate with 60 votes.  The House then passed the exact same bill, and the Democrats moved to immediate reconciliation to remove the House concerns (Gator-Aid, Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase etc.).
In 2017 the Republican congress are attempting to repeal and replace that ObamaCare legislation with only 52 Senate votes available, well, maybe.
Unfortunately for the GOP there are not even 52 votes for repeal.  Portman, Thune, Collins, Murkowski, Graham, McCain, Blunt, Cochran, Cornyn, Hatch, McConnell and others, are not necessarily on board; that’s 11. (Leaving only 41).
No amount of byzantine rule changes surrounding “reconciliation” are going to overcome that factual vote hurdle.  In 2009 Senator Reid started with 60 votes.  In 2017 Senator McConnell starts with 52.

So anything coming from the House of Representatives has to keep this reality in mind.  Even if support or opposition is based on ideological principle, it still has to pass – or it’s moot.
There’s no doubt the Paul Ryan proposal holds the worst U.S. CoC aspects demanded by Tom Donohue.  Heck, Donohue poured a lot of lobbying money into the entire architecture in ’09/’10 and he’s paid republicans in congress hundreds of millions to make sure his interests in keeping ObamaCare around are protected.  Ryan is big GOPe and he’s supported by the Big Club.
And, as much as Paul Ryan is beholden to Donohue to retain some form of ObamaCare, so too are the Rand Paul / Ted Cruz types paid by billionaires like Cary Katz (Conservative Review); who want an abject repeal without compromise. (more…)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions is seeking the resignations of 46 United States attorneys who were appointed during the prior presidential administration.
In a statement Friday, the Justice Department said the request was similar to ones made in past presidential transitions.   The department said many federal prosecutors appointed in the Obama administration have already left their positions, but that Sessions is now seeking the resignations of 46 holdovers. (read more)
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Put this in the ‘things you won’t see on CNN’ file: Trying to retain their resistant bona fides Democrat Representatives Elijah Cummings and Peter Welch emerge from a meeting with, with, with the bad man, President Trump, seemingly infected with r-r-r-respect.
Aiieeeee… resist we much, and we much, about this, be committed.. Pelosi desperately shouting: “stay away from the light… don’t walk toward the light”… oh noes, the swamp, they’re, they’re walking the-wrong-way…  OMG.  “Curse You Villain !!”
Elijah Cummings obviously having a hard time shaking it off.  It took him a few minutes to gather back his oppositional composure:

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Oh, this is just too funny.  Confirmation of how effective President Trump’s strategy is against the media surfaced today as MSNBC’s Katy Tur gets into a heated conversation with Congressman Chris Stewart.
Katy Tur claimed the media never said Trump campaign officials were in contact with Russian intelligence.  Defending the media against Trump, Katy Tur said:

“I don’t think any news organization actually claimed that there were direct ties between the Trump campaign and Russian spies”.

Seemingly oblivious to the past two months of media proclamations including the New York Times whose headline was: “Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence.”  (Link)

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The media has been completely knee-capped and can no longer report on intelligence leaks without confirming the position of President Trump. The media is now in a position of denying all of their previous reporting simply because President Trump has accepted their presentations and turned their reporting against the previous administration.
That’s BRILLIANT.
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Tread carefully, this is a Paul Ryan announcement which inherently means the various GOPe elements, legislative authors, are most likely the primary sources.

WASHINGTON—House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) issued the following statement on introduction of the American Health Care Act:
“Obamacare is rapidly collapsing. Skyrocketing premiums, soaring deductibles, and dwindling choices are not what the people were promised seven years ago. It’s time to turn a page and rescue our health care system from this disastrous law. The American Health Care Act is a plan to drive down costs, encourage competition, and give every American access to quality, affordable health insurance. It protects young adults, patients with pre-existing conditions, and provides a stable transition so that no one has the rug pulled out from under them.
“Working together, this unified Republican government will deliver relief and peace of mind to the millions of Americans suffering under Obamacare. This will proceed through a transparent process of regular order in full view of the public. I want to thank all of our members who have contributed their ideas, especially Chairman Walden and Chairman Brady, as well as Secretary Price and the Trump administration, for their commitment to keep this promise and get this right.”

Links To Bill – LINK #1 and LINK #2

 

Something about Michelle Malkin’s disappearance, then Mark Steyn being summarily fired from Mark Levin’s CRTV (Conservative Review TV), and then the timing of Levin rushing to the front lines of Team Trump just didn’t seem disconnected.  A look at the financier behind the entire Conservative Review apparatus reveals a financial angle.

For more than four years we have been predicting a grand awakening among battered conservatives to discover the identity of their abusers.  Candidate Trump, now President Trump simply sped up and spotlighted those revelations exponentially.
Almost all of the political positions espoused by the most visible faces of “conservative” punditry are specifically due to the financial benefactors of those who underwrite the media enterprise.  As previously outlined almost of the Never Trump community was most certainly funded by the financial network of special interest billionaires.
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March 5th, 2017 – Statement from the Press Secretary

“Reports concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election are troubling.

President Donald J Trump is requesting that as part of their investigations into Russian activity, the congressional intelligence committees exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive brance investigative powers were abused in 2016.

Neither the White House nor the President will comment further until such oversight is conducted.” ~ Office of the President

John Hayward at Breitbart News accurately puts the intention of the President Trump administration into context.
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Hypocrisy, thy name is…

According to the New York Times, FBI Director James Comey is reported to be requesting the President Trump Department of Justice to refute the possibility of the FBI having intercepted communications from Trump Tower in the latest “Wire Tapping” denial.
So lets give this request by Director Comey some context.

It was only a few weeks ago when the same FBI went to President Trump’s Chief of Staff and told Reince Priebus there was no truth to media reports, based on FBI leaks, of FBI evidence showing Trump campaign officials involved with Russian officials regarding the 2016 election.  It was all a complete nothingburger.
Details – On February 15th while discussing another issue FBI Assistant Director Andrew McCabe asked Reince for 5 minutes alone after the meeting.  At the one-on-one meeting McCabe told Priebus the New York Times Russia and Trump campaign story was a “bunch of BS”.
Priebus asked McCabe if McCabe would be able to say that publicly and get the media off his back about a ridiculously false narrative.  Asst. Director McCabe said he would check with his boss, FBI Director James Comey.  Later, McCabe called back and said he couldn’t issue a statement about it. (more…)

♦ The New York Times says the Obama administration DID wire tap Trump Tower.  ♦The former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper said they DID NOT wire tap Trump Tower.  ♦Mark Levin says Media Reports claim they DID wire tap Trump Tower.  ♦Former AG Mulkasey says it appears officials DID wire tap Trump Tower.

Now FBI Director James Comey says the FBI did NOT wire tap Trump Tower.

WASHINGTON DC – FBI Director James Comey reportedly asked the Justice Department this weekend to publicly reject President Trump’s claims that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower before the election.
Senior American officials told The New York Times on Sunday that Comey has said the president’s wiretapping allegations are not true and asked the Justice Department on Saturday to publicly correct the record.

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The far-left Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, said this morning there were no wire taps at Trump Tower.   The far-right Director of Non-Intelligence, Mark Levin, outlines all the media reports claiming there were wire taps at Trump Tower.
So were there wire taps, and surveillance at Trump Tower or not?
Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey scratches the clay from his cleats, rares back, and hurls an atomic fastball right down the middle.  Saying: Trump was “right” that there was surveillance on Trump Tower for intelligence purposes.  WATCH:

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“This is the difference between being correct and right. The president was not correct in saying President Obama ordered a tap on a server in Trump Tower. However, I think he’s right in that there was surveillance and that it was conducted at the behest of the attorney general – at the Justice Department through the FISA court.”

Here’s what’s going on, that almost everyone seems to be missing. (more…)