Turkey rallies row: Germany and Netherlands harden stance
- 6 hours ago
- Europe BBC
EPA
Several EU leaders have criticised Turkey, amid a growing row over the Turkish government's attempts to hold rallies in European countries.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Germany and the Netherlands of "Nazism" after officials blocked rallies there.
Dutch PM Mark Rutte called his comments "unacceptable", while Germany's foreign minister said he hoped Turkey would "return to its senses".
Denmark's leader has also postponed a planned meeting with Mr Erdogan.
Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he was concerned that "democratic principles are under great pressure" in Turkey.
He added that he had postponed the meeting because: "With the current Turkish attacks on Holland the meeting cannot be seen separated from that."
However, planned rallies in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands were blocked after officials cited security concerns or said the rallies could stoke tensions.
A gathering in France however went ahead after local officials said it did not pose a threat.
Ties between the Turkish and Dutch leaders became particularly strained at the weekend after two Turkish ministers were barred from addressing rallies in Rotterdam, with one of them escorted to the German border.
Mr Erdogan likened the Netherlands to "a banana republic", demanded international organisations impose sanctions on the Netherlands, and accused countries in the West of "Islamophobia".
"I have said that I had thought that Nazism was over, but I was wrong. Nazism is alive in the West," he added.
- Turkish-German ties fray as Erdogan chases diaspora vote
- Turkey says 'No' to saying 'No', ahead of its referendum
- Erdogan rallies not welcome in Austria
On Sunday, Mr Rutte demanded Mr Erdogan apologise for likening the Dutch to "Nazi fascists".
"This country was bombed during the Second World War by Nazis. It's totally unacceptable to talk in this way."
The Netherlands would have to consider its response if Turkey continued on its current path, he added.
Meanwhile, German ministers also appeared to harden their rhetoric against Turkey.
Despite Chancellor Angela Merkel saying her government was not opposed to Turkish ministers attending rallies in Germany, as long as they are "duly announced", her interior minister said he was opposed to Turkish political gatherings in Germany.
"A Turkish campaign has no business being here in Germany," Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told local media.
Separately, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Turkey had "destroyed the basis for further progress in co-operation".
Reports say the owner of a venue in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, also cancelled a pro-Erdogan rally on Sunday that was to have been attended by Turkey's agriculture minister.
Sweden's foreign ministry said it was not involved in the decision and that the event could take place elsewhere.
What is the row about?
Turkey is holding a referendum on 16 April on whether to turn from a parliamentary to a presidential republic, more akin to the United States.
If successful, it would give sweeping new powers to the president, allowing him or her to appoint ministers, prepare the budget, choose the majority of senior judges and enact certain laws by decree.
What's more, the president alone would be able to announce a state of emergency and dismiss parliament.
There are 5.5 million Turks living outside the country, with 1.4 million eligible voters in Germany alone - and the Yes campaign is keen to get them on side.
So a number of rallies have been planned for countries with large numbers of eligible voters, including Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
Why are countries trying to prevent the rallies?
Many of the countries, including Germany, have cited security concerns as the official reason.
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said Mr Erdogan was not welcome to hold rallies as this could increase friction and hinder integration.
Many European nations have also expressed deep disquiet about Turkey's response to the July coup attempt and the country's perceived slide towards authoritarianism under President Erdogan.
Germany in particular has been critical of the mass arrests and purges that followed - with nearly 100,000 civil servants removed from their posts.
Senior Republican congressman Steve King has sparked a backlash on social media after tweeting his support for the Dutch anti-Islam politician, Geert Wilders.
ReplyDelete"Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny," Mr King wrote on Twitter.
"We can't restore our civilisation with somebody else's babies," he added.
The US Republican Representative of Iowa is a strong advocate of putting a stop to birthright citizenship.
All children born in the US currently get citizenship under the constitution, including the children of families living in America illegally.
Mr King has pushed for radical reform of the interpretation of the 14th amendment of the US constitution so that it no longer gives the children of undocumented migrants the right to a US passport.
ReplyDeleteSweden is enjoying their multiculturalism, tolerance and the strength of their diversity
Two men in their twenties have been shot dead in Stockholm in an apparent gangland killing.
Swedish police say they were sitting in a car in a suburb northwest of the capital where gangs have been fighting turf wars. The men were reportedly shot in the head several times.
The situation has been described as “alarming and very serious” by local police chief Ulf Johansson. No arrests have been made and the motive is unknown – although media reports say it may be drugs-related.
It brings the number of dead in such attacks to five in the past week – seven since the start of the year.
Fourteen people have been injured.
New Zealand
ReplyDeleteSweden
ReplyDeleteIceland
ReplyDeleteDon't mind me. This will likely continue periodically through the day though I got to shower up and get going right now.
ReplyDeleteCiao
Got to ride forth, and, with a companion, prepare to do battle with The Killer Bank of Morgoth and Sauron tomorrow.
Delete("The banks ? The banks are killers !")
The Donald
How dysfunctional is the US system of government? All the DA's get fired and...
ReplyDeleteBill Clinton fired all 93 of them, I do believe. It's standard operating procedure when a new regime comes to town.
DeleteThings would be going a little more rapidly if Schumer and Friends weren't totally playing delay delay delay.
When O'bozo came to town the Republicans did not do this.
By the way, Smirk, can you possibly think of a one, just one country will do, any country, that gained its independence without resort to bloodshed ?
DeleteGot to run...
They are not civil servants. They are political appointees. The one headline seeker is setting up to run for governor or major.
ReplyDeleteI realize that. I find it astoundung how many people get appointed upon POTUS change. The institutional knowledge lost and the 'pause' in decision making and execution strike me as very unproductive.
DeleteLost also is allegiance to the former POTUS, ideals and dogma not aligned with the new POTUS, potential distrust, and appointees who have become fat, happy, and lazy.
DeleteIt's cleaning the air. And necessary. Otherwise all these folks get embedded deeper and deeper in the deep deep state.
DeleteNo one should want that, should they ?
They'd become arrogant, unresponsive, a power unto themselves.
Fire 'em all.
Clean the stables.
The Augean Stables
Hercules Cleans Up
For the fifth labor, Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clean up King Augeas' stables. Hercules knew this job would mean getting dirty and smelly, but sometimes even a hero has to do these things. Then Eurystheus made Hercules' task even harder: he had to clean up after the cattle of Augeas in a single day.
Now King Augeas owned more cattle than anyone in Greece. Some say that he was a son of one of the great gods, and others that he was a son of a mortal; whosever son he was, Augeas was very rich, and he had many herds of cows, bulls, goats, sheep and horses....
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/stables.html
Wonderful Greek art included.
I leave it to others to decide whether actual horses and cattle are intended here....
SAVE YOUR TEARS FOR PREET
ReplyDeletePreet Bharara is the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
NEW YORK CITY — April 5, 2013_ He's the star prosecutor who, in one week, has taken down one state senator, two assemblymen, a councilman and two GOP bosses in two alleged bribery plots that have rocked the political world.
And he hints more heads will roll.
It's just the latest in a series of high-profile catches for Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who has spent the last four years lassoing one corrupt city politician after the next — fueling renewed speculation that the self-appointed Sheriff of Albany might harbor political ambitions of his own.
“Is Preet Bharara the new Rudy Giuliani?” asked Baruch College Professor Doug Muzzio, pointing to similarities with the former mayor, who held the same post in the 1980s and used it to hunt down corrupt politicians and as a springboard to public office.
“There’s lots of similarities,” he said of the men's ascents.
“What else is next? Senate? Congress?” one Justice Department official asked.
That is the source of all the drama.
Delete2012
DeletePreet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District, is telling friends that if he should leave his job today, he could earn as much as $6 million in the private sector, according to people with direct knowledge of these conversations. Bharara's private statements come as speculation grows in Washington that the politically savvy prosecutor might also replace his boss, US Attorney General Eric Holder, if President Obama wins re-election.
A spokeswoman for Bharara wouldn’t deny the conversations about Bharara’s private sector ambitions -- or the possibility that he might replace Holder. In a statement, she told the FOX Business Network: “As Preet has made clear on countless occasions, he loves his job more than anything except his family and has zero interest in pursuing any other opportunity, public or private, so long as the President will have him.”
Australia
ReplyDeleteAnd the beaches down under are fab.
I've been stark on some of 'em.
Please, Quirk, just say 'Unc'.
DeleteThis is going to turn into torment.
And I may join in.
I read part of a history book once, back in high school.
Just say 'Uncle'.
Love, Dada
.
DeleteBob, what flippin moron you are. You show yourself for what you are, a racist and Eurocentrist.
New Zealand? You ignore the Maori and their wars against the British and the confiscation of their land. Australia? You forget the fate of the aboriginals, the tens of thousands of them killed in 150 years of conflict that started the same year as the first European colonies and didn't end until 1934, and the even more devastating diseases that the Europeans spread among the indigenous population. Sweden? Sweden was torn by tribal battles from the beginning and through the middle ages and the Viking era. If was eventually consolidate through internal and external conflict not to mention religious war. Iceland? Really? Iceland was unpopulated when it was discovered. It was made up of a confederation of tribes early on but was always considered a colony of Denmark or Norway. It's early history is marked by tribal warfare. Today it's an independent country but it has a total population of 330,000, the population of one medium sized US city. If you want to claim that as a victory, take it. Thin gruel.
This whole list shows where your mind is coming from, especially the Australia and New Zealand examples.
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HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE THE CADDY?
ReplyDeletePresident Donald Trump plans to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida next month for what Axios is calling a lowering-the-temperature summit.
The meeting will have vast economic and security implications, Axios writes. Trump administration officials are looking for multiple “gives” from China, including on North Korea, trade, intellectual property and more. Xi, meanwhile, is worried about Trump’s threats on trade and he thinks he can head off punitive measures by meeting with Trump, says Axios. The tentative dates are April 6-7.
I can't think of a better way to get to know a potential client, a future business partner, or a perceived adversary than sitting 4 plus hours in a golf cart with them.
DeleteIt certainly works for me and my businesses.
I wonder if the Chinese fellow even plays golf ?
DeleteI used to read about Ping Pong Diplomacy.
The Hill:Kremlin spokesman: Russian ambassador met with Clinton advisors too
ReplyDeletehttp://thehill.com/policy/international/323582-kremlin-spokesman-russian-ambassador-met-with-advisers-to-clinton
No ! I refuse to believe it !
That Russian Ambassador is sure a fat ass.
.
ReplyDeleteKellyanne goes off the reservation again this morning trying to obfuscate on the Trump claim about Obama.
Then she later blames the reporter who asked the question.
Time for another timeout for KC.
.
off the reservation
Delete?
What's that mean ?
Delete.
DeleteTry and keep up, Bob. Check the news.
.
Read some history.
DeleteCan't cha just at least whisper the word Uncle, Quirk ?
DeletePlease
Dada
.
DeleteIf you are talking about the bull you put up about New Zealand and Australia, I answered you above.
.
Kellyanne goes off the reservation again this morning trying to obfuscate on the Trump claim about Obama.
DeleteThen she later blames the reporter who asked the question.
Time for another timeout for KC.
Not even close to being accurate. More fake news from the master.
.
DeleteBullshit.
I saw the video of the initial interview and watched her defense in other interviews. This isn't her first rodeo in the dissembling game.
.
You're full of crap, Quirk.
Delete.
ReplyDeleteHHS Secretary Price: "No one will be worse off" under the GOP health plan.
This will be the GOP equivalent to Obama's 'If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it. If you like your doctor, you can keep him.'
Bullshit and bubblegum.
.
.
What I know is Dale got the old ObamaCare treatment, via the VA in his case.
DeleteHe's dead.
All he ever got was a little morphine towards the end.
Perhaps this will happen on the golf course:
ReplyDelete'We won't import one more item from your country unless you help us solve the Nork problem. It is in the best interests of us all'
The Donald
'We are seriously thinking about it'
Xi
And then it gets solved....
It's within the realm of possibility....just barely....
Quirk selectively posts facts to prove a point about Purim.
ReplyDeleteQuirkSun Mar 12, 10:55:00 PM EDT
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According to the Book of Esther, the Jews killed 500 Persians the 1st day, came back and killed 300 the next day, and then proceeded to kill 75,000 more before taking a day off to party.
Don't even get me started on the Canaanites.
Hey quirk, oh wise and all knowing, did those Jews just go and slaughter innocent folks?
Why not tell what happened IN CONTEXT?
Who were those that the Jews killed? Auto Repair Mechanics, oh I mean wagon repair, Were they artists or dancers?
Come on Quirk, time to show some historic honesty...
Do you have it in you?
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteQuirk is historically illiterate.
DeleteTo ask historic honesty of Quirk is a bridge too far.
He needs to read something of the subject first.
Great ad man, though.
.
Deletehttp://www.biblestudytools.com/esther/9.html
.
Good ad for Prevagen.
DeleteTry it.
It can't hurt.
.
DeleteHe needs to read something of the subject first..
You consider the Book of Esther history?
It's a historical novel written to make a point, teach a lesson, and in this case explain the basis of a holiday.
You have shown what you know of history with your silliness about the birth of countries like Australia and New Zealand.
Go play with your imaginary friends.
.
The Maori fought mostly among themselves, there weren't enough abos to make any difference.
DeleteMove on to Canada, nitwit, and Sweden.
Then later we can talk about the origin of the countries of mainland Europe, and India, and....
You're a dissembling fraud and dumb fuck, Sir !
No one takes anything you say seriously any longer, thank Heavens.
Not even Dada Le Boeuf.
And the Muscovites..they deserve mention
DeleteThe Bible is not a historical novel. More fake news.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete.
DeleteBob, I answered to Sweden above. As for Canada, haven't you ever heard of the War of Spanish Succession, the Seven Years War, the War of 1812, the wars with the indigenous peoples?
Stop embarrassing yourself.
.
.
DeleteThe Bible is not a historical novel. More fake news.
I can't tell if you are being serious or not, Mome. If you are not joking around and are being serious, I would suggest you go back and read what I said.
.
.
DeleteBob, you are an idiot and worse.
The Maori fought mostly among themselves...
Hey, the Maori fought among themselves, that justifies the Brits taking over, well that and the gold.
...there weren't enough abos to make any difference>
Hey, the Brits only killed about 20,000 of them...well, officially, most researchers think the number was much larger. And that didn't even come close to the numbers that were killed by the diseases the Brits spread. But hey, the 'abos' were black. Small loss.
You are pretty disgusting, sir.
.
Time for mass deportation of Turks from Europe back to Turkey.
ReplyDeleteNow before you get all Holocaust on me, let's remember I didn't say cattle cars and strip them and murder them.
Deportation BACK to their homeland is not a war crime, nor is it illegal. You are not sending them back to any threat whatsoever. If fact they are supported by and support the current Islamist regime in Turkey.
Head 'em up, move 'em out.
DeleteKick Turkey out of NATO.
DeleteInvite Israel in.
Support a Kurdish State.
Make nice with Sisi as long as he remains a reformer.
He has been trying to change the curriculum in Egyptian schools, the usual suspects raising hell over it..
UPS Quirk to Gaza.
You have a future in Gaza, Quirk.
DeleteThey desperately need an image makeover, what with all the throwing of gays and anybody they don't like off high buildings, all the shooting of missiles into Israel, etc.
You're great at that sort of thing, image makeovers.
You'll be OK....you'll do great !
NAVY SIMULATES STRIKE ON NKOREA....DRUDGE HEADLINE
ReplyDeleteUSA deploys attack drones to SKorea...
DeleteJAPAN WARSHIP TO SOUTH SEA....DRUDGE
From James Freeman, WSJ.
ReplyDeleteAt the start of the first week since 2009 in which Preet Bharara will not be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Manhattan residents are jamming local markets in search of emergency supplies of food and water.
Most shoppers are likely responding to a blizzard warning from the National Weather Service. But given the outsize press coverage of Mr. Bharara’s Saturday firing, one could easily assume that New Yorkers, especially those who work in media, are simply trying to cope with a bout of post-Preet depression. Manhattan’s former federal prosecutor, a movie buff whose job allowed him to become a fixture at Hollywood Oscar parties, has seized the opportunity to star in his own drama. Mr. Bharara declined to offer the customary resignation along with dozens of other U.S. attorneys when asked to do so by new Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Before getting fired last week but perhaps aware that he would be asked to resign, Mr. Bharara declined to take a call from the President of the United States. According to the Journal, Mr. Bharara told a Justice official that he thought the call was inappropriate given his jurisdiction over important matters. But this concern did not keep Mr. Bharara from visiting Trump Tower last year to meet with the President-elect when it appeared that the prosecutor might be able to keep his job. A former aide to New York Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer, Mr. Bharara has probably earned at least another year of Hollywood invitations with his made-for-media departure.
This weekend’s entertaining drama aside, life will go on and big cases will proceed in the Southern District of New York. Mr. Bharara’s deputy Joon Kim is steeped in the corruption cases the office is pursuing. And any eventual Trump appointee will be unlikely to call off ongoing inquiries into associates of Democratic politicians like Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
In the Trump era, routine events like the replacement of the previous president’s appointees with a new administration are treated as Nixonian power grabs on cable outlets like MSNBC. But it’s not just the media fringe raising warnings about President Trump’s personnel management.
continued....
DeleteFor observers across the philosophical spectrum, it’s not the people Mr. Trump is firing that represent the biggest problem. It’s the people he’s not hiring. “From the moment he was sworn in, President Trump faced a personnel crisis, starting virtually from scratch in lining up senior leaders for his administration. Seven weeks into the job, he is still hobbled by the slow start,” reports the New York Times . “Many federal agencies and offices are in states of suspended animation, their career civil servants answering to temporary bosses whose influence and staying power are unclear, and who are sometimes awaiting policy direction from appointees whose arrival may be weeks or months away.”
Federal agencies in suspended animation doesn’t sound like unconditionally bad news to many taxpayers. But John Fund at National Review sees “a personnel crisis in the Trump White House” that allows Obama holdovers to continue to influence policy across the federal bureaucracy. “At the current rate of nominating individuals to positions, we could see the Trump administration’s first or even second anniversary before it would actually be filled with Trump people,” writes Mr. Fund.
But there just aren’t that many Trump people, which is what many voters found so appealing about him. The good news is that Mr. Trump didn’t show up with a standing army of thousands of political hacks ready to return a generation’s worth of Beltway favors. The bad news is that he didn’t show up with thousands of people ready to staff the government. And even if he can find them now, he doesn’t necessarily want them.
“A lot of those jobs, I don’t want to appoint, because they’re unnecessary to have,” Mr. Trump told Fox News last month. “You know, we have so many people in government, even me. I look at some of the jobs and it’s people over people over people. I say, ‘What do all these people do?’ You don’t need all those jobs.”
Certainly dedicated staff can have a big impact in Washington. But even during the Reagan years conservatives shook their heads watching zealous reformers come to Washington only to begin seeking bigger offices and bigger budgets for their agencies, rather than trying to shut them down. Suspended animation has its virtues.
Mr. Trump spent last year demonstrating how few people and how little money are required to mount a winning presidential campaign. Will he now prove how many federal employees aren’t needed to run a government? Late this afternoon the President is expected to sign an executive order on reorganizing the executive branch. Do we dare to hope for a downsizing?
Preet....that's right up there with Mankreet. What were their parents thinking?
DeleteThere’s a Way to Stop a North Korean Missile Attack
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. and Japan have the means to employ the defensive system, a boost-phase interceptor.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/theres-a-way-to-stop-a-north-korean-missile-attack-1489355797?mod=e2two
The genetic testing stuff in the proposed new health bill is total bullshit.
ReplyDeleteIt's got to be taken out.
Interesting Quirk now claims the Book of Esther is a novel.
ReplyDeletebut his writing is suggestive to be insulting to the Jews.
"According to the Book of Esther, the Jews killed 500 Persians the 1st day, came back and killed 300 the next day, and then proceeded to kill 75,000 more before taking a day off to party."
Then quirk says: It's a historical novel written to make a point, teach a lesson, and in this case explain the basis of a holiday.
Ah, so the story is to explain the basis of a holiday.
Quirk, nicely played.
Avoided all references to the real story, yes historic story.
You have not let me down.
But regardless of the validity of it's historic context?
Iranians/Persians should take heed.
I suggest you go and learn the entire story
He already learned it in Wikipedia.
DeleteOne of my neighbor's Jersey cows was named Esther.
DeleteMy mom had a bridge club partner named Esther.
DeleteWasn't there a swimmer named Esther ?
DeleteEsther Jane Williams was an American competitive swimmer and actress. Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team.
DeleteBorn: August 8, 1921, Inglewood, CA
Died: June 6, 2013, Los Angeles, CA
Height: 5′ 8″
Spouse: Edward Bell (m. 1994–2013), More
Children: Kimball Gage, Susan Gage, Benjamin Gage
A swimming champion who became "America's mermaid"
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYW64moSLKg
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQj0Saj3L4s#t=59.872506
DeleteThe got aquatic horse abuse into this one:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h0ywtBS3Sg
.
DeleteActually, I've got a few Bibles around the house though I haven't read one in quite a while.
The reference I linked to was the best one I could find on line.
but his writing is suggestive to be insulting to the Jews.
"According to the Book of Esther, the Jews killed 500 Persians the 1st day, came back and killed 300 the next day, and then proceeded to kill 75,000 more before taking a day off to party."
That's your opinion but you don't deny the truth of the statement, at least according to the story.
Quirk, nicely played.
Avoided all references to the real story, yes historic story.
I gave a link, the best I could, to the pertinent part of the story. What more do you want? As for 'historic', I give you the same answer I gave Bob. The story is correct historically as to place, time, and some of the players. If you are telling me that all the details of the story are historically correct, I think you're nuts. Next, you'll be telling me that Jonah actually spent 3 days in the belly of a whale.
.
Esther Williams had 4 husbands.
Delete
ReplyDeleteBusiness Insider: SEAL Team 6 is reportedly training for a decapitation strike against North Korea’s Kim regime
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-seals-f-35s-decapitation-strike-north-korea-2017-3?op=1
Cruise missiles sound better to me but when it comes to these things I don't know much.
Did you figure out why it's a 3 way stop at that intersection in Truckee?
Deletehttps://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/downtown-truckee-california#
Adds to the interest, I think.
John 11:50
DeleteYou do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."
Cause the people in Truckee can't count to four ?
DeleteCruise missiles and massive B-52 strikes to suppress the artillery fire on Seoul ?
DeleteWhole thing is a nightmare.
Naw, 'cause of the RR Tracks:
DeletePeople coming from the South from Tahoe, Northstar, airport, etc via 267 would be backed up across the tracks at inappropriate times.
Not good.
Makes more sense than the situation in Korea.
Delete24 million to lose coverage by 2026 under Trump-backed health bill: Congress' analysis
ReplyDeleteAlan Fram And Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
WASHINGTON — The Associated Press
Published Monday, Mar. 13, 2017 4:28PM EDT
.
DeleteIt's been a scam since day one, a massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich.
Healthcare: Trump's Promises
The link shows Trump's promises that no entitlements would be cut once he becomes president. If you get tired of the same old story from him skip to the last part of the tape for Mick Mulvaney's comments.
Mick Mulvaney – Director of Management and Budget, when asked directly how many people would lose their healthcare in the GOP plan responds,
“We’re not really looking at it that way, Mark. Insurance is not really the real goal here, is it?
I guess not.
.
I saw Paul Ryan on the telly yesterday blabbing away about how Americans don't want to be forced to buy insurance, they want choice. If your poor it looks like you have 1 choice and it doesn't include health insurance.
Deletea massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich
DeleteHow exactly does this work ?
The poor, by definition, have no wealth to transfer to anyone.
for the school marm's in the crowd "your" = "you're".
Delete.
DeleteHow will you be affected by AHCA?
Much of the early response to Republican lawmakers’ plan to repeal and replace Obamacare has understandably centered on the bill’s potential impact on participants in the federal health insurance program. But advocates of the American Health Care Act also face another challenge: convincing people that they’re not getting a raw deal as taxpayers.
A range of analysis, from health industry experts, economists and other researchers, conclude that the House bill creates large tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, while middle- and low-income families may see no tax relief and much higher price tags for health insurance. Here’s a look at how the plan, should it ever wind up as law, affect tax policy:
Tax repeals. Starting next year, the House bill would repeal two Affordable Care Act (ACA) revenue producing taxes: The hospital insurance tax and the Medicare tax on unearned income. Only individuals with incomes above $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples) pay these taxes. Families with annual incomes up to $200,000 wouldn’t see any break in their tax bill, according to a recent report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Millionaire households, however, would see a tax cut of around $50,000 a year, giving them an after-tax income boost of about 2 percent, the liberal-leaning think-tank noted.
In addition to these rollbacks, the House bill calls for the elimination of all but one of the other taxes used to fund Obamacare, including taxes charged to insurance providers, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers. The bill would even eliminate the 10 percent sales tax charged at indoor tanning salons, according to a report from tax services firm Wolters Kluwerk. The so-called Cadillac tax on high-cost, employer-sponsored health plans would remain, but would be delayed until 2025.
Refundable tax credits. Under the ACA, tax credits designed to help consumers pay for marketplace insurance plans are based on income and the cost of a benchmark plan in an individual’s exchange. The House bill, however, provides refundable tax credits solely based on age, ranging from $2,000 a year for people under 30 to $4,000 a year for people over 60. There is a cap of $14,000 in credits per household. Full credit would go to any individual with $75,000 or less in annual income ($150,000 for married couples ), then phase out by $100 for every additional $1,000 in income.
{...}
{...}
DeleteThe Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that the Republican plan would provide an average of $1,700 less in tax credits to health care consumers in 2020 compared to the ACA.
President Trump is meeting lawmakers to push for the GOP health plan that would repeal and replace Obamacare. CBS News' Major Garrett discusses t...
According to another recent report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the House bill would also make purchasing health care in high-cost states far less affordable. “Consumers in 11 high-cost states would see their tax credits to purchase health insurance fall by more than $3,000 on average -- or more than 50 percent,” according to the CBPP analysis. For examples, a 45-year-old consumer would get the same $3,000 refundable credit whether he or she lived in Alaska, where the benchmark health insurance policy costs $12,600 this year on average, or in New Hampshire, where the average annual premium is $3,600.
The Republican bill would also repeal the cost-sharing assistance low-income families receive to make out-of-pocket health care costs, such as deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance more affordable. Nearly 6.3 million people earning less than $30,000 ($60,000 for families) receive this assistance, said Lydia Mitts, associate director of affordability at Families USA, a health care advocacy group. The funds often make it possible for low-income consumers to afford health plans with deductibles as low as $500.
{...}
Delete{...}
“Without this assistance, a family making $30,000 a year could see their deductible increase by $5,000 on average,” she said.
Health Savings Accounts. These accounts allow qualified tax payers enrolled in high-deductible health plans to save money for medical expenses tax-free. Contributions to and withdrawals from these accounts are also tax-free, making them a particularly generous tax break. The House bill would increase the maximum contribution limits to these plans to $6,550 for individuals and $13,100 for families in 2018. For those who have access to HSAs, the increased limits are welcome news. But they are not particularly helpful for people who cannot afford to pay health insurance premiums or save for medical bills.
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CBO: AHCA saves $337B on deficit spending, but increases uninsured by 14 million in 2018
ReplyDeletePOSTED AT 5:01 PM ON MARCH 13, 2017 BY ED MORRISSEY
....Addendum: Keep in mind that the CBO score is a projection based on estimates and assumptions, and that it’s not an oracle. Last week, Jeffrey Anderson reminded readers at the Weekly Standard that the CBO projected 23 million would be enrolled in ObamaCare exchanges by 2017. Actual number: 9.2 million.
http://hotair.com/archives/2017/03/13/cbo-ahca-saves-323b-on-deficit-spending-but-increases-uninsured-by-14-million/
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DeleteNo reference as to when the original projection was made or the assumptions that went into it.
The CBO bases its projections on the info they are given at a particular point in time. Today, the Price and the other GOP are saying that the CBO estimate is based solely on the bill as it exists today. It doesn't include all the revisions they intend to make in the bill. Well, duh.
What the hell do they expect them to base it on if not what they were handed by Congress?
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DeleteBesides, even IF the CBO estimate was off by half, that's still 7 million that will lose coverage next year and 12 million by 2024.
We might also note that the Director of the CBO was appointed by the GOP.
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Base it on what Trump says it's gonna be.
DeleteMaybe they are trying to understand where and how they can make revisions.
DeleteI think they ought to revise the idea of massively transferring wealth from the poor to the rich because, as Quizzical said above, the poor got no wealth to transfer.
That ain't gonna work.
Base it on what Trump says it's gonna be.
DeleteThat is exactly what should be done.
His guess is as good as any, and better than most.
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DeleteBase it on what Trump says it's gonna be.
:o)
What today, yesterday, or tomorrow?
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Whatever day Trump chooses, ninny.
DeleteOr average it out....
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DeleteThat's too dumb to even joke about, Bob.
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Lobbying by Pharma and Insurance:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=i
6 Billion seems like a lot, but not too bad when you spread it over 300 million customers.
Delete...about 20 bucks per patient/customer.
DeletePatient Customers indeed.
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DeleteIn truth, it only has to be spread over 535.
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You got that from your Magic 8 Ball, didn't you ?
DeleteKeep that asshole out of the conversation.
Yeah, I meant they only have to spend 20 bucks per patient to reap tens of thousands per.
DeleteMore than 10 Million per Congressperson.
DeleteWell, that's better.
DeleteWhere does Dale fit into all this ?
ReplyDeleteHis survivors ought to get something because he didn't get anything.
DeleteHe's written out because of poor lifestyle choices.
DeleteNo smoke, no drink.
DeleteGamble?.....well, some....why not, you can't take it with you.
You can't take nuthin with you.
DeleteYou can take love with you.
DeleteLike Palin says, Congress would be a colorful place if they all did like NASCAR and wore their sponsor's ads on their suits and limos, I would add.
ReplyDeleteRyan is encouraged by the report.
ReplyDeleteJust wait till the reforms kick in, says he.
Besides ObamaCare has collapsed, so there you are.
That they can't see that the collapse will be hung around their necks is astounding.
DeleteYou changed it, you own it.
DeleteIt woulda worked, if only...
DeleteIt only needed to be left alone for a couple more decades.
Delete.
ReplyDeleteThe new plan is cutting out the Medicare expansion. It is also cutting out funds for mental health and drug programs. 60% of Medicaid spending is used for nursing home care.
This is going to affect not only the poor but the elderly. The blue states will benefit while the red states will suffer.
The people that put Trump in office are the ones who will suffer the pain.
$337 billion savings? Well, duh. What do you think will happen when you stop paying subsidies, when you kick millions of people off their health insurance, when you cut out major programs like Medicaid.
Just saw some GOP jerk on TV saying we have to do it in order to pay for the $54 billion increase in military spending.
I said before healthcare would be Trump and the GOP's downfall. I'm doubling down on the bet that Trump will only be in the White House for one term.
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Sen. Cotton: 'Phase Two & Three Of The Obamacare Replacement Plan Sounds 'Mythical' Rep. Jordan: Republicans Need to Fulfill Promise to Voters with 'Clean Repeal' of ObamaCare
ReplyDeletehttp://podcastone.com/The-Laura-Ingraham-Show-Podcast
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ReplyDeleteThe Trump Whisperer was attempting damage control today.
Spicer said that when Trump said 'wire tap' he didn't really mean 'wire tap', he meant some kind of general surveillance or something. It sounds like Spicer is channeling his inner Kellyanne Conway. Next, he will be talking of microwaves, and TV's and iPhones.
[Still no word from Trump or the DOJ on evidence backing up Trump's claim.]
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He's a builder, not a friggen FBI Agent!
DeleteIt was a clandestine wiretap, nitwit, secret, covert, furtive, surreptitious, stealthy, cloak-and-dagger, hole-and-corner, closet, backstairs, backroom; hush-hush, and therefore there isn't any evidence of it.
DeleteAnd you say you worked for the French underground.
My arse.
I'm starting to think Quirk didn't work for the French underground.
DeleteAnd, say, wasn't he fighting Rommel in North Africa at the time ?
And then at the Brenner Pass.
DeleteNo wonder he doesn't know anything about spooky stuff.
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DeleteOn Monday, Spicer insisted that when Trump used the term “wiretap,” he meant any sort of surveillance. “There’s a whole host of things that fall into the category [of wire-tapping],” he said, and “a wide range of ways in which somebody can be monitored or followed up on.”
But...
This, however, is incorrect. Wiretapping is a specific term used to refer to a third party intercepting telephone or internet conversations and or monitoring them.
"President Obama was tapping my phones,” Trump wrote in the wee hours of March 4. “Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower,” he also wrote. One day after he posted the tweets, Trump publicly asked Congress to investigate his unfounded accusation.
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DeleteThe DOJ says they need another week before they can respond to the Committees request for information on the Trump Charges.
Hilarious.
Next Monday, we can probably expect them to ask for another week.
The funny thing is, as justification for asking the intelligence committee to look at this issue, the Trump team has cited the constant drumbeat from the media and the Dems talking about this ongoing FBI investigation of Trump and the Trump team's connections with the Russian hackers which they say has no basis. The problem is that massive drumbeat doesn't exist.
The FBI have been quiet about their investigations other than to say they are investigating the Russian hacks, no mention of Trump or the Trump team. Their only comments when asked has been that they have seen no connections with the Trump team.
The media has reported that the FBI is investigating the hacks and the leaks but for the most part have not tied them to the Trump or his team (except those that become public, Manafort, Flynn, or guys like Roger Stone who volunteered that he had conversations with Guccifer 2). The exception is the phony NYT story that was picked up by the Guardian and alt-right sites like Breitbart.
The ironic thing about this whole thing is that it is Trump and his team that keep perpetuating the meme. It's been two weeks since Trump made this thing front page news. Now, it will go on for a least another week. His people look like clowns having to come up with ever more convoluted explanations for their boss' uncontrollable tweets.
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Young people don't wanna buy insurance, at least if they're without children.
ReplyDeleteThey'd rather buy a car, or a motorcycle.
What did Della wear?
DeleteShe didn't wear anything.
DeleteShe said: I da ho.
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DeleteTell it to the young people who have to pull mom or pop out of that nursing home and bring them home to take care of them.
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DeleteTell it to the young mother whose kid dies from and opioid of.
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Deleteod
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What are you talking about ?
DeleteNursing homes never kick anyone out once they are there.
At least, not out this way.
The property taxpayers - the would be me - pick up the tab.
And what's ODing got to do with it ?
From the look of things, ObamaCare hasn't made a dent in drug use.
It's worse now than ever, so I read just the other day.
And you're in the Detroit area.
What do you do, blog all day long ?
Honest injun reservation, Quirk, you've been really bizarre lately.
Delete.
DeleteYou dumb shit, do think that nursing homes would simple keep people there if they weren't getting paid? They get paid by the state through the Medicaid program.
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DeleteDidn't you say you put your aunt in a nursing home.
Typically, if you've got money, you have to pay it out before Medicaid (or Medicare for specialty care) will start picking up the cost.
That's not the way it worked for you?
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Of course they get paid, one way or the other, moron.
DeleteI don't see the kids pulling mom and pop out of the rest home to care for them at home...unless of course they're trying to save the inheritance, which usually doesn't exist.
Go away and shut up.
I got more important matters on my mind.
See below...
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DeleteI got more important matters on my mind.
The conceits of a moron.
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I took the old quote directly from YOU, dipshit.
DeleteIf I remember correctly we had to "exhaust my Grandmother's assets" before medicare would pay.
DeleteIf Dale didn't have VA care he'd have no care? In Bob world that would have been an improvement.
In Bob's aunt's case didn't he exhaust her assets by running up a credit card to its max of 15k beyond her ability to pay in order to get maximum game from the system?
DeleteWhen I was at Good Sam for physical therapy after my broken hip, they got pissed at me because I left early.
ReplyDeleteThey want those beds filled.
Judge Napolitano just said on Fox that, according to info recently obtained by Fox, O'bozo went through a foreign intelligence service to keep tabs on The Donald.
ReplyDeleteThe foreign intelligence service was British.
And, there may have been a second involved....
Hence, all these folks from the American alphabet agencies can truthfully say:
"We didn't have nothin' to do with it"
Don't get too cocky with the idea O'bozo wasn't keeping tabs on The Donald.
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Delete:o)
:o):o)
:o):o):o)
Stop it, you're killing me.
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I will NOT stop it !
DeleteOne way or another, somebody's gotta get you outta here !!!!
If you'd ever start watching Fox you'd begin to learn some stuff.
DeleteThe world is not as depicted on CNN !
TURKEY
ReplyDeleteSecret Agent Man
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1AVSU_enUS357&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=flynn+turkish+agent&*
Flynn Intel, which shut down in November after Flynn accepted Trump’s offer to serve as national security adviser, filed the contract with the Justice Department on Tuesday as part of a retroactive registration as a foreign agent of Turkey
Deletehttp://dailycaller.com/2017/03/11/as-foreign-agent-for-turkey-flynn-agreed-to-form-elite-investigation-team-make-criminal-referrals/#ixzz4bFkWQduz
Japan’s giant PENIS parade sees young brides ride 7ft-tall wooden phallus through streets for ancient fertility ritual
ReplyDeleteThe parade comes after news that a housewife hacked at her husband's penis with a kitchen knife because he wouldn't have sex with her for over a decade.
Sex starved Rita Yadav almost fully detached Ved Prekash's genitals from the base during her vicious outburst, leaving him in a critical condition and with a cut that was almost four inches deep.
It took surgeons FIVE HOURS to reattach his penis and although Ved, 31, is now out of danger, he's still in hospital recovering.
Before slashing at his bits, Rita, 28, knocked out her taxi driver husband by hitting him over the head with a stone grinder.
She locked him in the bathroom following the attack at their home in Ghaziabad, northern India, on Thursday morning and then handed herself in at the local police station - telling horrified detectives that her actions were revenge.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/japans-giant-wooden-penis-parade-10013820
Ved deserved it.
DeleteThat Gal Sal tried to lop off Quirk's dick once, but, the target being small, and Quirk being quick, she failed.
DeleteSal was pissed, saying Q's d 'wasn't where it should be'.
Q had been hanging with Dada Le Boeuf....
I'm reading that The Donald is starting a war on the climate.
ReplyDeleteWith the way this winter has been, I hope he wins.
Thomas Sowell, who had declared his retirement, has now come back from retirement -
ReplyDeleteThe Real Lessons of Middlebury College
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/03/13/the_real_lessons_of_middlebury_college_133321.html
Good to see him back.
Everyone should read this.
DeleteMark Steyn talked about it while covering for Rush:
The young snowflakes send their liberal female professor to the hospital TWICE because she invited Charles Murray to speak.
Places should be shut down and restarted from the ground up, with Free Speech foremost.
Delete"Professor William Julius Wilson of Harvard, for example, said of Justice Clarence Thomas,
"He'll say he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps.
I say I was in the right place at the right time."
Just where did Justice Thomas say that he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps?
The central theme of his autobiography, titled "My Grandfather's Son," credits the wisdom of the grandfather who raised him as what saved him.
Nuns who taught him in school were brought to Washington, at his expense, to be present to see him sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court, to see that their dedicated efforts on his behalf had not been in vain.
But has anyone ever asked Professor Wilson on just what he based his claim about Justice Thomas? The central tragedy of academia today is that you don't have to have anything on which to base dismissals of people and ideas you disagree with."
"Why should we expect students to welcome debate about differences of opinion, when so many of their professors seem to think cheap shot dismissals are all you need? Lacking their professors' verbal dexterity or aura of authority, students use cruder methods of dismissing things they disagree with.
DeleteSo long as academia talks demographic "diversity" and practices groupthink when it comes to ideas, we have little reason to expect better of student mobs that riot with impunity."
Amtrak blocking Truckee Traffic:
ReplyDeletehttps://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/downtown-truckee-california#
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ReplyDeleteTrumpcare: The Promises they Make are the Promises they Break
<(:o(
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O hell what a bunch of stupid crap....
DeleteSomehow you sort of enticed me in to clicking your stupid link (it might have been your stupid looking facey) and all I get is a stupid article about the CBO.
I'm nearly to the point of totally boycotting your stupid links.
I bet you don't know of, have never heard of, the Oregon Study that showed one has an equal or even better health outcome if one has no Medicaid at all.
DeleteFYI -
Oregon Study: Medicaid 'Had No Significant Effect' On Health ... - Forbes
www.forbes.com/.../oregon-study-medicaid-had-no-significant-effect-on-health-outco...
May 2, 2013 - Piles of studies have shown that people on Medicaid have health outcomes that are no better, and often worse, than those with no insurance at ...
Is Medicaid Bad for Your Health? - FactCheck.org
www.factcheck.org/2015/07/is-medicaid-bad-for-your-health/
Jul 10, 2015 - And yet, health outcomes for those on Medicaid are no better than those who ... The study took advantage of a Medicaid expansion in Oregon that was based .... shows relatively small numbers for improved health outcomes ...
Oregon Medicaid health experiment - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Medicaid_health_experiment
The Oregon health insurance experiment (sometimes abbreviated OHIE) was a research study .... The study found no statistically significant impact of Medicaid coverage on ... Oregon study outcomes were considered in the context of the Affordable ... Not only might better mental health save some money, given the costs to ...
The Oregon Experiment — Effects of Medicaid on Clinical Outcomes ...
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1212321
by K Baicker - 2013 - Cited by 445 - Related articles
May 2, 2013 - This randomized, controlled study showed that Medicaid coverage ... no significant improvements in measured physical health outcomes in the ...
Pivotal study finds no link between health coverage, outcomes | The ...
https://www.advisory.com/Daily.../05/.../Medicaid-may-not-improve-health-outcomes
May 2, 2013 - A new NEJM study suggests Medicaid might not improve health care ... According to the latest update from the much-watched Oregon Health Study—which involves ... Study finds limited evidence of improved health outcomes.
Is Being on Medicaid Better than Having No Insurance at All ...
www.washingtonpolicy.org/.../is-being-on-medicaid-better-than-having-no-insurance-at...
May 20, 2013 - It turns out that having Medicaid health insurance does not improve health outcomes ... The large, randomized Oregon study shows this is not true. ... program are no better than outcomes for people without health insurance.
You simply don't read very much, and when you do it's stupid shit.
DeleteAll you do is pick up stupid memes.
And you, being an advertising executive, of all people, should know better.
You dumb shit.
Your stupid facey does bear an uncanny resemblance to you, though, you stupid idiot.
DeleteThe number of uninsured will go up because the mandates, the gun to the head, would be gone.
DeleteWhy buy a bunch of crappy insurance that just ends one up in the hands of the death panels ?
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DeleteThat's all easy to say for some fat-ass hick living off the Federal dole, with Medicare and Social Security, passing out keys all days to college kids and collecting rent from people who actually work the land.
You haven't done a decent days work in years but you've got yours so fuck everyone else. Let em eat cake.
The number of uninsured will go up because the mandates, the gun to the head, would be gone.
You are the dumbest shit I've known. You believe everything you're fed by the GOP because it's easy. Why worry about the people who are being screwed if you don't have to? Much easier eating bullshit dreamed up by Paul Ryan.
Why buy a bunch of crappy insurance that just ends one up in the hands of the death panels ?
For years, all the GOP did was cry about death panels, yet, the new GOP keeps the friggin death panels. It's a cost savings mechanism don't you know. Screw the people, save a buck. That's the GOP game plan.
Go piss off and eat another jelly donut you fat ass.
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:):):):):)
DeleteThat's what I was trying to do - finally get Quirk's goat good !
heh !
(you won't have to endure more today, Quirk, I go see the Mormon bankers with help from Small Development Center Advisory to see if I can raise the money to build more street and some apartments for the college kids. This, let me tell you, is a very very risky financial proceeding but at the end of my life, why not ? It's now or never....hope it works)
DeleteAFTER launching an investigation into US President Donald Trump’s wiretapping allegations against Obama, the White House is now backpedalling on a key point.
ReplyDeleteAccording to CNN, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told media that President Trump wasn’t referring to actual “wiretapping” when he tweeted the serious accusation, which mentioned the word wiretapping directly.
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Reports have emerged that President Trump plans to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at a two-day summit next month, according to as his administration seeks to smooth relations with the world’s second-largest economy.
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President Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency new authority to conduct drone attacks against suspected militants, the Wall Street Journal has reported.