US Politics Mega-thread - Page 7111

White House press secretary Sean Spicer struggled Monday to say what’s real.

During a tense exchange with NBC News’ Peter Alexander, President Donald Trump’s top spokesman sidestepped a series of pointed questions about whether things the president has said are “real” or “phony.”

Trump has said the jobs reports are both — they were fake when they were positive during President Barack Obama’s administration but are “very real now” that Trump is in the White House.

That fantastical logic led to direct questions Monday about whether the president’s explosive, evidence-free charge that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the presidential campaign and his unsubstantiated claim that millions voted illegally for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election should be believed.

“If he’s not joking, of course,” Spicer said about when Trump should be trusted. “Every time that he speaks authoritatively — that he speaks, he’s speaking as president of the United States.”

Spicer maintained Trump’s position that the jobs reports “are very real now” but wouldn’t comment on the veracity of Trump’s wiretapping allegation.

“He doesn’t really think that President Obama went up and tapped his phone personally,” Spicer said instead when asked a yes-or-no question about whether Trump’s charge was real.

As for Trump’s baseless claim that millions voted illegally against him, “Yes,” that’s real, Spicer said, “and he still believes that. He does believe it.”

Spicer has said the earlier Congressional Budget Office projection for Obamacare repeal confirmed that it was bad for the economy. But the White House and GOP allies have already begun casting doubt about the accuracy of the CBO projection on the Republican replacement plan.

“This is not about what my understanding or my belief of the CBO is,” Spicer said. “The last time they did this, they were wildly off, and the number keeps declining.”

For his part, Spicer at one point told Alexander that “yes,” when Trump speaks Americans can trust it’s real, although he wouldn't clarify any specific instance.

Asked about the jobs report, “I think the difference is the president was talking then and now about job creation,” Spicer suggested.

And the CBO? “The number they issued in 2016 was 2[4] million people. The actual number is 10.4 [million],” Spicer said, referring to the projection and actual number of people enrolled in Obamacare plans. “That’s not a question of our credibility. It’s a question of theirs.”

On March 14 2017 04:07 LightSpectra wrote:


Allegations and accusations before the investigation's complete, that's just Tuesday in today's America. I'm not sure why Trump-Kremlin in particular is making you explode with rage. Did you feel equally as mad when Trump made allegations about being wiretapped by Obama?

It'd be nice if the GOP shared your opinion though, "let the investigation happen and then we'll talk afterwards." Please write to your congresspeople and let them know that you want the investigation to get on with it.

What's "my side"?

I'll let Trump make the allegation that FISA ongoing wiretaps and expanded sharing principles (both facts) led to the leaks (his allegation) because it's starting an investigation/interest in an investigation.

"Elected on the back of a foreign agent" you say? You've been listening to too much fake news, or never considered the real downsides to the Hillary vote before not voting for her.

On March 14 2017 04:27 Danglars wrote:

We'll wait until the other side gets their act together? That's the best you can do? Ok. I really can't understand your personal views if they're in one box and your judgment of other actors is in a separate box. I mean, are those really your personal views, or just posturing because you don't really believe she should be prosecuted and know she won't really be prosecuted so there's no harm in pretending to support them? I'll let Trump make the allegation that FISA ongoing wiretaps and expanded sharing principles (both facts) led to the leaks (his allegation) because it's starting an investigation/interest in an investigation. He's endured all these thinly sourced, Russia Russia Russia, 24/7 news cycles since inauguration. You can't see it, or refuse to comment on it, I have no idea. "Elected on the back of a foreign agent" you say? You've been listening to too much fake news, or never considered the real downsides to the Hillary vote before not voting for her.

(CNN)The White House on Monday walked back a key point of President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated allegation that President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower during the 2016 election.

Namely, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump wasn't referring to wiretapping when he tweeted about wiretapping.
"I think there's no question that the Obama administration, that there were actions about surveillance and other activities that occurred in the 2016 election," Spicer said. "The President used the word wiretaps in quotes to mean, broadly, surveillance and other activities."

Wiretapping is a narrowly defined surveillance activity that involves tapping into "a telephone or telegram wire in order to get information," according to Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Spicer also said that Trump was referring to the Obama administration broadly -- and not accusing Obama of personal involvement -- when he tweeted that "Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower" and accused Obama of being a "bad" or "sick guy."

A Texas lawmaker has filed a satirical bill to regulate “masturbatory emissions” as a riposte to a slew of anti-abortion measures advocated by the state’s Republican politicians.

The proposed act takes the language and concepts used by conservatives to limit abortions and swaps the sexes.

It calls for a $100 fine for “emissions outside of a woman’s vagina, or created outside of a health or medical facility”, which “will be considered an act against an unborn child, and failing to preserve the sanctity of life”.

It also requires the creation of a “masturbatory assistance registry” of not-for-profit organisations and hospitals able to provide “fully-abstinent encouragement counseling, supervising physicians for masturbatory emissions, and storage for the semen”.

The bill from Jessica Farrar, a Democratic representative from Houston, is called the Man’s Right to Know Act – a reference to legislation known as the Woman’s Right to Know Act which previously passed into Texas law. That forces doctors to perform a sonogram, make audio of the heartbeat available, and describe the fetus to women considering an abortion at least 24 hours before the procedure takes place.

It is also the name of a state health department pamphlet that emphasises – and, according to critics, exaggerates and misleads readers about – the risks of abortions, and steers women towards alternatives.

Farrar’s bill requires the creation of a booklet which must be reviewed by doctors with male patients and which “must contain medical information related to the benefits and concerns of a man seeking a vasectomy, Viagra prescription, or a colonoscopy. The booklet must contain artistic illustrations of each procedure.”

It also demands an attending physician “administer a medically-unnecessary digital rectal exam … before administering an elective vasectomy or colonoscopy procedure, or prescribing Viagra”.

Farrar said in a statement: “Although HB 4260 is satirical, there is nothing funny about current healthcare restrictions for women and the very real legislation that is proposed every legislative session.

As an interventional pain physician for Spine and Wellness Centers of America, I treat acute and chronic pain patients throughout South Florida in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and the outpatient setting. I personally believe in a holistic approach to manage pain emphasizing wellness and function.

All five of our doctors are certified medical cannabis recommending physicians with the goal of maximizing patient’s quality of life with patient specific tailored treatment plans. As a patient advocate I believe that medical cannabis can and should play a role in patient care. I would like to comment on the recent piece of pending legislation offered by State Rep. Ray Rodrigues (HB 1397.)

The proposed measure examines many of the complex facets of implementing new medical marijuana laws and seems to take this matter with the seriousness it deserves. Seventy one percent of Florida voters overwhelmingly supported Amendment 2, the measure to legalize medical marijuana for the sick under the care of a physician.

The proposal seems to ensure that patients who are genuinely ill and who, under the treatment of a physician, have access to safe, tested and relatively pure medical cannabis. Nonetheless, the bill maintains the 90-day patient/doctor requirement which is nonsensical. I have had patients who have passed away before the 90-day relationship requirement was met. I have current patients who are suffering due to their terminal illness or debilitating condition who are not able to get relief with medical cannabis because I have not been their physician for 90 days. Yet, I am able to prescribe any medication including opioids with the potential for overdose and uncomfortable side effects. This is truly disturbing and unjust.

On March 14 2017 05:45 opisska wrote:
How does it work with the age dependence in practice? Is it meant that "if you get insurance while old and previously uninsured, you pay more", or is it "you pay more as you get older"? The first would actually be rather sensible (you are supposed to be insured from young age, the whole point of the system is that you are insured all the time, not just when you start getting sicker), while the second one would be outright idiotic.

On March 14 2017 05:34 On_Slaught wrote:
That's a potential 14 million votes you're riling up against you. But don't forget; according to Republicans they aren't losing coverage. Rather they are making a choice...