Donald J. Trump wins Presidency

Donald Trump Endorses Police Brutality In Speech To Cops.

WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump received applause on Friday when he endorsed police brutality while delivering a speech to law enforcement officers on Long Island, New York.

The president suggested that officers should hit suspects’ heads on the doors of their police cars.

“When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, and I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice,’” Trump said.

“Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over, like, don’t hit their head and they’ve just killed somebody, don’t hit their head, I said, ‘You can take the hand away, OK?’” he added.

His remarks received applause.
(This is a developing story and will be updated.)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-endorses-police-brutality-184951273.html

Trump's six-month stall sparks a White House shake-up.

Six months into his presidency, Donald Trump is saddled with a stalled agenda, a West Wing that resembles a viper's nest, a pile of investigations and a Republican Party that's starting to break away.

Trump on Friday indirectly acknowledged the troubled state of his unconventional White House when he abruptly replaced his chief of staff with hard-nosed retired Gen. John Kelly, until now the Homeland Security secretary.

Kelly will take the desk of Reince Priebus, a Republican operative who was skeptical of Trump's electoral prospects last year and ultimately came to be viewed by the president as weak and ineffective.

Kelly's ability to succeed will depend on factors outside his control, including whether Trump's squabbling staff is willing to put aside the rivalries that have sowed disorder and complicated efforts to enact policy.

But the big question is can Kelly do what Priebus couldn't? And that's curbing the president's penchant for drama and unpredictability, and his tendency to focus more on settling scores than promoting a policy agenda.

No other aide or adviser has been successful on that front.

As a candidate, and now as president, Trump has cycled through campaign chiefs and advisers but has remained easily distracted by his personal interests and only loosely tethered to any policy plans.

"Trump has spent a lot of his political capital on nothing but defending his own reputation," Alex Conant, a Republican strategist, said of Trump's first six months in office. "There is no sustained strategy. His attention seems to shift with whatever is leading cable news at that moment."

Staff shake-ups are a tried-and-true way for struggling presidents to signal that they are ready to shift course.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton elevated budget director Leon Panetta to chief of staff with a mandate to bring more discipline to a loosely organized White House. President George W. Bush made the same move with Josh Bolten in 2006 as the Bush presidency buckled under criticism of his handling of the Iraq war and the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Rarely, however, do presidents face as much turmoil as quickly as Trump has.

His Friday afternoon tweet announcing Kelly's hiring capped a tumultuous week:

—his new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, spewed vulgarities in public at Priebus.

—Trump drew blunt criticism from GOP lawmakers over his attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions for withdrawing from the federal investigation into Russian campaign interference.

—Senate Republicans' efforts to pass legislation that would have overhauled the nation's health care law collapsed.

Some Trump allies tried to pin the blame for the health debacle on Priebus. The former Republican National Committee chairman had sold himself to Trump as a well-connected Washington operator who could help round up votes on Capitol Hill. He encouraged Trump to press forward with a health care overhaul early in his presidency.

But as Republicans sorted through the rubble of their health care failure, it was Trump, not his chief of staff, who was the target of criticism.

"One of the failures was the president never laid out a plan or his core principles and never sold them to the American people," said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. He said Trump "outsourced the whole issue to Congress."

Indeed, Trump's relatively rare public appeals for the passage of health legislation suggested he was more interested in a political win than in the details of policy. A former Democrat who does not adhere to all GOP orthodoxy, Trump frequently shifted his own stance as to whether the Republicans should repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act at once or simply repeal the law for now.

By week's end, it was clear that some Republicans simply weren't afraid of breaking with a weakened president. GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and John McCain of Arizona, who was back in Washington after a brain cancer diagnosis, doomed a last-ditch bill in Friday's early morning hours.

Murkowski, who was targeted by Trump on Twitter for her opposition, showed little sign of being cowed by the president.

"We're here to govern, we're here to legislate, to represent people that sent us here. And so every day shouldn't be about campaigning. Every day shouldn't be about winning elections. How about doing a little governing around here?" she asked.

To this point, Trump has failed to shepherd a single substantial piece of legislation into law. His only major accomplishments have been by executive power — rolling back regulations and undoing a few of his predecessor's achievements, like the Paris climate treaty — along with his successful nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Kelly, who spent his career in the military before being nominated by Trump to run the sprawling Department of Homeland Security, has limited political and legislative experience. But at least for now, he has the trust of the president.

"He has been a true star of my administration," Trump declared.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trumps-month-stall-sparks-white-house-shake-48921728

Donald Trump calls for Senate checks and balances to be scrapped for second time in 24 hours.

Donald Trump has called for a change in Senate rules to remove key checks and balances - the second time in less than 24 hours that he has made the demand.

The US President called for an end to a longstanding rule that requires at least 60 of the 100 senators to vote down attempts to block legislation being passed, saying only a simple majority should be needed.

He claimed the current checks and balances are making the Republicans “look like fools” and called on the party’s Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, to scrap the “outdated” rule.

He wrote on Twitter: “Republican Senate must get rid of 60 vote NOW! It is killing the R Party, allows 8 Dems to control country. 200 Bills sit in Senate. A JOKE!

“The very outdated filibuster rule must go. Budget reconciliation is killing R's in Senate. Mitch M, go to 51 Votes NOW and WIN. IT'S TIME!

“Republicans in the Senate will NEVER win if they don't go to a 51 vote majority NOW. They look like fools and are just wasting time.

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
Republicans in the Senate will NEVER win if they don't go to a 51 vote majority NOW. They look like fools and are just wasting time......
13:32 - 29 Jul 2017

“8 Dems totally control the U.S. Senate. Many great Republican bills will never pass, like Kate's Law and complete Healthcare. Get smart!”

“If the Senate Democrats ever got the chance, they would switch to a 51 majority vote in first minute. They are laughing at R's. MAKE CHANGE!”

The latest series of tweets came less than a day after Mr Trump said the Senate “must immediately go to a 51 vote majority, not senseless 60”.

“Even though parts of healthcare could pass at 51, some really good things need 60. So many great future bills & budgets need 60 votes,” he tweeted.

Mr Trump’s demands come after the Senate voted against his plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act – widely known as Obamacare.

Republican attempts to repeal the policy, which expanded health insurance to millions more Americans, have repeatedly been blocked.

Senators rejected the latest repeal bill by 51 to 49 in the early hours of Friday morning after three Republicans, including former presidential candidate John McCain, voted against the proposals.

The Republican leadership had been trying to pass the bill by using the budget reconciliation process, which allows legislation to pass with a simple majority if it meets certain requirements, including reducing the budget deficit.

Most other bills can be filibustered - when debate is extended with the aim of blocking legislation - and, since 1975, 60 votes have been needed to end a filibuster, leaving the current Republican leadership short of the numbers it needs to pass key legislation.

Mr Trump has previously called the Senate’s system of checks and balances “archaic” and “a really bad thing for the country”.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-calls-senate-checks-142502860.html

There goes the Constitution......

bb1 wrote:There goes the Constitution......

Yep and the US is fast becoming the laughing stock of the world. Well, they chose him, he's their problem. LL

The US doesn't even seem to have noticed that it is now outnumbered by people p*ssed off with them....they still think they're Number One.....

Donald Trump says China does ‘nothing’ to thwart North Korea’s nuclear quest,

Donald Trump has launched his latest twitter assault on China, accusing its Communist party leaders of doing “NOTHING” to help the United States thwart North Korea’s quest for nuclear weapons.

“I am very disappointed in China,” Trump wrote. “Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet … they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk.

“We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!” he added.

The comments came after Kim Jong-un celebrated his country’s second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test late on Friday, in what North Korean state media described as a warning to the “beast-like US imperialists”.

On Saturday, the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, accused Russia and China of being North Korea’s “principal economic enablers” and claimed they bore “unique and special responsibility” for its “belligerent” pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Conservative news outlets in the US appeared to relish Trump’s decision to assail Beijing for its alleged role in North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.

“Trump rips China on Twitter,” ran a Fox News headline.

Beijing is likely to be less amused.

“To some extent, I think Trump’s tweets are a bluff. But the Chinese government has to take this seriously,” said Li Yonghui, an international relations expert from Beijing’s Foreign Language University.

Li said he expected Trump’s planned state visit to China later this year to still go ahead, despite growing tensions between Washington and Beijing. But China now needed to brace itself for “unfavourable measures in the near future” from the White House, he warned.

Dali Yang, an expert in Chinese politics from the University of Chicago, said that in recent weeks China had enjoyed a temporary respite from Trump’s attentions because of his battle to repeal Obamacare. “Now that breathing room is gone and of course Beijing has to manage this,” he said.

“This is the president running his foreign policy by tweeting again.”

Yang said Trump’s latest China tweets were partly a diversionary tactic to distract public attention from the Obamacare defeat and partly a negotiating tactic designed to increase pressure on Beijing on issues such as North Korea and trade.

However, he predicted Trump would struggle to extract major concessions from China’s leaders who were preparing for a key twice-a-decade political congress this autumn and could not risk being seen “caving in to Washington’s demands”.

Observers say Trump had hoped to convince Chinese president Xi Jinping to form a partnership with the US which would have seen the world’s top two economies tackle North Korea together.

That explained the conciliatory and at times fawning language Trump has used to refer to Xi, who he has repeatedly hailed as a “terrific guy” and a “great leader” with whom he enjoys “great chemistry”.

However, with Saturday’s tweets that approach appears to have run its course.

Li said US-China relations were so vital that the “the boat of friendship” between the two countries was not in imminent danger of capsizing. But Trump’s tweets showed he had “gradually lost his confidence and patience” in Beijing. “I think what he tweets shows his real state of mind,” Li said.

China offered no immediate reaction to Trump’s Twitter challenge. But Ben Rhodes, a foreign policy adviser under Barack Obama, rejected Trump’s claims about Chinese inaction on North Korea.

“It is not at all true that China can easily solve this problem and this is a very dangerous and destabilizing approach,” he wrote on Twitter.

There were reports, later, that two US B-1 bombers fly over the Korean peninsula in response to North Korea’s missile test.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-says-china-does-%e2%80%98nothing%e2%80%99-to-thwart-north-korea%e2%80%99s-nuclear-quest/ar-AAp3LPI?li=BBnbcA1

Trump Attacks Republicans As 'Fools' While Support Among Base Drops.

Donald Trump's schedule was fully cleared for the weekend, with no scheduled public appearances or high-profile talks with international leaders on the calendar for Saturday or Sunday, giving the president all the time in the world to do his favorite thing: tweet.

Trump kicked off Saturday Twitter by quoting a tweet from Fox News and suggesting Russia was working to diminish his 2016 presidential campaign, instead of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's—as the U.S. intelligence community has found during an ongoing probe into the Kremlin’s interference in last year’s election.

"Russia was against Trump in the 2016 Election," he wrote. "Why not, I want strong military & low oil prices. Witch Hunt!"

Then things suddenly got personal between the president and his party.

First, Trump had a demand for the party: change current Senate practices requiring 60 votes to pass legislation. "Republicans in the Senate will NEVER win if they don't go to a 51 vote majority NOW," Trump wrote. "They look like fools and are just wasting time……"

He then dug in at conservatives on Capitol Hill for decrying former President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare legislation, the Affordable Care Act, and failing to remove it from law when given the opportunity.

"Many great Republican bills will never pass, like Kate's Law and complete Healthcare. Get smart!" Trump wrote. "After seven years of ‘talking' Repeal & Replace, the people of our great country are still being forced to live with imploding ObamaCare!"

Trump’s attacks on his own party, vented through his favorite social media platform instead of directly to his colleagues in the Republican-held houses, were nothing short of scathing. His tweets followed Friday’s news Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, a Republican insider and favorite among conservatives in Washington, was forced out by Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, a conservative outsider with zero political experience.

The inroads Trump made to the Republican Party may quickly be eroding as the president attempts to direct politics via Twitter rather than actual governance. The GOP has been unable to pass any major legislation after six months of controlling the entire federal government.

Meanwhile, Republican senators defecting from party line agenda items—as three did this week when an Obamacare repeal was killed in the late hours of Wednesday night—will only continue if the president can’t keep a hold of his base.

Recent polls show Trump is slowly losing ground among the white, Republican-registered voters who largely voted him into office in last year’s election, after failing to maintain many of the campaign promises that floated his presidency.

With just 35.1 percent of those polled in a Reuters survey published Thursday approving of Trump’s job performance, Republicans expressed disapproval more than ever before.

Trump’s support from Republicans plunged six points in nine days amid the failed health care battle, declining to 73.9 percent July 24 from 79.9 percent on July 15.

The new low among Trump’s own party, paired with his sharp words and further distancing from Republicans on Twitter, may only spell more trouble for his presidency down the road.
http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-approval-ratings-decline-losing-base-attacking-republicans-643830

Maybe they've noticed Trump has lost his marbles......

Donald Trump threatens to end insurance payments if no healthcare bill.

President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to end government payments to health insurers if Congress does not pass a healthcare bill. In a Twitter message on Saturday, Trump said "if a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!" Trump's comment came after Senate Republicans failed to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare bill, on Friday. The first part of Trump's tweet appeared to be referring to the approximately $8 billion in cost-sharing reduction subsidies paid by the federal government to insurers to lower the price of health coverage for low-income individuals.

The second part of the tweet appeared to be a threat to end the employer contribution for members of Congress and their staffs who were moved from the normal federal employee healthcare benefits program onto the Obamacare insurance exchanges as part of the 2010 healthcare law. The Obama administration had ruled that these contributions could continue, flowing through the District of Columbia insurance exchange. Many insurers have been waiting for an answer from Trump or lawmakers on whether they will continue to fund the annual government subsidies.

Without assurances, many insurers plan to raise rates an additional 20 percent by an Aug. 16 deadline for premium prices. With Republican efforts to dismantle Obamacare in disarray, hundreds of U.S. counties are at risk of losing access to private health coverage in 2018 as insurers consider pulling out of those markets. In response, Trump on Friday again suggested that his administration would let the Obamacare program ?implode.? He has weakened enforcement of the law?s requirement for individuals to buy insurance, threatened to cut off funding and sought to change plan benefits through regulations.

Meanwhile, some congressional Republicans were still trying to find a way forward on healthcare reform. Senator Lindsey Graham said in a statement issued late on Friday that he and two other Republican senators, Dean Heller and Bill Cassidy, met with Trump after the defeat to discuss Graham's proposal to take tax money raised by Obamacare and send it back to the states in the form of healthcare block grants.

Graham said the move would end Democrats' drive for a national single-payer healthcare system by putting states in charge. "President Trump was optimistic about the Graham-Cassidy-Heller proposal," Graham added. "I will continue to work with President Trump and his team to move the idea forward."

http://www.msn.com/en-in/money/other/donald-trump-threatens-to-end-insurance-payments-if-no-healthcare-bill/ar-AAp1D1s?li=AAgfW3S

This is insanity, IMO - and what about the millions of Americans in need of healthcare? I know Obamacare is a pretty bad system, and should have been based on any of the European systems, but it's better than nothing.

Donald Trump Impeachment: Mike Pence Already Planning His Inauguration, Democratic Congresswoman Says.

Donald Trump’s impeachment is so inevitable at this point that Vice President Mike Pence is already planning his inauguration, one Democratic Congresswoman claimed this week.

Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California and frequent critic of Donald Trump, predicted that the president would soon be out of office. Though Waters did not say exactly on what grounds Trump would be impeached, she did make reference to some members of his administration who had already been ousted.

“Mike Pence is somewhere planning an inauguration. Priebus and Spicer will lead the transition,” Waters wrote on Twitter (via The Hill).

Waters has been a frequent critic of Donald Trump, often predicting that he will be impeached. This week, the California Democrat went after Trump for his statements during a speech to police officers in Long Island that encouraged police brutality. During the speech, Trump implored the officers not to protect the heads of suspects as they are placed into police cars, which was met by cheers from the crowd of police officers.

Waters invoked the memory of Freddie Gray, a Baltimore man killed during a rough ride in a police wagon.

The Hill@thehill
Maxine Waters hits Trump over comments to police, invokes memory of Freddie Gray http://hill.cm/htWYLLf

While Waters’ tweet may have been more about getting under Trump’s skin than spreading inside information, there are already a number of efforts underway to investigate Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia and even a formal impeachment effort. Democrat Brad Sherman, also of California, filed a resolution accusing Trump of obstruction of justice in his firing of James Comey, then the FBI director, The Hill noted.

There are others who have predicted that Donald Trump could resign if the Russia investigation starts to yield real evidence of collusion between him and Russia. Trump’s adult son, Donald Trump Jr., was already pulled into the investigation after evidence emerged of a 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton that had been stolen by the Russian government.

Tony Schwartz, a co-author of Trump’s best-selling book The Art of the Deal, had consistently said he believes Trump will likely “self-immolate” if the heat grows too intense.

“The more convinced Trump becomes that he will be caught, the more desperately he will deny what will turn out to be indisputably true,” he said (via New York magazine). “Is there anyone rational who doesn’t believe he has already obstructed justice several times over? In the end, I don’t believe Trump will be impeached, or found guilty of a crime. My gut tells me that when the fire gets hot enough, he will make a deal to save himself, resign the presidency, and declare victory.“

The Russia investigation has been relatively quiet since the revelation of Trump Jr.’s meeting with the Russian lawyer, though there are still many who still call on Trump to be impeached for firing James Comey in what they believe was an attempt to thwart the investigation. For his part, Donald Trump has continued to assert that he had no improper contact with Russia either during the campaign or after.

Eric Garland@ericgarland
Trump insulting small group of people who would oversee his impeachment, news at BWAHAHAHAHHAAAA o'clock. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/29/trump-senate-republicans-majority-vote-241121 …

The idea of impeaching Donald Trump would still be far off, as he would need a sizeable number of Congressional Republicans to turn on him for the impeachment to move forward. But Trump’s relationship with Republicans has become increasingly strained, with the president lashing out this week after they failed to pass health care reform.
http://www.inquisitr.com/4399214/donald-trump-impeachment-mike-pence-already-planning-his-inauguration-democratic-congresswoman-says/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=yahoo&utm_campaign=homepage

Isn't there an amendment that says Presidents can be removed if they are clearly insane?

bb1 wrote:Isn't there an amendment that says Presidents can be removed if they are clearly insane?

I think there is something that can be invoked if the POTUS becomes incapable, ie has dementia.   Found these statements. LL

Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution: In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the Case of Removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

XXV Amendment, Section 4:
“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.”

Putin says US will have to shed 755 from diplomatic staff

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday the United States would have to cut its embassy and consulate staff in Russia by 755 under new sanctions from Moscow. Russian's Foreign Ministry on Friday ordered a reduction by Sept. 1 in the number of U.S. diplomats in Russia. It said it is ordering the U.S. Embassy to limit the number of embassy and consular employees in the country to 455 in response to the U.S. Senate's approval of a new package of sanctions.

"We had hoped that the situation will somehow change, but apparently if it changes, it won't be soon," Putin said in an interview televised on Rossiya 1, explaining why Moscow decided to retaliate. "I thought it was the time to show that we're not going to leave it without an answer."

Putin said more than 1,000 people are currently employed at the Moscow embassy and three U.S. consulates in Russia. They include both Americans and Russians hired to work in the diplomatic offices. Russia is open to cooperating with the U.S. on various issues including terrorism and cybercrime but instead it "only hears unfounded accusations of meddling in U.S. domestic affairs," the Russian leader said.

Asked about the potential for additional sanctions against Washington, Putin described the reduction in diplomatic staff as "painful" and said he currently opposes further measures. "We certainly have something to respond with and restrict those areas of joint cooperation that will be painful for the American side but I don't think we need to do it," he said, adding that such steps could also harm Russian interests.

Putin mentioned space and energy as the main areas where Russia and the United States have successfully pursued projects together. Along with the cap on the size of its diplomatic corps in Russia, the Russian foreign ministry on Friday said it also was closing down a U.S. recreational retreat on the outskirts of Moscow as well as warehouse facilities.

The diplomatic tit-for-tat started under former U.S. President Barack Obama. In response to reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and shut down two Russian recreational retreats in the U.S.

Trump's new chief of staff takes over a White House in chaos.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's new chief of staff is entering a West Wing battered by crisis.

Retired Gen. John Kelly, previously the Homeland Security secretary, takes over Monday from the ousted Reince Priebus. Trump hopes Kelly can bring some military order to an administration weighed down by a stalled legislative agenda, a cabal of infighting West Wing aides and a stack of investigations.

Still, Kelly's success in a chaotic White House will depend on how much authority he is granted and whether Trump's dueling aides will put aside their rivalries to work together. Also unclear is whether a new chief of staff will have any influence over the president's social media histrionics.

Former Trump campaign manager Cory Lewandowski, who was ousted from the campaign in June 2016, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he expected Kelly would "restore order to the staff" but also stressed that Trump was unlikely to change his style.

"I say you have to let Trump be Trump. That is what has made him successful over the last 30 years. That is what the American people voted for," Lewandowski said. "And anybody who thinks they're going to change Donald Trump doesn't know Donald Trump."

Kelly's start follows a tumultuous week, marked by a profane tirade from the new communications director, Trump's continued attacks on his attorney general and the failed effort by Senate Republicans to overhaul the nation's health care law.

In addition to strain in the West Wing and with Congress, Kelly starts his new job as tensions escalate with North Korea. The United States flew two supersonic bombers over the Korean Peninsula on Sunday in a show of force against North Korea, following the country's latest intercontinental ballistic missile test. The U.S. also said it conducted a successful test of a missile defense system located in Alaska.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that she hopes Kelly can "be effective," and "begin some very serious negotiation with the North and stop this program."

Another diplomatic fissure opened Sunday when Russian President Vladimir Putin said the U.S. would have to cut its embassy and consulate staff in Russia by several hundred under new sanctions from Moscow. In a television interview, Putin indicated the cutback was retaliation for new sanctions in a bill passed by Congress and sent to Trump.

Trump plans to sign the measure into law, the White House has said. After Putin's remarks, the State Department deemed the cutbacks "a regrettable and uncalled for act" and said officials would assess the impact and how to respond to it.

While Trump is trying to refresh his team, he signaled that he does not want to give up the fight on health care. On Twitter Sunday, he said: "Don't give up Republican Senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace."

The protracted health care fight has slowed Trump's other policy goals, including a tax overhaul and infrastructure investment. But Trump aides made clear that the president still wanted to see action on health care. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said on CNN's "State of the Union," that senators "need to stay, they need to work, they need to pass something."

Asked if nothing should be voted on in Congress until the Senate votes again on health care, Mulvaney said: "well, think — yes. And I think what you're seeing there is the president simply reflecting the mood of the people."

On Saturday, Trump threatened to end required payments to insurance companies unless lawmakers repeal and replace the Obama-era health care law. He tweeted that if "a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!"

The payments reduce deductibles and co-payments for consumers with modest incomes. Trump has guaranteed the payments through July, but has not made a commitment going forward.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said on "Fox News Sunday" that Trump would make a decision on the payments this week.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who opposed the efforts to move a health bill forward this week, said on CNN that cutting the payments would "be detrimental to some of the most vulnerable citizens" and that the threat has "contributed to the instability in the insurance market."

The House has begun a five-week recess, while the Senate is scheduled to work two more weeks before a summer break.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trumps-chief-staff-takes-over-white-house-chaos-071515588--politics.html

Bail outs for members of Congress? What does that mean? I thought that it was the poor who needed help.

Sabot wrote:
Bail outs for members of Congress?  What does that mean?  I thought that it was the poor who needed help.

Bonjour, ma petite! Who knows, the US is so far on the way to hell in a handbasket. 20 million will lose medical insurance etc, WW3 may start with N Korea, punchups up with Putin increasing and a madman is in charge. LL

Lamplighter wrote:

Sabot wrote:
Bail outs for members of Congress?  What does that mean?  I thought that it was the poor who needed help.

Bonjour, ma petite! Who knows, the US is so far on the way to hell in a handbasket. 20 million will lose medical insurance etc, WW3 may start with N Korea, punchups up with Putin increasing and a madman is in charge. LL

Bonjour, Lamplighter.

But that statement about Members of Congress comes from Obama's Health Care Plan. Trump is just going to put a stop to it.

Sabot wrote:

Lamplighter wrote:

Sabot wrote:
Bail outs for members of Congress?  What does that mean?  I thought that it was the poor who needed help.

Bonjour, ma petite!   Who knows, the US is so far on the way to hell in a handbasket.   20 million will lose medical insurance etc, WW3 may start with N Korea, punchups up with Putin increasing and a madman is in charge.     LL      

Bonjour, Lamplighter.
But that statement about Members of Congress comes from Obama's Health Care Plan.  Trump is just going to put a stop to it.

I am too hot and tired to care, to be truthful.    I haven't read Obama's Health Care Plan so can't voice an opinion.   Also, anything Trumper tweets I immediately take with a large pinch of salt. LL

Has anyone read Obama's Health Care Plan? Did it need changing? I've thought about looking it up, but I can't be bothered either.

Sabot wrote:
Has anyone read Obama's Health Care Plan?  Did it need changing?  I've thought about looking it up, but I can't be bothered either.

I feel very sorry for all the people who will, if Trumper has his way, have no access to health care.   We take it for granted in the UK, you get a deduction from your pay and that entitles you to turn up at a hospital or register with a doctor and all is paid for - except of course teeth and glasses!!   The cost in the US of medical insurance is prohibitive and well beyond many peoples' ablity to pay.    Trumper can afford the very  best insurance, someone living on the breadline in Detroit can't.    LL

Obamacare was thousands of pages long, Sabot, horribly complicated and with many flaws, but it did give less well off Americans access to healthcare for the first time. Insurance companies seem to rule the roost there, and they only care about profits.

Also, this horrible notion seems to have taken hold in the US that it's your own fault if you get ill or have an accident, because you're poor, or don't pray enough.

I find it astounding that the world's supposed superpower cannot even run a civilised healthcare system, like the rest of the developed world.

Scotland Is Blocking the Expansion of Donald Trump’s Golf Empire.

The country’s environmental authorities are putting the brakes on a lucrative new development.

Donald Trump likes to brag that his Scottish golf courses are the most beautiful and successful in the world, but while the magnificence of their surroundings is not in question, their profitability is very much in doubt. The two courses, Turnberry on the west coast of Scotland and Aberdeen on the North Sea, have together been losing millions of dollars per year. And that doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon: Scottish environmental authorities are now putting the brakes on a Trump Organization development that would make one of the president’s prized properties vastly more profitable.

Two Scottish government agencies—the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage, a conservation agency—say they will object to the Trump Organization’s plans to build a second 18-hole golf course at Aberdeen, known as the Trump International Golf Links. If they succeed in killing this expansion, it will be a major setback for Trump and raise doubts about the future profitability of the whole venture.

In 2008, when Trump announced plans to build the course, locals were welcoming but skeptical. Trump had purchased the property, an 1,800-acre estate overlooking the North Sea that is surrounded by towering (and environmentally sensitive) sand dunes, in 2006. The location is beautiful but relatively undeveloped. Many wondered whether he would really be able to attract enough golfers to justify the investment. But Trump made big promises: He would build two world-class golf courses, a luxury hotel with hundreds of rooms, and 1,450 homes on the property. In total, he said, he would invest more than $1.5 billion.

But the Trump Organization delayed its plans following the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, only restarting the expansion more recently. Currently, the resort has just one golf course, which is regarded as impressive and beautifully designed, but by many accounts it’s rarely busy. Instead of hundreds of hotel rooms and pricey homes for sale, there are only several dozen rooms for rent. Instead of thousands of jobs, just 150 permanent positions have been created.

And the course is a money-loser. While Trump listed the course as having $3.8 million in revenue on disclosure documents filed in the United States, corporate filings made in the United Kingdom by the Trump Organization show that the course actually lost $1.8 million in 2015, the most recent year that it reported earnings. Previous years have shown similar losses.

Industry experts say the value of many of Trump’s golf resorts is not in the daily management of the course itself but rather in the development and sale of housing. And according to the 2008 master plan that Trump convinced local planning officials to accept, he needs to build two courses before he is allowed to break ground on the profitable housing development.

Last year, before handing the reins of the company to his kids, Trump attempted to escape the earlier plan, with a pitch to build 850 homes and 1,900 timeshare units before building the second course—which the local planning board shot down, ordering him to stick to the original plan. The local authorities also made it clear that they wanted Trump to build hundreds of affordable housing units and a school, as well as pay for infrastructure improvement costs.

Though Trump has pointed to his Scottish courses as evidence of his international popularity, in reality he has generated a lot of bad blood in the country where his mother was born. Long before Trump ran for president, a move that was not popular in Scotland, he had already managed to alienate locals by feuding with his neighbors, whose land he aggressively tried to buy, and bickering with local planning authorities.

At one testy meeting, Trump was apparently startled by a local planning official who accused him of not researching the limits of the property before he bought it.

“You know, nobody has ever told me before I don’t know how to buy property,” he snarled. “You’re the first one. I have done very well buying property. Thanks for the advice.”

But with the Trump Organization back to trying to get the second golf course built, Scottish regulators are making the case that Trump apparently doesn’t fully understand the development limitations. According to the Guardian, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency is objecting to the Aberdeen expansion on the grounds that the Trump Organization’s plans for managing sewage are inadequate. Scottish Natural Heritage, meanwhile, says the company’s expansion plans don’t take into account the fragility of the nearby dunes and how they may affect the course as they shift—already a recurring problem on the first course, where greens are strafed by mini-sandstorms.

In 2012, Trump also clashed with Scottish authorities over construction of an offshore wind farm nearby, demanding that the project be canceled lest it ruin his course’s view. The wind farm got built, and Trump fumed.

“I have spent close to £100 million at this stage,” Trump said at the time. “I have millions more to put into that site, but I will not invest another penny if an industrial plant is built nearby.”

Faced with the prospect of getting stymied by the locals again, the Trump Organization may not even have the option of investing more in the property.

Thanks, Bonny. Not that it helps much in understanding.

Much as I am reluctant to keep on keeping on about The French Health Care System, which we all have to contribute to if we can afford it, it is in fact light years superior to Britain in treatment alone.
And if you can't afford to contribute then it is available anyway.