Work requirement for Medicaid

WaPo reports major changes to Medicaid with the work requirement, not that I am surprised by that. It is worth being informed.

Trump & Co Supposed donations to Charity

WaPo reported that the Trump camp made at least 3 big promises about charitable donations that have not come to pass. Should we be surprised??

Alert on Healthcare

The last thing I want is the GOP Healthcare bill to gain support from anywhere . Contact your representative by phone and register your disapproval if you are so inclined.

German elections

From Brookings about Martin Schultz, the Social Democrat running against Merkel. 

AI promoting massive communication?

Al Jazeera shared this op ed Artificial Intelligence will delete nationalism . I don't know what I think about this, if I agree or not, but it is thought provoking. 

Healthcare Pinocchios

WaPo Fact-checked the White House Spin on Healthcare provides a good analysis on the CBO and how the spin is generating.

The American Dream in Paradise Lost

The Atlantic's Edward Simon writes about The Enduring Relevance of Milton's Paradise Lost . Great, smart piece about Milton and the nature of evil, or rather its banality. We must constantly be aware of how selfishness makes us evil and how we contort justifications to excuse it.

Budget Implications - Again

I know - I have already posted about the budget but this is a big deal to me because it represents an America I don't recognize. All of these articles come from WaPo. First the White House endorses removing 30,000 FAA workers . Yes, 30k. How is that for increasing unemployment. Not to mention flying safety. I guess we can privatize and make air safety a for profit thing. Next is a real analysis of the Meals on Wheels program that makes the Mulvaney comments ludicrous. And lastely is a great satirical piece by Alexandra Petri on how Trump's Budget Makes Perfect Sense . I know that budgets are always about negotiating and much of this is typical Republican cut the spending but haven't we already been here? The Gilded Age and the 1920s (both of which seem to be periods Trump wants to emulate) were rejected by Americans because as a nation we valued people. I am not saying Social Security and the Great Society Programs don't have unintended consequences that need to be addressed, just that throwing out the baby with the bathwater is not a good idea.

Trump's Taxes - The 2005 release leaves us wanting more

Brookings analyzed what the Rachel Maddow 2005 Tax Return version of Al Capone's vault in What Trump's tax return tells us . Non partisan, but it does point out that we should be asking more questions, like "Why don't you want to pay your taxes Donald? Why do you want to get ride of the AMT?" His presidency is a con job to enrich himself and make the US play by rules he sets. Just saying.

The Orwellian Spicer Press Room on Wiretapping annotated

I love, love, love when WaPo Annotates stuff, in this case Spicer's press meeting over the wiretapping claim . Seriously - if this topic bothers you then you should read this. Not only do you get a better picture of the real story, but you also get an insight into how the Trump Administration deals with the free press.