Update no.834

Update from the Sunland

No.834

18.12.17 – 24.12.17

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

            To all,

            Happy Holidays to everyone.  May the New Year bring a prosperous peace to all of us.

            The follow-up news items:

-- Congress finally passed and the fellow in the Oval Office signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act [PL 115-097; HR.1; House: 224-201-0-7(3); Senate: 51-49; 131 Stat. xxxx] [831].  At the end of the day, we can only hope the Donald is correct, where Ronnie was not—trickle down economics will benefit us all.  So, the tax cut is what it is (I hesitate to use the term reform, since I do not see much reform, just a ‘uge tax cut for corporations).

            As I noted previously, my examination of the publicly available versions of the HR.1 bill were unsuccessful in discovering the wording of the alleged PPACA individual mandate repeal.  Well, you may be happy to know, the final version passed by both chambers of Congress clearly states what was done.  The relevant section is: Title I (no name); Subtitle A-Individual Tax Reform; Part VIII-Individual Mandate; § 11081-Elimination of Shared Responsibility Payment for Individuals Failing to Maintain Minimum Essential Coverage [131 Stat. xxxx].  This section simply zero’s the tax penalty imposed by the PPACA for those who failed to maintain adequate health insurance coverage.  To be specific and precise, § 11081 states in its entirety:

(a) In General—Section 5000A(c) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (2)(B)(iii), by striking “2.5 percent” and inserting “Zero percent”, and

(2) in paragraph (3)—

(A) by striking “$695” in subparagraph (A) and inserting “$0”, and

(B) by striking subparagraph (D).

(b) Effective Date—The amendments made by this section shall apply to months beginning after December 31, 2018.

That is it . . . in toto.

            Before I jump into my commentary, I must offer a related side note.  When I turned 65 years of age, I learned a very painful lesson the hard way regarding the individual mandate.  I was still working when I turned 65 years of age.  We had good company health insurance coverage plus my military health insurance, which gave us both exceptional medical and dental protection—at virtually no cost to us.  I happened to be undergoing radiation treatment for residual cancer (not inexpensive I must add) when I learned by rejected medical insurance payments that Medicare for citizens over 65 years of age is required by law regardless of what other insurance coverage you may have.  I mistakenly assumed I did not need Medicare, since we had plenty of medical coverage already in effect.  That mistake cost us several thousand dollars out of pocket.  Further, the key for reducing medical insurance cost for all of us is the inclusion of every citizen—old, young, healthy, ill . . . everyone.

            Then, while the fellow in the Oval Office was reveling in the effusive praise of his singular accomplishment, he proclaimed, “The individual mandate is being repealed.  When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is repealed.  Because they get their money from the individual mandate.  So the individual mandate is being repealed.  So in this bill, not only do we have massive tax cuts and tax reform, we have essentially repealed Obamacare and will come up with something that will be much better, whether it's block grants or whether it's taking what we have and doing something terrific.  But Obamacare has been repealed in this bill.  We didn't want to bring it up.  I told people specifically ‘be quiet with the fake news media’ because I don't want them talking too much about it.  Because I didn't know how people would - but now that it's approved, I can say the individual mandate on health care, where you had to pay not to have insurance, okay, think of that one.  You pay not to have insurance.  The individual mandate has been repealed.”

            Beyond the factual inaccuracies and outright falsehoods of his public statement, I see a far more sinister undercurrent that feeds the solidifying impression of him as emperor, or perhaps more properly Der Führer!  There were more than a few good German citizens who managed to look beyond reality 90 years ago, just as there are many good American citizens who choose to see what they wish to see and look beyond the factual reality before us all.  These are the times in which we live.  We must have faith this Grand Republic will survive this travesty and will become stronger for this annealing process.

-- Congress quickly scabbed on a “Further Additional Continuing Appropriation Act” to a previously passed House Bill (HR.1370) to extend current funding levels of the federal government through 19.January.2018, so they could recess for the holidays with a clear conscience.  The fellow in the Oval Office signed it into law on Friday before leaving himself for Southern Florida.

            On a related side note: I continue to be amazed and hugely disappointed that Congress has failed in its equal branch of government responsibility and allowed the Donald to get away with his blatantly thumbing his nose at We, the People.  If Mar-a-Lago was his residence, I would have no complaint; but, it is NOT!  It is a revenue-producing property that allows undisclosed people (domestic and foreign) at least casual access to the President.  The administration continues to refuse disclosure of who is staying at the property.  Further, he is making money from the government for housing his staff and support personnel.  It is things like this clear conflict of interest (real or perceived) that feeds the impression of his genuine belief in the divine right if kings . . . of which he sees himself as emperor.  It is just wrong!

-- The United Nations General Assembly voted [128-9-35(21)] in favor of Resolution AlES-10/L.22, effectively rebuking President Trump for recognizing the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and pledging to move the U.S. embassy there [538].  The United States voted against the resolution; there is no veto in the General Assembly, as there is in the Security Council.  The rejection of our “go it alone” defiant approach to international diplomacy did not compliment our position on the world stage.  Then, we had the disgusting “I’m taking my ball and bat home,” retributive conduct of the fellow in the Oval Office and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley that further tarnished our standing in the world community.

-- On Thursday, Catalan citizens voted for a new regional assembly.  Three Catalan separatist parties won 70 seats in the 135-seat regional assembly, a slight decrease from the last regional election in 2015, but still a majority.  The vote will sustain the region's independence movement [822, 824/6] and the constitutional crisis before the government of Spain.  Deep divisions within the secessionist movement about how to achieve independence suggest there is a very bumpy road ahead for the formation of a pro-independence government, leaving considerable uncertainty over how and when Spain's political crisis could be resolved.

-- The U.S. State Department confirmed the sale of Javelin antitank missiles to the government of Ukraine in support of their on-going defense effort against Russian-backed separatists [640, 657, 680, 771/2]  {For the record: I hesitate to dignify what has been going on in Eastern Ukraine since the Orange Revolution (21.2.2014) as a civil war; it was and still is an invasion by Russia.}  This action by the Trump administration will not sit well with his good-buddy Putin, but it should have been done a long time ago (by President Obama).  I hope these new weapons will assist the Ukrainians in their proper efforts to reassert control over their sovereign territory.

            Just an inconsequential side note: the fellow in the Oval Office truly loves to use adjectives like best, greatest, biggest and such, when they are clearly not true.  I understand that he is the consummate snake-oil salesman, but his persistent use of those adjectives for his self-aggrandizement defies history.  He either believes we are not smart enough to check the history, or he could care less what the history is.  I am not a doctoral history professor, but I am a sufficient student of history to know he is simply wrong.  For him, it is ONLY about me, me, me!  Further, more than a few good citizens see my criticism (and those of others) as just blind rejection of the man.  I simply state and pronounce: facts first!  Even though he thinks of himself as the omnipotent emperor of this Grand Republic (nay, truth be told, he sees himself as emperor of the world), the fact is he is just a deeply flawed man with a grotesquely over-inflated view of himself and his importance.  Full stop!  ‘Nuf said!

            Comments and contributions from Update no.833:

Comment to the Blog:

“Should the ‘tax reform’ bill pass, my initial concerns are more about the various non-tax provisions that will harm people and the environment. The first one that comes to mind is that it will allow drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Considering the current energy situation and the changing climate, that is strictly a gift to the oil companies.  Many other provisions lurk in that bill that are not taxation issues.

“Pardoning General Flynn would almost constitute an admission of guilt by Trump. Unfortunately, it would slow the process of proving that guilt.

“Various sources report the defeat of Roy Moore in Alabama as the result of high turnout by black voters, who very likely were aware of his actions and statements in his prior positions there.  I'm glad they defeated this sleazeball, but the Democrats still need to reach far more voters if they are to defeat Republicans more generally.  The position of being the ‘lesser evil’ has pretty much outlived its usefulness except in extreme cases like Moore, and the Democrats will have to take actions that will displease some of their corporate donors to draw independent voters.  Many of those independents have not voted in several years.

“In the current discussion of sexual harassment and assault, I suspect we disagree on the proportion of the accusations involving unwelcome touch, rather than merely words.  I was a secretarial science major who went into temporary work for many years.  In that situation, I became acquainted with many women in subordinate positions.  The bulk of them had experienced unwelcome touch at least a time or two.  Penetrative rape is probably another matter, but touch is common.

“Also, I'll note that incidents consisting of ‘only’ words have a more powerful impact if one fears for one's job or safety, and that is usually the case in work situations, where the aggressor typically has a higher rank.  In the case of a Harvey Weinstein, such events could lead to industry-wide UN-employability, even if all a target did was politely turn him down. I agree that caution is in order, but so is action.

“The discovery and study of extra-solar planets fascinates many of us.  Mathematical analyses have long offered strong odds in favor of other habitable (and even populated) planets existing.  The new evidence creeps ever closer to confirming that.  Our ever being able to travel such distances is currently impossible, but many ‘impossible’ things have occurred in the past couple of centuries.  Also, we have no idea whether other sentient creatures might have solved that problem.”

My response to the Blog:

            Re: tax bill.  I hesitate to use the term “reform” with this tax bill (HR.1) Congress finally passed and sent to POTUS.  It is a corporate tax cut . . . with some other stuff added on.  I believe our tax burden will change comparatively little, perhaps not even discernibly, and certainly nowhere even close to the size of the cut for corporations.  Also, I still have not found the provision eliminating the individual mandate of PPACA, although now POTUS has admitted it is there and he asked lawmakers not to talk about it—hiding it from We, the People.  Unfortunately, if the President is correct, health insurance bills will now undoubtedly increase more; it is simple mathematics.

            Re: pardon for Flynn.  I think it is quite apparent that the fellow in the Oval Office does not give a hoot in hell how guilty he appears.  I suspect he truly and genuinely believes that his public denials are sufficient to absolve him of any guilt.  Given the circumstances and facts as they exist today, a Flynn pardon (or associated others) or his version of the “Saturday Night Massacre” will virtually guarantee impeachment, if not removal from office.

            Re: Moore.  Agreed in toto.

            Re: touch.  I do not think we disagree.  There is a huge difference in felonious criminality between penetrative rape and unwanted touching.  I agree that unwanted touching is far more prevalent.  The difficulty, as with suggestive words, the unwanted portion is solely in the mind of the victim.  This will lead us to the lowest common denominator, as we have done with so many things, which can and I suspect will become just another form of oppression.  I urge caution.  I also urge us to find a means to encourage and protect those who feel they have been abused.  This might lead us back to the “social police” as a means to “build a picture” to help us identify and correct the behavior of abusers.  We simply cannot allow the abusers to remain in the shadows.  I do also agree on the potential injury of words versus physical action.  My caution remains.

            Re: space.  I will add, 100 years ago, humans walking on the moon was considered impossible.  Jules Verne imagined it (1865), but it took those intervening 100 years to actually send men to the moon and safely return them to Mother Earth.  I am one of those who believes hyper-light speeds or our ability to traverse vast space distances will be possible, simply because it is necessary.  “Others” may show us the way as suggested in Carl Sagan’s book “Contact.”

Another contribution:

“More ‘great’ USAF Museum stuff.  In the new building there is an area for space items.  There they do have a Titan missile - but that thing is so big it is laying on its side - not standing up.  And there is a Mercury capsule, a Gemini capsule, and an Apollo capsule.

“But reading all the info signs in front of the capsules, there's no mention of Alan Shepherd, of John Glenn, or even Neil Armstrong.  I guess being the first American in space, first to orbit, or walking on the moon does not count if you're not in the Air Force!!!???”

My reply:

            Dripping sarcasm noted.  LOL  We are agreed.

            I always find such parochialism disgusting in any form and any venue.  I will add the USAF Museum to that long list.  Such behavior is exactly why we have the political problems we do . . . politicians are far more loyal to their donors and their ‘party’ than they are to what is best for this Grand Republic and We, the People . . . Exhibit A—HR.1 (just passed by Congress).

            Just a distantly related FYI: It is nice to be an author and write about what is and what should be.  The main character of my To So Few series of historical novels is a consistent adversary of parochialism and uses his status from accomplishments to counter such parochialism.

            Just thought you might like to know my opinion, FWIW.

            My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                        :-)