i would like Rand Paul to define what he wants Health Insurance to be

He is great at saying what he is against, but then again Kentucky has expanded Medicaid and he says he wants to end ObamaCare and he is against High Risk Pools.  Does he want his voters to die?  Just what does he want those with pre-existing conditions to do if they are not rich?  Why doesn't some reporter ask him those questions?

"The Kentucky Republican, however, has been on a warpath in the GOP Conference lunches over the past week and Republicans do not believe he will vote with them.

In an interview this week, he charged that the House bill is bad enough because it keeps “90 percent” of Obamacare, said he opposes the creation of high-risk pools favored by many Republicans, and urged Republicans to abandon attempts to save the individual marketplace with an infusion of cash."

From Politico.

There can be no compromise with Unreasonableness

After answering some survey questions I was given the opportunity to make a comment.  This is what I said.

Your questions were a bit too black and white.  For example, while I believe Democrats and Republicans should compromise and produce solutions for problems, when the Republicans want to end environmental controls, do nothing about CO2 emissions, do not believe in the Social Safety net,  see no reason to provide for intelligent gun controls, do not produce a balanced budget when we are at full employment preferring to cut taxes for the high income people who do not need any financial help and do not respect all people regardless of whatever traits they have, I cannot vote for any Republican nor will I punish a Democrat for not compromising with them.  You cannot compromise with unreasonableness.

Trump Overload and The Rule of Law

There really is no link between the two, they are just the two topics I feel compelled to write about today.

I saw a short article somewhere this morning about how Trump so dominates the news cycle that one can not escape paying some attention to it and that is both exhausting and frustrating to those who think he is dangerous.  I am trying to pay less attention, but since I am a news junkie, I can only take that so far.

Then there is David Leonhardt's column this morning.  He highlights 5 ways in which King Donald is  trying to downgrade the Rule of Law which is what Monarch's do.  It is a worthwhile read and would be very scary if it were not for the Judicial system which is doing its job.  What is noteworthy is that most of the GOP is tolerating it and many are embracing it in state houses across RedState America. That is very sad and a call to protest in every way possible.

Link to column

Paris Accord and America

I am going to look for a silver lining here so as to perhaps calm any panic that this Trumpian Act of knowing what is best for America by withdrawing the USA from the Paris Accord may have caused my readers.

1st, remember this is only possible because President Obama couldn't get the 67 votes in the Senate to ratify the Paris Accord as a Treaty and the U.S. is still bound by an earlier Treaty.  So, if there is a different President in 4 years, they can presumably reinstitute the Paris Accord in the same manner.

2nd, remember that certain large states can have an outsized influence on how the U.S. actually performs in managing certain issues that will effect how we reduce greenhouse gases.  California, New York and like minded states can issue regulations that force cars throughout the U.S. to use fuel more efficiently.  They also consume a lot of electricity.  So anything they do to encourage renewable energy can assist the U.S. in reducing green house gases.

3rd, coal is not coming back in any large way.  No electricity company is building coal plants.  They are building gas plants because natural gas has a big cost advantage over coal and consumer demand for renewable energy is encouraging expansion of such facilities.  I am for example, by contract, only consuming wind generated electricity.  I don't know how, with a grid composed of nuclear, gas, coal, hydro, wind and solar, they can know that I get only wind, but I suspect since electricity is a commingled energy, that I am paying for wind and then that cost gets subtracted out of the costs everybody else pays.  In effect, I am guaranteeing the wind company my revenue.

4th, the West Coast and the NorthEast (absent Maine & NH), as well as the Democratic minority in every other state, are in open revolt.  We support doing anything within the circle of legality to oppose everything in the Trump Agenda and we will encourage our states to do the right thing where they can get something done in the State government.

But meanwhile, there is absolutely nothing Donald Trump does that makes me anything other than depressed and angry at his supporters.  But we need some of those supporters to switch sides, so we have to respect their opinions no matter how difficult that is and try to convince them with hard examples that Trump is not managing the country to benefit them.

Existential Experience Today Reminds Me

that the world should be focused on family, fun, friends, society and then politics.

But that is why things are so f**ked up today.

In my youth, I read a lot of Herman Hesse.  I think I should revisit those books soon, but I will have to find them.  One of my favorites invoked the theory that music drives our lives and provides solace.

Tonight I was reminded how Pink Floyd is such a driver of happiness in my soul.  The Band resides there as well, as does the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers.  In later times, Dire Straits, and many Punk Rock bands did as well.

The really horrible thing about the GOP domination of our political process is that it gets inside our brains and forces to abandon the life we love to fight that domination in any way our little individual self can.

To quote my son's Alama Mater:  "Fight On"

Ross Douthat Points Out Trump is Betraying His Core Supporters

He believes it is because Trump does not like conflict and avoids political fights.  I think Trump's style of management by creating different circles of power and a level of chaos is compelling the Rule of Law to enforce itself.   Trump's populist desires require changes in law that the Congress rightfully debates until they find a compromise position that can obtain a sufficient number of votes.
That is where the populist desires run into common sense and a desire to preserve the status quo.

Douthat column

The Wall Street Journal Comes Close to a Call for Impeachment

From the Washington Post

"Any GOP leader losing the support of the semi-official organ of Republican conservatism should know that his partisans are headed to the exits."

link to WSJ editorial