Friday Open Thread | Christmas Jams 2017

All I Want for Christmas Is You is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her fourth studio album, Merry Christmas. It was released as the lead single from the album on November 1, 1994 by Columbia Records. The song was written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, the latter co-arranging and producing the song as well. As an up-tempo love song, it also incorporates pop music and traditional beats. The song’s lyrics describe an event in which the protagonist declares that she does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to be with her lover.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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94 Responses to Friday Open Thread | Christmas Jams 2017

  1. Liza says:

    Well, I just called my Republican senators, again. Except this time I was really mad.

  2. Liza says:

    The absolute recklessness is beyond comprehension.

    https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/936681768987582466

  3. rikyrah says:

    99/ This, then, is the key *political*—rather than legal—debate of our moment and perhaps our time: conservatives trying to squeeze as much political value as possible out of a presidency that will end in not just disgrace but public acceptance as the worst America has ever seen.

    — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) December 1, 2017

  4. rikyrah says:

    Senate Republicans just voted down my amendment to make the modest middle-class tax cuts permanent, instead of a tax increase in a few years. Proof that this GOP tax bill was never about helping the middle class.

    — Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) December 1, 2017

  5. rikyrah says:

    This is so bad. We have just gotten list of amendments to be included in bill NOT from our R colleagues, but from lobbyists downtown. None of us have seen this list, but lobbyists have it. Need I say more? Disgusting. And we probably will not even be given time to read them. pic.twitter.com/Mn0i56JeZg

    — Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) December 1, 2017

  6. rikyrah says:

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA H HA

    jl says:
    December 1, 2017 at 2:59 pm
    There is a S-load and many tons of evidence that Flynn is cold stone 1000 percent guilty of some major crimes. And not just lying and misreporting stuff. He influenced a major national security decision will under pay to an interested foreign party. Mueller allowed him to plead guilty of lying to the FBI. Flynn must have quite a story to tell. Moby Dick level epic story.

    I wonder who the white whale and Captain Ahab are. Might be the same in his version.

  7. rikyrah says:

    John Harwood‏ @JohnJHarwood

    1/24: Flynn lies to FBI about interactions w/Russian govt
    1/26: Yates warns WH Flynn compromised
    1/27: Trump asks Comey for loyalty
    1/30: Trump fires Yates
    2/13: Flynn resigns after WashPost reports Yates warned of blackmail risk
    2/14: Trump asks Comey to drop Flynn probe

    163 replies 3,783 retweets 6,620 likes

  8. rikyrah says:

    From BJ:

    Question is…who are all these people that Flynn just snitched on?

    David Anderson says:
    December 1, 2017 at 2:29 pm
    I am not a lawyer, but reading the 6 page statement of the offense (https://www.justice.gov/file/1015126/download) something seemed interesting to me:
    3-c: “FLYNN called a senior official of the Presidential Transition Team (PTT)….”

    3-H: “FLYNN spoke with senior memberS ….”

    4-B: “a very senior member of the PTT directed FLYNN….”

    If I am reading this right, there are three separate people/groups of people where 3-C may be a subset of 3-H and 4-B may also be a subset of 3-H…. but there is a lot of people talking and knowing what is going on here.

    Jared is 4-B, so who is 3-C and 3-H?

  9. Liza says:

    Check this out. Dogs can be so awesome…

    https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/934296962437746688

  10. rikyrah says:

    The usual Trump World tactic won’t work with Michael Flynn
    12/01/17 12:48 PM—UPDATED 12/01/17 01:14 PM
    By Steve Benen

    Whenever the Trump-Russia scandal ensnares another member of Team Trump, the president’s team has a standard tactic it relies on instinctively: pretend not to know the guy in trouble.

    ……………………………

    After hours of radio silence following the news that former National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn had pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI about his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, White House lawyer Ty Cobb finally issued a statement downplaying Flynn’s role in the White House and calling him “a former Obama administration official.”

    Cobb also described Flynn as someone who worked with the president for just “25 days.”

    Let’s make this plain: there’s no such thing as a low-level White House National Security Advisor.

    Donald Trump considered Michael Flynn as his running mate. Trump repeatedly and publicly praised Flynn last year. Trump put Flynn in a position to guide the White House’s policy on matters related to national security.

    Trying to characterize Flynn as a peripheral figure, far from the president’s orbit, may be the fist play in the Trump World playbook, but in this case, it’s plainly ridiculous.

  11. rikyrah says:

    Michael Flynn’s plea agreement: https://t.co/TKsi4HYC3s
    “your client’s cooperation may include…answering questions; providing sworn written statements; taking government-administered polygraph examination(s); and participating in covert law enforcement activities.” pic.twitter.com/Zsm8dOP71P

    — erica orden (@eorden) December 1, 2017

    Does this mean he was WEARING A WIRE IN TALKING WITH DOLT45?

  12. Ametia says:

    Where’s tiny hands #45? Is he waiting for the GOP vote on that tax scam bill, before he throws out the next shiny object in 140 characters?

  13. rikyrah says:

    LOL

    Michael Flynn, the architect of “lock her up”, is now a convicted criminal and Bob Mueller’s bitch. pic.twitter.com/Wj31OEY7Dj

    — BWD 🤢 (@IrisRimon) December 1, 2017

  14. rikyrah says:

    “Among the transition officials who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago [12/29] were Stephen Miller, K.T. McFarland, Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon, and Reince Priebus, a Trump spokesman said at the time.” https://t.co/MQKQH3pQnT

    — Laura Rozen (@lrozen) December 1, 2017

  15. rikyrah says:

    Are Trump’s hands shaking too much to tweet today?

    — Lawrence O’Donnell (@Lawrence) December 1, 2017

  16. rikyrah says:

    Dear Jared,

    Do you hear the bus? It’s coming for you.

    Bloomberg reporting that Kushner is the the one who ordered Flynn to contact Russia:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-01/kushner-is-said-to-have-ordered-flynn-to-contact-russia

  17. rikyrah says:

    What Does Flynn Plea Deal Mean?

    By Kate Brannen, Asha Rangappa and Alex Whiting
    Friday, December 1, 2017 at 10:56 AM

    ……………………..

    Based on the plea document, we now know that on the same day (Dec. 29) that the Obama administration announced new sanctions against Russia and kicked out 35 Russian officials in response to Russian hacking, Flynn got on the phone with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and asked him not to escalate the situation. The White House repeatedly denied that this is what Flynn discussed with Kislyak.

    We also know that on Dec. 22, Flynn spoke with Kislyak about a pending UN Security Resolution on Israeli settlements. He told the FBI that he did not ask the Russian ambassador to delay or defeat the vote on it, but we now know this was not true. The Obama administration resisted pressure by the Israeli government and abstained from the vote, allowing the resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction to be adopted. Trump tweeted his disapproval on Dec. 23.

    Asha Rangappa, a former Special Agent in the New York office of the FBI, and Alex Whiting, a former U.S. federal prosecutor, agree that today’s news of Flynn’s guilty plea indicates Flynn’s cooperation and that he has enough information with which he can strike a bargain with Mueller. I spoke to them both quickly over email to make sense of it all.
    “Most striking thing is that he is pleading to just one count of lying when evidence of so many other alleged crimes has been swirling around and some of these other crimes appear to be well-documented,” Alex said.

    Normal practice in a guilty plea with cooperation is to reward on sentencing, not when you announce charges, and to have the defendant plead to all criminal conduct, so this is somewhat unusual, Alex said. “The reason for this is accountability and also credibility. A cooperating witness who has taken responsibility for all conduct will be a more credible witness.”

    https://www.justsecurity.org/47552/flynn-plea-deal-mean/

  18. rikyrah says:

    6/ Deals like this are offered *only* when a witness can incriminate someone “higher up the food-chain” than them. In the case of the nation’s former National Security Advisor, the *only* people above him in the executive-branch hierarchy are the President and the Vice President.

    — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) December 1, 2017

  19. rikyrah says:

    Thanks to John Oliver of Last Week Tonight for creating the domain shortcut to make your voice heard by FCC on net neutrality.

    Go to: https://t.co/0eYs0wdNq1

    Goes straight to the comment form.

    I just did. Doubtless my best use of 2 minutes of this day.

    — Ignatius J. Reilly (@jaguar06_rick) November 24, 2017

  20. rikyrah says:

    It keeps getting worse. Johnson is reportedly trying to negotiate his and Trump’s tax rate down from 30.8% to 28.9% (by expanding the deduction from 20% to 25%).

    That would be another $22,000 annual tax cut for Johnson & another $3 million for Trump. (again, this is rough)

    14/

    — Seth Hanlon (@SethHanlon) November 30, 2017

  21. rikyrah says:

    In case you were wondering what’s next:

    Rep. Jeb Hensarling is very clear in this interview with @kevcirilli … if tax cuts don’t pay for themselves, the next step is spending cuts, including “entitlement reform.”https://t.co/DfYEsUHbJE

    — Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) December 1, 2017

  22. Liza says:

    OMG, this is too funny. If it were not for the tax bill, I would be having such a good day.

    https://twitter.com/thehill/status/936640835784970240

    • Ametia says:

      GTFOH all the way OUTTA HERE. Obama & Sally warned the orange POS #45 to stay away from Flynn.

      You own him, MOFOS.

      • Liza says:

        All Trump can do is lie. He will set a world record for lies told by one person. No one will even come close.

        The corruption is glaring.

  23. rikyrah says:

    From Silverman at BJ:

    Adam L Silverman says:
    December 1, 2017 at 12:18 pm
    The President, the Vice President, Kushner – who has been publicly outed as providing material on Flynn to Mueller in separate reporting, AG Sessions are all in very serious jeopardy given Flynn’s agreement to cooperate. But it goes beyond that. Kushner agreed to meet with Mueller’s team and answer questions about Flynn. This is separate from whatever jeopardy Kushner might have from the rest of Mueller’s inquiries. So who else did Kushner agree to talk about? The President? The VP? AG Sessions? Bannon? The Mercers? Nunes?

    What this morning’s announcements and revelations indicate is that none of these people can trust each other. Flynn is now cooperating fully. Kushner provided information on Flynn. This is going to quickly move those in jeopardy to panic as no one is going to be able to be sure the others hasn’t already ratted them out or is preparing to do so to try to save themselves.

    One final item: a great deal of what Flynn was accused of doing, including what he agreed to cop to in his plea deal this morning, took place in Trump Tower as part of the transition activities in NY. Part of the pressure that Mueller is able to bring against these folks is that because they refused to do anything according to custom, including setting up a proper transition office and process in DC so they could properly coordinate with the outgoing administration, they did a large amount of transition activities in NY. Because that’s where the President-elect was. So Mueller is able to make it very clear that even if the President were to pardon any of these folks for whatever Federal charges he may bring and convictions he might get, AG Schneiderman can go after them and the President can’t do a damn thing about it. Moreover, it was reported this week that the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and the Attorney General for Maryland were each granted jurisdiction to look into state level issues pertaining to some of these folks. This did not happen by accident. And it provides Mueller with additional leverage.

  24. rikyrah says:

    Day just keeps on getting better

    #BREAKING the government wants Martin Shkreli to hand over the Wu Tang album in forfeiture (!!!) pic.twitter.com/bOzWjlLeOx— David Mack (@davidmackau) December 1, 2017

  25. Ametia says:

    My TED Talk is Live on TED.com! Awesomely LuvvLetter Issue #39

    GET COMFORTABLE WITH BEING COMFORTABLE

    https://www.ted.com/talks/luvvie_ajayi_get_comfortable_with_being_uncomfortable

  26. rikyrah says:

    Mrs. Flynn told that muthaphucka that HER SON wasn’t going to jail for Dolt45, so his azz better start singing arias to Bobby Three Sticks.

    BWA HA HA HA HA H HA HA HA HA HA

    • Liza says:

      You betcha. You know this is about sonny boy. If it were just about the old man she’d probably be okay with it.

  27. rikyrah says:

    “AS A CANDIDATE” https://t.co/dIERfYD7uz

    — Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 1, 2017

    Just now: @BrianRoss on @ABC News Special Report: Flynn promised full cooperation to the Mueller team and is prepared to testify that candidate Trump “directed him to make contact with the Russians.” https://t.co/E0tA37GOo0 pic.twitter.com/PmNEO7eekt

    — Dan Linden (@DanLinden) December 1, 2017

  28. rikyrah says:

    Someone pointed this out at another blog about Flynn:

    Exactly right. It’s ONE CHARGE. He plead down to one charge. Imagine what he must have given Mueller to get that….

    Oh, the arias…….

    BWA HAHA HA HA H AH HA HAH A

  29. Ametia says:

    KARMA’S a BITCH ain’t it Laurer?

  30. rikyrah says:

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAH A\\\Sources with direct knowledge tell ABC News the President & his legal team learned about the Flynn plea via news reports this morning.

    — Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) December 1, 2017

  31. rikyrah says:

    Flynn is the fourth member of Trump’s campaign to be charged with a crime. He’s the first who led a “lock her up” chant at the Republican convention.— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 1, 2017

  32. rikyrah says:

    The General Information on how to call and text Congress:

    Republicans are having a hard time coalescing around a version of their “tax reform” abomination. They all know it’s a terrible bill that privileges donors over citizens, but the immorality of that isn’t the snag. They’re trying to hit on a palatable balance between deficit hypocrisy and donor service.

    Odds are they will succeed — they’re amoral pricks, after all. But massive push-back has stymied their evil plans before. Make your voice heard to try to stop this steaming pile of shit bill:

    U.S.Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

    I’ve generally had better luck reaching a person by calling my senators’ local offices. You can find your senators’ in-state contact information here. Email and fax them too!

    If you prefer text, here’s an option:

    Text “RESIST” to 50409

    Resistbot will walk you through the steps of sending a message to your senator. They will ask for your address and email. I gave them mine quite some time ago and haven’t been bombarded with spam (any more than usual, anyway).

  33. Liza says:

    Satire from The Borowitz Report
    Kim Jong Un Fears That G.O.P. Tax Bill Makes His Plan to Destroy U.S. Redundant

    By Andy Borowitz10:55 A.M.

    PYONGYANG (The Borowitz Report)—Kim Jong Un is concerned that his long-standing plan to destroy the United States has been made totally irrelevant by the Republican tax bill moving through the Senate, a source close to the North Korean dictator said on Friday.

    The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Kim fears that his scheme to turn the United States into an uninhabitable hellhole has been to a large extent upstaged by a similar proposal from congressional Republicans.

    “You have to understand, destroying America is something that Kim and his family have been plotting for decades,” the source said. “To see the Republicans swoop in at the last second and basically steal that idea—it’s got to hurt.”

    According to the source, Kim has been watching C-span non-stop, praying that the Republicans’ plan to end life as Americans know it might come undone at the last moment, but he is “not getting his hopes up.”

    “After having such a wonderful missile test, he should be on top of the world this week,” the source said. “Instead, he’s afraid that all his hard work has been for nothing. He now understands why so many Americans despise the Republicans.”

    https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/kim-jong-un-fears-that-gop-tax-bill-makes-his-plan-to-destroy-us-redundant

  34. rikyrah says:

    Trump faces new obstruction allegations in Russia scandal
    12/01/17 08:00 AM
    By Steve Benen

    For months, the nation has faced the very real possibility that Donald Trump obstructed justice in the federal investigation into the Russia scandal. Indeed, Special Counsel Robert Mueller already appears to be examining allegations that the president allegedly pressured the director of the FBI in the matter, and then fired him in order to help derail the probe.
    But as Rachel explained on last night’s show, those allegations grew louder with this New York Times report.

    President Trump over the summer repeatedly urged senior Senate Republicans, including the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to end the panel’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, according to a half dozen lawmakers and aides. Mr. Trump’s requests were a highly unusual intervention from a president into a legislative inquiry involving his family and close aides.

    Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, the intelligence committee chairman, said in an interview this week that Mr. Trump told him that he was eager to see an investigation that has overshadowed much of the first year of his presidency come to an end. […]

    In addition, according to lawmakers and aides, Mr. Trump told Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, and Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri and a member of the intelligence committee, to end the investigation swiftly.

  35. rikyrah says:

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 11/30/17
    Trump obstruction eyed in Sessions avoidance of pressure question
    Rep. Jim Himes of the House Intelligence Committee, talks with Rachel Maddow about new Trump obstruction questions after Jeff Sessions refused to tell Rep. Schiff in testimony before the committee whether Donald Trump pushed him to hinder the Russia investigation.

  36. rikyrah says:

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 11/30/17
    Treasury Secretary Mnuchin fails to deliver promised tax report
    Rachel Maddow shows Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s repeated claims that he had a hundred experts working on an assessment of the Republican tax bill, only to deliver nothing in time for the vote because reportedly there is nothing to deliver, no report was done.

  37. rikyrah says:

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 11/30/17
    Wray surprises with mention of ‘foreign influence’ task force
    Rachel Maddow reports on the latest developments in the investigation into Russia’s attack on the 2016 U.S. election, including FBI Director Wray announcing a previously unheard of task force to counter foreign influence in elections.

  38. rikyrah says:

    Remember: This is the conversation about which Michael Flynn also supposedly lied to Vice President Mike Pence, which was then used as justification to fire Flynn. This could be Mueller’s in-road to Pence. https://t.co/vTosOmHCSe

    — Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 1, 2017

  39. rikyrah says:

    Pence is in trouble. 🙂 https://t.co/QIGGAGig0m

    — Richard Brown (@Richard___Brown) December 1, 2017

    I’ve told you…Race Bannon is up to his eyeballs in the Pence mess.

  40. rikyrah says:

    Special Counsel Mueller takes lying and obstruction very seriously. Very.

    — Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) December 1, 2017

  41. rikyrah says:

    BREAKING: Word is the tax bill is facing major obstacles this morning. Votes may be lost.

    Pour it on.

    Will tweet in a bit if interested.

    — Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) December 1, 2017

  42. rikyrah says:

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 11/30/17
    Trump pushed top GOP senators to end Russia probe: NYT
    Joyce Vance, former U.S. attorney, talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump’s potential legal jeopardy for obstruction of justice in light of new breaking news from the New York Times that Trump pressured senators over the summer to end the probe.

  43. rikyrah says:

    Hear me out

    UNSC 2334…

    This was the one where Obama abstained and people went crazy. Trump was pissed. Russia voted for it.

    So looks like Trump told Flynn to tell Russia to do this. Which would be beautiful https://t.co/mknEXRNnh0

    — Morgan Carlston (@MorganCarlston) December 1, 2017

  44. rikyrah says:

    Breaking — Special Counsel Robert Mueller has charged former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn with “willfully and knowingly” making “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to the FBI regarding conversations with Russia’s ambassador.

    — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 1, 2017

    FLASH: MICHAEL FLYNN TO PLEAD GUILTY TODAY IN MUELLER CASE, OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL SAYS.

    — Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) December 1, 2017

  45. rikyrah says:

    The NYT Reports last night of calls Dolt45 made to several Senators, including Burr – head of the Intelligence Committee- to get the Russia investigation ended. When the calls to Burr didn’t close it, he began calling other Senators to get them to call.

    Now, others have pointed out what would have happened if 44 had called Senators to ask to STOP the investigation.

    Last night, it was pointed out the Curve for Unqualified White Men Excuse:

    A “newcomer unfamiliar with appropriate conduct” is how GOP leaders describe Trump’s attempts to obstruct justice last summer. Do you know how many black/brown men, and how many poor people, have not been afforded that excuse for similar conduct?

    But, now that they are near the end to getting those tax cuts?
    They are greasing the skids to rid themselves of Dolt45. Someone had to tell the papers about the phone calls. They are adding to his obstruction charges. Don’t think that it’s a coincidence that this is revealed during the time of their GOP TAX SCAM. I think not.

    I’ve said it for awhile…
    He was too phucking stupid to realize just how much the GOP Congress WAS covering for him.
    And, when they decided to STOP covering for him, things would get ugly AND FAST.

    Someone at BJ pointed out:
    They all let their names go on the record, which for Washington is like shooting at somebody. This indicates to me that they are signaling both to Trump and Mueller that “we will have no part of obstruction of justice so to protect ourselves we’ll repeat everything the President says to us one-on-one. No indictments, please!”

  46. rikyrah says:

    It’s on an poppin’ now!!!!

    Awe Sookey Sookey Now….

    Go Bobby Three Sticks!

  47. rikyrah says:

    From Twitter: “BREAKING FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL: The court has scheduled a plea hearing for Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn (Ret.), 58, of Alexandria, Va., at 10:30 a.m.”

  48. Breaking News: Michael Flynn to plead guilty for making false statements to the FBI.

    • Liza says:

      Rubio: Offset Tax Cuts By Reducing Social Security, Medicare Benefits

      NOVEMBER 29, 2017 • TRACEY LONGO

      Tax reform is only one piece of the overall puzzle needed to revitalize the American economy, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told a group of Washington, D.C., lobbyists and policy analysts this morning at a Politico Playbook Interview sponsored by the Financial Services Roundtable. The other part? Reduce the deficit and offset the cost of the reform, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates at $1.3 trillion.

      “I analyze this very differently than most,” Rubio told the crowd. “Many argue that you can’t cut taxes because it will drive up the deficit. But we have to do two things. We have to generate economic growth which generates revenue, while reducing spending. That will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future,” the senator said.

      If lawmakers can act strategically sooner rather than later to come up with some combination of reforms to reduce benefits and raise retirement age, the pain of change and reduced benefits will be greatly mitigated, said the lawmaker who ran for president in 2016 and is once again sounding presidential.

      “We don’t need to reduce benefits on current retirees or even near-term retirees, but we can make changes for future generations such as mine, and do so in a way that people can prepare for, so the changes will barely be felt,” Rubio said.

      https://www.fa-mag.com/news/rubio–offset-tax-cuts-by-reducing-social-security–medicare-benefits-35928.html

    • Liza says:

      Here’s how they can start gutting Medicare

      Senate Tax Bill Would Trigger Medicare Cuts
      by Dena Bunis, AARP, November 28, 2017

      If you read through the umpteen pages of the Senate tax bill, you won’t find a clause that says it dramatically cuts Medicare spending. But the effect of the legislation being debated this week would be to slash up to $25 billion from the health program in 2018 and possibly more in the future.

      That’s because the tax measure would prompt the “pay-as-you-go” law, commonly referred to as PAYGO. The law was designed to keep the deficit in check by requiring the administration to institute spending cuts in many mandatory federal programs if Congress passes any measure that increases the deficit but doesn’t include offsetting revenues.

      The Senate tax proposal would add $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years. Under PAYGO, if this bill were to become law, the government would have to lop off $150 billion in spending every year for 10 years.

      Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps and other social safety net programs are exempt from the PAYGO law, which went into effect in 2010. But Medicare and other programs — such as federal student loans, agricultural subsidies and the operations of the Customs and Border Patrol — are not exempt.

      The law caps how much the government can trim from Medicare at 4 percent. That’s $25 billion the first year…

      The $25 billion reduction would affect the payments that doctors, hospitals and other health care providers receive for treating Medicare patients. Individual benefits would not change and neither would premiums, deductibles or copays. But with so much less money going to providers, the cuts could have major impacts on patient access to health care — such as fewer physicians accepting Medicare patients.

      Congress has the authority to waive the PAYGO law and forestall such cuts. But it is not yet clear whether lawmakers would do so. And waiving the rules would simply cause higher deficits in later years.

      https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-2017/senate-tax-medicare-cuts-fd.html

    • Liza says:

      When I say we need more reporting, I am referring to MSM, like MSNBC and CNN. They are talking about sexual harassment while the social safety net is on the block to be decimated, directly and indirectly.

      • Ametia says:

        Yes, and remember #45, the pussy-grabbing POS got elected to the highest office in the land, and the MSM moved on from it with a quickness.

      • Liza says:

        And they still won’t talk about Trump’s sexual predatory problem, just everyone else’s especially Democrats and liberals.

  49. vitaminlover says:

    Good morning, ladies!

  50. rikyrah says:

    It’s that time of the year. SG2 spoils us with the best Christmas music 😄😄😄

  51. rikyrah says:

    Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄

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