sho

Well this might be interesting.

It will, mainly because of Congress and Trump. From my understanding, there are government contracts that have to be renewed to keep insurance companies in it. All Trump has to do is not renew those, and insurance companies will start bailing. Some already are because of the uncertainty of the contracts being renewed. If will only "fail" if the administration stops funding the CSR payments and does not enforce the mandate. Specifically regarding CSRs, the uncertainty around their funding is causing insurers to double/triple their rates: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina said the company decided to more than double their requested premium increase due to the CSR uncertainty. The company has requested a 22.9% increase for the average premium in 2018, but said that if the CSR payments were guaranteed, that would only by 8.8%. "The latest news came earlier this week as the Trump Administration delayed a decision on whether to fight the House lawsuit," Brian Tajlili, the director of actuarial and pricing services for Blue Cross NC, wrote in a blog post on Thursday explaining the decision. "As a result, insurance companies can’t count on being paid for reducing cost-sharing for eligible ACA customers." Tajlili went on to tie the increase directly to the uncertainty surrounding the CSR payments, saying more clarity on the ACA's future from lawmakers could have driven the premium increases even lower. "In other words, with the right actions coming out of Washington to stabilize the market, the rate increase from Blue Cross NC would have been between 5% and 6%," Tajlili wrote. "That looks a lot different from the 22.9% we filed." Thank you! I was close. I knew it had something to do with government guarantees. Not guaranteeing them, all will ensure Obamacare will fail.

It will, mainly because of Congress and Trump. From my understanding, there are government contracts that have to be renewed to keep insurance companies in it. All Trump has to do is not renew those, and insurance companies will start bailing. Some already are because of the uncertainty of the contracts being renewed.

I can't find a good gif of it yet, but the 'handshake' between donnie and Mrs. Macron is awkward and he does the yanking of the hand thing as well with her. Here's the article, wish I could just post the gif. http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/13/politics/trump-brigitte-macron-handshake/index.html

I've heard good things about that one. I'll have to check it out. And if you like science talk Neil DeGrass Tyson's podcast is a great listen and brings in a lot of other experts in the field and really explain science in an entertaining way.

Looking for some good podcasts. What do you listen to and like? I listen to a lot of comedy and true crime podcasts. Favorites right now are 'You Made It Weird' 'Generation Why' 'Last Podcast on the Left'. Looking for more to fill the work day.

Just out of curiosity, what are the thoughts on Al Franken running? He knows and understands media and TV, and seems like he's a decent politician.

Is he actually replacing them? I thought there were dozens of open positions that he hasn't even nominated someone to fill the seat.

Look at all the transparency....

I didn't know where to put this, this seems as good as any. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-ericwedding-planner-lynne-patton-new-york-federal-housing-programme-a7792911.html

Also, does Trump only know people with Russian connections?

Quick question, at the end of his term, or before he is officially impeached (hopefully soon), can he pardon himself for all of his past transgressions he engaged in while as President and while running for president? If so, would that make him immune from prosecution post-presidency and from impeachment? I know this would turn him into a lame duck president, but could he do this and basically get away with it with only a hit to his image?

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/812190/donald-trump-paris-climate-deal-agreement-speech-germany-angela-merkel-emmanuel-macron Earth to Trump: F^&% You! Imagine what headlines would be like here if they could just go off with vulgarities like that...

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-mueller-idUSKCN18F2KK?il=0

Somehow we must have invented a time machine in the future. His twitter feed reads like future Donald Trump going into the past and tweeting to warn current President Trump of stupid things to not do and he does them anyway.

Did someone finally change the password to Trump's twitter? This long of a silence or distraction after what happened last night is more than a little surprising.

Anyone else find it odd that the law firm stating Trump had no income from Russia, with few exceptions, was also voted Russian law firm of the year?

So, what are the realistic odds that this Trumpcare ever sees the light of day? It's been a major dog fight to pass the House, where gerrymandering has reared it's ugly head and kept and added Rs to the House. That's not an issue in the Senate. While it's a major struggle to pass the House, it's going to be even harder to pass the Senate, isn't it? I mean, I get politics is a dirty dirty game, but really, this has no shot of ever being a legit law, does it?

What a great comment....

I understand the want for the impeachment of Trump, but I see Pence as just as scary. On one hand, I don't want Trump as President, on the other hand I'm scared of what Pence would do if he took that role. At least with Trump we all see he's a bumbling idiot that has no clue. Pence has a clue and is a scary scary person with some of his views on LGBT, immigration, etc.

Welp, life wasn't too long of a sentence for him.

People, maybe? We don't know the specifics, but Negan said "people are a valuable resource" after they settled on 10. That was my first thought too, it has to be people. In this world, the more people you have the stronger you can be. I'm guessing, now that they had the weapons from Rick, they made a deal for more people.

My favorite live song, is a cover as well. I just LOVE Chris Cornell covering Billie Jean. I don't know if it's accurate, but heard that was a special tribute to MJ on the day Chris heard about his passing.

I think we could see Season 8 as "War on the Run." I'm not sure how they can just sit at Alexandria or any of the camps... They are all aware how many people Negan has, so staying put, would be a poor choice. Can't wait for Rick to kill Negan. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow... Part of me hopes they never kill Negan. Not wanting Negan to win the war, and push Rick and his group away, but figuring a way for Rick to win and maybe incorporating Negan to be in their group somehow. Maybe he can be in Morgan's prison for a while with Dwight. I loved the season finale, love how the trash heapsters flipped on Rick. I'm curious as to where Gregory was in all of this when Maggie was leading the Hilltop to the war. And season 8 has the potential to be the best season yet. So much action with a war, so many deaths, then the walkers entering the fray somehow to, I can't wait for October now. At the end of the previous episode, Gregory tells his guard to ready a bag and they are taking a trip. He had the map to the Sanctuary that Simon gave him. This implies he is paying Simon a visit because he is worried Maggie is taking control of the Hilltop and Simon told him to come talk to him if such a situation arose. That's right, I forgot about his trip to the Sanctuary. I was really hoping he'd take a dirt nap in the finale and was upset I didn't see him all episode.