My observations on the news of the day.
IT SEEMS NOTHING TRUMP DOES IS POSITIVE – President Trump’s decision to ask for Reince Priebus’ resignation and naming John Kelly to fill his position as chief of staff caught the swamp resistance off guard, but it didn’t take them long to come up with something negative. Have you heard? Since Kelly is a 45-year military man, they’re saying that the president is militarizing the White House.
If you missed Jenine Pirro’s opening monologue on the subject last night on Fox News Channel, click here to see it.
But not so fast, anti-Trumpers, retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMasters, National Security Advisor, may be on his way out, if rumors of his being isolated by the president are true. Could John Bolton finally find a spot in the administration?
OUR WEALTHY PRESIDENT donated his second quarter paycheck to the Department of Education’s STEM program. His first quarter pay went to the National Parks System.
THOSE CONFOUNDED CBO NUMBERS ON OBAMACARE – During the back and forth on ObamaCare, its repeal and replacement, we have heard that 20-some million people would lose their health insurance if the GOP was successful. “Wow, that sounds like a big, bad deal and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO said it, so it must be true,“ writes Mary Katharine Ham in The Federalist.
The number the CBO uses for how many are covered by ObamaCare includes five to seven million who were never covered and not covered now, and cannot therefore lose insurance as a result of the repeal and replacement. It’s why the CBO estimates have always drastically overstated how well the individual mandate would increase coverage, according to Ham.
When you hear that 22-24 million would “lose” coverage or have it “taken away,” as the media reports, those individuals are simply people who would be willing to forgo coverage if not forced to buy it by the government.
HERE’S A TRANSGENDER FOLLOW UP to my post of July 27, in which I quoted from Walt Heyer’s piece in The Federalist, “Why Trump Keeping Trans People from the Military is a Good Decision.” Researching what the RAND Corporation learned from its study for the Pentagon, it’s apparent that they don’t really know how many transgender troops are currently on active duty. Between 1,320 and 6,630 is an unrealistic spread. Further, RAND estimates that between 30 and 140 would seek hormone treatment, and that 29 to 130 would seek gender reassignment surgery.
RAND’s estimated expense to the Pentagon is also far from convincing, stating that it would be between $2.4 and $8.4 million a year. “This is not the best use of government (taxpayer) money, because soldiers undergoing treatment will be unqualified for deployment for extended period of time,” states Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. He also pointed out that the military is spending a great deal on transgender education, funds that could be better used to better equip soldiers to fight wars.
Gender reassignment surgeries require 21 days of medical leave time and up to 90 days medical disability. Male to female genital surgery, which requires the longest recovery, results in the soldier being undeployable for 135 days. Some could suffer complications that would render them unfit for duty. I heard an unidentified person on the news today say that reassignment surgery has removed a soldier for 238 days. Will this require a straight soldier to take the transgender soldier’s assignment in Afghanistan?
Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz has a lot of FBI questions to answer regarding her financial dealings with a Pakistani family. (andrewburton/gettyimages)
AND A FOLLOW-UP ON DEBBIE Wasserman Schultz, and her dealings with a Pakistani IT guy and his family, reported in my July 24, blog piece. The latest findings are so convoluted that I couldn’t begin to summarize it for you in the limited space I have. Andrew McCarthy wrote a fascinating, detailed piece for National Review that you can read by clicking here. If you’re interested in a Democrat scandal, it’s recommended reading. So far, CNN and MSNBC have failed to cover the story. They seem to prefer fake news.
MSNBC TRYING TO HIDE THE MIKA AND JOE RELATIONSHIP – Why? THE WEEK magazine reports that their romance is wearing on their staff. Since becoming engaged in the South of France in May, the pair have made numerous trips to Nantucket, MA. Last week, while the pair was in London, MSNBC made it appear that Mika was in the UK, while Joe was in Manhattan, when in fact they were just a few yards apart in the same London studio. The couple’s frequent trips have created logistical headaches for staffers. “It’s very difficult working on a show where the two are in a relationship,” an insider blabbed.
I wouldn’t have thought that MSNBC, or the dippy duo of Morning Joke, were trying to be politically correct.
