The Banter Brief: Trump Commits Political Suicide By Attempting Obamacare Repeal
Another brilliant move by the Commander In Chief, just before the election in November.
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1. Most Important Story Of The Week
Trump Tries To Gut Obamacare
During one of the worst pandemics in modern history, terrifying job losses and the threat of a global depression, one would assume the president might want to hold off on kicking millions of people off of their health insurance. But not president Trump who decided this week to demand the Supreme Court repeal the Affordable Care Act. From NYMag:
Solicitor General Noel Francisco filed a brief late on Thursday night urging the Supreme Court to uphold conservative lower court actions that would kill Obamacare on the grounds that revocation of the individual mandate by Congress in 2017 unraveled the whole law….The Supreme Court is reportedly already planning oral arguments on this case for the fall, likely before the November elections
With disastrous polling, no end in sight to the now largely self inflicted pandemic and an election five months away, Trump could not have chosen a worse time to dismantle the fragile legislation that has ensured millions of Americans have access to affordable health care. But Trump is no doubt following his famous “instincts”, believes this will help claw back into contention with a surging Biden. It is also worth noting that Trump has thus far offered no concrete alternative to President Obama’s incredibly popular piece of legislation, so this has to rank as one of the most idiotic political moves of his career. If it is successful however, millions of people will lose their health care, so it is as dangerous as it is stupid.
Either way, this is perhaps the greatest gift Trump could have given the Democrats going into November. Biden’s strategy of letting Trump destroy himself appears to be working a real treat.
Runner up: The US has officially reversed all of the good work it did during social distancing and created a new, almost apocalyptic surge in Coronavirus cases — most prominently in red states where governors reopened far too fast and far too casually.
Go Deeper With Banter Members:
Other Nations Are Nearing The End Of Coronavirus Crisis. Not America.
There is a new spike in Coronavirus cases, and it is entirely Donald Trump’s fault, says Bob Cesca
2. Poll Analysis
One of the reasons Trump and the GOP have been optimistic about November is Trump’s built in advantage in the Electoral College. It handed him the White House in 2016 despite getting thrashed in the popular vote, and Trump has been banking on it to save him from another popular vote wipeout in 2020. Unfortunately for Trump, this advantage no longer exists. From FiveThirtyEight:
A new batch of polls released by The New York Times Upshot/Siena College this morning has caused a stir as they gave former Vice President Joe Biden leads ranging from 6 to 11 percentage points in six key battleground states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
There is still time for Trump to turn this around of course, but as of now his strategies (see above) are falling spectacularly flat.
3. Quote Of The Week
“Remember that a few weeks ago, Jennifer Rubin, the Never Trumper, and others were all putting out the idea that there was so much misinformation being put out by the president, and by Fox News, that we would see spreads of the coronavirus in the red states — Republicans would die. But in fact, interestingly, these spreads are mainly in the blue states.”
- Texas resident Dinesh D’Souza discussing the Coronavirus outbreak, March 25th 2020
“I joined @Parler_app a while ago but haven’t posted there. I’m going to start. Twitter, alas, doesn’t believe in free speech. Eventually we’ll get Trump to move and the real action will be over there @realDonaldTrump”
- Dinesh D’Souza after Texas recorded more than 4,400 positive cases and set its ninth consecutive record for hospitalizations.
4. What to Watch
What: ‘Crazy Delicious’, a cooking show where three contestants enter a magical, edible garden and have to create imaginative feasts for the ‘Food Gods’ (celebrity chefs Heston Blumenthal, Niklas Ekstedt, and Carla Hall).
Why: The presenter, British comedian Jayde Adams is ace, the Food Gods really are Food Gods (Blumenthal ran the best rated restaurant in the world for a number of years for example), and the set really is magical. The contestants are also incredibly talented and innovative, so the combination works for new twist on cooking shows.
Where: Netflix
5. Good News
The Coronavirus is not mutating (much), and that is good news for a vaccine
With almost six months of data and over 47,000 coronavirus genomes submitted to international database, we know have a pretty good understanding of what COVID-19 is and how it mutates over time. And thankfully, we now know it it is relatively stable, making a vaccine more likely to be effective. Via NPR:
"To date, there have been very few mutations observed," says Peter Thielen, a senior scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. "And any mutations that we do see are likely not having an effect on the function of the virus itself."
That's good news for scientists working to produce an effective vaccine by the end of the year. And it reflects the enormous quantity of genetic information on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that researchers have amassed since the virus appeared in China late last year.
An effective vaccine is our only real way out of this mess, and with many promising candidates that could be ready by the end of the year, this is excellent news.
Have a great weekend!
Read more for Banter Members:
A Cornered Trump Is Going Full Fascist, Full Racist, And Full Crazy
Trump is losing to Biden badly and he is responding by going full KKK, says Ben Cohen.
"Blue Flu" May Be Just What America Needs
The police have gone on strike before so we know exactly what happens when they do, says Justin Rosario
Other Nations Are Nearing The End Of Coronavirus Crisis. Not America.
There is a new spike in Coronavirus cases, and it is entirely Donald Trump’s fault.
And 24 hours later, the big story that tops them all. The New York Times reports that Russia put bounties on the heads of U.S. soldiers for the Taliban to kill and collect.
Drumpf was told about this months ago. His response? To invite Russia back into the G7 summit and to invite the Taliban to take part in Middle East peace talks.
Drumpf is a filthy traitor who makes Benedict Arnold seem nice in comparison. That fat bastard needs to be charged to the fullest extent of the law, and executed in the most brutal way possible.