The Trump thread: All things Donald

[joan1984]

Fake News, and you know it is FAKE NEWS!

The military spends five times as much on Viagra as it would on transgender troops’ medical care

#Resist

[Athos_131]

The military spends five times as much on Viagra as it would on transgender troops’ medical care

#Resist

Considering the prevalence of transgender servicemembers among the active duty military and the typical health-care costs for gender-transition-related medical treatment, the Rand study estimated that these treatments would cost the military between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually.

The study didn't include estimates of these costs for reservists, because of their “highly limited military health care eligibility.” It also didn't include estimates for retirees or military family members, because many of those individuals may also have “limited eligibility” for care via military treatment facilities.

“The implication is that even in the most extreme scenario that we were able to identify … we expect only a 0.13-percent ($8.4 million out of $6.2 billion) increase in health care spending,” Rand's authors concluded.

By contrast, total military spending on erectile dysfunction medicines amounts to $84 million annually, according to an analysis by the Military Times — 10 times the cost of annual transition-related medical care for active duty transgender servicemembers.

The military spends $41.6 million annually on Viagra alone, according to the Military Times analysis — roughly five times the estimated spending on transition-related medical care for transgender troops.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Does anyone have a credible source to refute the Washington Post's reporting?

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Claiming basic math is fake news is very strange.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Oh, So Now The Pentagon Cares About Saving Money?

Let’s also acknowledge that, a year ago, former Defense Secretary Ash Carter commissioned a study on allowing transgender troops to serve from the RAND Corporation and it found, simply put, that it’d be no big deal. From The Failing New York Times:

A study commissioned by Mr. Carter and carried out by the RAND Corporation found that allowing transgender people to serve openly would “cost little and have no significant impact on unit readiness.”

The study estimated that 2,450 active-duty members were transgender and predicted that around 65 would seek to transition each year. It estimated that the cost to the Pentagon of those procedures would be $2.9 million to $4.2 million a year.

The study predicted that service members would not seek to transition were the procedures not covered by the Pentagon, and that they would likely have higher rates of substance abuse and suicide as a result.

So is Trump’s financial argument bullshit today? Oh yeah. It is widely known that the Pentagon wastes billions of dollars per year and Congress is doing jack shit about it.

Last year, The Washington Post reported that an internal study of the Pentagon’s budget from 2015 found more than $125 billion in waste. If, the report concluded, the brass accepted its recommendations, that amount of money could be saved over a five-year period up to 2020.

And it would not have required layoffs and reductions in troops. Rather, it would “have streamlined the bureaucracy through attrition and early retirements, curtailed high-priced contractors and made better use of information technology,” the Post reported.

Of course, Pentagon leadership suppressed the report because they didn’t want their future budgets reduced, which should have been the case anyway.

The Pentagon also spends “$42 million on name-brand Viagra and $84 million on erectile dysfunction drugs in general,” as reported today by our friends at Lifehacker. Oh, and those trips to Mar-a-Lago for the Vacationer-in-Chief are $3.6 million a pop.

If you read Foxtrot Alpha, you know we’ve reported extensively of how much of a fucking money leech that jet is. To secure 2,443 fighters for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, the Pentagon has to cough up $379 billion. On top of that, costs are expected to skyrocket if leadership doesn’t improve its management of the platform, as we reported earlier.

The costs of providing medical care to transgender soldiers? At most, $8.4 million each year.

#Resist

[Lois]

Fake News, and you know it is FAKE NEWS!

The military spends five times as much on Viagra as it would on transgender troops’ medical care

#Resist

The study came from the Rand Corp.  The Rand Corp is not for profit, non-partisan and pro military. 

So how is it fake news?  Just because you disagree with the results of the study?  Sorry my dear, but that does not make for fake news.

[Northwest]

(^^^...I think Joan is feeling a little betrayed by the stubby fingered fascist right about now...)

This administration doesn't need Democrats; it's already tearing down its own house. Trump's "presidency" appears to be self destructing.

Sessions' powerful friends stand up to Trump

The attorney general's former colleagues in Congress, as well as conservative allies, publicly questioned the president's attacks on Sessions.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/26/sessions-trump-attacks-friends-240996

[Katiebee]

How does one remove an incompetent and unfit president?

Impeach his ass in the House, and the Senate convicts him.

Then the DOJ files charges for whatever criminal acts he has performed, and he forfeits most of his money.

Do him good to sit around pennyless with no health insurance except prison infirmary access.

[joan1984]

Fantasy feels so good, as there are no limits.

How does one remove an incompetent and unfit president?

Impeach his ass in the House, and the Senate convicts him.

Then the DOJ files charges for whatever criminal acts he has performed, and he forfeits most of his money.

Do him good to sit around pennyless with no health insurance except prison infirmary access.

[Northwest]

Fantasy feels so good, as there are no limits.

I wondered if we were going to hear from you today.

Trump launched two major assaults on the LGBTQ community in the last 24 hours. Care to give us your reflections? Still sailing 100% with the fleet and all?

[Athos_131]

joan1984 claims to be a member of the LGBT community, yet refuses to denounce any bigotry Trump or the GOP plots against it.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Fantasy feels so good, as there are no limits.

Apparently you are not willing to defend with credible sources your claim of fake news, or admit you are wrong.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Scaramucci Calls for Inquiry After ‘Leak’ of Financial Form

Mr. Scaramucci’s report says it was filed on June 23, which means it could be publicly released by the bank on July 23, or last Sunday. Politico did not indicate whether it obtained the report through such a regular request.

Asked why he thought the report had been leaked illegally, Mr. Scaramucci responded by text: “They aren’t in process yet.” But when told his form could be released on July 23, he did not respond further.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

The Trump White House just went full reality TV

“I don't know if the relationship with Reince is reparable,” Scaramucci said. “That's up to the president.”

Here's the full, relevant passage:

As you know, from the Italian expression, the fish stinks from the head down. But I can tell you two fish that don't stink, okay, and that's me and the president. I don't like the activity that's going on in the White House. I don't like what they're doing to my friend. I don't like what they're doing to the president of the United States or their fellow colleagues in the West Wing.

Now if you want to talk about the chief of staff, we have had odds, we have had differences. When I said we were brothers from the podium, it's because we're rough on each other. Some brothers are like Cain and Abel. Other brothers can fight with each other and get along. I don't know if this is reparable or not; that will be up to the president. But he's the chief of staff. He's responsible for understanding and uncovering and helping me do that inside the White House, which is why I put that tweet out last night.

The kicker here is that Scaramucci's outburst wasn't even about an actual leak; the Politico reporter who got his financial disclosure said it was obtained from the Export-Import Bank, which had it publicly on file. In other words, there was no leak, no "felony" and really no reason for Scaramucci to lash out at Priebus in this manner.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Anthony Scaramucci’s war on leaks is a total mess

#Resist

[Athos_131]

The Daily 202: Growing GOP backlash to transgender troop ban underscores Trump’s political miscalculation

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Robbers in Donald Trump masks blow up cash machine

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon

“Reince is a fucking paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac,” Scaramucci said. He channelled Priebus as he spoke: “ ‘Oh, Bill Shine is coming in. Let me leak the fucking thing and see if I can cock-block these people the way I cock-blocked Scaramucci for six months.’ ” (Priebus did not respond to a request for comment.)

Scaramucci was particularly incensed by a Politico report about his financial-disclosure form, which he viewed as an illegal act of retaliation by Priebus. The reporter said Thursday morning that the document was publicly available and she had obtained it from the Export-Import Bank. Scaramucci didn’t know this at the time, and he insisted to me that Priebus had leaked the document, and that the act was “a felony.”

Scaramucci also told me that, unlike other senior officials, he had no interest in media attention. “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own cock,” he said, speaking of Trump’s chief strategist. “I’m not trying to build my own brand off the fucking strength of the President. I’m here to serve the country.” (Bannon declined to comment.)

Scaramucci said he had to get going. “Yeah, let me go, though, because I’ve gotta start tweeting some shit to make this guy crazy.”

Minutes later, he tweeted, “In light of the leak of my financial info which is a felony. I will be contacting @FBI and the @TheJusticeDept #swamp @Reince45.” With the addition of Priebus’s Twitter handle, he was making public what he had just told me: that he believed Priebus was leaking information about him. The tweet quickly went viral.

Scaramucci seemed to have second thoughts. Within two hours he deleted the original tweet and posted a new one denying that he was targeting the chief of staff. “Wrong!” he said, adding a screenshot of an Axios article that said, “Scaramucci appears to want Priebus investigated by FBI.” Scaramucci continued, “Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks. @Reince45.”

A few hours later, I appeared on CNN to discuss the overnight drama. As I was talking about Scaramucci, he called into the show himself and referenced our conversation. He changed his story about Priebus. Instead of saying that he was trying to expose Priebus as a leaker, he said that the reason he mentioned Priebus in his deleted tweet was because he wanted to work together with Priebus to discover the leakers.

“He’s the chief of staff, he’s responsible for understanding and uncovering and helping me do that inside the White House, which is why I put that tweet out last night,” Scaramucci said, after noting that he had talked to me Wednesday night. He then made an argument that journalists were assuming that he was accusing Priebus because they know Priebus leaks to the press.

“When I put out a tweet, and I put Reince’s name in the tweet,” he said, “they’re all making the assumption that it’s him because journalists know who the leakers are. So, if Reince wants to explain that he’s not a leaker, let him do that.”

#Resist

[Northwest]

You might want to give this a read. It's not every day that your new hire call's the president's people cocksuckers.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/344215-scaramucci-priebus-is-a-paranoid-schizophrenic-will-be-asked-to

At least we're keeping it classy.

[MintJulie]

It's really unbelievable.    This can't continue much longer.  At least the Republicans are seeing it now.   Thank you Senator Graham for saying it will be Holy Hell if Sessions is fired.