Current Affairs Joe Biden POTUS #46

[RAFUH]

Sadly this sounds better than it is after reading that. It is for medications billed to Medicare Part B not Part D so only applies to medication used in physician offices, outpatient hospital clinics or infusion clinics. It will potentially be great for the folks it effects but that will be a small group of people needing specialized meds.

 

[Chewbacca]

True but he wasn’t likely to eat the entire profit driven healthcare industry in one go. Anything is better than nothing. If the Dems get another 4 years they can spread that net further.

 

[RAFUH]

True but he wasn’t likely to eat the entire profit driven healthcare industry in one go. Anything is better than nothing. If the Dems get another 4 years they can spread that net further.

I’m not complaining. The drugs they are talking about are outrageously expensive so could save Medicare a lot and ruffle fewer feathers.
I was only commenting on the press release. As with most thing political it is technically correct, but oversells it.

 

[Toffee_Loaf]

FBI harbored Biden allegations since 2017, through impeachment, election, lawmaker says​

If House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s sleuthing turns out to be right, the FBI harbored a deep, dark secret through the first Trump impeachment, the Hunter Biden laptop saga and the 2020 election fury. The secret: that a validated and well-paid informant raised concerns all the way back in 2017 that Joe Biden was involved in a $5 million bribery scheme involving Ukraine.

The question emerging now is did America’s most famous crime-fighting agency deep-six the allegation or dismiss it as “Russian disinformation” without thoroughly probing it.

 

[Pittsburgh Footy]

FBI harbored Biden allegations since 2017, through impeachment, election, lawmaker says​

"lawmaker" like he's a normal congressman

FFS

 

[Martin Alvito]

FBI harbored Biden allegations since 2017, through impeachment, election, lawmaker says​

This has the same standard of evidence as Nixon's situation. Follow the money. That, and the tapes, were how they got him.

Comer's problem seems to be that he's slow walking the story because he doesn't have much. He's not Woodward or Bernstein, and he doesn't have a gold-plated source like Felt. If he had enough to wield a subpoena to get the financials he needs, he would be holding it.

Intelligence is a wilderness of mirrors. People (including trusted sources) say stuff all the time that turns out to be wrong. It's how we ended up back in Iraq. You wouldn't defend that decision-making process, so you can't flip on a dime when you dislike the target of this one. I would say there's probably enough to get Hunter - people addicted to drugs with access do some very stupid things - but getting Joe requires an explicit quid pro quo and a financial transaction.

We haven't seen anything but innuendo on that front, which is why the story has largely stayed in partisan media.

 

[Huyton Layne]

This has the same standard of evidence as Nixon's situation. Follow the money. That, and the tapes, were how they got him.

Comer's problem seems to be that he's slow walking the story because he doesn't have much. He's not Woodward or Bernstein, and he doesn't have a gold-plated source like Felt. If he had enough to wield a subpoena to get the financials he needs, he would be holding it.

Intelligence is a wilderness of mirrors. People (including trusted sources) say stuff all the time that turns out to be wrong. It's how we ended up with Witsel and Mata being a forum meme. You wouldn't defend that decision-making process, so you can't flip on a dime when you dislike the target of this one. I would say there's probably enough to get Hunter - people addicted to drugs with access do some very stupid things - but getting Joe requires an explicit quid pro quo and a financial transaction.

We haven't seen anything but innuendo on that front, which is why the story has largely stayed in partisan media.

Fixed

 

[MrPerfectNot]

This has the same standard of evidence as Nixon's situation. Follow the money. That, and the tapes, were how they got him.

Comer's problem seems to be that he's slow walking the story because he doesn't have much. He's not Woodward or Bernstein, and he doesn't have a gold-plated source like Felt. If he had enough to wield a subpoena to get the financials he needs, he would be holding it.

Intelligence is a wilderness of mirrors. People (including trusted sources) say stuff all the time that turns out to be wrong. It's how we ended up back in Iraq. You wouldn't defend that decision-making process, so you can't flip on a dime when you dislike the target of this one. I would say there's probably enough to get Hunter - people addicted to drugs with access do some very stupid things - but getting Joe requires an explicit quid pro quo and a financial transaction.

We haven't seen anything but innuendo on that front, which is why the story has largely stayed in partisan media.

That's fair - if there's enough "there" there, then get a subpoena and go for it - if there is sufficient wrong doing, then get a USA to follow up on it.

If not, then it is just much ado about not very much at all.

And to get Joe Biden involved, just like the standard (that is seems Jack has met) for Trump, it's got to be rock solid and crystal clear.

 

[LinekersLegs]

 

[Martin Alvito]

This is just 24 hour news cycle nonsense. If a press secretary or chief of staff is not trying to influence the results of the next election every single time they open their mouths, they should immediately be fired and replaced with someone that understands the job.

It looks like the original framers of the act recognized this problem and exempted everybody in the Executive Office of the President, but that must have been reformed out as the EOP became enormous over the ensuing decades. We didn't want the National Security Advisor, or the DCI, making explicitly political statements in the middle of the Cold War (or now, for that matter).

This does result in a certain level of professionalism, but it also results in a fair amount of hypocrisy as well. I don't think that's a leadership example we should set, especially for the people with press functions. They'll always skirt the boundaries of the act when they think it's worth.

 

[LinekersLegs]

This is just 24 hour news cycle nonsense. If a press secretary or chief of staff is not trying to influence the results of the next election every single time they open their mouths, they should immediately be fired and replaced with someone that understands the job.

It looks like the original framers of the act recognized this problem and exempted everybody in the Executive Office of the President, but that must have been reformed out as the EOP became enormous over the ensuing decades. We didn't want the National Security Advisor, or the DCI, making explicitly political statements in the middle of the Cold War (or now, for that matter).

This does result in a certain level of professionalism, but it also results in a fair amount of hypocrisy as well. I don't think that's a leadership example we should set, especially for the people with press functions. They'll always skirt the boundaries of the act when they think it's worth.

The Trump Whitehouse, especially the press functions, regularly flouted at least the spirit of the law.

Hatch Act - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I would prefer that isn’t the norm tbh.

 

[Martin Alvito]

The Trump Whitehouse, especially the press functions, regularly flouted at least the spirit of the law.

Hatch Act - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I would prefer that isn’t the norm tbh.

Both sides have been doing it for a while. On this one, I think it's just that the law is bad when it comes to the media side. We don't want Malcolm Tucker IRL, but that behavior is also explicitly illegal under other statutes with more teeth. Presidents are also avoiding day-to-day media relations because any mistakes they make are big stories these days, which helps explain the increase in violations as their media people fulfill those functions.

It's one of those layups that I think a functional Congress would have already passed in bipartisan fashion. Neither side benefits, and the whole thing just wastes valuable time and taxpayer dollars. What would have happened is some deficit hawk like Mike Lee introduces the measure. Kennedy, Biden, McCain and Dole then meet for booze, look at one another and say, "Yeah, this is stupid. If we can say it on Meet the Press, the press secretary should be able to say it. We can pick up a vote on something else by including this as a non-controversial amendment. He looks good at home, and we get actual legislation passed."

 

[Martin Alvito]

The Trump Whitehouse, especially the press functions, regularly flouted at least the spirit of the law.

Hatch Act - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I would prefer that isn’t the norm tbh.

Both sides have been doing it for a while. On this one, I think it's just that the law is bad when it comes to the media side. We don't want Malcolm Tucker IRL, but that behavior is also explicitly illegal under other statutes with more teeth. Presidents are also avoiding day-to-day media relations because any mistakes they make are big stories these days, which helps explain the increase in violations as their media people fulfill those functions.

It's one of those layups that I think a functional Congress would have already passed in bipartisan fashion. Neither side benefits, and the whole thing just wastes valuable time and taxpayer dollars. What would have happened is some deficit hawk like Mike Lee introduces the measure. Kennedy, Biden, McCain and Dole then meet for booze, look at one another and say, "Yeah, this is stupid. If we can say it on Meet the Press, the press secretary should be able to say it. We can pick up his vote on something else by including this as a non-controversial amendment. He looks good at home, and we get actual legislation passed."

 

[dylsexicbleu]

This has the same standard of evidence as Nixon's situation. Follow the money. That, and the tapes, were how they got him.

Comer's problem seems to be that he's slow walking the story because he doesn't have much. He's not Woodward or Bernstein, and he doesn't have a gold-plated source like Felt. If he had enough to wield a subpoena to get the financials he needs, he would be holding it.

Intelligence is a wilderness of mirrors. People (including trusted sources) say stuff all the time that turns out to be wrong. It's how we ended up back in Iraq. You wouldn't defend that decision-making process, so you can't flip on a dime when you dislike the target of this one. I would say there's probably enough to get Hunter - people addicted to drugs with access do some very stupid things - but getting Joe requires an explicit quid pro quo and a financial transaction.

We haven't seen anything but innuendo on that front, which is why the story has largely stayed in partisan media.

Unless proven otherwise it's best to assume these tapes do not prove bribery. If Joe and Hunter have anything about them bribes will not have been discussed openly. I think we know bribery took place but these tapes are probably not the smoking gun many hope for. I say this as someone convinced the family(Joe's brother especially worth looking into) view public service as a cash cow.

 

[Toffee_Loaf]

Unless proven otherwise it's best to assume these tapes do not prove bribery. If Joe and Hunter have anything about them bribes will not have been discussed openly. I think we know bribery took place but these tapes are probably not the smoking gun many hope for. I say this as someone convinced the family(Joe's brother especially worth looking into) view public service as a cash cow.

There's definitely something dirty going on. There's no way Hunter Biden gets to become a director of a major Ukraine company (without speaking the language and without any experience in natural gas) when there's evidence of huge drug use and massive mental illness. How did he do it? By having his daddy strong arm Ukraine's government? Why would a foreign politician want to interfere in domestic legal systems and their investigations? I wonder.

After THAT indictment, read the full jaw-dropping story of the $10m Biden/Ukraine bribery claims and wonder - why don't the Feds care about scandalous allegations that would have eaten Trump alive?​