Morning Joe: All Episodes Talk

[ButterQueen]

1 minute ago, oakville said:

It explains the recent hostility that Mika & Joe have for Trump. Joe is mad at Trump for not firing Bannon & Miller. Joe is upset that Trump won't agree to an "exclusive interview" with no "hard questions". I find it hilarious to watch Mika & Joe battle President Trump. No more Mar A Lago for King Joe & Queen Mika! . Joe "Legendary Congressmen of Pensacola" is upset that Trump won't take his advice.

I cannot wait to see how their tone changes, and if they will mention it.

That picture above looks like a family picture, especially with Mika's dress matching his pants. Oh brother!

[oakville]

1 minute ago, sugarbaker design said:

I can't imagine any of those women agreeing to pose behind their male counterparts.  Unlike Mika.

Mika has agreed to many controversial poses with Joe in her career. !

I hope MSNBC will cover their wedding on TV. Chris Harrison from the Bachelor could officiate.

[oakville]

1 minute ago, ButterQueen said:

I cannot wait to see how their tone changes, and if they will mention it.

That picture above looks like a family picture, especially with Mika's dress matching his pants. Oh brother!

The tone has changed since January 20th. It started on New Year's eve, when  Mika & Joe made a special trip from Jupiter Florida where they were spending the holidays to visit & party with President Trump at Mar A Largo.

They were allowed a 20 minute sit down with Trump. The interview was supposed to be done the week before he took office . Joe was caught by people taking pictures of him at Mar A Lagro. NY Times went wild with accusations against Mika & Joe. Joe retaliated on twitter against the reporter who accused him of partying. Joe said he wasn't wearing party clothes. You can check Joe's twitter account from New Year's day onwards about his fights with other reporters about his behavior.

In the end, the inaguration interviews went to Sean Hannity & someone else. Mika & Joe have been upset with Trump since then.

[oakville]

Tuesdy Mini Recap. Mika is hosting the show by herself today in Washington. Joe is snowed in. The show started with clips of people making air quotes to mock Spicer & Trump.

The CBO estimates that 24M lose health insurance. Many millions won't be forced to buy Obamacare, because the penalties will be elimated. Tax cuts for the wealthy to pay for medicaid will be eliminated.

Heileman enjoyed the Palace intrigue about the Breitbart tapes from October of Ryan being upset about the Access Hollywood tapes.

Heileman said that Ryan & Trump will be at war. Halperin disagreed.

Mika is in her condescding mood today. which is what happens when Joe is not on set. She is making faces at the GOP policies.

Mika continues to focus on the "wiretapping" scandal.

She is making good points about the GOP healthcare plan though.

Heileman said the Senate will never pass this plan.

The problem is young healthy people will not be forced to buy Obamacare. The sick people left in the pool will force premiums higher.

They showed a clip of Chickens wearing sweaters. Mika now has 3 chickens. Donna, Gina & nugget.

Massachusetts has seniors that knit sweaters for Chickens.

Trump won't agree with the Ryan plan.

Mika keeps getting angry at Obama being called a fellon for wiretapping Trump's phones.

Mika is now reviewing Joe's tweets. There is a picture of Joe in his orange chinos on the set:))

Mika continues to take Trump literally. That was the mistake during the election.

Mika is happy because Eugene,Heileman & Halperin are on the set with her.

[oakville]

Mika is now on a Scarborougesque rant about Trump's  tweets. It's hysterical. Mika makes me laugh.

It would be funny if they played clips of Mika fawning over the brilliance of Trump's tweets now.

I remember Joe practically having an orgasm after Trump tweeted about Bill Clinton & Monica lewisky in December 2015. At the time , he said that Trump was destroying Hillary's campaign with his tweets & that Bill & Hillary couldn't complain about Trump's insults against women because of what Bill Clinton did to women.

Halperin told Mika to focus on healthcare & not Trump's wiretapping tweets.

More movie clips with a Few Good Men. " I strenuously object"

Ratner has good charts today.

They didn't discuss what happens if Doctors don't accept Obamacare.

The ax cuts are based on age not income. Obamacare has more subsidies for poor people.

[teddysmom]

This show is so much better without Joe, like "Phil, are you seeing this?" 

I mean, she still has to work on making faces and being a bit of a hypocrite, but it's pleasant and people actually get to talk.  I don't watch the whole time but when I turn it on my blood pressure doesn't go up 20 points. 

[abbyzenn]

I only caught part of today and yesterday's shows but appreciate how much better this is without Joe.  Much better discussions among those at the table.

I do wish Mika and the more regular panelists would do a bit more homework or have someone at the table who is actually an expert/knowledgeable on a subject especially when they're interviewing someone political.  Today with the guy from OMB (I think it was OMB) when he talked about access to health care vs health care - he said he's on an exchange and I think he was trying to say he has a $13000 deductible thereby not really allowing people to visit the doctor and therefore not a good plan (his words).  I'm curious as to what exchange/plan this is because I know 3 people on the federal exchange (their state VA did not create it's own exchange) and none have that high of a deductible.  All have been seeing doctors and one of them (not sure of the other two) pays $10 copay for a visit.  I think this $13000 bit is part of the GOP/trump talking point because I've heard it before.  The panel did go into a short discussion on health care is a right vs privilege but I would have liked them to ask more pointed questions at the OMB guest.

[stormy]

No Joe.  A good thing.

Mark Halperin.  A bad thing.  He is a trump cheerleader no matter what the subject is.

[oakville]

15 hours ago, abbyzenn said:

I only caught part of today and yesterday's shows but appreciate how much better this is without Joe.  Much better discussions among those at the table.

I do wish Mika and the more regular panelists would do a bit more homework or have someone at the table who is actually an expert/knowledgeable on a subject especially when they're interviewing someone political.  Today with the guy from OMB (I think it was OMB) when he talked about access to health care vs health care - he said he's on an exchange and I think he was trying to say he has a $13000 deductible thereby not really allowing people to visit the doctor and therefore not a good plan (his words).  I'm curious as to what exchange/plan this is because I know 3 people on the federal exchange (their state VA did not create it's own exchange) and none have that high of a deductible.  All have been seeing doctors and one of them (not sure of the other two) pays $10 copay for a visit.  I think this $13000 bit is part of the GOP/trump talking point because I've heard it before.  The panel did go into a short discussion on health care is a right vs privilege but I would have liked them to ask more pointed questions at the OMB guest.

Mulvaney is the budget director. He was a congressman & stuck using an Obamare exchange. The $13k deductible was for his family. He was upset that he had to pay premiums & was covered but his deductible was too high. He couldn't access care.

he said Obamacare provides coverage but not care. 

Mika seemed confused by the difference. Mika said her NBC plan is better and she has access to her interns organs if she needs a transplant. 

Michael Steele blamed Obama for having the mandate. The penalties for avoiding the mandate are not high enough. The problem is not enough young healthy people are signing up for Obamacare.

Mulvaney blamed the CBO for being wrong on Obamacare sign ups. 

[oakville]

Wednesday Recap. Mika is solo in Washington. Joe is snowed in the Connecticut Bunker. Kasie! Joined the panel. They were excited about Rachel Maddow finding Trumps tax return. Halperin said it was possible that Trump released it himself because it said client copy. Mika was upset that the White House scooped Rachel Maddow. They released the statement before she could finish explaining it. Willie said that it proves that Trump made a lot of money & paid a high effective rate of 25%.

ratner said developers can claim accelerated depreciation.

mika wants all the tax returns released.

Mika wanted to focus on Obama wiretapping. She wants proof that Obama ordered the wiretap. 

Mika admitted tjat Obamacare can be improved.

Mika is worried about 24m people losing healthcare. Mika said the tax breaks for wealthy people should be cancelled.

mika is worried about Bannon going after Paul Ryan. 

Mika is happy that the mess can be blamed on the GOP.

Mika is fed up with Trump

[cased]

Joe has been tweeting this morning that he thinks Trump leaked a positive tax return for him in order to distract from other issues. If Joe was looking for a way to get back in Trump's good graces, he could have found a way to spin this tax return positively. But, he is still very anti-Trump. I wonder how long this will last. I hope he keeps it up. I like the anti-Trump Joe much more than I like the pro-Trump Joe. 

[teddysmom]

Quote

Joe has been tweeting this morning that he thinks Trump leaked a positive tax return for him in order to distract from other issues.

I thought the same thing.   

So Joe's in CT and Mika's in NYC over the weekend. hmmm maybe it was his weekend with his daughter. 

I haven't even seen him make bunker appearances. 

[cased]

6 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

I thought the same thing.   

So Joe's in CT and Mika's in NYC over the weekend. hmmm maybe it was his weekend with his daughter. 

I haven't even seen him make bunker appearances. 

I think Joe is on vacation with his kids for spring break. Mika posted a photo of Joe  at the airport (on instagram), and she said he was on his way to spend spring break with his kids. 

I'm guessing that with Joe away, Mika decided to go to Washington DC where she could spend some tim with her family. 

[stormy]

Stephanie Miller quoted a tweet that Joe posted today on her show this morning. Joe basically tweeted that trump taxes =BS.

Yay Stephanie!

[oakville]

1 hour ago, cased said:

I think Joe is on vacation with his kids for spring break. Mika posted a photo of Joe  at the airport (on instagram), and she said he was on his way to spend spring break with his kids. 

I'm guessing that with Joe away, Mika decided to go to Washington DC where she could spend some tim with her family. 

 I don't think Joe will be staying at Mar. a Largo this spring given his attacks on Trump.

Joe used to brag about staying there with family. 

The tax return leak was a smart move by Trump. 

[abbyzenn]

Oakville - I get what the OMB guy was saying - what I was trying to say is that this could have led into a discussion of what he said.  He made it sound like he has to pay $13000 before the insurance pays anything.  Is this really true?  Was this his only choice?  If so why?  Or a discussion of preventive care vs waiting to go to an emergency room.  Their analogy about car insurance discussion was stupid.  Isn't there some good for the general population to be healthy?  Don't people with some untreated diseases bring risk to those around them?  (I can speak personally on that one because a bad case of the flu/pneumonia and I could die).   The panel did get into it a little bit about the non-insured person who gets in a car wreck and who pays for that.  It also seems to strange to be that this guy was the second or third one I've heard talk about the $13000 deductible which makes me think it's a standard talking point.  I just think this show would be better if they actually discussed an issue for more than 3 minutes.

Also re the argument that young people shouldn't be compelled to have insurance.  Just because your 25 or 28 doesn't mean you don't need insurance.  I was 23 when I ended up in the hospital with meningitis.  Don't the young have higher rates of car accidents?

Not everyone on Obamacare has such high deductibles - the three people I know personally  who are on Obamacare don't have such high deductibles.  My insurance (which is not part of Obamacare - I'm a retired federal employee) I have a $5000 deductible but I don't have to pay that before insurance kicks - it pays part of every visit/test (a higher percentage than I pay) and once I've reached $5000 the insurance pays 100%.  I have an incurable potentially fatal disease so unfortunately I am very familiar with doctors/hospitals. 

On this morning's show I had to watch the Senator from West Virginia with a bit of skepticism.  After all it was his daughter whose company raised the price of the epipen while also raising her salary 3-4 million.  I know he's not in charge of what his adult daughter does but such things really effect health care in this country.

[Ohwell]

12 minutes ago, abbyzenn said:

Also re the argument that young people shouldn't be compelled to have insurance.  Just because your 25 or 28 doesn't mean you don't need insurance.  I was 23 when I ended up in the hospital with meningitis.  Don't the young have higher rates of car accidents?

Also, you don't necessarily have to be "sick" or have a disease to need insurance, you could be injured.  For example, young people might have higher rates of sports injuries like broken arms, legs, etc.

Edited March 15, 2017 by Ohwell

[teddysmom]

Quote

 $13000 before the insurance pays anything

If that's the example I'm thinking of I think it's the premiums for a particular demo, not the deductible.

[WhineandCheez]

Quote

 

Abbyzen, Take care of yourself.

Lindsay Graham seems like a likeable Republican (if there is such a unicorn, ahem).  Anyway, please CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, but they are all saying (Graham  this AM included), that ACA is failing, insurers dropping out but isn't only because MArco Rubio spearheaded a vote to take away the funds that insureres would get if they lost $ insuring the sick, pre-existing conditions, etc?  Thus doing it on purpose exactly so the ACA would fail??

Edited March 15, 2017 by WhineandCheez

[oakville]

8 hours ago, abbyzenn said:

Oakville - I get what the OMB guy was saying - what I was trying to say is that this could have led into a discussion of what he said.  He made it sound like he has to pay $13000 before the insurance pays anything.  Is this really true?  Was this his only choice?  If so why?  Or a discussion of preventive care vs waiting to go to an emergency room.  Their analogy about car insurance discussion was stupid.  Isn't there some good for the general population to be healthy?  Don't people with some untreated diseases bring risk to those around them?  (I can speak personally on that one because a bad case of the flu/pneumonia and I could die).   The panel did get into it a little bit about the non-insured person who gets in a car wreck and who pays for that.  It also seems to strange to be that this guy was the second or third one I've heard talk about the $13000 deductible which makes me think it's a standard talking point.  I just think this show would be better if they actually discussed an issue for more than 3 minutes.

Also re the argument that young people shouldn't be compelled to have insurance.  Just because your 25 or 28 doesn't mean you don't need insurance.  I was 23 when I ended up in the hospital with meningitis.  Don't the young have higher rates of car accidents?

Not everyone on Obamacare has such high deductibles - the three people I know personally  who are on Obamacare don't have such high deductibles.  My insurance (which is not part of Obamacare - I'm a retired federal employee) I have a $5000 deductible but I don't have to pay that before insurance kicks - it pays part of every visit/test (a higher percentage than I pay) and once I've reached $5000 the insurance pays 100%.  I have an incurable potentially fatal disease so unfortunately I am very familiar with doctors/hospitals. 

On this morning's show I had to watch the Senator from West Virginia with a bit of skepticism.  After all it was his daughter whose company raised the price of the epipen while also raising her salary 3-4 million.  I know he's not in charge of what his adult daughter does but such things really effect health care in this country.

Senator Joe Mancin is a "Friend of the Show" . This is a status awarded to long term panelists, friends of Mika & Joe & guests who are available for a quick 5 minute interview at a moments notice. Barnicle keeps his "FOS" status by providing Mika & Joe with Red Sox tickets & a soccer team in the UK.

I don't think that Morning Joe has ever criticized Joe Mancin for his daughter's actions. They are horrible. There is no need to raise the price of epipens.

I would have liked to see a more detailed analysis of health care plans. I am Canadian, so I don't have a ful understanding of the USA system. My friends who have moved to Florida so think that health care is very expensive relative to Canada.

[oakville]

Wednesday Recap. Mika is hosting solo while Joe is on vacation. Mika is wearing a navy top with a new light blue scarf!.

Mika wants to go to Europe on a Mornin Joe European tour. Mika likes Paris in the spring.

Katty Kay was excited about Angela Merkel showing up to meet Trump. Katty said she spoke to people, ( her maids) ? and they said that Angela was the leader of the free world.

Kasie Hunt wants to go to Europe with Mika.

There were more glamor shots of Mika & Joe.

The panel was happy that the populists Wilders lost the election in the Netherlands . Katty was happy that the elites are back in power.

katty doesn't like Marine Le Pen.

Mik interviewed Mulvaney. It turns out he was a security guard when she attended Georgetown. Mulvaney liked talking to girls in College. He defended the Trump budget.

Richard Haas is mad about State Department cuts.

Mika doesn't like the cuts to the EPA.

There was discussion about the Trump wiretapping scandal. There may have been surveillance but Mika confirmed that Obama  did not sneak into Trump tower by himself to wiretap Trump.

Trump admitted that he makes bad tweets.

They showed clips of Trump yelling at the crowd in Nashville. The Hawaii judge overturned the new travel ban.

Turley said Trump is right & will win on appeal.

Barnicle showed up late to the panel.

Mika said get ready to be bored because Meacham was on the set.

Mika is feisty today. Mika was happy to read the poll that Trump's approval is down to 43%

[Dagny]

3 hours ago, oakville said:

Mika likes Paris in the spring.

I like Paris in the spring, did it once. There is a reason why there is a song called Paris in the Spring, but every time I say that I recognize that I sound like a rich pompous jackhole. I try not to say it. Way to sound like the common person Mika.

[teddysmom]

2 hours ago, Dagny said:

I like Paris in the spring, did it once. There is a reason why there is a song called Paris in the Spring, but every time I say that I recognize that I sound like a rich pompous jackhole. I try not to say it. Way to sound like the common person Mika.

I've never been, but the opening of Midnight in Paris makes me wish I had, or could. Good lord what a beautiful city. 

[oakville]

Friday Recap. Mika is wearing a red turtleneck for St Patrick's Day. Kasie is wearing a green scarf with a black top. No one likes Trump;s budget which cuts meals on wheels budget and uses the money for defense spending.

Mika is mad at Trump for lying about wiretapping.

They had funny opening clips from movies with quotes that make fun of Trump's comments on surveillance.

Mika was happy to report on Joe's tweets. Joe wants reforms to Social Security. Joe wants a balanced budget.

Donnie is upset at Trump and said he was empathic when he was in business. He is not as a President.

Mika is now wearing  a black cardigan over her red top.

More Glamor shots of Mika & Joe near a fence.

Kasie doesn't think that the healthcare bill will pass the house.

Halperin & McKinnon delivered pizza to the congressional budget office. They sat in the cafeteria for a while.

Deutshe said Trump wants no changes to healthcare so he can blame Obamacare which is failing anyway.

Trump is reading a book on Andrew Jackson. He is busy getting phone calls.

Mika is happy that it's friday.

[oakville]

Nick Confessore said the wiretapping scandal is a waste of time. The NY Times article on wiretapping was not substantiated.

[cased]

After being MIA for many months, the glamour shots are back in a big way. Some of the shots are new, and some are older ones. For the last couple of weeks, there have been more glamour shots in a single show than there were for the last 6 months combined.

I'm glad they are back I missed them. I look forward to laughing at how over the top some of them are. It was boring when they were acting like an actual, serious show. 

Edited March 17, 2017 by cased

[WhineandCheez]

Quote

Trump is reading a book on Andrew Jackson

They made fun of that.  It's an urban legend that Trump doesn't like to read and prefers to watch TV.  I also heard an captivating broadcast one night postulating that Trump either can't read or has a reading disorder.  It was quite interesting, Google it.

Mika was uber snitty.  When Bob Woodward was on and they were talking about all the hoards of people in and out of Trump Tower after the election (IE the possibility of one of them having their phone tapped, thus catching Trump or his associate in the circle of surveillance), Bob stated he was one of them that visited TT, and Mika said something in the order of (paraphrase)  "Well YOU could go there and no one complains,and I can't?!" Mika- Bob is a journalist and you aren't.  He doesn't have to look impartial.

Edited March 17, 2017 by WhineandCheez

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, WhineandCheez said:

It's an urban legend that Trump doesn't like to read and prefers to watch TV.

Is it an urban legend if it's true?  :)

1 hour ago, WhineandCheez said:

uber snitty

Is this Mika's new Bond villainess role?

[abbyzenn]

Another nice day without Joe - although I did think the tweets he did were fairly good.

Liked that Donny D was back - maybe it's only when Joe isn't there?  Anyway, I liked when he told Mika "the buck stops there" when during the discussion of  trump's budget and she called it President bannon's budget and that bannon is leading trump astray.  Donny was right it is trump's budget. 

I usually fast forward thru politician guests and today was a prime example of why.  That OMB guy is one of the slimiest politicians out there and unfortunately in a very powerful position.  After school programs and meals on wheels aren't worth our tax dollar??  I think these people would be happy if the only thing tax dollars funded was defense.  As if there is no waste in that area and every dollar spent is worth it!

During the discussion of trump's tweets regarding President Obama wiretapping trump tower, Bob Woodward was silly talking about all the people going in and out of trump tower after the election.  Trump said the wiretapping was before the election.  Plus I never hear in any of these discussions the fact trump's tweet called President Obama "Bad (or sick) guy."   Where's the outrage for this?  I do like that Mika calls trump a liar.  I'm tired of so many of these types pussyfooting around.  When someone lies call it a lie. 

Eugene Robinson writes wonderful columns for the Washington Post but he needs to work on his speaking.

[Nidratime]

Quote

During the discussion of trump's tweets regarding President Obama wiretapping trump tower, Bob Woodward was silly talking about all the people going in and out of trump tower after the election. 

Some people don't age well. I sincerely believe, if *this* version of Woodward were around during Watergate, he'd be making excuses for Nixon rather than going after him.

[stormy]

So disappointed with Woodward. I actually can't stand him. Thank God Carl Bernstein has remained credible and worth listening to.

[teddysmom]

3 hours ago, abbyzenn said:

Liked that Donny D was back - maybe it's only when Joe isn't there

Donny was on CBS This Morning earlier this week, I figured the blow up he had with Joe led to him being gone for good.  Nicole Wallace has never been back after Mika yelled at her, now she's Brian Williams semi regular guest. 

I didn't watch this week's shows in their entirety, but what I did see, 30 minutes here and there while getting ready for work, was night & day compared to the tension and yelling when Joe is there.  No one wants to start their day with that. And I didn't notice anyone's opinions being watered down, it's almost like they felt free to voice how they felt without Psycho being there. 

Edited March 17, 2017 by teddysmom

[oakville]

Thursday's ratings. Morning Joe ratings down to 935K in total  viewers. It is ranked #113 among the key demographic 18-49. New Day is ranked #104. but 593K total ratings.  Fox & Friends is ranked (53,55& 90). Average total ratings 1,493M

http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-thursday-cable-originals-network-finals-3-16-2017.html

Carl Bernstein has not been on the show in ages. He got into several fights with Joe the lat time he was on the show. . His " Friend of the Show" status was revoked. Bernstein's son got in trouble recently for calling Melania Trump a prostitute at a fashion show in NY. I still respect Woodward.

[oakville]

7 hours ago, teddysmom said:

Donny was on CBS This Morning earlier this week, I figured the blow up he had with Joe led to him being gone for good.  Nicole Wallace has never been back after Mika yelled at her, now she's Brian Williams semi regular guest. 

I didn't watch this week's shows in their entirety, but what I did see, 30 minutes here and there while getting ready for work, was night & day compared to the tension and yelling when Joe is there.  No one wants to start their day with that. And I didn't notice anyone's opinions being watered down, it's almost like they felt free to voice how they felt without Psycho being there. 

Cackles & Williams belong together. Both have lost credibility with their base. It is intriguing that Mika & Joe were excited after Williams suspension was lifted for lying about his experiences in Iraq & New Orleans. Yet, they refuse to have him on their show now. He was on Morning Joe occasionally before the suspension. They bring on Brokaw as a voice of wisdom. Cackles is clueless about the GOP voters.

I find Donnie interesting because he knew Trump socially before he became President. He said that Trump was much nicer but that he is putting on a show since he started running for President.

Edited March 18, 2017 by oakville

[oakville]

I was very impressed with Vicky Ward's interview on Morning Joe. She talked about how the Mercer family convinced Trump to use their data source and hire Bannon & KAC. She has been on the show before.

http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/mercers/

They also had a good interview with Mike Allen on how to deal with Trump. They called him transactional in a manic way. Mika said it's tough to deal with Trump because he listens to the last person in the room, which is usually Bannon. Mika complained that she & Joe had meetings with Trump , and they thought he was listening to their advice but then he did the opposite thing.

Mika was upset that people complained about her visiting Trump tower after the election but no one complains about Woodward visiting Trump Tower because he is a journalist. Does Mika think she is a journalist?

[oakville]

Thursday additional Recap.

Mika was happy that Trump appointed her friend Dina Powell as Deputy National Security Advisor. Mika introduced Dina to Ivanka Trump. Mika is hopeful that Trump will listen to her.

Posh Katty Kay got into a heated argument with GOP Congressmen Meadows. Meadows detected Katty's British accent. Katty squinted. He said that there are long waiting times in the UK under the National Health Service. Katty said she didn't wait in lines for healthcare because her servants do that for her:). Katty said it would be political suicide to get rid of the NHS in the UK . Katty refused to acknowledge any rationing of health care in the UK. Katty told the GOP congressmen that the Trump/Ryan plan makes no sense, because you can't lower health costs without a mandate. The GOP replied that too many young healthy people refused to sign up for Obamacare. They are paying the penalty rather than pay for insurance with high deductibles.

 

Turley the constitutional law expert doesn't like the 9th circuit judges rulings because it relies on Trump's campaign comments rather than case law.

[Eliot]

On 3/15/2017 at 1:08 PM, teddysmom said:

The GOP replied that too many young healthy people refused to sign up for Obamacare. They are paying the penalty rather than pay for insurance with high deductibles.

 

Why does no one ever ask these people why, if high deductibles are the problem, their solution is more catastrophic plans with even higher deductibles?

[oakville]

1 hour ago, Eliot said:

Why does no one ever ask these people why, if high deductibles are the problem, their solution is more catastrophic plans with even higher deductibles?

I think it would have made more sense to replace the mandate for insurance with higher taxes on medicare to pay for the healthcare expansion. IIRC, Obama didn't want the mandate to be called a tax. There wasn't enough work done by the Obama administration to convince young people that signing up for healthcare plans that essentially provided catastrophic care would be good for them in the long run. The basis of insurance is to get young healthy people to pay premiums to subsidize older people who in general need more healthcare.

I found it interesting on Morning Joe last week that Mulvaney, the budget director complained that he was the only one on the set that had to buy an Obamacare insurance plan. He was jealous that Mika & the other NBC employees have a gold plated insurance plan provided for little or no cost.

[Mumbles]

35 minutes ago, oakville said:

I found it interesting on Morning Joe last week that Mulvaney, the budget director complained that he was the only one on the set that had to buy an Obamacare insurance plan. He was jealous that Mika & the other NBC employees have a gold plated insurance plan provided for little or no cost.

I don't remember him saying this, but if he did, this is simply false. Mulvaney was a Congressman before taking this job and the Congressional health care plans are among the most generous in the country. And as a federal employee now, he has a good health care plan now. There was talk back in the day among some hardcore GOP congressmen about giving up their plans and taking an ACA plan out of empathy (hah!) of their constituents who had no other choice.....but if he was one of those, he can't complain that he "had" to buy into an ACA plan.

[oakville]

2 hours ago, Mumbles said:

I don't remember him saying this, but if he did, this is simply false. Mulvaney was a Congressman before taking this job and the Congressional health care plans are among the most generous in the country. And as a federal employee now, he has a good health care plan now. There was talk back in the day among some hardcore GOP congressmen about giving up their plans and taking an ACA plan out of empathy (hah!) of their constituents who had no other choice.....but if he was one of those, he can't complain that he "had" to buy into an ACA plan.

Here is the clip of the interview. Mulvaney said he had to buy Obamacare on the exchanges since he was in Congress. He trashed the plan because of high deductibles. Do White House employees get a better health plan than members of Congress? It seems to me that Congress would set up a pretty good plan for themselves.

http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/mulvaney-on-cbo-i-don-t-believe-facts-are-correct-897434691776

[Mumbles]

I stand corrected. The ACA required Congress to buy on the ACA marketplace; that was thrown into the bill in an attempt to derail it. But many don't because they go on their spouses' plans. (Cruz, for example, went on his wife's very nice plan at Goldman Sachs.) So maybe be was on the ACA. But executive branch employees get coverage from a federal employees plan (many ACA opponents on Fox eg whined that Obama and his staff didn't have to get coverage from the ACA.)

[abbyzenn]

Mumbles - you're right that the requirement for members of Congress to buy insurance from an exchange was thrown in to derail the bill.  I guess it depends on which exchange your eligible for as to what is available for you.  I can't believe the only one available to Mulvaney has such high deductibles.   Congressional staffers I believe are still eligible for the federal employee program.

Oakland - I'm a retired federal employee.  There is a broad range of insurance plans available to federal employees - some are nationwide, some more local.  I've had friends that moved and had to get another plan because their current one wasn't available at their new location.  The plans are at a variety of costs (I pay over $300 a month) and have different deductibles, copays, etc.  When you become a federal employee you are eligible to select an insurance plan and once a year (in December) there is an open season where you can change plans. I believe if you don't sign up as soon as you're hired, you have to wait for the next open season.   So you can't get hired in May, decline insurance, get sick in September and then want to sign up.  You'd have to wait till December. Of course if you move during the year you can change plans otherwise you have to wait for the open season.  None of the plans can have penalties for pre-existing conditions.  If you leave federal service before retirement, you lose your insurance (you'd have to get your own plan).  To have it in retirement you must have been enrolled in the insurance program for 5 years prior to your retirement.  There are set rules on retirement like 30 years of service and be at least 55 years old is the most common one but it varies such as for federal law enforcement officers (50 years old).. 

I'm glad to see Mulvaney is taking heat for comments he made on Morning Joe concerning meal on wheels and saying the single mother in Detroit and the coal miner shouldn't have to pay for certain things but should for defense.

[Eliot]

Quote

I'm glad to see Mulvaney is taking heat for comments he made on Morning Joe concerning meal on wheels and saying the single mother in Detroit and the coal miner shouldn't have to pay for certain things but should for defense.

 

Too bad no one on the set had the cojones to ask him why the single mother in Detroit and coal miners in West Virginia should be footing the bill for Trump's weekly jaunts to Mar-a-Lago (not to mentioned the estranged wife in NY and family trips to Aspen).

[oakville]

Monday Recap. Joe is back wearing a suit with Mika wearing a red turtleneck.

Joe went on several rants against Trump. Joe is mad that he focused on healthcare rather than infrastructure and tax reform.

Joe wanted to focus on the Trump-Obama wiretaps.

Joe is mad that Trump won't apologize if the tory isn't true.

Joe discussed the battle within the White House with Gary Kohn kicking down doors in the White House when he doesn't get a meeting.

Joe said Bannon & Priebus are allied against Dina Powell, gary Kihn & Jared & Ivanka.

Joe said Trump's polls are at histric lows with 37%.

Everyone is mad about Trump's twets.

Joe said Trump was boorish with Angela Merkel over wiretapping .

Joe forgot to mention that the USA did tap Angel's cellphone while Obama was President.

Joe focused on trivial issues like Trump picking fights with everyone.

Joe said that Friends of the show Mcaskill & Mancin could win re election by complaining about Trump's health care policies which affect Trump voters.

Mika was gleefully taking shots at KAC for being on the cover of New York magazine. Joe said she is out of the loop.

No discussion of KAC's husband getting a job in the White House.

Joe said Washington always wins. Trump has to play by Washington's rules or else he will be stopped.

Mika wants the Trump agenda stopped.

Heileman said people in Germany don't like Trump.

Mika made several frownie faces whenever they played clips of Spicer.

Mika is mad at fake News from Russia. David Ignatius said that the UK is gobstruck about the wiretapping of Trump.

Eugene Robinson is laughing at Trump.

Joe is being obtuse about Trump not shaking Merkel;'s hand. I saw clips of him shaking her hand when she showed up at the White House & at the Press Conference. He didn't do it in the Oval Office meeting.

[oakville]

Joe said that Trump loses on healthcare no matter what happens.

[stormy]

Joe looks dapper in suit today. 

I'm glad Joe finally called out trump on his golfing trips to his resort/spa and Joe said after trump criticized President Obama for "golfing a couple of times".  (Before today, it seemed like only Chris Hayes and Chris Matthews were willing to make that attack).

Edited March 20, 2017 by stormy

[izabella]

16 hours ago, oakville said:

Joe went on several rants against Trump. Joe is mad that he focused on healthcare rather than infrastructure and tax reform.

Where was Joe during the election and every minute since?  Trump and the Republicans have been wanting to repeal the ACA since before it was passed.  Trump campaigned on it - remember, Joe?  He said repealing the ACA would be the first thing he does.

Anyway, Joe is wrong.  Trump and the Republicans aren't focused on health care.  They are focused on cutting taxes for high earners who pay extra taxes to fund the ACA and Medicaid expansion and cutting taxes on insurance companies and insurance company CEO's.  Trump IS focusing on tax reform - that is all that this repeal bill is, cutting taxes to defund the ACA.  No actual health care provided.

Edited March 21, 2017 by izabella

[Mumbles]

When even Jan Brewer - one of the stupidest and meanest people in politics - comes out against your health care plan, you're kinda screwed.

I had to laugh when they were talking about Trump's appearance with Merkel, and his not shaking her hand. Joe made a reference to Bush 43's awkward and creepy shoulder rub of her back in the day and said, between not shaking her hand and rubbing her back, why can't we have a president who can treat Merkel correctly? I wanted to yell, we did - Obama.

Lol when Barnicle called in to pay tribute to Jimmy Breslin. Along with the substantiated claims of fabulism and plagiarization, another rap against Barnicle when he was writing was that he was a Breslin ripoff.

[oakville]

I can't get over how much lighter Joe's hair has got after 10 years of hosting Morning Joe.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=joe+scarborough+photo+2007&tbm=isch&imgil=lvtPhC42Teu7oM%3A%3BlAXXhHeQ82zGfM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.tvguide.com%252Ftvshows%252Fmorning-joe%252Fphotos%252F292331%252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=lvtPhC42Teu7oM%3A%2ClAXXhHeQ82zGfM%2C_&usg=__ASx9vYV_PwWUgfq5A_1TxRWnmq0%3D&biw=1093&bih=460&ved=0ahUKEwjO0dTThubSAhUD7YMKHcofC3oQyjcIKw&ei=-EzQWM71B4PajwTKv6zQBw#imgrc=lvtPhC42Teu7oM:

Joe now disputes that Obamacare will collapse in 2017. It may survive till 2020 , but too many states only have 1 provider. Joe says the GOP is doomed if they pass this healthcare plan. What's Joe's plan?

Joe has been trashing Obamacare since 2010. Now that the GOP is in power to replace it, Joe is trashing the proposed replacement. Joe is becoming Mr Cranky.

[oakville]

8 hours ago, izabella said:

Where was Joe during the election and every minute since?  Trump and the Republicans have been wanting to repeal the ACA since before it was passed.  Dump Truck campaigned on it - remember, Joe?  He said repealing the ACA would be the first thing he does.

Anyway, Joe is wrong.  Trump and the Republicans aren't focused on health care.  They are focused on cutting taxes for high earners who pay extra taxes to fund the ACA and Medicaid expansion and cutting taxes on insurance companies and insurance company CEO's.  Trump IS focusing on tax reform - that is all that this repeal bill is, cutting taxes to defund the ACA.  No actual health care provided.

Sometimes I think that Mika & Joe believe that their audience has amnesia. They pretend that no one remembers how sycophantic they were of Trump during the primaries & in the pre inauguration. It's hilarious that they get angrier at Trump every day that he ignores them.