The Official World Politics Thread - All Breaking News here.

WaPo: Trump Admin Cuts Back On Obamacare Enrollment Notices

The Trump administration significantly cut down on the volume and effectiveness of communications about Obamacare’s open enrollment period, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Citing internal documents it had obtained, the Post described notable changes to emails sent by the Trump administration advertising Obamacare’s open enrollment period, during which time anyone can sign up for insurance coverage through the law’s individual marketplace. This year, that period runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15.

The Post reported that, this year, emails advertising the period went “only to people with current health plans through marketplaces created under the law,” leaving out the majority of the roughly 20 million consumers known to the government, who used to have coverage or had otherwise explored HealthCare.gov.

And the emails that were sent, according to the Post, were stripped of perhaps their most convincing element, determined by the Obama administration through extensive research: cost savings.

Whereas a 2016 open enrollment email advertised that “[n]ew, better or more affordable plans may be available to you,” and “[y]ou could save money by switching to a new plan,” an email sent last week and obtained by the Post lacked any mention of cost savings.

The changes to the open enrollment emails contribute to the Trump administration’s already rocky administration of the law.

At the end of August, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a 90 percent cut in the department’s budget to promote Obamacare and educate the public about it. And last month, Trump ended key payments to insurance companies, called cost-sharing reductions, meant to subsidize insurance coverage for lower income people.

A Month After Las Vegas, Rapid-Fire Bump Stocks Are Untouched
by Alex Seitz-WaldNov 2 2017, 9:46 am ET

WASHINGTON — One month after Robert Gaafar survived the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history by taking cover behind a vending machine at a Las Vegas concert, things still haven't returned to normal for him.

"The screaming is something I will never forget," he told NBC News this week. "We're 30 days out and it’s not even mentioned anymore. It’s just crazy."

The October 1 massacre seemed to create an opening for bipartisan congressional action on guns, with lawmakers from both parties calling for a crackdown on bump stocks, the gun modifications the shooter owned that essentially convert semi-automatic rifles into functioning like fully automatic ones.

But a month later, there has not been a single hearing, vote or regulatory change in Washington, demonstrating once again the power and inflexibility of the gun lobby. Bump stock bills have failed to gain traction in Congress, while the prospect of a regulatory fix from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has faded, too.

"It’s a joke. It’s an absolute joke," said Gaafar between stops on Capitol Hill Wednesday to lobby lawmakers on the issue.

Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun-safety group founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was severely injured in a 2011 shooting, announced Wednesday they are essentially giving up on Washington and turning their attention instead to state capitals on bump stocks.

"While Americans should continue to voice frustration that efforts to save lives and make communities safer have stalled at the federal level, they should also call on state legislators to fight for progress," said the group’s executive director, Peter Ambler.

Guns have been a third rail in American politics for decades. But the days after the Las Vegas shooting seemed different — especially when the National Rifle Association and top Republican lawmakers spoke out against bump stocks.

In hindsight, the NRA's conciliatory statement effectively derailed legislative action by diverting attention to the ATF, an agency that had already concluded it does not have the authority to regulate bump stocks under current law.

"The day before we put out that statement, there were enough votes in the House of Representatives (for a bump stock bill)," Chris ? , the NRA’s top lobbyist, said in an interview with a pro-gun YouTube channel last week. "The truth is we needed to slow the process down."

John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, which is backed by former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, said the NRA statement in support of regulatory action on bump stocks was "just a wink and nod."

The ATF recently briefed staffers from the House and Senate Judiciary Committee on bump stocks, according to spokesperson Amanda Hils, but she would not comment on what the agency told the committees.

Advocates are still holding out hope for a congressional hearing, and a spokesperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee said the panel is preparing for one.

But for Gaafar, the lack of action makes no sense.

"This stuff is just so common sense," he said. "What I heard, the continued rapid fire, nobody should own anything like that."

stringer bell wrote: »

https://twitter.com/guinz/status/925434950828118021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiWe6LJSUfk

Daily Caller Corrects Misleading ‘Allahu Akbar’ Jake Tapper Story, Then Calls For Tapper Apology?!

A few months after this reporter suggested the Daily Caller work on their “reading comprehension,” it seems that it might be time for the far-right tabloid to work on their listening skills as well.

After publishing the blatantly misleading implication that CNN host Jake Tapper praised the New York City terrorist’s use of “Allahu Akbar” in his attack that killed eight people, the Daily Caller managed to correct their story, double-down on it, and demand the CNN reporter “apologize to America” for his reporting.

The lede of the original Caller story — which can be accessed via a web archive — reads, “CNN anchor Jake Tapper called the Islamic phrase Allahu Akbar “beautiful” minutes after reports of a terrorist attack in New York City.” This was coupled with the headline, “CNN’s Jake Tapper Calls Allahu Akbar ‘Beatiful’ After Terrorist Attack.”

However, what Tapper actually said was, “The Arabic chant ‘Allahu Akbar, ‘? is great.’ Sometimes said under the most beautiful of circumstances and too often we hear of it being said in moments like this” — which, read in its full context, is a condemnation of the attacker’s use of the phrase (as explained by Tapper in a tweet.)

After being called out by Tapper and others, the official Daily Caller account tweeted, “The story is objectively true by even the strictest journalistic measure, caught on tape, in fact.”

Nicholas Givas‏, the author of the misleading piece, continued the tabloid’s double-down by tweeting, “CNN’s @ jaketapper coming after me and @ DailyCaller for doing a piece on him using his own words — Good luck in the ratings Jake! I hear you’re doing great.”

As for Givas, his only other reporting experience appears to be for American Action News — a fringe conservative site focused primarily on posting right-wing memes on Facebook. Though Givas doubled-down, the Daily Caller issued a correction to the piece.

The corrected version of Givas’ article includes a disclaimer saying, “The Editor in Chief has updated this copy to make the terminology more accurate, though the spirit of the story remains identical.” The lede was also changed to, “CNN anchor Jake Tapper felt the need to immediately compliment the Islamic phrase Allahu Akbar — saying people said it in ‘beautiful’ circumstances — minutes after reports of a terrorist attack.”

This morning, Daily Caller editor-in-chief Geoffrey Ingersoll demanded in an editorial that Tapper “apologize to America” for his “bending of the knee” to “Muslims.”

“We corrected the copy, Mr. Tapper, but it’s not substantively different. In fact, I think it looks worse for you,” said Ingersoll — proverbial shovel in hand as he continued the tabloid’s best attempts at digging a deep hole.

Tapper took to Twitter yesterday to tear into Daily Caller and Fox News — which followed the tabloid’s lead and published the same claim against him. The Lead anchor also said the two conservative outlets were “lying” in their attempt to “smear” him and went on to group Daily Caller and Fox News with the racist, conspiracy mongering site InfoWars, as Tapper suggested they are all on the same “slime-coated path”

While Fox News did delete their controversial tweet against Tapper, InfoWars and Daily Caller chose to stand by their misleading reporting.

Robert Mercer Sells Stake in Breitbart Citing Disagreements with Bannon and Milo

Hedge fund giant Robert Mercer dropped two bombshells today. The multi-billionaire, who has been a vocal and financial supporter of President Donald Trump, announced that he is stepping down from his role as co-CEO of hedge fund Renaissance Technologies LLC.

Additionally, Mercer is selling his stake in Breitbart News, having originally invested $11 million in the far-right news organization in 2011. The 71-year-old cited “personal reasons” for selling off his part of the company, which recently re-instated former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon as executive chairman.

https://twitter.com/JoshuaGreen/status/926105710194249730

Mercer penned a statement on both developments, which expressed admiration for Bannon but alluded to differences in their political ideologies.

“I have great respect for Mr. Bannon, and from time to time I do discuss politics with him,” he wrote. “However, I make my own decisions with respect to whom I support politically. Those decisions do not always align with Mr. Bannon’s.”

Mercer’s ties to Breitbart News have come under scrutiny in recent months after Buzzfeed published a report that accused the site of purposefully watering down racist and white supremacist rhetoric in order to make it more palatable to a larger swath of readers.

Buzzfeed’s article singled out former Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos for smoothing out the alt-right’s more fringe elements. Yiannopoulos was forced to resign from Breitbart earlier this year after comments surfaced that showed him appearing to excuse ? .

Mercer took care to allude to the role Yiannopoulos likely played in his decision to sell off his part of the muckraking news site.

“I supported Milo Yiannopoulos in the hope and expectation that his expression of views contrary to the social mainstream and his spotlighting of the hypocrisy of those who would close down free speech in the name of political correctness would promote the type of open debate and freedom of thought that is being throttled on many American college campuses today,” he wrote.

“But in my opinion, actions of and statements by Mr. Yiannopoulos have caused pain and divisiveness undermining the open and productive discourse that I had hoped to facilitate. I was mistaken to have supported him, and for several weeks have been in the process of severing all ties with him.”

His massive stake in Breitbart News won’t be going far. Mercer has announced that he is selling it off to his daughters, Rebekah Mercer, Jennifer Mercer and Heather Sue Mercer.

Renaissance Technologies is one of the world’s most successful hedge funds, with a financial index of over $50 billion.

Mercer has not announced if he is sharing off his stake in data firm Cambridge Analytica, which played a major role in the 2016 election.

VIBE wrote: »

Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC

When I was asked to run the Democratic Party after the Russians hacked our emails, I stumbled onto a shocking truth about the Clinton campaign.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/02/clinton-brazile-hacks-2016-215774

stringer bell wrote: »

https://www.mediaite.com/online/robert-mercer-sells-stake-in-breitbart-citing-disagreements-with-bannon-and-milo/

Robert Mercer Sells Stake in Breitbart Citing Disagreements with Bannon and Milo

Hedge fund giant Robert Mercer dropped two bombshells today. The multi-billionaire, who has been a vocal and financial supporter of President Donald Trump, announced that he is stepping down from his role as co-CEO of hedge fund Renaissance Technologies LLC.

Additionally, Mercer is selling his stake in Breitbart News, having originally invested $11 million in the far-right news organization in 2011. The 71-year-old cited “personal reasons” for selling off his part of the company, which recently re-instated former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon as executive chairman.

https://twitter.com/JoshuaGreen/status/926105710194249730

Mercer penned a statement on both developments, which expressed admiration for Bannon but alluded to differences in their political ideologies.

“I have great respect for Mr. Bannon, and from time to time I do discuss politics with him,” he wrote. “However, I make my own decisions with respect to whom I support politically. Those decisions do not always align with Mr. Bannon’s.”

Mercer’s ties to Breitbart News have come under scrutiny in recent months after Buzzfeed published a report that accused the site of purposefully watering down racist and white supremacist rhetoric in order to make it more palatable to a larger swath of readers.

Buzzfeed’s article singled out former Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos for smoothing out the alt-right’s more fringe elements. Yiannopoulos was forced to resign from Breitbart earlier this year after comments surfaced that showed him appearing to excuse ? .

Mercer took care to allude to the role Yiannopoulos likely played in his decision to sell off his part of the muckraking news site.

“I supported Milo Yiannopoulos in the hope and expectation that his expression of views contrary to the social mainstream and his spotlighting of the hypocrisy of those who would close down free speech in the name of political correctness would promote the type of open debate and freedom of thought that is being throttled on many American college campuses today,” he wrote.

“But in my opinion, actions of and statements by Mr. Yiannopoulos have caused pain and divisiveness undermining the open and productive discourse that I had hoped to facilitate. I was mistaken to have supported him, and for several weeks have been in the process of severing all ties with him.”

His massive stake in Breitbart News won’t be going far. Mercer has announced that he is selling it off to his daughters, Rebekah Mercer, Jennifer Mercer and Heather Sue Mercer.

Renaissance Technologies is one of the world’s most successful hedge funds, with a financial index of over $50 billion.

Mercer has not announced if he is sharing off his stake in data firm Cambridge Analytica, which played a major role in the 2016 election.

Rick Perry Suggests Fossil Fuels Could Prevent Sexual Assault In South Africa

Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Thursday that the use of fossil fuels to power an electric grid in South Africa could prevent sexual assault there.

Speaking at an Axios-sponsored event Thursday, Perry responded to shouted comments from a protester about fossil fuels causing climate change and killing people in poor countries by explaining a conversation he had with a young woman during his trip to South Africa last week.

He said the woman told him electricity would make it easier for her to read and claimed it would take “fossil fuels to push power out” to African villages, but didn’t explain why renewable energy sources couldn’t be used as well.

“A young girl told me to my face, ‘One of the reasons that electricity is so important to me is not only because I’m not going to have to try to read by the light of a fire and have those fumes literally ? people.’ But also from the standpoint of sexual assault,” he said. “When the lights are on, when you have light that shines, the righteousness, if you will, on those types of acts. So from the standpoint of how you really affect people’s lives, fossil fuels is going to play a role in that. I happen to think it’s going to play a positive role.”

Better lighting doesn’t necessarily decrease the likelihood of sexual assault, according to a study conducted by University College London.

Perry has been an advocate for coal-powered plants and has repeatedly questioned the science behind the role carbon dioxide plays in climate change since he took over the Department of Energy.