Alternative fact: Now that *tyrant Barack Obama* and his history of *abusing executive powers* is gone, Republicans are in an uproar about Cheeto Benito's abuse of the same executive powers .
Well, the neo- fascist shitgibbon Donald "Rump" Trump is well on his way to proving to be a change chaos agent in the White House, and (to the surprise and eventual affliction of many of his benighted voters) doing what he said he would do.
First, there was his sticking it to homeowners with FHA mortgages. Then, in short succession,
First, there was his sticking it to homeowners with FHA mortgages. Then, in short succession,
Affordable Care Act
President Trump’s executive order instructing federal agencies to grant relief to constituencies affected by the Affordable Care Act has begun to reverberate throughout the nation’s health-care system, injecting further uncertainty into an already unsettled insurance landscape.
The political signal of the order, which Trump signed just hours after being sworn into office, was clear: Even before the Republican-led Congress acts to repeal the 2010 law, the new administration will move swiftly to unwind as many elements as it can on its own — elements that have changed how 20 million Americans get health coverage and what benefits insurers must offer some of their customers. [snip]
Robert Laszewski, president of the consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy Associates, called the executive order a “bomb” lobbed into the law’s “already shaky” insurance market. Given the time it will take Republicans to fashion a replacement, he expects that federal and state insurance exchanges will continue to operate at least through 2018.
“Instead of sending a signal that there’s going to be an orderly transition, they’ve sent a signal that it’s going to be a disorderly transition,” said Laszewski, a longtime critic of the law, which is also known as Obamacare. “How does the Trump administration think this is not going to make the situation worse?” (our emphasis)Answer to that last rhetorical question: "That's. Their. Plan."
Trade
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order as early as Monday stating his intention to renegotiate the free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, a White House official told NBC News.
Eliminating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was crafted by former President Bill Clinton and enacted in 1994, was a frequent Trump campaign promise. [snip]
U.S. manufacturing exports to Canada and Mexico, the United States' two largest export markets, increased 258 percent under the agreement, according to the website of outgoing U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, and the deal helped create a trade surplus in agriculture and manufactured goods. [snip]
The Center for Automotive Research, a respected automotive research firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said in a statement this month that pulling out of NAFTA could cost auto jobs created since the end of the Great Recession. "Counter to the incoming Trump administration's goal of creating manufacturing jobs, the withdrawal from NAFTA or the implementation of punitive tariffs could result in the loss of 31,000 U.S. jobs," CAR said. [snip]
Trump is also expected to sign an executive order announcing his intention to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement among 11 Pacific Rim countries and never ratified by Congress, said the White House official. He will simultaneously move to begin individual trade negotiations with the countries in the TPP.Here's an assessment of the dangers of "renegotiating" NAFTA (shorter: aim, fire, shoot in foot). China is certain to welcome the US pulling out of the emerging Asian rim trading bloc that would have given us far more benefits and leverage than a go- it- alone policy:
There are signs that China will take full advantage of the American shift to press its own trade vision. The Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a rival pact that excludes Washington, is already getting new attention, including from leaders in Peru and Malaysia who signed TPP and now plan to focus on trade negotiations with China.The damage these nihilists could do in short order across the board makes it all the more important that the popular resistance movement we saw on Saturday all over the country stays engaged in order to mitigate that damage wherever we can. In any event, as our friend Infidel 753 says,
"If we keep fighting, we still might lose. If we don't, we will definitely lose."
