Bin Salman, Healthcare, Trump: 3 Stories You Should Read 10/18/2018
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In the category of: The company you keep…
STEVEN MNUCHIN HAS CHANGE OF HEART RE: ASSOCIATING WITH “BONE SAW” BIN SALMAN
In a shocking twist, the Treasury secretary will not attend Saudi Arabia’s big investment conference next week.
Next week, Saudi Arabia will host the Future Investment Initiative, a big, shiny conference known as “Davos in the Desert” that brings together tech gurus, media conglomerates, and Wall Street titans, all of whom rely on that sweet, sweet, Saudi cash to make their businesses run. Or at least, it used to bring those people together. This year, though, things look slightly different on account of the growing consensus that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi, who was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and, according to Turkish officials, was killed and dismembered therein. While former White House official Dina Powell will still attend on behalf of Goldman Sachs, everyone from the C.E.O.s of Uber, JPMorgan, BlackRock, and Blackstone, to the Finance Ministers of France and the Netherlands, to The New York Times, Bloomberg, and the Financial Times, has pulled out of the event, following said murder allegations. And on Thursday, the one guy who was thought to have his bags packed and his airplane sweats ready to go announced that he, too, was out: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
In the category of: Survival is always going to be on voter’s minds.
Health care is a top issue for voters. That leaves Republicans in a tricky spot for the midterms.
Amid a scourge of drug addiction, medical debt and rising health costs across the country, Barack Obama’s landmark health care legislation has made steady gains in popularity. And that leaves Republicans in the uncomfortable position of backing provisions of the legislation they wouldn’t support in the past.
The Kaiser Family Foundation found in a national poll of 1,201 adults, conducted Sept. 19 to Oct. 2, that health care tops guns, the economy and immigration as voters’ most important consideration when choosing a candidate. The poll also found that in battleground states, such as Florida and Nevada, the pre-existing conditions mandate — which ensures that people with conditions such as diabetes or cancer don’t get charged more in monthly premiums — was a key issue in deciding who to vote for.
In the category of: Where’s the bottom?
Trump can horrify us, annoy us, embarrass us — but he cannot shock us
Many people in the know expect Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report to show ample evidence of collusion, financial crimes, and possibly worse. If the report is as bad as they predict, it will, by definition, not be shocking. The worst is what we expect from Trump, because that’s usually what he gives us.
We know, based on decades of evidence, that Trump is a bad person, and so it’s not surprising when he behaves like one. We know, based on 21 months of experience, that he is unfit to be president, and so we are not surprised when he proves us right. Trump can horrify us, annoy us, embarrass us — but he cannot shock us. We know him too well.
The only thing Trump can do to shock us is to behave like a grownup for a sustained period of time, without the aid of sedatives. For Trump, this is an impossible task. He can do adultery, but not adulthood.
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