Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do.

U.S Grant at the Battle of the Wilderness May 6th 1864

Yesterday I pointed out that the idea that DA Allen Bragg wants to indict Trump for political reasons is both:

  1. A travesty of justice and a threat to the republic
  2. Not an argument for voting for Trump vs a better possible candidate
  3. Has brought out some of the worst in his surrogates attacking not Bragg but possible primary opponents

Having said these things there is an excellent article at PJ media (I know that’s a redundant statement but I digress…) that points out how this entire business shows some of the best features of Trump when it comes to fighting against our political foes.

This is pure speculation, but does appear that the combination of Trump getting in front of the narrative and scrutiny from House Republicans gave Bragg a temporary case of cold feet. I do think that he has been dreaming about the perverse star turn he’ll get from indicting Trump for so long that he will eventually go through with it. When he does, Trump’s public relations machinations of the past week will probably make it backfire on Bragg even more than it would have if he’d had done it on Tuesday.

Trump has definitely had his “A” game going in this situation. That hasn’t always been the case in recent months (see: “DeSantimonius”). When he’s focused he can play PR chess better than anybody.

The reason why this is the case is something right out of one of my favorite books of all time Pratt’s Preble’s Boys where he notes the phrase: “Having decided on Battle”.

Rather than acting in fear of Bragg, the grand jury or the Soros Machine targeting him Trump choose to fight and “Having decided on battle” he like any good general decided to choose the terrain for what was coming.

In fact, Trump is so good at this that, at some point in the last few days, it almost seemed as if control of the situation shifted from Bragg to him. It was Trump, not Bragg’s office, who told the public that he would be arrested on Tuesday of this week. When that didn’t happen, it made Bragg look weak.

The fact that the grand jury wasn’t seated on Wednesday really made it seem as if Bragg was faltering

Personally my favorite bit was causing massive numbers of the press to rush out to cover protests that weren’t happening basically turning the press scrum into the Monty Python Wicker’s Island skit

And of course all of this gave time to his allies in the house to start bringing heat as well. and it produced this hilarious response from Chuck Schumer the Senator who represents Bragg in NY

And more importantly when Trump has been able to not only direct the flow and pace of the story but is able to highlight Bragg’s failures

On Wednesday morning, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that Bragg was having problems with the grand jury. “The Rogue prosecutor, who is having a hard time with the Grand Jury, especially after the powerful testimony against him by Felon Cohen’s highly respected former lawyer, is attempting to build a case that has NEVER BEEN BROUGHT BEFORE AND ACTUALLY, CAN’T BE BROUGHT,” he claimed. “If he spent this time, effort, and money on fighting VIOLENT CRIME, which is destroying NYC, our once beautiful and safe Manhattan, which has become an absolute HELLHOLE, would be a much better place to live!”

It’s worth noting that when he targets Bragg he (Trump) looks confident and unafraid and running the show because he know that left for what it is and more importantly is not afraid of them.

That’s the reason more than anything else why so many on the right love Trump and would be delighted to see him back in the White House

Closing thought:

Contrast his handling of Bragg & Company to his targeting of DeSantis which has a whiff of impotence about it as the Governor has brushed it aside. That’s the difference between fighting leftists without substance and fighting a conservative who has substance and knows it..

I have a rule for myself that I’ve followed for a long time. I’m not going to be forced into a decision that I might not normally make.

For example when Salmon Rushdie was threatened by Iran with death thousands rushed out to buy his book, The Satanic Verses in a show of solidarity.

I didn’t

My thought was this. If the Iranians did nothing would I be interested in this book? The answer was no. So I decided that buying the book in response to Iranian threats was just allowing these terrorists to dictate my actions and I wasn’t about to do that.

Which brings us to the Trump indictment.

If it in fact happens it will be a reflection on the idiocy of NY voters who apparently have no issue with being victims of violent crime and allowing themselves to be victimized by criminals as long as political goals are reached.

It further reflects on Bragg who apparently has no interest in protecting the citizens of the city but in fairness

  1. He ran on a platform of “getting” Donald Trump
  2. He is bought and paid for by Soros

So if nothing else he is keeping his promise on this subject and giving his owner value for the dollars invested in him.

Put simply Bragg is a corrupt ass who doesn’t care about the people of NY or the future of this country as the precedent set by these actions are going to be very harmful.

All of these things are reasons to deplore the indictment of Donald Trump and the use of criminal justice system for political ends but all that being said none of these things are a credible arguments that Donald Trump is a better candidate for the GOP nomination than Ron DeSantis.

In fact the actions of Trump surrogates seem to be making the case that he is an inferior candidate to DeSantis. The blatant lies and calumnies being told about DeSantis by Christian conservatives is a reminder that Trump tends to fight like a Democrat.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a solid case to be made for Trump as the GOP nominee based mostly on his record as President which was better than any other 21st Century president to this point.

But Allen Bragg being an asshole and the Democrat run Justice department and NY criminal justice system being corrupt are not part of them. They are in fact the case for voting GOP in general not for voting Trump in particular.

Without a doubt if Donald J. Trump is the GOP nominee I will vote for him without hesitation, but if he wants my primary vote he is going to have to earn it by his arguments and actions. I’m not going to let some corrupt leftist drive my primary vote, I won’t cede him that power.

Musings on Medicare

Posted: March 21, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
Tags: ,

By Christopher Harper

As the debate over the future of Medicare hits its stride during the upcoming presidential campaign, policymakers should look at the cost of Medicare Advantage plans as one way to save money.

Advantage plans are those run by private insurers rather than the government providing government payments for hospital care and physician costs. My plan also includes drugs, dental, and eye care.

Private plans have been an option in Medicare since the 1970s, but enrollment in private plans remained relatively low through the 1990s. Aside from changing the name of Medicare private plans from Medicare+Choice to Medicare Advantage (also referred to as Medicare Part C), the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 made significant changes that propelled enrollment growth. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 also made many changes that enhanced plan enrollment. As a result, about half of all seniors have a Medicare Advantage plan, or 30 million people, up from 11.5 million in 2010.

Unlike the government plan for Medicare, which costs me $170 a month, whether in the program or an Advantage plan, the private insurer puts money in my pocket to join.

The coverage costs me nothing other than the fee for Medicare. But there’s a lot more. My Advantage plan gives me a $25 monthly reduction in my Medicare payment or $300 yearly. The plan pays my YMCA membership of $43.10 monthly or about $500 annually. The program gives me a $500 debit card to use mainly for dental work and eyeglasses, and I get a credit of $25 a month, or $300 a year, for over-the-counter drugs and items like throat lozenges. All told, that’s $1,600 a year for just signing up.

I’m not exactly willing to give up these perks, but it seems the government has been awfully generous to the private insurers if they can entice me with all these goodies.

The government pays private insurers about $12,000 a year for people who sign up for Advantage plans—a number that has risen significantly in recent years. That allowance is where I think the government should reassess whether that’s too much money.

Although I realize my health is better than many seniors, I cost my insurer about $1,200 last year. I’ll bet there are more people like me in my county, which is the geographical area upon which the government payouts are based.

According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, Lycoming County, where I live in central Pennsylvania, has seen better health since the 1980s. However, lung cancer and diabetes have increased somewhat.

I think various changes must be made to save Medicare, but I think a good hard look at Advantage programs and how they operate may be a good start without causing significant hardships to seniors.

“Be kind to everyone on the way up; you’ll meet the same people on the way down.“

Wilson Miznor

Of all the reactions to the Potential Arrest of Donald Trump for political reasons one of the ones I found most amusing was this:

How DARE Ron DeSantis not say anything about something that hasn’t happened in a state that isn’t his to defend somebody who has not only been attacking him relentlessly but has had their surrogates with the help of the left try to impede him.

Of course this didn’t stop Mike Pence appearing on ABC from calling this out for what it is:

It just feels like a politically charged prosecution here. And I, for my part, I just feel like it’s just not what the American people want to see. We got real challenges in this country today, Jon. People are facing record inflation, a crisis at our border. We have war in Eastern Europe, the American people are anxious about the future and here we go again, back into another politically charged prosecution directed at the former president of the United States, and I would just hope for better.

If I’m DeSantis I don’t say a thing until something happens and if I am asked I’d say something like this:

This is the reason why so many people are leaving NY and choosing Florida you have a DA ignoring actual crime while going after people for political reasons.

Of course what I think he should say is now moot because before I could finish writing the post DeSantis said this:

He hit all the best key points:

  • Soros prosecutor downgraded 50% of felonies to misdemeanors
  • He’s basically weaponizing the office
  • The real victims are the regular people because crime that hurts people is ignored.
  • I’m the only Governor who has removed a Soros prosecutor from office

He even managed an interesting line that I’m sure Donald might not appreciate:

“Look, I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a pornstar to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I can’t speak to that. But what I can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many many years ago to try to use something about pornstar hush money payments, you know that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office,”

But given all the attacks Trump has given him he’s got no business complaining. Although his surrogates are all pissed off. I’ll give Brian Jacobson the last word.

If you want people to be your friend when you need them, act friendly.