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Thank you, Mr. President, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted July 15, celebrating the one-year anniversary of candidate Donald Trump naming him to the 2016 ticket. Will ex-president Trump get to say the same thing to Pence when the new president pardons him?

Despite the I love it salivated by Donald Trump Jr. at the prospect of Kremlin help with the campaign, his fathers impeachment is a long shot. Unless Democrats retake Congress in 2018, the chance that elected Republicans will admit theyve been enabling a liar and an idiotwords that polled AmericanscallTrumpare just about nil. But I give even odds to Trumps resigning for health reasons.

Hell never admit to any of the crimes that congressional committees or special counsel Robert Mueller may fillet him for, and even if he fires Mueller, no amount of incriminating evidence uncovered by investigative journalists will awaken our man-baby-in-chief to grownup skills like telling true from false, reality from delusion and news from Fox News.

But bullies like Trump are cowards at heart. However appealing he finds sliming his prosecutors like a stressedhagfish, the thought of running away to spend more time with his 9-iron might prove irresistible. Would Pence trade the Oval Office for Trumps holding his resignation hostage to a pardon?

Pence could use the same reason Gerald Fordgavefor pardoning Richard Nixon in 1974: To write the ending of a nightmarish chapter in our history. When Ford lost the 1976 presidential election, he believed it was the pardon that doomed him, and most historians agree. You can imagine Pence wondering the same thing about his own fate in 2020.

Pence, though, may not have a choice. Trump has the goods on him.

Trump knows Pence lied when he claimed to be in the dark about the footsie former national security adviser Mike Flynn was playing with the Russians, the Turks and who knows who else. Trump also knows Pence knew how deep in the tank were Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner and Trump Jr. (and Ivanka? Steve Bannon? Bueller?) with Russian hackers, oligarchs and Vladimir Putin. As Trump might put it, many people aresayingthat Pence is either lying or wildly incompetent, or either a sucker and a dupe or a liar. Trump knows its all of the above, leaving Pence no alternative to paying the ransom of a pardon.

I have to believe that Pences political rise,like Sarah Palins, has been powered at least in part by his looks. If Pence, a right-wing talk radio host for an Indiana station, had looked like Rush Limbaugh or Alex Jones, he might never have made it to Congress. In the 2016 vice presidential debate, Penceliedthrough his teeth, claiming Trump never uttered the falsehoods Tim Kaine quoted. If Pence didnt look like central castings idea of Midwestern rectitude, he would have been laughed off the stage.

In May, at the U.S. Naval Academy graduation, Pencesaidthe most important quality of leadership is humility, a point hemadeagain July 12 to high school students attending the National Student Leadership Conference at American University, where he went on, with no irony, to cite Donald Trump as a paragon of that very humility. Really. He actually said that. He invoked Trump to illustrate other leadership virtues, too: integrity (!), self-control (!!) and respect for authority (?). How did Pence get away with it? Tonsorial integrity, Id venturethe proxy for honesty that his headful of snowy white hair absurdly confers on the blatant bull that comes out of his mouth.

Pences current priority, selling Mitch McConnells health care bill to wavering senators, isnt going very well. The damage he did to his credibility by lying about Flynn, Russia andwhyTrump fired FBI director James Comey is ananvilaround his neck. His approval ratings, atplus-11as recently as March, have fallen, like Trumps, toall-time lows. No wonder he bombed at the National Governors Associations meeting on July 14. When he lied about Medicaid (he said its expansion under the Affordable Care Act hurt developmentally disabled Americans and put far too many able-bodied adults on the program), he wasnailednot by a Democrat, but by the Republican governor of Ohio, John Kasich. Pence also scored zero points with three other Republican governors whose states expanded Medicaid: Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Doug Ducey of Arizona and Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas. When Republican senators from those states vote on McConnells bill, theyll take their lead from their governors, not from Pence.

If youre dreaming of an abbreviated Trump administration, you need to reconcile yourself not only to a Pence presidency, but also to a Pence pardon. That would make Trump even more insufferable, but as many people are saying, at least Pence would be a normal Republican. You know, the garde-variety Republican whowantsto kill Planned Parenthood and end gay marriage, who calls global warming a myth and longs for the day that Roe v. Wade is sent to the ash heap of history.

We have to keep reminding ourselves not to get used to Trump, that hes not normal. Pence may be normal, but so is poison ivy.

Read the original post:
Will Mike Pence Pardon Donald Trump? - AlterNet

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus and several House Democrats asked Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday to remove Kris W. Kobach as vice chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity and to cancel the requests made last month for states to turn over voter information.

The pressure comes after several lawsuits have been filed against the commission, alleging it violated federal law after asking states to turn over names, partial Social Security numbers, birthdays, political party affiliations, military status and other public information. The commission has stopped gathering the data until a judge resolves the matter.

In an 11-page letter sent to Mr. Pence, the lawmakers alleged Mr. Kobach may have violated the Hatch Act by touting his position on the commission in furtherance of his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. The Hatch Act forbids executive branch employees from using their positions to influence an election.

Mr. Kobachs partisan activity and his recent sanctions for dishonesty before a court of law cast a shadow over the Commission and undermine its integrity, the lawmakers wrote. Mr. Kobach should step down as Vice-Chair and be replaced with an individual who can be trusted to ensure that the Commission operates in a bipartisan manner to protect voter information and to protect the right of Americans to vote.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Common Cause and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law all have lawsuits pending against the commission, hoping to prevent it from collecting the information.

The lawmakers asked Mr. Pence to address questions and speculation about the commission at its next meeting on July 19.

Continued here:
Pence pressured by CBC, Dems to remove Kris Kobach from election integrity commission - Washington Times

An act in three parts, featuring Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), played out on Twitter over the last few days.

VP Pence went first, posting a video of himself on Friday speaking about the (now dead) Senate health-care bill.

Let me be clear: The Senate health-care bill strengthens and secures Medicaid for the neediest in our society. #BetterCare pic.twitter.com/rThIZtB9zi

The next day, Sen. Murphy quote-tweeted Pence's video and said that there was a "real evil in the epidemic rate of lying" that is currently happening in Washington.

I'm going to say it - there is real evil in the epidemic rate of lying that is going on right now. This is not normal. https://t.co/ifkV1GWAUH

To which Pence replied on Monday that the current Obamacare law contained quite a bit of lies and half-truths as well--namely, the 2013 PolitiFact Lie of the Year of "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." For good measure, Pence also included the Pinocchio emoji of a face with a growing nose.

You mean like, "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor."? ?? https://t.co/GUpFKhe7pz

Daaaaaaaaang.

While not quite admitting defeat, Murphy then thanked Pence for the reply, and claimed that pointing out that others lied too "isn't a defense." (Although one could say it's at least progress now that Democrats are admitting that people lied during the leadup to the passage of Obamacare.)

Thanks for the reply, but claiming someone else lied too isn't a defense. The bill does not "secure Medicaid". I'm confident you know this. https://t.co/0OqkijAaK7

Who knew VP Pence could be that intense on Twitter?

Even The New York Times Noticed the Dems' Obstructionism

Read more from the original source:
Mike Pence Demolishes Sen. Chris Murphy on Twitter - Townhall

In a little more than 15 years, the United States went from launching its first satellites (Explorer 1 and Vanguard 1 in 1958) to putting men in space, then on the moon, then to landing a spacecraft safely on Mars (Viking in 1976).

Think about that for a minute: People who had gone west in covered wagons on the Oregon Trail as children were still alive when the United States launched those satellites.

People born in 1869, when the last member of Lewis and Clark expedition was still alive, were watching Americans walk on the moon.

People born in the horse-and-buggy era lived to see America land an unmanned spacecraft on Mars.

Those were heady days for our country and anxious ones, too.

Perhaps America is ready to resume its place as the world leader in space exploration. Lets hope so.

Earlier this month, Vice President Mike Pence visited NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida and in doing so highlighted the next step the Orion spacecraft and its launch counterpart, the SLS, or Space Launch System, which will be the worlds most powerful rocket. This combination has the potential to take astronauts back to the moon, then to Mars and perhaps to asteroids.

Let us do what our nation has always done since its very founding and beyond: Weve pushed the boundaries on frontiers, not just of territory, but of knowledge. Weve blazed new trails, and weve astonished the world as weve boldly grasped our future without fear, Pence said. We will put American boots on the face of Mars.

It had echoes of the promises and potential of the dawning of the Space Age.

The first flight of the integrated Orion/Space Launch System is scheduled for 2019, which would be a fitting way to recognize the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.

Explorer 1 burned up on re-entry a few years after launch, but Vanguard is still up there the oldest man-made object in space. Neil Armstrongs footprints are still there, and Viking is still on the Martian surface, waiting for another generation of explorers to rediscover it, perhaps even to bring it home and put it in the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum, alongside Apollo 11, Friendship 7, Bell X-1, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Wright Flyer, and other milestones of air and space.

The late astronaut Eugene Cernan, who as part of the crew of Apollo 17 became the last man to walk on the moon, consistently challenged us to push forward in space.

After Apollo 17, America stopped looking toward the next horizon, he once said. The United States had become a spacefaring nation, but threw it away.

Its time we become a spacefaring people once again.

View original post here:
Our View: Mike Pence challenges us to resume role as space-faring nation - Joplin Globe

Dozens of protesters gathered in Burnside Park in Providence before taking to the streets to speak out against Vice President Mike Pence's visit to the National Governors Association summer meeting.

Providing more Americans health insurance through Medicaid might sound good in the abstract, but Vice President Mike Pence told a story recently about how it can have unintended and dire consequences.

Speaking at the National Governors Association meeting in Rhode Island, Pence said in the state of Ohio -- which expanded Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act -- disabled Ohioans are unable to access care because able-bodied adults have been added to the Medicaid rolls.

"Obamacare has put far too many able-bodied adults on the Medicaid rolls, leaving many disabled and vulnerable Americans at the back of the line," Pence said July 14. "Gov. (John) Kasich isn't with us, but I suspect that he's very troubled to know that in Ohio alone, nearly 60,000 disabled citizens are stuck on waiting lists, leaving them without the care they need for months or even years."

Is it true that Ohios expanded Medicaid system has sucked up state dollars that could have shortened the waiting list for the disabled in Ohio?

Pence spokesman Marc Lotter said the vice president was saying that "we need to provide states the flexibility to create systems that best meet the needs of their people." Lotter pointed to a Wall Street Journal op-ed that said the more generous federal reimbursement for Medicaid expansion "diverts resources from the programs traditional targets."

"A temporary enrollment freeze might lead Ohio to prioritize resources for the truly needy," the piece said.

What we found is that there are about 60,000 people on county waiting lists across Ohio. But Pence is wrong to create a connection between the programs to help them and Medicaid expansion.

Home and community-based service waivers

The waiting list Pence mentioned is part of a 30-year-old effort by Washington to give states more options to keep the long-term disabled out of institutions. Its called home and community-based services, or HCBS. The money can pay for a variety of services, such as adult day care and assistance at home with eating and dressing.

States set the number of people who can apply for waivers and Washington picks up between 50 and 70 percent of the cost. Thats less favorable than the 90 percent share that the federal government pays for Americans who receive Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act expansion.

Health analyst MaryBeth Musumeci at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a respected source of health care data, told us theres no escaping these budget realities.

"The expansion adults are a less costly population in that they are generally healthier and therefore use less services than someone on an HCBS waiver who by definition has chronic and long-term care needs," Musumeci said.

But when Musumeci crunched the data, she found no simple trade-off between expansion and waiting lists.

In fact, states that didnt expand Medicaid were more likely to see their waiting lists grow compared to those that did expand.

Point being, Musumeci said, is that there is no relationship between the waiting list and Medicaid expansion.

Pence also spoke too broadly when he said people were left without the care they need, Musumeci said.

Musumeci and her colleagues found that just because someone is on a waiting list, that doesnt mean they arent getting any Medicaid services. According to federal data, 93 percent of people on waiting lists with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive Medicaid services that dont depend on the waiver process.

Further complications

As it turns out, the waiting lists in and of themselves dont always show how many people are going without care.

When the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities commissioned a survey of people on the waiting list, it found that over 40 percent said they had "no current area of need." (The study was last updated in 2015.)

Part of the problem Musumeci said is that the lists can include people from many years back. Their situations may have changed or some of them would never have qualified for waivers in the first place.

The disability community differs with Pence

Pences claim about Ohio also contradicts the work of advocates for the disabled.

In an initial assessment, the National Council on Disability reported in 2016 that "both interview results and available literature suggest that Medicaid expansion has helped people with disabilities."

The National Health Law Program, a group that advocates for the legal rights of the poor, agreed. It wrote that "expanded eligibility for Medicaid means that some of people on waiting lists who could not qualify for Medicaid under the traditional categories now access Medicaid services, which includes some community-based services."

The group also said that "states expanding Medicaid have saved millions in spending on people with disabilities, savings that could be used to expand HCBS programs."

Our ruling

Pence said that Medicaid expansion in Ohio left 60,000 people waiting for the services they need.

We found no link between the waiting list and Medicaid expansion. In fact, studies found that Medicaid expansion increased services for the disabled. They also found that in Ohio, over 40 percent of people on those lists said they had no immediate need for services. In short, the size of the list is not a sound measure of need.

One analysis argued that Medicaid expansion frees up state dollars that could go toward reducing the ranks of people on the waiting list. And overall, there is no clear connection between expanding Medicaid and rising waiting list numbers. In fact, non-expansion states were more likely to see their waiting lists grow.

We rate this claim False.

Share the Facts

2017-07-17 12:47:19 UTC

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In Ohio, due to Medicaid expansion, "nearly 60,000 disabled citizens are stuck on waiting lists ... leaving them without the care they need for months or even years."

Mike Pence

Vice President of the United States

In a speech to the National Governors Association in Providence, RI

Friday, July 14, 2017

2017-07-14

View original post here:
Mike Pence falsely blames Medicaid expansion for disability waiting list in Ohio - PolitiFact