Trump picks Congressman Tom Price as health and human services secretary

[Fast Walker 52]

Source: Wash Post

By Washington Post Staff November 28 at 9:25 PM
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), an orthopedic surgeon who has been one of Capitol Hill's fiercest critics of President Obama's health care law, to be secretary of health and human services, a person briefed on the decision confirmed Monday night.

The public announcement of Trump's selection of Price, a six-term congressman who chairs the House Budget Committee and is regarded as a policy wonk, is expected to be made as early as Tuesday.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/11/28/trump-picks-congressman-tom-price-as-health-and-human-services-secretary/?hpid=hp_no-name_no-name%3Apage%2Fbreaking-news-bar&tid=a_breakingnews

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oy

[dhol82]

1. Oy is right!

[madamesilverspurs]

2. Much to the delight

of the headstone industry.


.

[Fast Walker 52]

11. haha.... oy

[Matthew28]

3. The let them die part of the party

Running HHS

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

4. Un-fuckin-real!! This country is going to get royally screwed!

[RussBLib]

5. yet another example of Trump "bringing this country together"

under the banner of corporate rule

[xor]

6. Well there goes any slight hope that there could be any possible silver-linings from Trump

He's just the goofy and obnoxious figurehead put up by the far-right, and Pence & Friends are the ones really running the show. So now we have the awful image of Trump being "C&C" AND the batshit insanity and stupidity of the far-right being the basis of our policies.

Out of all the theories and ideas I've seen discussed. This is the most scary, I think.

[vkkv]

7. If I remember right, this guy's a Xtian right-wing nut case.

This is going to be a very hard four years.

Boycott, protest, write and call your Dems reps.

[pfitz59]

8. I googled his voting record

Extreme right wing asshole. Basically voted against funding everything HHS does.... sure to be popular with his new employees...

[still_one]

9. This is a person who wants to destroy Medicare and the ACA. Those who depend on the ACA

and Medicare are seriously in trouble with this garbage that is being thrown on us.

Trump and his whole administration can go to hell

Here is what my state has vowed to do:

"Joint Statement from California Legislative Leaders on Result of Presidential Election
Wednesday, November 09, 2016

SACRAMENTO – California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) and California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) released the following statement on the results of the President election:

Today, we woke up feeling like strangers in a foreign land, because yesterday Americans expressed their views on a pluralistic and democratic society that are clearly inconsistent with the values of the people of California.

We have never been more proud to be Californians.

By a margin in the millions, Californians overwhelmingly rejected politics fueled by resentment, bigotry, and misogyny.

The largest state of the union and the strongest driver of our nation’s economy has shown it has its surest conscience as well.

California is – and must always be – a refuge of justice and opportunity for people of all walks, talks, ages and aspirations – regardless of how you look, where you live, what language you speak, or who you love.

California has long set an example for other states to follow. And California will defend its people and our progress. We are not going to allow one election to reverse generations of progress at the height of our historic diversity, scientific advancement, economic output, and sense of global responsibility.

We will be reaching out to federal, state and local officials to evaluate how a Trump Presidency will potentially impact federal funding of ongoing state programs, job-creating investments reliant on foreign trade, and federal enforcement of laws affecting the rights of people living in our state. We will maximize the time during the presidential transition to defend our accomplishments using every tool at our disposal.

While Donald Trump may have won the presidency, he hasn’t changed our values. America is greater than any one man or party. We will not be dragged back into the past. We will lead the resistance to any effort that would shred our social fabric or our Constitution.

California was not a part of this nation when its history began, but we are clearly now the keeper of its future."

http://sd24.senate.ca.gov/news/2016-11-09-joint-statement-california-legislative-leaders-result-presidential-election

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Yep: "Rep. Tom Price Reveals Republicans Eyeing Medicare Overhaul In 2017"

Price, who is being floated as a possible Health and Human Services Secretary in the next administration, said that he expects Republican in the House to move on Medicare reforms "six to eight months" into the Trump administration.

Privatization of Medicare has been a central feature of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan's budget proposal for years, and the House GOP has voted in favor of it multiple times. Ryan himself said last week that Medicare would be on the table in the new Congress, signaling it could be taken up early in the new year. Price's comments suggest privatization won't be part of the first round of legislative initiatives rolled out by the Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress.

Price also noted that Republicans are eyeing using a tactic known as budget reconciliation to make the change. That process allows Republicans to pass bills with a simple majority in the U.S. Senate.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tom-price-reveals-republicans-eyeing-medicare-overhaul-in-2017

And from the Washington Post article:

For Medicare, Price favors another idea long pushed by conservatives, switching it from a “defined benefit” to a “defined contribution.” With that, the government would give older or disabled Americans financial help for them to buy private insurance policies.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/11/28/trump-to-name-rep-tom-price-as-next-hhs-secretary/

Which would mean substandard care for the poor, while the rich top that up to get whatever they want, with the government paying for a lot of it.

[Fast Walker 52]

12. wheee!

[Amishman]

13. I wonder if this is a layered game

Make his first picks the worst right wing nut possible, let it get blocked in the Senate, then propose his real pick. If we block that too, he goes to every media outlet and churns up fake outrage that the mean Democrats are unreasonable and he's tried soooooo hard to work with them.

Or maybe I am giving the slimeball too much credit