What Are the Republicans on Hill thinking?

What are the Republicans on the Hill thinking? To figure that out, look no further than the punitive Trump Healthcare bill they are longing to pass, and the deafening silence on the revelation about the campaign meeting with the Russians. On both counts, these Republicans are thinking of themselves, their Party, and their big donors. One thing's for sure, they aren't thinking about you, me, or our children.

I DO NOT know the ultimate fate of the Trump Healthcare bill. The vote has been postponed yet another week due to Senator McCain's surgery because they must have his vote. I'm hopeful that at least one more Senator will fear his constituents' ire more than McConnell's or Trump's and have the courage to just say “no.” If not, the blood of many Americans will be on their hands.

THIS WAS was brought home to me last week when a young lady dropped by to visit me. Two years ago, at only 22 years old, she was diagnosed with breast cancer followed by a mastectomy. We watched the news discussing the cuts to Medicaid in Trump's Healthcare bill. She listened, then said in a pained, slightly raised voice, “What is going to happen to me?” She went on to tell me how Medicaid had saved her life. I was unable to reassure her she would be okay. Her story is not unique. That is the human reality of this cruel healthcare bill.

THE REPUBLICANS are pulling out all the stops to assure this bill passes. If it fails to pass this time, it is said they will have to work with the Democrats on a bi-partisan bill. They act as though that would be a fate worst than death. They have spent seven years demonizing Obamacare but had never given a thought as to what would be better for the American people. Their defense of this bill sometimes borders on the ludicrous. One such statement I heard by a Republican contributor was, “If there had never been Obamacare, we wouldn't have this mess today.” That's kinda like saying, “If Trump was not elected President, we wouldn't have this mess today.”

TRUMP'S administration is a hot mess as he seeks to fulfill Putin's agenda. How bad does it have to get before the Republicans on the Hill call him out? Trump is also venturing down a path with Putin that bodes ill for our country. Trump is the last one in the free world that denies Russia interfered with our elections. I think it's incumbent on the Legislators to admonish Trump at the very least. After all, that's how we raise our children, first we admonish, then we punish. Republicans, for whatever reason, are turning a blind eye while our democracy is compromised.

SO DONALD Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with a Russian lawyer who promised to have dirt on Hillary Clinton. No, change that, there were two others in the meeting. No, change that again, there were two more in the meeting for a total of eight people who only discussed “adoptions.”

Sounds very innocuous. As they left this meeting, I wonder if it was Jr., Kushner, or Manafort who said, “Hey guys! If anyone ever asks about this meeting, just say it was about adoptions.”

THE ADOPTIONS discussed was actually about sanctions placed on Russia in 2012 called the Mitnesky Act, named after the man jailed in Russia for uncovering fraud in Russian government accounting. While in captivity he became ill and died when medical treatment was denied. Our Congress then passed The Mitnesky Act which barred certain Russian officials from traveling to U. S. and using our banking system. In retaliation, Putin stopped all adoptions of Russian children by U.S. citizens. The Trumpers would have us believe that five Russians with strong ties to their government were so concerned that Americans were not allowed to adopt Russian children, they orchestrated this big meeting. If this meeting did nothing else, it opened the door for the Russians to meddle in our election without fear of reprisal if they successfully elected Trump. We may never know if it was a “quid pro quo” but Trump got elected, didn't he? And, Trump is always defending Putin, even when it's not in his best interest to do so.

REPUBLICANS on the Hill are also silent on Jared Kushner making a mockery of our security clearance system. All our rules and regulations should be accompanied by the acronym BT (before Trump) and AT (after Trump). It was known, (BT), that if you associated with high-level Russians and untold numbers of other foreign nationals, there was not a snowball's chance you would be given a security clearance, not to mention if you “forgot” to report such contact. Kushner (AT) supplemented over 100 names, four months after he submitted the original forms. Funny thing, the names of the five Russians he met with promising to give him dirt on Hillary were not included on this form.

CHANCES ARE slim to none that Trump will pull Kushner's security clearance. When I applied to work for the National Security Agency, a requirement to receive a top secret clearance was successfully passing a polygraph exam. A polygraph exam on Jared Kushner would reveal if there was a quid pro quo and put an end to this mess. Strap him down and hook him up now!