Today in Trump's 1st term as President

[Papa_Tiger]

Dems are also all but openly admitting that they don't care who POTUS nominates for SCOTUS tonight, they will... do anything else they can do to oppose him or her. ... It won't be about about the quality and credentials of the judge, it will be purely partisan because it's DJT's nomination. Disgraceful.

The same could be said of the Senate Republicans and Merrick Garland.

[mojo84]

Dems are also all but openly admitting that they don't care who POTUS nominates for SCOTUS tonight, they will... do anything else they can do to oppose him or her. ... It won't be about about the quality and credentials of the judge, it will be purely partisan because it's DJT's nomination. Disgraceful.

The same could be said of the Senate Republicans and Merrick Garland.

The difference is Trump isn't a lame duck president on his way out.

[Jusme]

That's good news about him meeting with pharma. Hopefully he is hammering them for gouging the American people and insurance companies with unreasonable pricing. Hope he also understands the government will have to back off some of their ridiculously costly rules and regulations.

Gonna disagree with you on this one. The FDA is the problem, not the Pharma companies. The FDA has driven more US jobs offshore than almost any other over-reaching Federal Agency, except maybe the EPA. And the insurance companioes never loose either.

I am hopeful that Pharma can sucessfully present the case for reduced FDA meddling and for getting the insurnace companies OUT of medical care! But, hey, that's just my two cents...

I promise you, both, FDA and pharma, are the problem. FDA creates much of the problem and pharma uses it as a license to steal. Proof is in the price disparity from country to country. When companies by our of patent generics to monopolize the med and then back up the price by 100's%, they are gouging.

Here's an example. My generic blood pressure med I got last week was $50 for a three month supply. I saw this week the price jumped up to $142-$260 depending on the pharmacy. I bet they increased the price so the could lower it back down after the meeting with Trump and say they cooperated. We are being scammed.

I doubt, that they are going to get one over on Trump. He isn't concerned with calling people out on issues, and he knows that if they want to be included in any future health care proposals, they had better start doing things for the benefit of Americans, and not their coffers. Plus they will have incentives to reduce costs, and cut prices, when he removes some of the ridiculous restrictions the FDA has in place.

[dale blanker]

Yes, but in politics it's more important to be right than quick. We've seen a number of reversals and chaos in the first few days that gives the impression things are not being well thought and organized. Learning by trial and error can have a much further reaching effect in politics.

Can you give us some specific examples?

No problem. Here's some: gag order to HHS issued, then reversed; gag order to USDA issued, then reversed; EPA website data on climate change removed, then restored; VA hiring freeze issued (hiring more is not the answer!) then reversed; prepaid TV PSAs on Obamacare deadlines cancelled, then restored; chaos about green cards; removing senior management in State Dept w/o replacements. I'll leave the details to you. [You're welcome!]

[dhoobler]

Dems are also all but openly admitting that they don't care who POTUS nominates for SCOTUS tonight, they will... do anything else they can do to oppose him or her. ... It won't be about about the quality and credentials of the judge, it will be purely partisan because it's DJT's nomination. Disgraceful.

The same could be said of the Senate Republicans and Merrick Garland.

Joe Biden: No SCOTUS appointments during election year

[Beiruty]

What about all the other synagogues in Lebanon? How many Are there? How many Jews live in Lebanon? Are the Jews allowed to live anywhere in Lebanon or are they required to live in certain areas or districts? Are they free to come and go unfettered or without any vetting?

Some more interesting history. Lebanon has not conducted census since 1932. It also appears there is very little information maintained on their citizens and they really do not know who is there and who isn't.

1) Unknown to me, but I assume few
2) Unknown, but I think the number is in hundreds
3) Yes
4) Yes

Oh, BTW, on the news recently, we had Israeli Arab-Christian visiting Lebanon (pilgrimage) using temporary Palestinian-issued Passport.

[TexasJohnBoy]

Well, we have a transportation secretary now. Chao was confirmed. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017 ... /97285812/

[Bitter Clinger]

That's good news about him meeting with pharma. Hopefully he is hammering them for gouging the American people and insurance companies with unreasonable pricing. Hope he also understands the government will have to back off some of their ridiculously costly rules and regulations.

Gonna disagree with you on this one. The FDA is the problem, not the Pharma companies. The FDA has driven more US jobs offshore than almost any other over-reaching Federal Agency, except maybe the EPA. And the insurance companioes never loose either.

I am hopeful that Pharma can sucessfully present the case for reduced FDA meddling and for getting the insurnace companies OUT of medical care! But, hey, that's just my two cents...

I promise you, both, FDA and pharma, are the problem. FDA creates much of the problem and pharma uses it as a license to steal. Proof is in the price disparity from country to country. When companies by our of patent generics to monopolize the med and then back up the price by 100's%, they are gouging.

Here's an example. My generic blood pressure med I got last week was $50 for a three month supply. I saw this week the price jumped up to $142-$260 depending on the pharmacy. I bet they increased the price so the could lower it back down after the meeting with Trump and say they cooperated. We are being scammed.

I suspect that the price jump had to do with the Insurance Company having to get ahead of the 2017 ObamaCare HUGE Cost increases. It is not cheap to keep giving away healthcare to people who choose not to work.

I will give you a different example. Same topical anti-inflammatory that is "prescription-only" here in the US, and at reduced amount of active ingredient as well (!), is available in Canada, or from Europe (I buy it on ebay) at 1/5 the cost and with 2.5X the active ingredient, ALL FROM THE SAME PHARMA CO. It is the FDA and the Insurance AND OBAMACARE that is constitutes the majority of the problem.

[Bitter Clinger]

What about all the other synagogues in Lebanon? How many Are there? How many Jews live in Lebanon? Are the Jews allowed to live anywhere in Lebanon or are they required to live in certain areas or districts? Are they free to come and go unfettered or without any vetting?

Some more interesting history. Lebanon has not conducted census since 1932. It also appears there is very little information maintained on their citizens and they really do not know who is there and who isn't.

1) Unknown to me, but I assume few
2) Unknown, but I think the number is in hundreds
3) Yes
4) Yes

Oh, BTW, on the news recently, we had Israeli Arab-Christian visiting Lebanon (pilgrimage) using temporary Palestinian-issued Passport.

This really deserves a diffent thread, IMHO, if we wish to pursue the discussion, but here is a source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ex ... _countries

[Bitter Clinger]

Yes, but in politics it's more important to be right than quick. We've seen a number of reversals and chaos in the first few days that gives the impression things are not being well thought and organized. Learning by trial and error can have a much further reaching effect in politics.

Can you give us some specific examples?

No problem. Here's some: gag order to HHS issued, then reversed; gag order to USDA issued, then reversed; EPA website data on climate change removed, then restored; VA hiring freeze issued (hiring more is not the answer!) then reversed; prepaid TV PSAs on Obamacare deadlines cancelled, then restored; chaos about green cards; removing senior management in State Dept w/o replacements. I'll leave the details to you. [You're welcome!]

Dale. Dale. Dale. Those State Department career bureaucrats needed to go, that was LONG overdue! One of them, Kennedy, actually tried to pressure the FBI during the Hillary investigation. Replacements are NOT needed, that bloated Dept is 10X larger than it needs to be and is full of insolent seditionists who create their own policy rather than enforce the rule of law. Give me break, would you please?

[TreyHouston]

Yes, but in politics it's more important to be right than quick. We've seen a number of reversals and chaos in the first few days that gives the impression things are not being well thought and organzied. Learning by trial and error can have a much further reaching effect in politics.

Can you give us some specific examples?

agreed. I am not aware of any reversals....

[mojo84]

What about all the other synagogues in Lebanon? How many Are there? How many Jews live in Lebanon? Are the Jews allowed to live anywhere in Lebanon or are they required to live in certain areas or districts? Are they free to come and go unfettered or without any vetting?

Some more interesting history. Lebanon has not conducted census since 1932. It also appears there is very little information maintained on their citizens and they really do not know who is there and who isn't.

1) Unknown to me, but I assume few
2) Unknown, but I think the number is in hundreds
3) Yes
4) Yes

Oh, BTW, on the news recently, we had Israeli Arab-Christian visiting Lebanon (pilgrimage) using temporary Palestinian-issued Passport.

Your post prompted me to do some research on my own. It appears the Synagogue you posted is the only one and there are just about 100 Jews left in Lebanon. It appears they live in a Jewish district. I suspect close to the Synagogue.


I find it interesting the last census was done in 1932.

[mojo84]

That's good news about him meeting with pharma. Hopefully he is hammering them for gouging the American people and insurance companies with unreasonable pricing. Hope he also understands the government will have to back off some of their ridiculously costly rules and regulations.

Gonna disagree with you on this one. The FDA is the problem, not the Pharma companies. The FDA has driven more US jobs offshore than almost any other over-reaching Federal Agency, except maybe the EPA. And the insurance companioes never loose either.

I am hopeful that Pharma can sucessfully present the case for reduced FDA meddling and for getting the insurnace companies OUT of medical care! But, hey, that's just my two cents...

I promise you, both, FDA and pharma, are the problem. FDA creates much of the problem and pharma uses it as a license to steal. Proof is in the price disparity from country to country. When companies by our of patent generics to monopolize the med and then back up the price by 100's%, they are gouging.

Here's an example. My generic blood pressure med I got last week was $50 for a three month supply. I saw this week the price jumped up to $142-$260 depending on the pharmacy. I bet they increased the price so the could lower it back down after the meeting with Trump and say they cooperated. We are being scammed.

I suspect that the price jump had to do with the Insurance Company having to get ahead of the 2017 ObamaCare HUGE Cost increases. It is not cheap to keep giving away healthcare to people who choose not to work.

I will give you a different example. Same topical anti-inflammatory that is "prescription-only" here in the US, and at reduced amount of active ingredient as well (!), is available in Canada, or from Europe (I buy it on ebay) at 1/5 the cost and with 2.5X the active ingredient, ALL FROM THE SAME PHARMA CO. It is the FDA and the Insurance AND OBAMACARE that is constitutes the majority of the problem.

That's because pharma can get away with gouging us and not others. After 20 years of being in the business and seeing the way things are done, there is plenty of blame to go around. It starts with government regulations add pharma greed and then the insurance is priced accordingly. The government has already capped insurance company profits and the prices are still escalating.

That leaves pharma, doc, hospitals and DME's.

Another example, even though I'm in the insurance business I tell my doc and providers that I do not have insurance I want to use and I need to negotiate self pay rates. My costs are much less than what the insurance contracted amounts. Example, the lab charged me $1300 for lab work. I mentioned it to the doctor and he had them bill him instead and I reimbursed him. The amount was less than $200.

There are endless stories I could share with you. The providers and pharma are gouging us and using FDA as an excuse. That doesn't mean the FDA is off the hook. It costs a Billion dollars and years to get a med or device to the market. That's excessive and it limits competition.

[rotor]

That's good news about him meeting with pharma. Hopefully he is hammering them for gouging the American people and insurance companies with unreasonable pricing. Hope he also understands the government will have to back off some of their ridiculously costly rules and regulations.

Gonna disagree with you on this one. The FDA is the problem, not the Pharma companies. The FDA has driven more US jobs offshore than almost any other over-reaching Federal Agency, except maybe the EPA. And the insurance companioes never loose either.

I am hopeful that Pharma can sucessfully present the case for reduced FDA meddling and for getting the insurnace companies OUT of medical care! But, hey, that's just my two cents...

I promise you, both, FDA and pharma, are the problem. FDA creates much of the problem and pharma uses it as a license to steal. Proof is in the price disparity from country to country. When companies by our of patent generics to monopolize the med and then back up the price by 100's%, they are gouging.

Here's an example. My generic blood pressure med I got last week was $50 for a three month supply. I saw this week the price jumped up to $142-$260 depending on the pharmacy. I bet they increased the price so the could lower it back down after the meeting with Trump and say they cooperated. We are being scammed.

I suspect that the price jump had to do with the Insurance Company having to get ahead of the 2017 ObamaCare HUGE Cost increases. It is not cheap to keep giving away healthcare to people who choose not to work.

I will give you a different example. Same topical anti-inflammatory that is "prescription-only" here in the US, and at reduced amount of active ingredient as well (!), is available in Canada, or from Europe (I buy it on ebay) at 1/5 the cost and with 2.5X the active ingredient, ALL FROM THE SAME PHARMA CO. It is the FDA and the Insurance AND OBAMACARE that is constitutes the majority of the problem.

That's because pharma can get away with gouging us and not others. After 20 years of being in the business and seeing the way things are done, there is plenty of blame to go around. It starts with government regulations add pharma greed and then the insurance is priced accordingly. The government has already capped insurance company profits and the prices are still escalating.

That leaves pharma, doc, hospitals and DME's.

Another example, even though I'm in the insurance business I tell my doc and providers that I do not have insurance I want to use and I need to negotiate self pay rates. My costs are much less than what the insurance contracted amounts. Example, the lab charged me $1300 for lab work. I mentioned it to the doctor and he had them bill him instead and I reimbursed him. The amount was less than $200.

There are endless stories I could share with you. The providers and pharma are gouging us and using FDA as an excuse. That doesn't mean the FDA is off the hook. It costs a Billion dollars and years to get a med or device to the market. That's excessive and it limits competition.

This may work if you are not on Medicare or Medicaid but the doctors, labs and hospitals can not charge you anything but the government mandated price. You can not go outside of the system on these government programs. They can NOT balance bill or give you a discount. They can be fined quite severely if they do.

[mojo84]

That's good news about him meeting with pharma. Hopefully he is hammering them for gouging the American people and insurance companies with unreasonable pricing. Hope he also understands the government will have to back off some of their ridiculously costly rules and regulations.

Gonna disagree with you on this one. The FDA is the problem, not the Pharma companies. The FDA has driven more US jobs offshore than almost any other over-reaching Federal Agency, except maybe the EPA. And the insurance companioes never loose either.

I am hopeful that Pharma can sucessfully present the case for reduced FDA meddling and for getting the insurnace companies OUT of medical care! But, hey, that's just my two cents...

I promise you, both, FDA and pharma, are the problem. FDA creates much of the problem and pharma uses it as a license to steal. Proof is in the price disparity from country to country. When companies by our of patent generics to monopolize the med and then back up the price by 100's%, they are gouging.

Here's an example. My generic blood pressure med I got last week was $50 for a three month supply. I saw this week the price jumped up to $142-$260 depending on the pharmacy. I bet they increased the price so the could lower it back down after the meeting with Trump and say they cooperated. We are being scammed.

I suspect that the price jump had to do with the Insurance Company having to get ahead of the 2017 ObamaCare HUGE Cost increases. It is not cheap to keep giving away healthcare to people who choose not to work.

I will give you a different example. Same topical anti-inflammatory that is "prescription-only" here in the US, and at reduced amount of active ingredient as well (!), is available in Canada, or from Europe (I buy it on ebay) at 1/5 the cost and with 2.5X the active ingredient, ALL FROM THE SAME PHARMA CO. It is the FDA and the Insurance AND OBAMACARE that is constitutes the majority of the problem.

That's because pharma can get away with gouging us and not others. After 20 years of being in the business and seeing the way things are done, there is plenty of blame to go around. It starts with government regulations add pharma greed and then the insurance is priced accordingly. The government has already capped insurance company profits and the prices are still escalating.

That leaves pharma, doc, hospitals and DME's.

Another example, even though I'm in the insurance business I tell my doc and providers that I do not have insurance I want to use and I need to negotiate self pay rates. My costs are much less than what the insurance contracted amounts. Example, the lab charged me $1300 for lab work. I mentioned it to the doctor and he had them bill him instead and I reimbursed him. The amount was less than $200.

There are endless stories I could share with you. The providers and pharma are gouging us and using FDA as an excuse. That doesn't mean the FDA is off the hook. It costs a Billion dollars and years to get a med or device to the market. That's excessive and it limits competition.

This may work if you are not on Medicare or Medicaid but the doctors, labs and hospitals can not charge you anything but the government mandated price. You can not go outside of the system on these government programs. They can NOT balance bill or give you a discount. They can be fined quite severely if they do.

The only point I made I made that contemplates Medicare or Medicaid is that costs need to be reduced. That is a universal benefit to all except pharma, device manufacturers and providers.

Since I have 14 years to go until I am on Medicare, I'm talking about those not on government managed programs.