Texas 'bathroom bill' advances out of Senate committee

Hard to believe we're even having this conversation.

Opponents of a Texas "bathroom bill" protest in the exterior rotunda at the Texas state Capitol in Austin, March 7, 2017. (Associated Press)

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In an 8-1 vote, a Texas state Senate committee agreed Friday to advance a measure to restrict public restroom use by transgender people, despite 10 hours of testimony from opponents of the bill, the Texas Tribune reported.

Senate Bill 3, a so-called “bathroom bill,” would regulate public school facilities, open-enrollment charter school facilities, and local government restrooms to be “used only by persons of the same sex as stated on a person's birth certificate.” It will now advance to the full Senate for consideration.

The measure is expected to pass and be sent to the House. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, is said to back the measure, which is sponsored by GOP state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst.

Republicans say the measure would help protect restroom users against sexual predators, but Democrats argue that it discriminates against transgender people.

Debate surrounding the bill has already cost the state $66 million in convention business, and that figure could rise to roughly $1.4 billion if more sports, conventions and other events are canceled.

A similar bill in North Carolina cost that state hundreds of millions of dollars and led to the relocation of this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend from Charlotte to New Orleans.

In March, North Carolina repealed its bathroom law, and in May the NBA agreed to hold its event in Charlotte in 2019.

Prior to Friday’s vote, leaders of the National Episcopal Church voiced their concerns, encouraging Texas House Speaker Joe Straus in a letter to continue his stance against any proposed bathroom bill.

Kolkhorst took a jab at an Obama-era federal policy that provided protections for transgender students in public schools. That policy has since been removed by the Trump administration.

“We’re here today because Texas has a tradition of taking care of these issues and not being dictated to by the federal government,” Kolkhorst said.

This is the Lone Star State’s second attempt to pass a bathroom bill. Straus had helped block the previous effort, the Tribune reported.

Texas 'bathroom bill' advances out of Senate committee

Rosie O'Donnell promotes 'Push Trump Off A Cliff Again' online game

"Push Trump Off A Cliff Again," O'Donnell tweeted along with a link to the game. The game's name is a riff off of Trump's campaign slogan "Make American Great Again."

Players of the controversial game can either push Trump off a cliff, into a volcano, into a manhole or have him eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Many fans took to Twitter to express their outrage of the 55-year-old's tweet.

Interesting - you got bent out of shape with the CNN memes but this is okay? Hypocrisy thy name is Rosie.— Pete Athens (@athynz1) July 17, 2017

One can dislike the President whoever he/she is, without suggesting any type of violence. Lead by example.— BethGrantDeRoos (@BethGrantDeRoos) July 19, 2017

The amount of time wasted by playing this game by the many people is astounding. What have we fallen to? Like him or not he's our potus.— Bryant (@buckraven89) July 19, 2017

Violence against the President? Not so good.— Sherry Swain (@SherrySwain) July 15, 2017

you are a sick individual, get some help!!🇱🇷— Karin Brown (@KarinBr87505385) July 18, 2017

I loathe Trump, but this is not cool.— Jack Hodgson (@jackhodgson) July 15, 2017

This is the latest chapter in the long-standing feud between O'Donnell and Trump.

O'Donnell has called Trump "mentally unstable" and has come under fire for asking in 2016, "Barron Trump Autistic?"

Trump has aimed his fair share of offending remarks towards the comedian. He has poked fun at her weight and called her a "loser."

O'Donnel's tweet comes just under two months after fellow comedian Kathy Griffin got into trouble for posing with a bloodied Trump mask.

Griffin later apologized for the photo shoot saying, "I understand how it offends people" adding "I've made a lot of mistakes in my career."

And one of them was not moving to Canada and taking the fat blowhard with you.

Rosie O'Donnell promotes 'Push Trump Off A Cliff Again' online game

Putting it in perspective

Does anyone believe he knew that? If he was working for the Clinton's it would have been a badge of honor.

Putting it in perspective

Poll: Donald Trump is Still More Popular Than Hillary Clinton

It seems that even if the presidential election happened now, after all this time, Hillary Clinton would still not defeat Donald Trump.

A new poll from Bloomberg shows that the president has a 41 percent approval rating among Americans, but his former Democratic rival has only 39. The survey also indicates that Clinton has lost a great deal of support, even from those who voted for her in the 2016 election.

The polls is all the more remarkable since Clinton has mostly stayed out of the spotlight, while Trump currently helms one of the most controversial administrations in American history.

Bloomberg found that the former Democratic candidate has a 58% unfavorable rating compared to Trump’s 55%. Survey participants who voted for Clinton denied that their personal dislike caused her to lose the election, though many said they only voted for her to support the lesser of two evils.

“There’s growing discontent with Hillary Clinton even as she has largely stayed out of the spotlight,” said pollster J. Ann Selzer. “It’s not a pox on the Democratic house because numbers for other Democrats are good.”

The poll also found that Barack Obama has 61 percent favorability rating, and Joe Biden is only one point behind him.

The survey was conducted among 1001 participants earlier this month, and the margin of error was set at +/- 3.1 percent.

He's only been out of office 6 months. Wait until the eggs laid during his tenure start to hatch. Iran is one of them. 

Go here for the laugh of the day:

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/all-time-best-president-united-states-rankings-235149

(Check Wikipedia in 5 years... see where he is then)

After 8 years of Obama name me one achievement making us better off because of his presidency.

Poll: Donald Trump is Still More Popular Than Hillary Clinton

Trump says time to 'let ObamaCare fail' after health bill stalls

I've been saying this all along. 

“I think we're probably in that position where we'll just let ObamaCare fail,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We're not going to own it. I'm not going to own it. I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it. We'll let ObamaCare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us."

Finally someone agrees with me.

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By Alex Pappas Published July 18, 2017 

President Trump said Tuesday he's prepared “let ObamaCare fail” after the collapse of Senate Republicans' latest health care bill, indicating he's willing to move on to tax reform and other issues – and deal with an Affordable Care Act fix down the road. 

“I think we're probably in that position where we'll just let ObamaCare fail,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We're not going to own it. I'm not going to own it. I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it. We'll let ObamaCare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us."

He spoke after two more Republican senators came out late Monday against the Senate bill, effectively killing its chances in its current form. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., plans to call a vote on a bill to repeal ObamaCare now and replace it later, but on Tuesday afternoon left the door open to working with Democrats if that fails. 

The White House focused its ire Tuesday on Democratic lawmakers, suggesting they'll regret their opposition. 

"The failure of ObamaCare rests solely on the shoulder of the Democrats. They pushed it through, and they need to own the failure of it," Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. 

But even as the current health law suffers from rising premiums and diminishing coverage options, Republican lawmakers had faced vocal protests from constituents unhappy over the party's replacement legislation. 

The collapse of the bill late Monday leaves unclear how and whether Republicans, now in total control of Congress and the White House, can make good on their campaign promise to scrap the ACA. 

Trump told reporters Tuesday he was “very disappointed” that Republicans haven’t been able to pass legislation after seven years of calling to repeal and replace the law.

“Something will happen … it may not be as quick as we had hoped, but it’s going to happen,” Trump said of passing a health care bill.

Trump also called for getting “more Republicans elected” to make it easier to get his agenda passed in Congress. “I’ll be working very hard for that to happen,” he said.

The president also vowed to continue to work on implementing other campaign promises not yet fulfilled.

“We’re going to win on taxes, we’re going to win on infrastructure,” he said.

On Monday evening, Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas joined Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine in opposition, making passage of the Senate bill impossible.

Republicans needed 50 votes (plus Vice President Pence as a tie-breaker) to pass the bill.

After learning the “Better Care Reconciliation Act” was effectively dead, Trump tweeted late Monday night urging Republicans to “just REPEAL” the Affordable Care Act.

“Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new health care plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!” he said, suggesting a bipartisan plan.

But at least one Republican senator said she’s against repealing the law without replacement legislation.

"As I stated earlier this year, I cannot vote to proceed to repeal the ACA without reform that allows people the choice they want, the affordability they need and the quality of care they deserve," Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Tuesday.

Last month on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., challenged Republicans and Trump to “start over” and “turn over a new leaf” on bipartisan health care.

“We have an opportunity to go back to the drawing board, we are willing to debate and compromise on health care but we have to be included,” Schumer said on June 28.

But despite the bill imploding and Trump’s guidance, McConnell said, “this does not have to be the end of the story.”

“I regret the effort to repeal and immediately replace will not be successful, but that doesn’t mean we should give up,” McConnell said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “It’s regretful that our Democratic colleagues decided early on that they did not want to engage with us to help deliver that relief, but this does not have to be the end of the story.” 

Trump says time to 'let ObamaCare fail' after health bill stalls