Politics

A clearly frustrated President Trump lambasted GOP senators at The White House this morning demanding that they cancel their August recess and not leave town until acting to repeal ObamaCare.

“We can repeal, but we should repeal and replace, and we shouldn’t leave town until this is complete -- until this bill is on my desk,” the president told senators at the beginning of a lunch meeting at the White House.

 

“Any senator who votes against debate says you are fine with Obamacare,” Trump said.

Authored by Bonner & Partners' Bill Bonner, annotated by Acting-Man's Pater Tenebrarum,

French Fraud

“Which is worse? America or France?” The question must be put in context. We were invited to dinner with local farmers last night. Jean-Yves and Arlette live in a modest house in the nearby town – an efficient and cozy place built about 25 years ago. They’ve added a solarium to the back, where we had dinner.

FAF – French-American Friendship. These days it’s a “which is worse” competition… [PT]

After failing at least once in the House, depending on your definition of failure, the GOP's hopes of repealing and/or replacing Obamacare looks to also now be official dead in the Senate as well.  All of which officially proves that John Boehnor was spot on when he said back in February that Republican chatter of a full repeal and replace of Obamacare was nothing more than a bunch of "happy talk."

Authored by Nick Cunningham via OilPrice.com,

In a desperate bid to survive its economic meltdown, Venezuela is lobbying other OPEC members to agree to steeper oil production cuts, a move that would likely lead to higher oil prices.

Venezuelan officials have reached out to their counterparts in Iran, Russia and Saudi Arabia to press them on more collective action, according to Argus Media. If there was enough interest, the next step would be an “extraordinary meeting,” which would weigh the option of cutting deeper.

France's armed forces chief resigned on Wednesday, culminating a dramatic dispute with president Emmanuel Macron over defense budget cuts, in what Reuters called "an early test of the newly elected president's mettle and the tough presidential style he is cultivating." Last week, General Pierre de Villiers publicly complained about Macron’s proposed €850 million cuts to the military's budget, telling a parliament committee he would not "let myself be fucked like that," adding that "I may be stupid, but I know when I am being had."