Turkey's Dictator: Today's News for April 17th

Associated Press:

OPPOSITION TO CHALLENGE VOTES ON EXPANDING ERDOGAN'S POWERS

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's main opposition party on Monday prepared to contest the results of a landmark referendum that gave a narrow victory to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's long-time plans to greatly expand the powers of his office.

Turkey's electoral board confirmed the "yes" victory in Sunday's referendum and said the final results would be declared in 11-12 days. The state-run Anadolu Agency said the "yes" vote stood at 51.41 percent, while the "no" vote was 48.59 percent.

The margin fell short of the sweeping victory Erdogan had sought in the referendum. Nevertheless, it could cement his hold on power in Turkey and is expected to have a huge effect on the country's long-term political future and its international relations.

Yesterday, I was chatting online with a friend I have in Turkey. He was deeply concerned about this, for two reasons: First, it effectively makes Erdogan a dictator. But second, it also increases the likelihood of some kind of western war against Turkey in the near future.

Obviously, it won't happen today or tomorrow, but considering how little provocation it takes to get America to attack any country nowadays, it remains well within the realm of possibility.

In other international news...

Raw Story:

Former CIA analyst on Korea slams Trump’s ‘gross miscalculation’ on North Korea

Dr. Sue Mi Terry once worked for the CIA as an analyst covering Korea and she’s deeply troubled by what she’s seeing coming out of President Donald Trump’s administration when it comes to North Korea.

Dr. Terry explained that the parades and trotting out of weapons are nothing more than a spectacle or display. However, she did confirm that they do have ICBMs that we know can reach the United States, they just haven’t tested it. Dr. Terry thinks that they’re about to, though.

“If this president is weighing, for whatever reason, some type of novel, newly aggressive military action toward North Korea, what are the options and what are the likely consequences?” host Rachel Maddow asked.

“He could weigh an option of intercepting a missile or an option of striking a nuclear test site,” Terry explained. “But I honestly don’t think it’s going to follow through with this. This is a problem with that policy because you’re putting yourself in a bind, either you have to back down or you have to lose your credibility, or now you’re stuck on a ledge and risk a military option, which is very, very risky. North Korea is not Syria or Afghanistan. It’s going to have to be devastating consequences. North Korea will retaliate to any kind of military option.”

The problem with this analysis is it only looks at North Korea. Trump's strategy is to get China to press North Korea's buttons.

Speaking of dangerous games of chicken...

Business Insider:

Trump is playing a dangerous game of chicken with Democrats 

that could cause healthcare costs to skyrocket

In interviews over the past week, President Donald Trump has cast doubt on whether or not his administration will fund a key provision of the Affordable Care Act that helps offset costs for insurers.

The uncertainty Trump is sowing over the payments — known as cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments — has left insurers jittery and contemplating leaving the individual insurance exchanges created by the law known as Obamacare.

Trump has put CSR payments on the table in an attempt to convince Democrats to negotiate with him on his replacement plan for the ACA. But the end of the payments could mean higher premiums and a dearth of choices for insurance, experts say.

"Ending the cost-sharing payments would be a clear signal from the Trump Administration that they are not aiming to run the ACA marketplace effectively, so insurers would likely just throw up their hands and leave the market," said Larry Levitt, senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "The uncertainty and ambiguity is already giving insurers pause about staying in the market for 2018."

The Democrats are trapped. If they don't give in to Trump, he can pull the CSR's, which will cause the ACA to die, leaving Democrats in the unenviable situation of trying to accuse Trump of killing Obamacare by withholding what is effectively corporate welfare. On the other hand, Democrats negotiating with Trump on a new health care plan won't sell any better with their base.

Trump is playing a masterful game of political chess here.