monday quote: The trouble with America is that there are far
too many wide-open spaces surrounded by teeth.
(Charles Luckman, businessman, 1909-1999)
Monday, October 7, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Quick Fact: Demand Exceeds Supply = Fail
On Tuesday, the first day people could sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, 2.8 million people jammed phone lines and internet sites causing many to receive messages asking them to try again later.
If the same thing had happened on the release day of a new Apple iPhone, we would be hearing about how wildly popular the iPhone is and how the millions of people who couldn't wait to get their hands on one crashed the Apple website, proving that it is the most popular phone in the world.
Yet, Republicans are still holding the country hostage, still demanding that the President dismantle the ACA because "nobody likes the law, nobody wants to buy health insurance through the federal government, the law is a failure."
If the same thing had happened on the release day of a new Apple iPhone, we would be hearing about how wildly popular the iPhone is and how the millions of people who couldn't wait to get their hands on one crashed the Apple website, proving that it is the most popular phone in the world.
Yet, Republicans are still holding the country hostage, still demanding that the President dismantle the ACA because "nobody likes the law, nobody wants to buy health insurance through the federal government, the law is a failure."
So, in Republican-land when demand exceeds supply it is proof of failure? Who knew?
Saturday, October 5, 2013
The Republican Shutdown Digest: Clueless, Gimme and Druthers
Three semi-connected thoughts on the federal government shutdown and how House Republicans are dealing with the fallout...
1. We Have No Idea What We're Doing
Representative Marlin Stutzman (R-Indiana) told the Washington Examiner: "We're not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is.
what eye thynk: "Disrespected"? Sounds like something I'd expect to hear from some urban gangsta wannabe. It does not make me feel any better to find out that even some Republicans have no idea what they're doing.
2. Give Me My Money
Representative Renee Ellmers will not be deferring her congressional paycheck during the government shutdown as some Representatives are doing. "I need my paycheck. That's the bottom line. I understand that there may be some other members who are deferring their paychecks, and I think that's admirable. I'm not in that position."
what eye thynk: Ms. Ellmer's husband, a general surgeon, makes between $250,000 and $400,000 a year, so I can see how it would be a struggle for her to make ends meet without the $174,000 we pay her. And I'm sure the 800,000 furloughed Americans--both the low paid clerks out in the hinterlands and her own aides, (who are paid an average of $60,000 a year)--and who will be going without a paycheck while she and her fellow Republicans in the House hold the country hostage, will understand too.
3. We Want to Destroy Something--You Choose
A Twitter-er, (is that even a word?) by the name of Judd Legume, (great "handle"), described the House's insistence on sending multiple spending bills to the Senate, each putting a different piece of the ACA on the chopping block and expecting the Senate to support one of them this way:
what eye thynk: This links back to Mr. Stutzman's clueless quote to the Washington Examiner, because only a completely nescient House could honestly be surprised that the Democrats in the Senate and the President would be unwilling to identify what part of their signature health care law they are willing to put to the torch in order to satisfy the Republican hunger for destruction.
1. We Have No Idea What We're Doing
Representative Marlin Stutzman (R-Indiana) told the Washington Examiner: "We're not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this. And I don't know what that even is.
what eye thynk: "Disrespected"? Sounds like something I'd expect to hear from some urban gangsta wannabe. It does not make me feel any better to find out that even some Republicans have no idea what they're doing.
2. Give Me My Money
Representative Renee Ellmers will not be deferring her congressional paycheck during the government shutdown as some Representatives are doing. "I need my paycheck. That's the bottom line. I understand that there may be some other members who are deferring their paychecks, and I think that's admirable. I'm not in that position."
what eye thynk: Ms. Ellmer's husband, a general surgeon, makes between $250,000 and $400,000 a year, so I can see how it would be a struggle for her to make ends meet without the $174,000 we pay her. And I'm sure the 800,000 furloughed Americans--both the low paid clerks out in the hinterlands and her own aides, (who are paid an average of $60,000 a year)--and who will be going without a paycheck while she and her fellow Republicans in the House hold the country hostage, will understand too.
3. We Want to Destroy Something--You Choose
A Twitter-er, (is that even a word?) by the name of Judd Legume, (great "handle"), described the House's insistence on sending multiple spending bills to the Senate, each putting a different piece of the ACA on the chopping block and expecting the Senate to support one of them this way:
- House: Can I burn down your house? -- Senate: No
- House: Just the second floor? -- Senate: No
- House: How about the garage? -- Senate: No
- House: Let's talk about what part I can burn down. -- Senate: No
- House: You aren't compromising!
what eye thynk: This links back to Mr. Stutzman's clueless quote to the Washington Examiner, because only a completely nescient House could honestly be surprised that the Democrats in the Senate and the President would be unwilling to identify what part of their signature health care law they are willing to put to the torch in order to satisfy the Republican hunger for destruction.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Maybe the Senate Should Communicate in Child-ese So the House Can Understand Them?
Prior to the federal government shutdown, House Republicans added a list of "must haves", (defund the ACA, agree to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline, eliminate funds for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, drop regulations on greenhouse gases, open federal lands to private oil drilling...), if they were to sit down and talk about a new budget with the Senate.
---> RANDOM THOUGHT: Now that Vice-Speaker Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and his assistant John Boehner (R- Ohio) are crying to the heavens that the Senate won't sit down and talk with them, wouldn't it be fun if the Senate sent their own list of "must haves"? -- We'll sit down and talk about the budget if you agree to pass a bill requiring universal background checks for gun purchases, vote for immigration reform including the Dream Act, fully fund the food stamp program, budget enough money to begin the rebuilding of our roads and bridges and give up your three year war on the ACA. Childish, I know; but Child-ese does seem to be the native tongue of House Republicans these days.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Eye Recommend --- John Boehner's Shutdown (and Republicans posing for their Oscar)
JOHN BOEHNER'S SHUTDOWN, by the New York Times Editorial Board -- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/opinion/john-boehners-shutdown.html?_r=0
At any point, Mr. Boehner could have stopped it. Had he put on the floor a simple temporary spending resolution to keep the government open, without the outrageous demands to delay or defund the health reform law, it could easily have passed the House with a strong majority--including with sizable support from Republican members, many of whom are aware of how badly this collapse will damage their party.
But Mr. Boehner refused. He stood in the well of the House and repeated the tired falsehood that the Affordable Care Act was killing jobs. He came up with a series of increasingly ridiculous demands: defund the health law, delay it for a year, stop its requirement that employers pay for contraception...strip Congressional employees of their health subsidies..."
Finally, at the last minute, when there was still time to end the charade with a straightforward spending bill, Mr. Boehner made the most absurd demand of all: an immediate conference committee with the Senate. Suddenly, with less than an hour left, he wanted to set up formal negotiations?
For six months, the Senate has been demanding a conference with the House on the 2014 budget...but the House leadership has adamantly refused...For Mr. Boehner to call for a conference near midnight was the height of hypocrisy...
...Having let down the public, Republicans will now, inevitably, scramble to save their reputation. They are desperate to make it appear as if President Obama and the Democrats are the ones being intransigent, hoping voters will think that everyone is at fault and simply blame 'Washington.'
...Earlier in his presidency, Mr. Obama made the catastrophic mistake--in the face of just this sort of extortion--to believe in Mr. Boehner's willingness to be reasonable. This time, however, the cynical games of the Republicans are not going to work.
The Republicans' reckless obsession with destroying health reform and with wounding the president has been on full display. And, as the public's anger grows over this entirely unnecessary crisis, it should be aimed at a party and a speaker that are incapable of governing."
This New York Times Op-ed piece puts the blame for the government shutdown squarely on the ineffectual shoulders of John Boehner (R-Ohio)--and rightfully so.
As always, my comments are indented and in italics."By Tuesday morning, the leadership failure of Speaker John Boehner was complete. In encouraging the impossible quest of House Republicans to dismantle health care reform, he pushed the country into a government shutdown that will now begin to take a grievous economic toll.
At any point, Mr. Boehner could have stopped it. Had he put on the floor a simple temporary spending resolution to keep the government open, without the outrageous demands to delay or defund the health reform law, it could easily have passed the House with a strong majority--including with sizable support from Republican members, many of whom are aware of how badly this collapse will damage their party.
But Mr. Boehner refused. He stood in the well of the House and repeated the tired falsehood that the Affordable Care Act was killing jobs. He came up with a series of increasingly ridiculous demands: defund the health law, delay it for a year, stop its requirement that employers pay for contraception...strip Congressional employees of their health subsidies..."
That last one really came out of nowhere. Members of Congress and their staffs are required--by law--to purchase their health insurance through their home state insurance exchanges. The cost of that purchase will be paid for by the federal government, (their employer) as part of their employee benefit package.
What would taking employer paid health care away from low paid congressional staff members accomplish other than to punish the people who do all of Congress' grunt work? It was like Boehner was going under for the third time and in his panic had started speaking in tongues!
And notice, there was no mention of stripping actual members of Congress of THEIR health care subsidies."All (the demands) were instantly rejected by the Senate. 'They've lost their minds,' Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said of the House Republicans. 'They keep trying to do the same thing over and over again.'
Finally, at the last minute, when there was still time to end the charade with a straightforward spending bill, Mr. Boehner made the most absurd demand of all: an immediate conference committee with the Senate. Suddenly, with less than an hour left, he wanted to set up formal negotiations?
For six months, the Senate has been demanding a conference with the House on the 2014 budget...but the House leadership has adamantly refused...For Mr. Boehner to call for a conference near midnight was the height of hypocrisy...
...Having let down the public, Republicans will now, inevitably, scramble to save their reputation. They are desperate to make it appear as if President Obama and the Democrats are the ones being intransigent, hoping voters will think that everyone is at fault and simply blame 'Washington.'
This tactic was on full display Tuesday morning when, instead of actually working on the budget crisis in any positive way, House Republicans staged a piece of theater for the press. They set up a long table, sat eight serious looking Republicans on one side facing eight empty chairs, then invited the media to take photos. This was supposed to demonstrate how they're ready to work if only the Democrats in the Senate would show up.
Eric Cantor, House Majority Leader offered this self-serving tidibt: "The way to resolve our differences is to sit down and talk. And as you can see, there's no one here at the other side of the table." The whole display was pathetic."Mr. Boehner even mocked the president...for refusing to negotiate over health reform, as if he actually expected Mr. Obama to join in wrecking a law that will provide health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans under threat of blackmail...
...Earlier in his presidency, Mr. Obama made the catastrophic mistake--in the face of just this sort of extortion--to believe in Mr. Boehner's willingness to be reasonable. This time, however, the cynical games of the Republicans are not going to work.
The Republicans' reckless obsession with destroying health reform and with wounding the president has been on full display. And, as the public's anger grows over this entirely unnecessary crisis, it should be aimed at a party and a speaker that are incapable of governing."
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Quick Fact: The Government is Closed (and, by the way, our President is Gay!)
Okay, the government is closed, the Republicans can't decide whether they're winning or losing and the Democrats are waiting for whatever cockamamie idea John Boehner allows the House to vote on next. This is all very serious stuff; but sometimes you just have to take a step back and laugh. To fill that need, I give you Dean Chambers, the conservative self-titled polling expert who claimed to "unskew" the polls during the 2012 election to show that Mitt Romney was really ahead by a landslide.
His latest claim, as reported by UndergroundDemocrat.com:
"The conservative activist who gained fame during the 2012 election for 'unskewing; polls favorable to Barack Obama explained this weekend his newest revelation: the president is 'actually' gay.
Dean Chambers, founder of UnSkewedPolls.com who now appears to work for The Examiner, said that Newsweek got it wrong when it ran a cover praising Obama for his evolution on gay marriage last year. Obama was not 'basically' the nation's first gay president for his progressive stance on the issue, but actually so.
'I do believe that Barack Obama is in fact our first gay president,' he wrote. 'But I believe this for entirely different reasons. I believe the man actually is gay. Don't tell me his marriage to Michelle and having two children disproves that he's gay.'
In the article, Chambers cites various sources claiming to show Barack Obama's closeted life in Chicago as a state senator. He takes it even a step further, however, in defending Obama's Christian faith by arguing that people of Muslim faith 'are known to stone someone for being gay.'
'Would you be a Muslim if it put you at risk for being killed because of your lifestyle choices?' he asks."
His latest claim, as reported by UndergroundDemocrat.com:
"The conservative activist who gained fame during the 2012 election for 'unskewing; polls favorable to Barack Obama explained this weekend his newest revelation: the president is 'actually' gay.
Dean Chambers, founder of UnSkewedPolls.com who now appears to work for The Examiner, said that Newsweek got it wrong when it ran a cover praising Obama for his evolution on gay marriage last year. Obama was not 'basically' the nation's first gay president for his progressive stance on the issue, but actually so.
'I do believe that Barack Obama is in fact our first gay president,' he wrote. 'But I believe this for entirely different reasons. I believe the man actually is gay. Don't tell me his marriage to Michelle and having two children disproves that he's gay.'
In the article, Chambers cites various sources claiming to show Barack Obama's closeted life in Chicago as a state senator. He takes it even a step further, however, in defending Obama's Christian faith by arguing that people of Muslim faith 'are known to stone someone for being gay.'
'Would you be a Muslim if it put you at risk for being killed because of your lifestyle choices?' he asks."
**********
I could find no evidence that Mr. Chamber's site, UnSkewedPolls.com still exists. All links to it seem to lead nowhere. However you can read his entire Obama-is-a-gay-Muslim-masquerading-as-a-straight-Christian article, which was published by The Examiner, here:
http://www.examiner.com/article/commentary-newsweek-was-right-about-barack-obamaTuesday, October 1, 2013
C L O S E D !
As of midnight last night, the United States of America is officially closed. The children running the Republican Party stamped their collective feet and refused to fund the government unless the President and his party defunded the Affordable Care Act.
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) put his cowardice on open display and refused to put a clean spending bill to a full vote of the House, choosing instead to meekly allow the radicals in his party to hijack the country. Representative Peter King (R-NY) tried to rally enough moderate Republican votes to force the Speaker to call for a full vote under some obscure procedure called "the rule"; but he couldn't find 17 Republicans to join him.
In a statement late last night Mr. King said: "We have people in the conference, I believe, who'd be just as happy to have the government shut down. They live in these narrow echo chambers. They listen to themselves and their Tea Party friends. That keeps them going, forgetting that the rest of the country thinks we are crazy."
Some Republican members of the House indicated that they would vote for a clean bill if the Speaker presented it, but would not stick their necks out to force a vote for fear of a Tea Party backlash come election time.
At 12:01, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) sent a message to the Senate asking them to negotiate.
what eye thynk: NOW they want to negotiate? Where were they six months ago when the Senate sent their budget to the House and requested the creation of a conference committee to work out a compromise budget between the two chambers? Oh, yeah, that was when the House sent a return message saying that they had no intention of negotiating unless the ACA was defunded or repealed. (Maybe "negotiate" has a different meaning in their dictionary?)
Forget that the law was debated and passed by both chambers of Congress. Forget that the President signed it into law. Forget that we had an election and the citizens of this country showed their support of the ACA by rejecting the candidate who promised to put an end to it. Forget that the Supreme Court upheld the law.
The Tea Party is all about defending democracy and the will of the people--until the people vote their opposition--then democracy is just a word and the people are just an inconvenience.
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