It’s day 86. I was up most of the night working on my network and will be doing the same today, so I’m feeling totally pooped and this is today’s only article.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:24 (average 4:41). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Former Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson has been a key part of the legal challenge to subsidies under Obamacare, and figures prominently in the King v. Burwell case before the Supreme Court. The Democrat had been a key holdout in the Senate during debate, and was insistent that states be given as much autonomy as possible under the federal law. That included separate state health insurance exchanges. The House Democrats’ bill had one exchange, and it was largely Nelson’s holding out that forced the state exchanges in the Senate bill and the eventual law. The King plaintiffs are using Nelson’s position to support their theory that Congress intended to withhold subsidies from the states unless they established their own exchanges, in an attempt to force states to do it.
They just lost the Ben Nelson argument.
Nelson, who announced his retirement in 2011, speaks for himself in a brief filed by Democratic congressional leaders and others.
"I always believed that tax credits should be available in all 50 states regardless of who built the exchange, and the final law also reflects that belief as well," Nelson wrote in a letter to Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) who sought Nelson’s view. […]
Nelson said he wanted only for the exchanges to be tailored to the needs of each state.
"In either scenario—a state or federal exchange—our purpose was clear: to provide states the tools necessary to deliver affordable healthcare to their citizens, and clearly the subsidies are a critical component of that effort regardless of which exchange type a state chooses," Nelson responded.
If SCROTUS (Republican Constitutional VD) decide against the ACA now they will broadcast that they are legislating from the bench. Is is also the first time I have ever been thankful for something said by "Benedict Arnold" Nelson. He may have just saved our bacon.
From MoveOn: Republicans in Congress want to work with the Obama administration to fast-track the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The TPP is the largest—and worst—trade deal you’ve never heard of, having been devised in secret by representatives of some of the world’s largest corporations.
It’s so big and has the potential to do so much damage, it’s been likened to “NAFTA on steroids.”
I have to admit that I’ve been ambivalent about this, because there is so much we do nor know, but I trust the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, as much as I distrust the Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich.
From NY Times: An overwhelming majority of the American public, including nearly half of Republicans, support government action to curb global warming, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times, Stanford University and the nonpartisan environmental research group Resources for the Future.
In a finding that could have implications for the 2016 presidential campaign, the poll also found that two-thirds of Americans say they are more likely to vote for political candidates who campaign on fighting climate change. They are less likely to vote for candidates who question or deny the science of human-caused global warming.
Click through for more info. What the American people think and what Republican politicians do are mutually exclusive universes.
Cartoon:
46 Responses to “Open Thread–1/30/2015”
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4:28 average still 4:41. Looks like stripes in a lot more than orange to me.
Daily Kos – Yes, I also read that with some relief. Of course that doesn't mean SCROTUS won't screw it up. They are pretty brazen. Any everyone already knows they are bought, so it wouldn't be news. The House wouldn't start impeachment proceedings, not the House we have now.
Move On – Do not miss the words "fast-track." Fast-track isonly necessary when, if the details got out, it could not pass, because there would be too much blowback. In other words, a poison pill – for US to take. NAFTA on steroids is a pretty good description from what I have read, which is as much as I have been able to find. And, while we are discussing the TPP (Asia) let us not forget there is also a TTIP (Europe) which is pretty much the same and every bit as bad.
Even if these agreements were all sweetness and light, they should not be fast tracked, because they affect our whole way of life, and we should all be able to know exactly what is in them. On the other hand, if they were all sweetness and light, they would not need to be fast tracked.
NY Times – Well, it would be nice if this knowledge helps. It may actually help Democrats if they can be smart. I agree that Republicans – meh.
Cartoon – the good news is that Mitt said today he is definitely not running. Oh, wait – you knew that – he is not in the cartoon. Never mind.
See today's cartoon. Up shortly. 🙂
Tropical fish with orange vertical stripes. 5:01 😆
Nelson is voicing the typical Republin State's rights line. We know from experience that these kind of national programs should have the same requirements for each State.
Obama is one of the most conservative Democrats to ever be president. Liberals of the Democratic party are not satisfied and many have been wishing Clinton had been their choice. Obama's answer to why no universal health care, was not acceptle. His bailout of the banks with no help to individuals who were losing their homes, jobs, and savings, left them disillusioned. Personally I like the guy, a lot, and I hope history will be kind to him.
"Bailout by which President?"
34% – Just a third of Americans know that the bank bailout was enacted by the Bush administration; nearly half incorrectly say it was passed under President Obama.
http://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/was-tarp-passed-under-bush-or-obama/
By "universal health care" you mean single payer, it would not have passed. A lot of Obama's conservatrism comes from his mistake of dropping most his own advisors and adopting Hillary's.
Jim is correct. Republicans love to blame Obama for the Bush bailout. What Bush did is not what Congress passed.
So liberal disatisatisfaction with Obam is because Obama used Hillary's positions and not his own? It's a liberal position to bail out car companies? He continues to push pot arrests in States that have legal pot? Obama's stated position on why he was against single payer did not include, because he didn't have the votes to pass it; he said it wasn't right for our health care system. I'm confused and so are many other liberals.
That's not at all what I said. I said that Obama's decisions might have been less conservative if he had not surrounded himself with the Clintons' advisors, who arew3 fgar more conservative than the ones that helped hem get elected. He said single payer was not right for our health care system, because he consulted with House and Senate Democrats, who told him that no reform that did not preserve the current employer/insurance company structure could pass, That is the basis of that position. No proposal is right for our country, if it's DOA. Also, I never said Obama isn't too conservative. The point I'm trying to make is that you'll discover that Hillary is more conservative than Obama,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDAPLb-HVcM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne3PQ6rT3dw
On the first clip, there is no context. Several of his advisors have said that he intended the single federal exhange to grow into a single payer system, as people got used to it and saw how mucvh better it was. But Nelson and Landrieu balked and by supporting the republican filibuster prevented a single federal exchange from happening. If you prerfer, he could have gone for Medicare for all, which would not have passed, and we'd still have RepubliCare for all.
On the bank bailout, he said he supported it, before we elected him. I agree that leting the TBTF banks fail would have collapsed the economy. But it was still done by the Bush Regime, and when Obama took office, he did recover most of the money.
Of course there was a different way to ensure solvency without direct cash to the banks.
I can only go by what he says. I'm not much of a mind reader. If he didn't mean what he said, well…….
Taking the iLow Road tonight? Yep. Being Petty? You bet. Acting like a Rethuglican? Well, it is stuff like this they LIVE for. Humouros? In all honesty, it did make me chuckle. I'm not proud of it, but Karma is SUCH a Bitch – especially when it comes to a big, bullying buffoon like Chris Christie.
While the Richter Scale Reading have not been disclosed, Christie tumbles out of his chair when trying to sit down:
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/01/30/watch-chris-christie-fall-off-his-chair
QUESTION: If he can't even seat himself in a chair, how can he expect to run out country?
That is too funny! Is it me, or has Christie lost a few pounds? He seems as little slimmer, but still has more than enough to hug if one was so inclined. I'm not so inclined though.
Did Christie "bully" the chair… lol.
And that isn't even why I named him PIGnocchio!!
2:59 Oh come on now, TomCat. Your time is insane! I can't even think that fast let alone solve a puzzle that quickly.
And I don't believe the pooped part for one second.
2:59 Trying to beat that cat is like swimming upstream against the current! I think it has something to do with that new thingy he's been doing to his computer. He said it was a lot faster.
3:18 Jerry, I don't believe the "pooped" statement either. Lynn, he's got that computer turbo-charged or something.
Clarification om pooped. When I did the puzzle, it was early and I was fresh. When I wrote the article it was after many hours od uninterrupted work, and by then, I WAS pooped.
I expect when he did the puzzle he was also hungry. It looked tasty, if you're a cat.
Daily KOs: Of course Scotus is legislating from the bench, and the sooner Congress does something about it the better. They need term limits, and so do senators and representatives.
MoveOn: Nafta on steroids is enough for me. That debacle has cost us millions, as well as eliminating nearly all our manufacturing jobs.
NY Times: I read the article, good to know that two thirds of Americans are "getting" it.
Cartoon: Loved it and shared it on Facebook.
I hope you get some rest soon, sounds like you need it.
Rest? What's that? 😉
TERM LIMITS WON'T HELP. They have never helped any place they have been tried. They favor Republicans. Besides, are you trying to throw Bernie Sanders under the bus?
Daily Kos:
SCROTUS has already decided an the ACA. Are they going to rule again on the behest of GOP/TP/Koch Party to change their ruling around a bit.
MoveOn:
The TPP and TTIP are likened to “NAFTA on steroids.” Big corporations are pushing these two trade agreements in SECRET. That alone should tell you something. Robert Reich's 2 1/2 minute video explains some details in simple terms. Well worth watching.
NY Times:
The poll also found that two-thirds of Americans say they are more likely to vote for political candidates who campaign on fighting climate change. Yet, of those 2/3 voters are most likely to vote for the GOP/TP/Koch Party candidates because they are, simply said and put, the "low-information" people.
Cartoon:
Aren't these the "WANTED for IDIOCY" Posters which are hung in Post Offices everywhere…???
Added Bonus: "Bailout by which President?"
34% – Just a third of Americans know that the bank bailout was enacted by the Bush administration; nearly half incorrectly say it was passed under President Obama.
http://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/was-tarp-passed-under-bush-or-obama/
Cartoon:
Aren't these the "WANTED for IDIOCY" Posters which are hung in Post Offices everywhere…???
Personally, I like them better on the bullseye of my dart board. It can be so much more cathartic!
You can cut it up into individual squares, float one in the tiolet, and bomb it. 😀
But it's only good for one bombing run! Dart boards . . . let's just say "multiple bombing runs" until they no longer hold together!
Make several copies and cut them up so each candidate has is own square.; That's 18 dumps per sheet. 😈
I would love to dump them ALL in one flush! LOL!
You may be right, but I'll blame them after they do it. Blame for what someone is going to do is a Republican tactic.
Thank you Jim. 😆
Puzzle — 2:59 Trying to beat that cat is like swimming upstream against the current! I think it has something to do with that new thingy he's been doing to his computer. He said it was a lot faster.
Daily Kos — "It looks like it's going to be up to Chief Justice Roberts, again, to think about the legacy of this court." There goes the neighbourhood! If SCOTUS does decide to go against the ACA thereby legislating from the bench, is there any redress, or is that it?
MoveOn — When Republicanus/Teabaggers WANT to work with the Obama administration, you have to know that there is something wrong. In my understanding of the TPP, 40% of the world's economies become part of a global corporatocracy, and a secret one at that. In the US, people rail against the corporate control of the Kochroaches and big banks, TPP would make that control look like child's play. I'm with Robert Reich . . . no to fast tracking and no to the TPP!
NY Times — Some might take heart in this, but I have found too many low information voters, especially on the right, that I'll believe it when I see it.
Cartoon — Ah, a seemingly endless supply of targets for my dart board!
The only redress is to pass a single federal exchange for the ACA. 2017 at the earliest.
Hooray – so glad you have been convinced by the estimable Robert Reich that the TTP/TTIP is bad – it is SOOO bad – and in so very many ways!
(Sorry – all I can write today – I tried a new product supposed to make me healthier and it has cost me many an hour of horrible illness – SIGH!!!).
The Reich on the left is right. The Reich on the right is wrong.
Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016
This page was last modified on 30 January 2015, at 19:37.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_candidates,_2016
I hope the nominate Bloody Bullseye Barbie!
WRT Cartoon: On a fill-in-the-blank, I would have definitely missed Mike Lee and probably John Thune.
Maybe it's a bit sad that I would've named all the rest.
I named them all except John Thune, although I had heard of him. I would have missed Pence except I saw him within the past week or so.
If you think it is sad for you to name them, what about a Canuck? These guys are more notorious than Al Capone, and probably helped to kill more people too!
Improve your aim.
Cartoon ~ Any thoughts on how many will stand up on the Debate Stage?
In Iowa, a bunch. Less later.
No to Fast Track and No to TPP.