It’s Monday morning — OGIM!!! — and I tried to get this OT out yesterday but couldn’t. It rained here yesterday like there was no tomorrow. We could have floated Noah’s Ark in some places. I see Puddy Tat has been in already so people have their reading set for Monday. I will likely not be posting for a few days at least since the news cycle will thin out during Christmas and I need to explore our new Word Press updates. Have a good week as you prepare for all the festivities ahead!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:31 (average 6:03). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes
AlterNet — In a ruling that was quickly dubbed as “insane” by critics, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the entirety of the Affordable Care Act — also known as “Obamacare” — was unconstitutional.
It appears the law will still technically be in place while the case goes through appeals, however.
Judge Reed O’Connor had been expected to rule against the law, brought by Republican states attorneys general, but the scope of his ruling Friday night still shocked many observers. The lawsuit he heard targeted the law’s individual mandate, which sets a tax penalty for every who American who doesn’t sign up for health insurance.
The mandate had already been upheld by the Supreme Court, so it would have seemed that the lawsuit was pointless. It seems even more pointless because last year the Republicans voted to set the cost of the individual mandate to zero, effectively nullifying it.
Click through . . . it gets even more insane. Judge O’Connor is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas and was nominated by George W. Bush in 2007. If this was a lifetime appointment, he has a long way to go before retirement since he is only 53 years old. Think Progress had this to say about O’Connor:
The Republican officials filed their case in Fort Worth, Texas, where the only active federal district judge is Reed O’Connor, a highly partisan judge with a long history of striking down Democratic policies on spurious legal reasoning.
Of course, this morning, Trump has jumped in on this decision with his usual plethora of lies with his tweets. Responses to his tweets can be seen HERE and they are good! A sac of hammers would appear to have more brains than O’Connor.
Think Progress — Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the Democrat who takes over chairmanship of the House Oversight Committee next month, called Sunday for the overhaul of legal guidelines that currently protect presidents from criminal prosecution.
“I think we should always reconsider laws and regulations, and this is one we definitely should reconsider,” Cummings told CNN’s State of the Union. …
As The Washington Post reported this weekend, nearly every organization touched by Donald Trump over the past decade — both civil and governmental — is currently under investigation. And as ThinkProgress has reported, the administration has been beset by an unending parade of scandals. …
Cummings also echoed remarks by fellow Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (CA), who is poised to become chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Schiff told CNN last week that the Office of Legal Counsel in the DOJ should revisit the policy against indicting presidents.
“I think the Justice Department needs to reexamine that Office of Legal Counsel opinion, that you cannot indict a sitting president under circumstances in which the failure to do so may mean that person escapes justice,” the California Democrat said.
It seems that it is going to be a fish fry starting in January and I can already hear the sizzling from the pan and the gnashing of Republican teeth!
AlterNet — Republicans are executing shameless power grabs in Wisconsin and Michigan, passing laws stripping newly-elected Democrats and liberal activists of power on their way out the door and transferring them to the GOP legislatures. But some in the political pundit class, like NBC’s Chuck Todd, are pushing a narrative that rewriting the law to lock the other party out of electoral power is a common tactic that both parties use.
In fact it isn’t. And this weekend, America saw the ultimate test of this false equivalence in New Jersey. Democratic activists in the state and around the country revolted against a plan that would have essentially been a Democratic version of the Wisconsin and Michigan power grabs — and forced lawmakers to abandon their attack on fair elections.
Democrats in the New Jersey legislature were moving forward with a plan that would have effectively written Democratic gerrymandering into the state constitution forever. Under this plan, half of legislative districts would be drawn to lean more Democratic, half to lean more Republican, and 25 percent of the total would be “competitive.” That sounds fair on paper, but the plan actually defined “competitive” as any district that comes within 5 points of the statewide vote for president, Senate, and governor — which is 7 points more Democratic than the national average. So the legislature could theoretically have called a district where Democrats win by 56 percent “Republican leaning” and a district where Democrats win by 62 percent “competitive”. …
As it turned out, the fiercest voices in opposition to this scheme came from Democrats. …
it ran contrary to the party’s ideals of fair elections and representative, accountable democracy — and everyone from high-ranking leaders to grassroots organizers drew the line at compromising those values.
Click through for more details of the errant plan. Good on those who thwarted this piece of garbage legislation! Makes me wonder if state Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin will have enough votes to get themselves re-elected next time around after trying to use Republican tactics.
My Universe
10 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 17 December 2018”
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Posted to Care2 HERE
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So, does that judge believe that only the well-to-do should have access to affordable health care? Maybe we can turn this negative into a positive – getting rid of Obamacare could be an inroad to “Medicare for All.”
No surprise Rethuglicans passed poison pill legislation to hurt incoming Democrats. So, is it true that Democrats refused to do the same? I hope that is true. I am no fan of either party, truth be told, but these days I lean towards Democrats because at least they aren’t bowing and scraping before an orange blob of toxic waste.
I wouldn’t want to get rid of Obamacare until Medicare for all was up and running. I do not trust Republicans to support Medicare for all — like Trump said there would be fabulous healthcare set up by the administration but there has never been a plan let alone planning for one.
I certainly hope that Democrats did not take a page from the Republican playbook and set poison pills. Take the high road . . . but be aggressive fighting the Republicans. Fortunately, NJ Democrats thwarted a plan proposed by their own.
7:20 Another sweetie – thanks!
AlterNet – Too bad we can’t bring back the original O’Connor to replace him. She was no progressive in many ways, but she’d be better than he is.
TP – It’s just a frickin’ guideline, frevvinsake. It’s not carved in stone like the Constitution (and even that is subject to amendment, though it’s challenging at best). There is definitely Constitutional authority for charging him while in office. IANAL, but I do read what they have to say.
AlterNet 2 – I really can’t say it better than Sam did in her Act II. Wisconsin and Michigan are horrible examples of failure to vote the whole ticket. Kudos to New Jersey.
Universe – Truth in advertising indeed!
AN: Gawd, how horrible. And …. the judge is from Texas. dt will do anything in his power to undo what Mr. Obama has done for the people. He (dt) doesn’t give a sheet, imho.
TP: Dems gotta do what they gotta do, you go, Mr. Cummings! Lynn, that fish fry is gonna taste mighty good too!!
AN: Bravo to New Jersey! Wish other states would follow their lead.
MU: How adorable!! My cat does this, and she has 3 boxes in which she hides (in plain sight), around the house. Peek A Boo !!
Take care, and Thank you, Lynn for your post.
I’m not super big on fish, but this is one fish fry I will really relish!
AN: Heard about this on the news over the weekend. This judge must be a lover of tRump that he ‘s standing with him against Obamacare. I pray that it’s knocked down by the higher courts.
AN2: Good for New Jersey.
MU: So cute.
3:50 (average 6:03) Definitely an outdoor cat.
AN: Judge O’Connor ruled that the entirety of the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional. That is far more than Drumpf and his Republicans asked for, isn’t it? Either he’s got early-onset Alzheimer’s or he’s looking for a job in SCOTUS when Ruth falls ill. The zeal with which he cut it all down would lead one to suspect the latter.
TP: Get that legislation through the first working day of the new year, Mr. Cummings. There’s dire need of it.
AN: Good to see that most Democrats haven’t succumbed to Drumpfian ethics and ‘normalization’ yet. Kudos to them.
MU: Yes, ver addictive indeed. I could cuddle up with it for hours!
Thanks for posting, Lynn, especially with Word Press Blocks making it even harder than usual!
That fellow looks a lot like my Winnie except for the top of the nose, and I do cuddle up for hours! The purring . . .
Thanks all!