Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow day 109.  Because the Republican budget crisis is coming to a head tonight, I may delay the September Monthly Report from the second to the third.  Speaking of overloading myself, every single politician and/or organization, for whom I have signed a petition or made a small donation, has been sending me multiple email solicitations for money daily.  I need a full time secretary just to delete all the damn things!  So today, I went on an unsubscribing rampage, and unsubscribed to everyone who has dunned for money in the last 24 hours.  I unsubscribed from 154 lists!  ARGH!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:56 (average 4:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In a special Sunday radio address, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) delivered a health tip to the American people, advising them to delay getting cancer for a year.

“We’re involved in a high-stakes fight over our freedom from centralized government control of our lives,” said Mr. Boehner, speaking on behalf of his House colleagues. “You can do your part by delaying getting cancer.”

He added that heart disease, emphysema, and diabetes were among a laundry list of conditions that would be “patriotic to avoid for a year.”…

…In closing, he reassured the American people that in the event of a government shutdown, members of Congress’ health benefits would remain intact: “We want to be in tip-top shape to continue to do the excellent job we’re doing for you.”

Those who refuse to delay are still welcome to the free RepubliCare Death Benefit, and will not be charged for dying. As for Agent Orange, his insides are already embalmed.

From NY Times: This may be the way the world ends — not with a bang but with a temper tantrum.

O.K., a temporary government shutdown — which became almost inevitable after Sunday’s House vote to provide government funding only on unacceptable conditions — wouldn’t be the end of the world. But a U.S. government default, which will happen unless Congress raises the debt ceiling soon, might cause financial catastrophe. Unfortunately, many Republicans either don’t understand this or don’t care.

Let’s talk first about the economics…

Krugman does a superior job of explaining the meanings of and the difference between a budget shutdown and a more harmful debt limit default. Click through for the entire article. As for Republicans, he calls them "Rebels without a clue!"

From TPM: The Democratic-led Senate is expected on Monday afternoon to rebuff the latest temporary spending bill passed by the House, keeping the pressure on House Republicans just hours before a federal government shutdown at midnight.

Democrats will bring up one motion to table the GOP’s amendments to delay Obamacare for a year, repeal the law’s medical device tax and allow employers to opt out of contraception coverage for employees, leadership aides say. It would require 51 votes. House Republicans were furious that Senate declined to return to session Sunday after the lower chamber voted to amend the continuing resolution late Saturday night.

"The Senate will do exactly what we said we would do and reject these measures," said Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), on Sunday. "At that point, Republicans will be faced with the same choice they have always faced: put the Senate’s clean funding bill on the floor and let it pass with bipartisan votes, or force a Republican government shutdown."… [emphasis added]

This is just how I said it would happen yesterday.  By the time you read this, you should know what the House Republicans did.  Update:  They threw in an extra iteration, but because the end result was the one I anticipated, there is no need for me to change the cartoon I placed in this article yesterday morning.  See below.

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 107.  Yesterday’s meeting was a good one, and I have enough Chinese food leftovers to feed me all day.  We have a heavy wind and rain alert for today and tomorrow.  I may just go out and bask in it.  It’s a slow news day, as the stories dominating the news are ones I’ve already been hitting hard.  How do you like today’s cartoon?

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:22 (average 6:17).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: The Simplest Explanation Of Obamacare. Ever.

Overall, this is a good explanation that covers both ObamaCare’s strengths and weaknesses, which the strengths outweigh by a huge margin. I’m glad they are taxing tanning services. Not only does their UV radiation increase the risk of cancer, but also, at last Speaker John "Agent Orange" Boehner (R-OH) will finally pay a few pennies for his health care.

From The New Yorker: In a blockbuster documentary to be broadcast tonight, the Fox News Channel alleges that Obamacare is “little more than a thinly veiled scheme to force Americans to live longer.”

The documentary, called “The Ugly Truth About Obamacare,” claims that President Obama “is cynically using the health-care law to achieve his true objective: raising the life expectancy of Americans without their consent.”

“In America, how long you live has always been your own business,” says the documentary’s narrator, Sean Hannity. “Under Obamacare, though, it’s the government’s business—a government that wants you to live as long as humanly possible.”

The documentary lays out a nightmare scenario of Americans being saddled with sky-high life expectancies for years to come…

I bet it’s a dirty Socialist Kenyan Muslim conspiracy to delay our angelic Banksters from getting eternal dividends from Republican Supply-side Jesus!! EEK!!!! 😉 (Republican Supply-side Jesus is the polar opposite of the real one.)

From NY Times: The Senate on Friday approved stopgap spending legislation to keep the federal government open without gutting President Obama’s health care law, putting new pressure on Speaker John A. Boehner to find a way out of an impasse that had the government on a steady course to a shutdown at midnight Monday.

This is proceeding exactly as I said it would. I think Boehner will puff-up, posture, threaten, bluster, maybe even allow a very short shutdown, spelunk, and go have a another drink. He knows a longer shutdown will hurt his party, and he still has the Debt Ceiling Limit as a fallback position for Republican terrorism and sedition.

Cartoon:

I’m writing for tomorrow, day 103, and I’m tired, because guitar man went on a binge yesterday, making sleep impossible.  I was so pooped that I fell asleep at the keyboard answering comments here, between Yvonne and Edie in the Open Thread for the 23rd.  Nevertheless, I have articles for tomorrow.

Update: Last night I had bad stomach cramps, and still do.  I’ll just post this for now, and catch up on comments tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:54 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report: Here’s the latest from our fantasy football league. 🙁

Scores:

It wasn’t over ‘till the fat TomCat purrred, but TC choked on a fur ball!!

Standings:

Don’t forget to set your line-ups by Thursday night if you want to start any players fro the 49ers or the Rams.  Also, it’s the bye week for the Packers and the Panthers, so those players can’t be started this week.

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: Everyone has to earn a living, but some people do it in sleazier ways than others. That’s the story of American farmers and patent lawyers. Monsanto works so hard at owning the food supply, and these farmers just keep getting in the way. [Upworthy’s video was not working, so I got the original clip.]

They do a great job of illustrating how these corporate criminals are trying to corner the food market so they can stick it to YOU!

From NY Times: The nomination of a gay black Miami judge to the federal bench will not move forward after Senator Marco Rubio announced he was withdrawing his support over concerns about the judge’s actions in two criminal cases.

Judge William Thomas was nominated to the Federal District Court in Miami.

Without Mr. Rubio’s approval, Judge William Thomas’s nomination to the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, in Miami, is effectively blocked. Judge Thomas, who serves on the Miami-Dade Circuit, was nominated by President Obama, with Mr. Rubio’s backing, more than 10 months ago.

Rubio is running too scared of his rabid base to keep up his pretense to be inclusive. The crime that matters to Rubin in the first case is that the judge is black, and in the second case, that the judge is gay.

From MSNBC: Inequality for All Targets Income Disparity

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This conversation is great follow up for my earlier Short Take on Inequality for All. I’m glad Lawrence is bringing us the background.

Cartoon:

And Republicans work overtime contradicting, misinterpreting, and lying about it!!