The BigAss 2nd term thread: Part II

[KevinNYC]

Lots of politics stuff going on.

This guy staged a fake-filibuster for 21 hours in the Senate the other day.
http://media.salon.com/2013/05/ted_cruz6.jpg

Then immediately he stopped this happened
Senate votes 100-0 to move ahead on debate over Obamacare (http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-obamacare-funding-bill-senate-20130925,0,3939894.story)

Yes, they had a 100-0 vote which means immediately after his "filibuster," he voted for the bill.

[OldSkoolball#52]

Why do you care more about politics than policy?

You spend all your time discussing politicians and washington politics with a tabloid tone, whenever someone tries to engage you in discussion about meaningful social, economic, and political principles that are best for the country you disappear.

Youre like a chick who has no taste in movies but loves to talk about which actors are dating or breaking up, where they just bought a house etc.

Are you still collecting disability you no longer need, btw?

[KevinNYC]

We have a possible government shutdown coming up within a week. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-government-shutdown-looms-americans-brace-for-possible-disruption-disappointment/2013/09/26/0d34a480-254e-11e3-ad0d-b7c8d2a594b9_story.html)

[KevinNYC]

The government shutdown would be bad, but this is going to be followed by something that would be much, much worse, a fight over the debt ceiling, (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/27/us/politics/house-gop-leaders-list-conditions-for-raising-debt-ceiling.html)which would bring the credit of the US government into question which be terrible for the economy

[KevinNYC]

This happened at the UN today (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24291546)

The highest-level talks on Iran's nuclear programme for at least six years have been held at the United Nations in New York.

US Secretary of State John Kerry met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Diplomats from the P5+1 group - China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany - were also present at the talks.

They agreed to hold substantive talks on the issue in the Swiss city of Geneva, beginning on 15 October.

[Jailblazers7]

If the government shutdown happens, then Republicans will get all the blame and weaken their stance on the debt ceiling. Honestly, that might be one of the better scenarios for the situation because a govt shutdown is less harmful than ****ing with the debt ceiling.

[KevinNYC]

Also at the UN today (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/uns-five-big-powers-agree-on-syrian-resolution-wording/2013/09/26/8546476c-26fc-11e3-b3e9-d97fb087acd6_story.html)

The United Nations’ five big powers reached agreement Thursday on a legally binding U.N. Security Council resolution that would require Syria to dismantle its once-secret chemical weapons program or face the threat of unspecified measures, according to senior U.S. and Russian officials.

The deal reached by Britain, France, the United States, Russia and China followed several days of high-level talks in New York. The talks culminated Thursday afternoon with a face-to-face meeting between Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov...
....The State Department official portrayed the agreement as a “historic and unprecedented” achievement, saying it would place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control for the first time and would mark the first time that the Security Council had declared the use of chemical weapons a threat to international peace and security.

“This is a breakthrough arrived at through hard-fought diplomacy,” the official said. “Equally as important, it makes absolutely clear that failure of the Assad regime to comply will have consequences.”

The resolution, which “strongly condemns” the use of chemical weapons in Syria’s civil war, will establish an international inspection team managed jointly by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. It requires that Syrian authorities and rebels grant the inspectors immediate and unfettered access to sites and individuals linked to the Syrian program.

[KevinNYC]

If the government shutdown happens, then Republicans will get all the blame and weaken their stance on the debt ceiling. Honestly, that might be one of the better scenarios for the situation because a govt shutdown is less harmful than ****ing with the debt ceiling.

Yup. Democrats were not too happy with Clinton in 1994 until Gingrich got elected Speaker of the House and shut down the government and it really hurt the Republicans in the presidential race in 1996.

[KevinNYC]

Are you still collecting disability you no longer need, btw?

Where did you get this idiot idea? You've lied about this several times already.

[KevinNYC]

If the government shutdown happens, then Republicans will get all the blame and weaken their stance on the debt ceiling. Honestly, that might be one of the better scenarios for the situation because a govt shutdown is less harmful than ****ing with the debt ceiling.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/wall-street-gop-are-you-nuts-97425.html#ixzz2g42dusoo
[QUOTE]

[KevinNYC]

2 hours until the government shuts down.

[longhornfan1234]

Cruz said he would donate salary to charity if Harry Reid forces government shutdowned. He cares about the people Ted Cruz for 2016. :bowdown: :bowdown:

[KevinNYC]

Markets didn't seem to like it today. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/business/international/daily-stock-market-activity.html?_r=0)
Markets Slide Worldwide Amid U.S. Budget Battle

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index closed down about 0.6 percent at 1,681.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.84 percent at 15,129.67, and the Nasdaq composite index closed down 0.27 percent at 3,771.48. Leading indexes ended down 2.1 percent in Japan, 0.8 percent in Germany and 1.2 percent in Italy.

Let's see what tomorrow looks like if they do go through with it.

[KevinNYC]

Cruz said he would donate salary to charity if Harry Reid forces government shutdown. He cares about the people Ted Cruz for 2016. :bowdown: :bowdown:

:lol

[longhornfan1234]

:lol
:roll: :roll:


Harry Reid won't pass a budget if it requires him to be on Obamacare. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[KevinNYC]

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/giant-panda.cfm

Pandacam went dark. We're shut down people.

We'll see if anything happens overnight. Should have moved my stocks last week.

[raiderfan19]

I'm conservative but this shutdown is on the republicans more than the dems. Everyone deserves some blame and there is plenty to go around but the people most directly responsible are the tea party republicans. Hopefully this is the end of them and we can have a sane, conservative party.

[KevinNYC]

I'm conservative but this shutdown is on the republicans more than the dems. Everyone deserves some blame and there is plenty to go around but the people most directly responsible are the tea party republicans. Hopefully this is the end of them and we can have a sane, conservative party.


It's pretty clear that if they called for a vote to fund to the govenment without taking hostages and making demands that vote passes with a significant amount of Repulican support. John Boehner simply wouldn't do it. They were saying, even a lot of Republicans who would have voted against it, wanted it to go through. They could have saved face in their district and no be blamed for a government shutdown. So Boehner deserves a lion's share of the blame. Folks are thinking that his strategy is have the Republicans take this stupid step now and use the critical response to show the strategy doesn't work, so he can ignore the non-sane elements of his caucus and not take the idiot step on the debt ceiling.

[KevinNYC]

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/giant-panda.cfm

Pandacam went dark. We're shut down people.

We'll see if anything happens overnight. Should have moved my stocks last week.

Market actually went up. Some folks said the craziness was priced in and the markets are waiting to see if anything happens with the debt ceiling.

[raiderfan19]

Get out before the debt ceiling stuff happens. This doesn't materially effect much, but the debt ceiling could kill the stocks depending on what they are

[rufuspaul]

Market actually went up. Some folks said the craziness was priced in and the markets are waiting to see if anything happens with the debt ceiling.


Markets are not looking so good today.

[KeylessEntry]

All this debt ceiling nonsense is wonderful for Obama. His favorability has been at an all time low recently because of the NSA leaks and all his Syria warmongering. Thanks to this shutdown, the democrats who had been getting frustrated with Obama will start to feel sympathy for him, and take some of the heat off.

All of this red vs blue stuff does a great job at reinforcing the illusion of choice, at a time when a lot of people are starting to figure out there is no real difference between dems and republicans.

[kNicKz]

Why do you care more about politics than policy?

You spend all your time discussing politicians and washington politics with a tabloid tone, whenever someone tries to engage you in discussion about meaningful social, economic, and political principles that are best for the country you disappear.

Youre like a chick who has no taste in movies but loves to talk about which actors are dating or breaking up, where they just bought a house etc.

Are you still collecting disability you no longer need, btw?

no response=
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/5120/martinez3.gif

http://cdn.meme.li/i/460x/65oso.jpg

[KevinNYC]

Seems to be movement on the debt ceiling tonight. Republicans are trying to raise the debt ceiling while keeping the government shutdown. I doubt the Democrats will go for that, but we'll see.

Republicans have seen the numbers and they are very bad for the GOP. (http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/10/20903624-nbcwsj-poll-shutdown-debate-damages-gop?lite)
[QUOTE]The Republican Party has been badly damaged in the ongoing government shutdown and debt limit standoff, with a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finding that a majority of Americans blame the GOP for the shutdown, and with the party

[KevinNYC]

Other results from that poll

- Last month, voters preferred a Democratic Congress to a Republican Congress by three points. This month, it's up to eight points.

- Last month, voters preferred a Democratic Congress to a Republican Congress by three points. This month, it's up to eight points.

[KevinNYC]

Also Janet Yellen has been (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-nominates-janet-yellen-to-lead-the-fed/2013/10/09/74c8ed06-3113-11e3-9c68-1cf643210300_story.html) nominated to head up The FED. Not Obama's first pick and win for liberals in the party.

[gigantes]

i'm sure it's old news to many, but some new high-profile book analysing the bush - cheney WH evidently posits that they weren't all that close, that cheney wasn't really the puppetmaster, and that junior was a lot closer to condy and his dad in terms of support and advice.

also said that cheney greatly relished playing up villain status. apparently he wanted to include a pic of himself wearing a darth vader mask in his autobiography, but his wife managed to talk him out of it. :lol

[KevinNYC]

So we're two days before debt deadline and we're still shutdown. Unbelievable.

[KevinNYC]

So the Senate leaders worked to come up with a deal, government and debt limit funded through January, budget conference in December.

House Conservatives are flipping out. There's apparently 50 hardliners, so Boehner could easily pass something if he wanted to and it would easily pass with something like a 350 - 80 vote. But he's scared of losing his job. So they are going to come up with their own bill. Essentially the war in the Republican party is continuing. Today will probably be wasted. This is dangerous, because if they signal to the markets we are going to keep fighting the shit could hit the fan before Thursday.

Also they haven't told their whacko base that they have lost on Obamacare.


“Things are still fluid,” explains a Senate Republican aide. “The initial buzz wasn’t great. It was seen as a really small step forward, like a free Coke and pack of crackers. Nice, but nothing to write home about.”

“The larger problem, particularly as we go forward for House members, is a free Coke and crackers aren’t going to cut it with Cruz, Heritage, FreedomWorks, and the Senate Conservatives Fund,” the aide adds. “They have been selling the idea they know the winning Powerball numbers and we are about to hit the jackpot. Expectations of what is achievable and what we can get out of this remain way out of whack . . . Keep in mind the activists are still calling offices pushing for the full defund of Obamacare. The message has not been relayed to the grassroots that the defund option isn’t going to happen no matter how long we hold our breath or how much we wish it would happen.”

[gigantes]

one wealthy white man worried about losing his current job and some measure of credibility could be the lynchpin for...

damn.

[KevinNYC]

New polling showing (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/10/disapproval-of-gop-peaks-in-blame-for-the-budget-crisis/) Republicans taking the blame for this. President looks good, but only by comparison.

A new high of 74 percent of Americans disapprove of the way the Republicans in Congress are handling Washington’s budget crisis, up significantly in the past two weeks and far exceeding disapproval of both President Obama and congressional Democrats on the issue.
The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that criticism of the GOP’s handling of the budget dispute has grown by 11 percentage points since just before the partial government shutdown began, from 63 to 70 and now 74 percent – clearly leaving the party with the lion’s share of blame. Indeed 54 percent now “strongly” disapprove.

By contrast, 53 percent disapprove of Obama’s work on the issue, essentially flat since the crisis came to a head and a broad 21 points lower than disapproval of the Republicans. Fewer, as well, strongly disapprove of Obama’s performance, 39 percent.

Republicans are also turning off Republicans

While vast partisan differences continue to define these views, the GOP suffers from disproportionate weakness in some key groups. Notably, for the first time this week numerically fewer than half of Republicans – 49 percent – approve of the way their party’s representatives in Congress are handling the budget talks.

[TheReturn]

This should really cost the republicans in the next national elections right?

[Rose]

:facepalm


Just.:facepalm

[KevinNYC]

So we just wasted another day because John Boehner basically doesn't lead his party.

Are we about to shoot ourselves the foot? Some folks think so. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/15/fitch-negative-watch-us-aaa-credit-rating/2989837/)


Fitch Ratings took a step toward cutting the U.S. government's AAA debt rating Tuesday, as the clock ticked toward the Thursday deadline to raise the nation's debt ceiling or risk default.

Chicago-based Fitch, the third-largest of the major debt-rating companies behind Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service, put U.S. Treasury bonds on Rating Watch Negative, which is sometimes but not always a first step before a downgrade. Fitch said in a statement that it still thinks the debt ceiling will be raised in time to prevent a default.

[gigantes]

"a small but influencial group of naked apes in a troubled yet thriving civilisation suddenly elected to destroy the whole thing in a fit of pique over being weaned from their favorite teat a little too quickly."

... read no stone tablet, anywhere.

[KevinNYC]

"a small but influencial group of naked apes in a troubled yet thriving civilisation suddenly elected to destroy the whole thing in a fit of pique over being weaned from their favorite teat a little too quickly."

... read no stone tablet, anywhere.


So it seems like today the Senate will work out a deal where there's small compromises from both sides and sent it to the House. .....Where John Boehner will throw in the towel and pick up the deal as is and bring it to a vote. The bill will pass with Democratic votes.........AS COULD HAVE HAPPENED weeks ago.

and then we'll do all this again in a few months. :hammerhead:

[KevinNYC]

http://www.lawfareblog.com/2013/10/the-debt-ceiling-as-a-national-security-issue/#.Ul5-bSMM2DM.twitter

If a body other than the Congress of the United States were actively contemplating a step that would, by the accounts of virtually all economists, tank the U.S. economy, cause interest rates to shoot up, and trigger a financial crisis, we would talk about that body as threat to national security. At a minimum, we would talk about the step it is contemplating in national security terms.
....
National security is not just things that go boom. It is not just terrorists and foreign adversaries. It is possible for a country to commit suicide.

[longhornfan1234]

So it seems like today the Senate will work out a deal where there's small compromises from both sides and sent it to the House. .....Where John Boehner will throw in the towel and pick up the deal as is and bring it to a vote. The bill will pass with Democratic votes.........AS COULD HAVE HAPPENED weeks ago.

and then we'll do all this again in a few months. :hammerhead:



I can't wait when the Republicans sweep the House and Senate in 2014. Cruz or Christie are going to eat Hilary's lunch in 2016. Republicans will get the last laugh.

[travelingman]

I can't wait when the Republicans sweep the House and Senate in 2014. Cruz or Christie are going to eat Hilary's lunch in 2016. Republicans will get the last laugh.

You really believe this a thought worth entertaining?

[longhornfan1234]

You really believe this a thought worth entertaining?

Yes.

[Jailblazers7]

I think we should all seriously entertain that thought considering longhornfan's history of making accurate predictions.

[rufuspaul]

I think we should all seriously entertain that thought considering longhornfan's history of making accurate predictions.


Hey, Christie got his stomach banded. He's locked and loaded.

[longhornfan1234]

Republicans will retake the House and take over the Senate in 2014. I'll bet my ISH account on it.

[travelingman]

Republicans will retake the House and take over the Senate in 2014. I'll bet my ISH account on it.

Seems a bit drastic, but I'm all for holding you to your wager.

[kNicKz]

Republicans will retake the House and take over the Senate in 2014. I'll bet my ISH account on it.

Which one?

[longhornfan1234]

Which one?


I only have one. Wtf are you talking about?

[KeylessEntry]

The fact that society willingly embraces charlatans such as Ted Cruz is ****ing scary for the future of this country


U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz—whose father is Rafael Cruz, a rabid right-wing Christian preacher and the director of the Purifying Fire International ministry—and legions of the senator’s wealthy supporters, some of whom orchestrated the shutdown, are rooted in a radical Christian ideology known as Dominionism or Christian Reconstructionism. This ideology calls on anointed “Christian” leaders to take over the state and make the goals and laws of the nation “biblical.” It seeks to reduce government to organizing little more than defense, internal security and the protection of property rights. It fuses with the Christian religion the iconography and language of American imperialism and nationalism, along with the cruelest aspects of corporate capitalism. The intellectual and moral hollowness of the ideology, its flagrant distortion and misuse of the Bible, the contradictions that abound within it—its leaders champion small government and a large military, as if the military is not part of government—and its laughable pseudoscience are impervious to reason and fact. And that is why the movement is dangerous.

....

Dominionists believe they are engaged in an epic battle against the forces of Satan. They live in a binary world of black and white. They feel they are victims, surrounded by sinister groups bent on their destruction. They have anointed themselves as agents of God who alone know God’s will. They sanctify their rage. This rage lies at the center of the ideology. It leaves them sputtering inanities about Barack Obama, his corporate-sponsored health care reform bill, his alleged mandated suicide counseling or “death panels” for seniors under the bill, his supposed secret alliance with radical Muslims, and “creeping socialism.” They see the government bureaucracy as being controlled by “secular humanists” who want to destroy the family and make war against the purity of their belief system. They seek total cultural and political domination.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_radical_christian_right_and_the_war_on_governm ent_20131006

[rufuspaul]

The fact that society willingly embraces charlatans such as Ted Cruz is ****ing scary for the future of this country



http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_radical_christian_right_and_the_war_on_governm ent_20131006


:lol Wow. And here I thought he was just an asshole.

It's funny because there is a lot of things about ACA that can be argued in a sane, logical manner without turning it into a religious war.

[KeylessEntry]

:lol Wow. And here I thought he was just an asshole.

It's funny because there is a lot of things about ACA that can be argued in a sane, logical manner without turning it into a religious war.

The problem is that it is impossible to argue against radical Christian rightwingers like Ted Cruz in a sane, logical manner.

This excerpt was taken from the same article -


All ideological, theological and political debates with the radical Christian right are useless. It cares nothing for rational thought and discussion. Its adherents are using the space within the open society to destroy the open society itself. Our naive attempts to placate a movement bent on our destruction, to prove to it that we too have “values,” only strengthen its supposed legitimacy and increase our own weakness.

[rufuspaul]

The problem is that it is impossible to argue against radical Christian rightwingers like Ted Cruz in a sane, logical manner.

This excerpt was taken from the same article -


True. My point was that there are legitimate points the GOP could use to argue against the ACA but they have let the tea party control their side of the debate. Most semi-intelligent Americans can see that Cruz and co. are certifiable whack-a-doodles.

[KeylessEntry]

True. My point was that there are legitimate points the GOP could use to argue against the ACA but they have let the tea party control their side of the debate. Most semi-intelligent Americans can see that Cruz and co. are certifiable whack-a-doodles.

Very true, there are legitimate arguments to be made against the ACA, but nobody seems to be making them.

It may be true that most semi-intelligent americans can see that Cruz and co are insane, in that case this country must have a LOT of citizens who are less than semi-intelligent.

[rufuspaul]

It may be true that most semi-intelligent americans can see that Cruz and co are insane, in that case this country must have a LOT of citizens who are less than semi-intelligent.


Sad but true.

[KevinNYC]

I can't wait when the Republicans sweep the House and Senate in 2014. Cruz or Christie are going to eat Hilary's lunch in 2016. Republicans will get the last laugh.
STABBED IN THE BACK!!!!!!

[longhornfan1234]

STABBED IN THE BACK!!!!!!

What?

[KevinNYC]

What?

It's what reactionaries say when they don't know why they lost. See the German Army after WWI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stab-in-the-back_myth#1919) and the Tea Party in 2009.

[gigantes]

jesus... so we hung on, i guess.
this time.


but what to do about this problem of non-politicians elected by a rich, religious base completely out of touch with reality? i mean, is it likely to be a slackening trend or a growing trend constantly in need of 11th-hour damage control?

jesus.

...

longhorn, how can you possibly be crowing about anything at this point, re: GOP in any way, shape or form?

isn't this a key opportunity to re-evaluate, reassess, reconnoiter, think again, re-modulate, reformulate, grow in to the next evolution, transcend, translucidate, transmogrophy, transduce... and just generally, think again about how much you form attachment to the life that you presently know. (pardon, i'm something of a buddhist)

i sense that you earlier did something kind of special in your life... but... is it possible that you slightly took it too far in ideological terms? i did that myself, and... i did that myself. (just a thought, sorry for babbling)

[Patrick Chewing]

radical Christian rightwingers like Ted Cruz


Where did you ever get that he was a radical Christian rightwinger?


Better yet, why state such utter crap as what you just stated?? What personal satisfaction do you get?

[kNicKz]

Do people realize that liberal politicians are also richer than the entire population?

lol

They talk a good game, but it's all the same.

It's all in the game. Divide and Conquer

[KevinNYC]

Where did you ever get that he was a radical Christian rightwinger?

Which part are you objecting to?

[KevinNYC]

Long day at the office..... (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/17/stenographer-snaps-rants-on-house-floor/)
[QUOTE]
Stenographer snaps, rants on House floor
Washington (CNN)

[BRabbiT]

Long day at the office..... (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/17/stenographer-snaps-rants-on-house-floor/)


https://soundcloud.com/toddzwillich-1/floor1-101612-wav


Maybe the craziness is contagious.



:lol

[KeylessEntry]

Do people realize that liberal politicians are also richer than the entire population?

lol

They talk a good game, but it's all the same.

It's all in the game. Divide and Conquer

This is spot on, although these days there are very few true "liberal" politicians. Other than a few outliers like Bernie Sanders, the vast majority of people considered to be "liberal democrats" are essentially identical to mainstream republicans.

The Harry Reids and Hillary Clintons of the world are really no different from the Lindsey Grahams and John Mccains, aside from one or two wedge issues that divide and conquer the sheeple. People talk about how "liberal" Obama is, which is flat insane considering how far away from "liberal" he is in terms of environmental policy, human rights and warmongering. Obamacare is not remotely liberal, it was created by Mitt fvcking Romney, and it is primarily intended to direct more revenue into the pockets of insurance companies (they wrote the legislation after all). Obama stood silently while his "liberal" buddy Rahm annihilated teachers union in Chicago, how liberal is that?

[KevinNYC]

STABBED IN THE BACK!!!!!!
Right on cue: Ted Cruz today (http://www.statesman.com/weblogs/first-reading/2013/oct/17/cruz-permits-government-reopen-every-texas-republi/) on the Mark Levin show.

[QUOTE]We shouldn

[kNicKz]

This is spot on, although these days there are very few true "liberal" politicians. Other than a few outliers like Bernie Sanders, the vast majority of people considered to be "liberal democrats" are essentially identical to mainstream republicans.

The Harry Reids and Hillary Clintons of the world are really no different from the Lindsey Grahams and John Mccains, aside from one or two wedge issues that divide and conquer the sheeple. People talk about how "liberal" Obama is, which is flat insane considering how far away from "liberal" he is in terms of environmental policy, human rights and warmongering. Obamacare is not remotely liberal, it was created by Mitt fvcking Romney, and it is primarily intended to direct more revenue into the pockets of insurance companies (they wrote the legislation after all). Obama stood silently while his "liberal" buddy Rahm annihilated teachers union in Chicago, how liberal is that?

They dine on private jets together

:roll:

They don't give a **** about us. Not a single one of them. We need to stop fueling this nonsense

[Rasheed1]

Tea Party caucus meeting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7vtWB4owdE)

:roll: Ted Cruz is Bluto

[longhornfan1234]

More of the not so obvious impact of the ACA. Arkansas Governor takes $42 mil of taxpayer money to offset premium increases for teachers.



http://arkansasnews.com/sections/news/arkansas/update-beebe-lawmakers-close-teacher-insurance-resolution.html


Beebe met with lawmakers for two and one-half hours behind closed doors Tuesday and afterward said a tentative agreement had been reached on a short-term solution that calls for the Legislature to transfer $42 million from the state's surplus to prop up the insurance program for 2014. The infusion would limit the increase in insurance premiums to 10 percent next year rather than the nearly 50 percent recommended by the Employee Benefits Division in August.

[KevinNYC]

More of the not so obvious impact of the ACA.

Yeah. Very not obvious. Please point me to the paragraph in the article that says anything about the ACA. Or did you just get trolled again by your news sources?

[longhornfan1234]

Yeah. Very not obvious. Please point me to the paragraph in the article that says anything about the ACA. Or did you just get trolled again by your news sources?

Premiums rose due to the ACA... I can't help it the article didn't make that clear. To avoid a single year 50% increase in costs to the employees the state had to offset that with $43 mil to reduce their premium increase to a more manageable 10% increase.

[KevinNYC]

Premiums rose due to the ACA... I can't help it the article didn't make that clear.
:roll:

So you're making up your own conclusions to new articles?

Here's what the article does say

The rates have been rising for several years because of a lack of funding from the state and local school districts, Alexander said. Also, a $10 million catastrophic claims fund was wiped out by five claims in 2012 and 2013 that each totaled more than $1 million.

[longhornfan1234]

:roll:

So you're making up your own conclusions to new articles?

Here's what the article does say

That's just one link. The news story had an interview that stated it was due to all of these factors... but mostly due to a huge increase in premium this year. There's only one reason that's happening... but they didn't say it was the ACA.

[JMT]

That's just one link. The news story had an interview that stated it was due to all of these factors... but mostly due to a huge increase in premium this year. There's only one reason that's happening... but they didn't say it was the ACA.

Health insurance premiums in the US have risen 196% since 1999.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/08/how-quickly-are-health-insurance-premiums-rising.html

I'm curious. If the AHCA was the only reason for this year's increases, what caused all those others?

[longhornfan1234]

Health insurance premiums in the US have risen 196% since 1999.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/08/how-quickly-are-health-insurance-premiums-rising.html

I'm curious. If the AHCA was the only reason for this year's increases, what caused all those others?

Health care costs that directly affect the insurance premiums are caused by many things...the fees that clinics... hospitals and doctors offices are charged for all supplies have gone up: from gauze to x ray machines.... doctors now pay more in medical malpractice insurance.... they have to pay their employees a decent wage... they also have to deal with denials on the insurance side of things too. Many times a medical billing employee will bill an insurance agency only to have the insurance agency come back and say we aren't going to pay this unless you prove to us that it was a medical necessity... and then it takes months on end for them to get their money.

On top of all of this you get the extra amount that they have to charge... in some cases because other people... with no insurance... do not pay their bills... those costs are not tax write offs... they are passed on to the other patients... the ones with health insurance... and even some who self pay.

Obamacare isn't the only reason for the costs going up... but it is part of the reason. Now doctors are facing a new problem, the problem they already had... plus the likelihood that they will have to do even more of the squabbling with insurance companies about what will be covered and what won't be... and the extra amount of patients that it may pull in on top of that.

[KevinNYC]

As a couple of reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights watch onUS drone strikes came out this week. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/world/asia/civilian-deaths-in-drone-strikes-cited-in-report.html) The NY Times looks at drone strikes from the point of view of one town in Waziristan.

[KevinNYC]

The President of Pakistan met with Obama today (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/23/us-usa-pakistan-drones-idUSBRE99M19D20131023) and brought up the drone strikes.

[KevinNYC]

Also we seem to be actually making progress on Iran abadoning their nuclear weapon program (http://backchannel.al-monitor.com/index.php/2013/10/6698/us-and-iran-speaking-same-language-in-nuclear-talks/#ixzz2ibT1DAmL) in exchange for getting the economic sanctions on Iranlifted.
Western and Iranian diplomats hailed a new pace, candor and mutual will to try to forge a process to resolve international concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, but acknowledged they were at the beginning of a still complex and difficult negotiation whose success is not guaranteed.

“The good news, we are getting to a place where one can imagine we could possibly have a process that could lead to an agreement,” a senior US administration official, speaking not for attribution, told journalists Wednesday at the end of two days of nuclear negotiations here, the first since the June election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

“I have never had such intense, detailed, straight-forward, candid conversations with the Iran delegation before,” the American official said. “The discussions took place in English…the pace of discussions was much better. It creates the ability to have a back and forth.”

“There are [still] serious differences.” the U.S. official said. We “got more today than we have ever gotten before, but there’s still a whole lot more we have to get.”

They are going to meet again in November.

[KevinNYC]

This new friendliness to Iran plus the chemical weapons deal on Syria is seriously pissing off Saudia Arabia. (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57608848/saudi-arabia-warns-u.s-that-policy-on-syria-iran-straining-decades-old-alliance/)

So pissed that Saudi Arabia (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/19/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-rejects-security-council-seat.html) turned down a chance to sit on the UN Security Council
Saudi Arabia stunned the United Nations and even some of its own diplomats on Friday by rejecting a highly coveted seat on the Security Council, a decision that underscored the depth of Saudi anger over what the monarchy sees as weak and conciliatory Western stances toward Syria and Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival.

The Saudi decision, which could have been made only with King Abdullah’s approval, came a day after it had won a Security Council seat for the first time, and it appeared to be unprecedented.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry released a statement rejecting the seat just hours after the kingdom’s own diplomats — both at the United Nations and in Riyadh, the Saudi capital — were celebrating their new seat, the product of two years of work to assemble a crack diplomatic team in New York. Some analysts said the sudden turnabout gave the impression of a self-destructive temper tantrum.

So pissed they didn't even tell us before they announced it.

[KevinNYC]

Interesting op-ed on the Syrian War (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/opinion/international/putting-out-the-syrian-fire.html) by a Lebanese jounalist that points out what all the various parties want.

[QUOTE]Putting Out the Syrian Fire

The Syrian conflict has become the world

[longhornfan1234]

Democrats call to delay Obamacare.



http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/democrats-call-delay-obamacare-20666708


:roll: :roll:

[longhornfan1234]

Florida Blue canceling 300,000 individual policies. 80 percent being individual.

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2013/10/22/florida-blue-canceling-300000.html


LMAO!!!!!!

[longhornfan1234]

Bump for Kevin. :roll: :roll:

[KevinNYC]

Bump for Kevin. :roll: :roll:
White House staffer set for a big Pentagon job fired over his secret Twitter account (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/22/white-house-official-fired-for-tweeting-under-fake-name1.html)that he used to troll other White House employees. Tweets like

[KevinNYC]

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1497001.1382736262!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/obama-prospect-park.jpg

Marine One landing in Brooklyn today.

[RidonKs]

Interesting op-ed on the Syrian War (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/opinion/international/putting-out-the-syrian-fire.html) by a Lebanese jounalist that points out what all the various parties want.
wow, what a singular gaping hole of an article

[KevinNYC]

do tell.

[KeylessEntry]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10407282/Barack-Obama-approved-tapping-Angela-Merkels-phone-3-years-ago.html

[quote]President Barack Obama was personally informed about secret US monitoring of Angela Merkel three years ago, according to latest reports on the eavesdropping affair.

The President allowed the National Security Agency (NSA) to continue spying on the German chancellor, it was claimed.

Mr Obama was told of the secret monitoring of Mrs Merkel by General Keith Alexander, the head of the NSA, in 2010, according to Bild am Sonntag, a German newspaper.

[gigantes]

i understanding that even spying between allies is de rigueur, but given the eventual trace-back potential, i wonder who in the NSA originally thought it would be a good idea to bug merkel.

from that point on i assume it was just signed off on by each successor, including the presidents, in line with political and human behavior.

so have we passed a certain point... an olden time when deliberated strategy accounted for espionage aims... in to a time in which it's more pragmatic to gather absolutely as much info as possible, otherwise to risk missing important?

is that it?

[KeylessEntry]

i understanding that even spying between allies is de rigueur, but given the eventual trace-back potential, i wonder who in the NSA originally thought it would be a good idea to bug merkel.

from that point on i assume it was just signed off on by each successor, including the presidents, in line with political and human behavior.

so have we passed a certain point... an olden time when deliberated strategy accounted for espionage aims... in to a time in which it's more pragmatic to gather absolutely as much info as possible, otherwise to risk missing important?

is that it?

My guess is that spying on world leaders like Merkel and the Rousseff is driven almost entirely by wall st/corporate interests, especially in light of the fact that Petrobas (brazillian national oil company) was spied on. It is pretty damn obvious that tapping Merkels telephone has no connection to national security.

A smart hedge fund manager with access to inside information about foreign governments and corporations would have a huge advantage over his competitors. Classic capitalism baby.

[gigantes]

essentially, wall street devouring its tail in order to keep its belly full, no?


IIRC petrobas is pretty filthy, however. they (or similars) have basically eaten up the habitat and land of some of the last decent / innocent human beings in the modern world. but that's a different trail of tears, so.

[KeylessEntry]

This seems relevant

http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-denies-nsa-spies-on-allies-for-economic-warfare-174903245.html


The White House denied on Monday that the National Security Agency's widespread overseas spying is intended to give the U.S. an edge over allies who might also be economic competitors. But former Vice President Dick Cheney suggested to CNN that NSA snooping has been "enormously important" when it comes to "economic matters."

At his daily media briefing, White House press secretary Jay Carney was asked: "Can you assure our allies that the U.S. is not using the NSA's intelligence capabilities to promote American economic interests?"

"We do not use our intelligence capabilities for that purpose. We use it for security purposes," Carney insisted.

But the spokesman's comments appeared to be at odds with comments from Cheney, who suggested in an interview on CNN's "The Lead" airing on Monday that American spying has a wide range of applications.

"We do collect a lot of intelligence. Without speaking about any particular target or group of targets, that intelligence capability is enormously important to the United States, to our conduct in foreign policy, to defense matters, economic matters," Cheney said. "And I'm a strong supporter of it."

Cheney did not name the specific countries the NSA is spying on to seek advantage on the economic front. But U.S. allies in Europe worry Washington has been using its unmatched ability to ferret out secrets to give American negotiators and American firms an edge over their competitors.

[gigantes]

Can Merkel really be surprised the NSA spied on her?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/29/us-germany-usa-idUSBRE99S0XL20131029


MAIN POINTS:

- merkel grew up in communist germany. the reality is, she was used to being spied on since being a teenager.

- for some reason even now she insists on using an unencrypted cell phone, meaning she's fair game for one and all.

- germans are apparently sensitive about this kind of issue. she therefore had good cause to pretend to be outraged or else risk losing political cachet.

- since the 9/11 attacks were first planned in germany, US security / espionage has apparently helped to foil half a dozen terrorist plots over there. sounds like a pretty fair argument for surveillance.


okay, sounds pretty reasonable. now what would the rebuttal be...?

[KeylessEntry]

Can Merkel really be surprised the NSA spied on her?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/29/us-germany-usa-idUSBRE99S0XL20131029


MAIN POINTS:

- merkel grew up in communist germany. the reality is, she was used to being spied on since being a teenager.

- for some reason even now she insists on using an unencrypted cell phone, meaning she's fair game for one and all.

- germans are apparently sensitive about this kind of issue. she therefore had good cause to pretend to be outraged or else risk losing political cachet.


okay, sounds pretty reasonable. now what would the rebuttal be...?

I think this entire line of argument is kind of beside the point. It doesnt matter whether she is "suprised", she probably knew it was going on a long time ago. Obviously world leaders are going to try to spy on each other, this is nothing new. What matters is that the the gig is up, the US was cought with their hands in everyone else's cookie jar.

The question people should be asking is - where do we go from here?

Does the rest of the world just shrug and accept the fact that the US is spying on everything and everyone? Does the US apologize to the world and dismantle their spy programs? What effect does this have on foreign relations?


- since the 9/11 attacks were first planned in germany, US security / espionage has allegedly helped to foil half a dozen terrorist plots over there. sounds like a pretty fair argument for surveillance.

Fixed that for you. Considering how many times people like Clapper, Alexander, and Feinstein have been cought in a lie due to these leaks, I will believe that surveillance has protected us from a terrorist attack when I see some actual evidence.

[gigantes]

@keyless,
well, the public is not used to hearing about such evidence, so that's probably out. and i have to presume reasonably good chances of terrorist plots being foiled from time to time directly due to espionage / surveillance. plus i'm not much of a conspiracy buff. so if we're going to draw lines on that, i don't see how to keep a conversation going.

but thank you for the fix. that's the kind of thing i get for not following politics and then wandering in to topics like this out of boredom. so... busted, i guess.:lol

the US dismantling their espionage programs would be suicide, so that's obviously not going to happen in the real world.

is anybody going to accept an insincere apology at this point? i suspect it would be met with mostly derision.

i agree with you about what to do moving forward. of course the public are always looking for something to be outraged about, and i'm not sure it's even worth trying to fix.


in a sense, the fallout pretty much comes back to the snowden thing, right? i.e., what is reasonable surveillance for the world's top superpower to conduct? who is even qualified to judge?

after all, the US (and greater civilisation's) main interest is still stability of their existing way of life. it's not like the NSA or MI6 or whoever is a risk to doing something insane. even supporting puppet dictators and the usual raping of the land is not the same thing as huge terrorist events, dirty bombs or even a nuclear event.

the former stuff is embarrassing to me as a human being, but it also empowers and maintains the world that we live in. the latter stuff threatens to bring us all down to our knees. unless you live in a comic book, you probably don't want any part of scenerio B.

my 2

[KeylessEntry]

[QUOTE=gigantes]@keyless,
well, the public is not used to hearing about such evidence, so that's probably out. and i have to presume reasonably good chances of terrorist plots being foiled from time to time directly due to espionage / surveillance. plus i'm not much of a conspiracy buff. so if we're going to draw lines on that, i don't see how to keep a conversation going.

but thank you for the fix. that's the kind of thing i get for not following politics and then wandering in to topics like this out of boredom. so... busted, i guess.:lol

the US dismantling their espionage programs would be suicide, so that's obviously not going to happen in the real world.

is anybody going to accept an insincere apology at this point? i suspect it would be met with mostly derision.

i agree with you about what to do moving forward. of course the public are always looking for something to be outraged about, and i'm not sure it's even worth trying to fix.


in a sense, the fallout pretty much comes back to the snowden thing, right? i.e., what is reasonable surveillance for the world's top superpower to conduct? who is even qualified to judge?

after all, the US (and greater civilisation's) main interest is still stability of their existing way of life. it's not like the NSA or MI6 or whoever is a risk to doing something insane. even supporting puppet dictators and the usual raping of the land is not the same thing as huge terrorist events, dirty bombs or even a nuclear event.

my 2

[gigantes]

I dont think you have to be a "conspiracy buff" to acknowledge the fact that the govt officials defending mass surveillance have been caught lying multiple times. ...
yea, and that kind of thing was already common before a small group of refugees from troy founded a little town called rome.

so what's your point?



Why would it be suicide for the US to dismantle their spy programs? ...
for a thousand million reasons, any of which you are free to research or ask someone who's a scholar in that or a related field.



This is the exact same nonsense that was used to justify the Iraq war - "All those who object live in fairy tale land where nobody wants to harm the US". I think the people who are afraid that some poor muslims living in huts in Pakistan are coming to kill them are the ones living in a comic book. Considering what americans have done in the years follow 9/11, I would say we already are down on our knees. They said the terrorists wanted to take away our freedom, the terrorists want to change our way of life, if thats truly the case, the terrorists are obviously winning.
okay. :D

[KeylessEntry]

yea, and that kind of thing was already common before a small group of refugees from troy founded a little town called rome.

so what's your point?

my point is that there is zero credibility behind these claims that mass surveillance has prevented x amount of terrorist attacks



for a thousand million reasons, any of which you are free to research or ask someone who's a scholar in that or a related field.



okay. :D

I think this idea that seems to be central to your argument, where people are forced to choose between A) surveillance of every human on this planet vs B) the terrorists blow up americans, is completely bogus. The mainstream rhetoric regarding these issues is framed in such a way that we are being presented with a false choice. There are other options, the world is not black and white.

[gigantes]

uh, no. thanks for chatting. look forward to doing so again.

[KeylessEntry]

uh, no. thanks for chatting. look forward to doing so again.

Regardless of whether or not we agree, I still love you. Always nice chatting with you :cheers:

[gigantes]

thanks mate, and <3 to all you interesting bros on ISH.

no way we'll ever agree on everything, or we risk turning in to that katamari-thing game or whatever it was! :cheers:

[KevinNYC]

Rand Paul accused of plagiarism (http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20131029/NEWS01/310290096/Rand-Paul-mum-after-being-accused-plagiarism)

He's done it at least twice. (http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/rand-paul-has-given-speeches-plagarized-from-wikipedia-befor)

As if that's not bad enough, he's plagiarizes from WIKIPEDIA. And it's not on esoteric subjects, he plagiarizes the plots of fairly well known movies.

Joe Biden at least had the sense to steal a British guy's speech. At he stopped running for President and waited 20 years to run again.

[KevinNYC]

Pat Leahy teams with Patriot Act author, James Sensenbrenner to write "USA Freedom Act," bipartisan NSA legislation that has a good chance of passing. (http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/331199-usa-freedom-act-would-curb-nsa-power)

[KevinNYC]

Drone Victims (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/from-pakistan-family-comes-to-tell-of-drone-strikes-toll/2013/10/29/453fb990-4025-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html) testified before Congress today.

The Washington Post included this bit editorializing in their article

When Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, he gave quite a moving speech citing the centrality of the Christian just-war theory that dates back to Saints Ambrose and Augustine. However, just-war theory requires that an attack not only be proportional, but that it be a necessity — a last resort — and that it avoid needless suffering and have a reasonable chance of leading to the end of conflict. On that last point in particular, it’s hard to see how drone strikes could ever qualify, or ever lead to peace.

[KevinNYC]

Then I just saw this. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-strike-kills-2-senior-al-shabab-members-in-somalia/2013/10/28/db7b00a8-4003-11e3-9c8b-e8deeb3c755b_story.html?algtrack=mixedrec-5&tid=btm_rex_5)


U.S. strike kills 2 senior al-Shabab members in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A U.S. military strike hit a vehicle carrying senior members of an al-
Qaeda-linked militant organization in Somalia on Monday, killing at least two people, including the group’s top explosives expert, a militant and a government intelligence official said.

A senior U.S. military official said a counterterrorism strike was launched against a target in Somalia on Monday but would give no further details. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the attack publicly, spoke on the condition of anonymity.

An al-Shabab member who gave his name as Abu Mohamed said one of those killed was the militant group’s top explosives expert, known as Anta. He said a missile fired by a drone struck a car in southern Somalia’s Middle Juba region. It was not clear how Abu Mohamed could be sure that it was a drone strike, except that he said no attack helicopters were seen.

A Somali intelligence official in Mogadishu said the attack occurred as al-Shabab members went to intervene in a clan dispute.

[Balla_Status]

Just got back from the bush and now it's time to catch up on how bad america is looking these days.

I see Obama is trying to delay the ACA by six weeks. So Ted Cruz does the same thing and you morons are up in arms and now Obama is doing it and gets praise? If it's so awesome, why is he trying to delay it?

Ted Cruz comes out smelling like roses.

[KevinNYC]

Roses? You may want to see a otolaryngologist.

[rufuspaul]

Just got back from the bush



That's a euphemism for sex right?

[KevinNYC]

The guys who did the Game Change book that was made into a pretty good HBO movie, just did another book on the 2012 election.

Among the tidbits.

The Obama folks explored replacing Biden with Hilliary.

Obama finds Bill Clinton exhausting.

Chris Christie thought the Romney folks were a bunch of clowns.

Romney made fun of Christie's weight...and also thought Christie didn't answer all of the questions about his background that they had.

Remember when Harry Reid said Romney didn't pay taxes for 10 years and refused to back down? They guy who told him that was Jon Huntsman's father who is not only a Mormon zillionaire, but business partners with a guy who worked for 16 years at Bain Capital.

And there's even Corey Booker stuff. (http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/double-down-game-change-joe-biden-hillary-clinton-99204.html)

[KevinNYC]

We also killed the head of the Pakistani Taliban. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistani-official-accuses-us-of-sabotage-as-drone-targets-taliban-leaders-in-northwest/2013/11/01/1463d0c2-431d-11e3-b028-de922d7a3f47_story.html) This was a guy who was rumored to be killed several times, but it seems like it's the real deal this time.

If you saw Zero Dark Thirty, he was behind perhaps the most shocking moment of that film. Here's him on the left with the suicide bomber on the right. He was also behind the failed Time Square bombing.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Hakimullah_Mehsud_and_Human_al-Bawali.jpg

[KevinNYC]

Healthcare.gov woes (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/challenges-have-dogged-obamas-health-plan-since-2010/2013/11/02/453fba42-426b-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html)
[QUOTE]In May 2010, two months after the Affordable Care Act squeaked through Congress, President Obama

[longhornfan1234]

The guys who did the Game Change book that was made into a pretty good HBO movie, just did another book on the 2012 election.

Among the tidbits.

The Obama folks explored replacing Biden with Hilliary.

Obama finds Bill Clinton exhausting.

Chris Christie thought the Romney folks were a bunch of clowns.

Romney made fun of Christie's weight...and also thought Christie didn't answer all of the questions about his background that they had.

Remember when Harry Reid said Romney didn't pay taxes for 10 years and refused to back down? They guy who told him that was Jon Huntsman's father who is not only a Mormon zillionaire, but business partners with a guy who worked for 16 years at Bain Capital.

And there's even Corey Booker stuff. (http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/double-down-game-change-joe-biden-hillary-clinton-99204.html)


Obama should be tired of Bubba. Bubba still envies Obama. Obama's comments about Reagan in '08 and crushing my wife would make me mad too.

[gigantes]

if barry was smart he would turn to clinton whenever possible for advice, help... you name it. brightest politician in who knows how long, but barry likes to do things his way.

OTOH when you're under bullshit attack on a regular basis from people who will do anything to avoid compromise, it's tough not to circle your wagons. just human and political instinct, i guess.


bill maher or someone else made an interesting point about the healthcare initiative recently. that, contrary to the idea that barry should have spent his cred doing more for jobs and economy instead of spending it on healthcare reform, that in reality attacking healthcare first was the more pressing issue.

idea being that the people who are chronically undertreated wind up costing the US taxpayers MORE than just about any other economic factor in need of fixing. i didn't stick around to listen to the whole theory, but it sounded interesting and a bit surprising...

[longhornfan1234]

if barry was smart he would turn to clinton whenever possible for advice, help... you name it. brightest politician in who knows how long, but barry likes to do things his way.

OTOH when you're under bullshit attack on a regular basis from people who will do anything to avoid compromise, it's tough not to circle your wagons. just human and political instinct, i guess.


bill maher or someone else made an interesting point about the healthcare initiative recently. that, contrary to the idea that barry should have spent his cred doing more for jobs and economy instead of spending it on healthcare reform, that in reality attacking healthcare first was the more pressing issue.

idea being that the people who are chronically undertreated wind up costing the US taxpayers MORE than just about any other economic factor in need of fixing. i didn't stick around to listen to the whole theory, but it sounded interesting and a bit surprising...


Is Bubba going to tell Obama to throw his party under the bus like him? Republicans punked Bubba routinely.

[gigantes]

Is Bubba going to tell Obama to throw his party under the bus like him? Republicans punked Bubba routinely.
what do you mean by 'threw under the bus'? AFAIK he was a pragmatic, flexible, centrist president. so... that?

[KeylessEntry]

Healthcare.gov woes (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/challenges-have-dogged-obamas-health-plan-since-2010/2013/11/02/453fba42-426b-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html)


I think a big theme of the second term is that Obama has narrowed his circle of advisors and appointed people he is personally comfortable with

Never heard of this DeParle woman, so I glanced at wikipedia


DeParle has drawn criticism for her lucrative service on corporate boards after her tenure in the Clinton administration. Msnbc.com reported that she was paid more than $6 million, and served as a director of half a dozen companies that faced federal investigations, whistleblower lawsuits and other regulatory actions. Many of these companies have a stake in the health care reform that she led.

She served as a director of Accredo Health Inc., Boston Scientific, Cerner Corp., DaVita, Guidant, Medco Health Solutions, Speciality Laboratories, and Triad Hospitals. She was a managing director of CCMP Capital

Yep, sounds like a perfect fit for the inner circle of Obamas corporatocracy.

[longhornfan1234]

what do you mean by 'threw under the bus'? AFAIK he was a pragmatic, flexible, centrist president. so... that?


He signed NAFTA, DOMA, Welfare reform, and repeal Glass of Steagall. Liberals should be disgusted by Bubba. He only was pragmatic because the Republicans held the house. He bend over for Republicans.


The love for Bubba is weird. He's the product of the most fiscal responsible congress in history and tech boom.

Another thought:

It's embarrassing that Obama wants to be remember like Reagan and JFK. He didn't even mention Clinton... History will see Clinton as a coattail rider. Nothing more...nothing less.

[gigantes]

He signed NAFTA, DOMA, Welfare reform, and repeal Glass of Steagall. Liberals should be disgusted by Bubba. He only was pragmatic because the Republicans held the house. He bend over for Republicans.

The love for Bubba is weird. He's the product of the most fiscal responsible congress in history and tech boom.

Another thought: It's embarrassing that Obama wants to be remember like Reagan and JFK. He didn't even mention Clinton... History will see Clinton as a coattail rider. Nothing more...nothing less.
last time i checked, the body of political scholars consider clinton one of the more effective presidents. did you say you liked apples, longhorn...?


anyway, here in the real world... i'm not sure there's any way clinton manages not to pass those things. if liberals wanted someone to alter reality then they should have elected a graduate of hogwarts, not a muggle. that's on the liberals.


but for me, the hate against bubba is perfectly understandable. the republican party got taken over by zealots, witch-hunters and people without the ability to compromise or see other POV's. how dare a politician with actual ability come along and spoil their little power play? they must have thought they had their little formula perfected once they got the religious whackjobs heavily involved as a voter base around the ronald mcdonald presidencies.

[KeylessEntry]

I hate to say it, but I agree with Longhorn on this one


He signed NAFTA, DOMA, Welfare reform, and repeal Glass of Steagall.

The guy was about as "liberal" as Mitt Romney. The fact that he is hailed as the democrats golden goose just shows how perverted the democratic party has become. Its frightening that his chickenhawk wife has a legitimate shot at the white house in 2016.

[gigantes]

meh. programs like that have to do with the sort of lives that we've grown fat, lazy and conditioned to. any good politician is not going to be stupid enough to stick his head in to a wood chipper.


EDIT: that will be my last reply on this. i don't want to hijack this thread again. catch you bros next time!

[KeylessEntry]

Our "liberal" president


President Barack Obama is criticized every day for the problems and difficulties associated with the Affordable Care Act. But in the long term, it's likely history will scrutinize the CIA’s use of drone strikes during his administration with a far more critical eye.

A quote from a new book on the 2012 presidential campaign, “Double Down: Game Change 2012,” will surely stoke that interest. As first reported in a book review by the Washington Post’s Peter Hamby, Obama told aides in connection with the CIA's drone program that he is “really good at killing people.”

It’s the kind of quote likely to make Obama supporters cringe or scramble for justifying explanations, perhaps by rationalizing the quote as either false or out of context, or critiquing the information-gathering methods of authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. The writers spent two years interviewing dozens of people connected with both the Obama and Romney campaigns.

Whether uttered in jest or in resignation, the Obama quote will only add to the concerns of those wondering whether the president has embraced the Godlike, life-and-death power of the Oval Office. After campaigning against the intense interrogation procedures pursued under President George W. Bush, Obama has vastly expanded the drone program. Despite its intense unpopularity overseas, in part because of civilian casualties and in part because of its unclear, secretive mandates, the Pakistan drone program continues as it has since 2004.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the CIA has conducted 378 strikes in the program’s 10-year history. Of those, 326 are classified as “Obama strikes.” The total number of people killed by drones is estimated at 2,528 to 3,648. Civilian casualties are estimated at 416 to 948, with 168 to 200 of those being children. As many as another 1,545 are estimated to have been injured in those strikes.

"We conduct those strikes because they are necessary to mitigate ongoing actual threats — to stop plots, prevent future attacks and, again, save American lives,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in February. “These strikes are legal, they are ethical, and they are wise." And, thanks to this book, the motivations of the man who orders them will remain under scrutiny.

Someone give this man another nobel peace prize

[KevinNYC]

Blowout in NYC....squeaker in Virginia. Daily Show had a segment on how bad both candidates were in Virginia. Either Polls were way wrong on there was some kind of crazy surge in Virginia

Christie by 21 in NJ. Saw someone ask Christie about all the stories in Double Down and he brushed them away very calmly. The guy has chops.

[longhornfan1234]

Blowout in NYC....squeaker in Virginia. Daily Show had a segment on how bad both candidates were in Virginia. Either Polls were way wrong on there was some kind of crazy surge in Virginia

Christie by 21 in NJ. Saw someone ask Christie about all the stories in Double Down and he brushed them away very calmly. The guy has chops.
:roll: :roll:

Mc A spent over 15 million more dollars, had Obama and Bubba campaign for him and barely won? Democrats are in trouble.:roll: :roll:

[travelingman]

and repeal Glass of Steagall.

You keep bringing this up as if it's of any real importance.

[KevinNYC]

:roll: :roll:

Mc A spent over 15 million more dollars, had Obama and Bubba campaign for him and barely won? Democrats are in trouble.:roll: :roll:

DK, Republicans held the governor's and attorney general positions in Virginia, they just lost both. What a shitty night for Virginia Democrats.

[Rose]

Not surprised about Virginia, I know a lot of military families that were hit hard by the shutdown. Plus with the way women are not only voting more now, but voting more liberal it makes sense given the crazy shit that McDonnell tried and did.

[Rose]

How come educated successful people vote democrat and weird forest people vote republican?

I didn't vote btw, went and played bballhttp://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/the-politics-of-going-to-college/?_r=0

Also I thought you lived in D.C.?

[longhornfan1234]

DK, Republicans held the governor's and attorney general positions in Virginia, they just lost both. What a shitty night for Virginia Democrats.
Dems beat Cooch by 55,000 votes despite him having some completely crazy social views and the Republicans establishment not getting involved at a deep level. Obamacare is going to hurt the Dems in 2014. :oldlol:

[Scoooter]

The Commonwealth of Virginia. They should start using the full names of States in casual parlance. They're cool.

[longhornfan1234]

I actually like Maddow, but tonight she made me cringe. She's usually honest. She does spins some of the facts to make liberals look better.

[KevinNYC]

Dems beat Cooch by 55,000 votes despite him having some completely crazy social views and the Republicans establishment not getting involved at a deep level. Obamacare is going to hurt the Dems in 2014. :oldlol:

You might be right. Or perhaps all the recent polls made Democrats think they had this in bag and they stayed home and played basketball.

[longhornfan1234]

Liberal Jon Stewart destroys Obama on Obamacare.


http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-stewart-obama-obamacare-daily-show-2013-11



:oldlol:

[rufuspaul]

Charlotte had a mayoral election to replace Anthony Foxx who was given the job of transportation secretary by his pal POTUS. Here's an interactive map of how the election went:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/11/05/4443125/interactive-map-how-cannon-won.html#.Unql6r81DL_

Let's play find where the white people live!

[KevinNYC]

Charlotte had a mayoral election to replace Anthony Foxx who was given the job of transportation secretary by his pal POTUS. Here's an interactive map of how the election went:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/11/05/4443125/interactive-map-how-cannon-won.html#.Unql6r81DL_

Let's play find where the white people live!


Yeah, they got one of those for the NYC election too.


http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/intelligencer/2013/11/06/05-nytimes-mayoral-election-map.o.jpg/a_560x375.jpg

here's the map tool itself
http://www.nytimes.com/projects/elections/2013/general/nyc-mayor/map.html

I thought this might have been the biggest blow out in NYC history, but Koch got higher twice. Surprised Me.

[KevinNYC]

Liberal Jon Stewart destroys Obama on Obamacare.


http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-stewart-obama-obamacare-daily-show-2013-11



:oldlol:

Did you only watch the beginning of that clip? Or not read the part of the article that said
But though Stewart said Obama was "somewhat dishonest," he said the law's opponents have been "lying like motherf*****s" about its effects.

[longhornfan1234]

Did you only watch the beginning of that clip? Or not read the part of the article that said


I quit watching after the Obama segment.

[gigantes]

I quit watching after the Obama segment.
so another turkey feather in your cap?


dude, don't you ever want to 'beat' someone on the net purely through the force of logical argument? i mean, i kind of like your sassy style and ability to confound your enemies at times, but doesn't there have to be some godamn substance there at the end of the day?

[KevinNYC]

I quit watching after the Obama segment.
Was that because you knew what was coming?*

Or did you just rush to your keyboard to slay some internet dragons.




* just watched the clip again. I forgot one of lying mother****ers in the clip was Dr. Ben Carson.

[longhornfan1234]

so another turkey feather in your cap?


dude, don't you ever want to 'beat' someone on the net purely through the force of logical argument? i mean, i kind of like your sassy style and ability to confound your enemies at times, but doesn't there have to be some godamn substance there at the end of the day?

You must skip over my posts with substance.

[longhornfan1234]

Was that because you knew what was coming?*

Or did you just rush to your keyboard to slay some internet dragons.




* just watched the clip again. I forgot one of lying mother****ers in the clip was Dr. Ben Carson.


Partial...



:lol I like how you keep mentioning Carson to me. I'd probably do the same if I was you.

[longhornfan1234]

Liberals... how do you feel about Cuomo? He's been a moderate... especially by NY standards. He has run a large populous state. He has actual accomplishments.... something Biden... Hillary... and Warren do not.

[KevinNYC]

Blowout in NYC....

I don't know how I missed this, but the wife of the next mayor of New York was a lesbian until she met him.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election/de-blasio-wife-chirlane-mccray-talks-lesbian-article-1.1339398

http://www.essence.com/2013/05/09/politicians-wife-chirlane-mccray/

[gigantes]

wow... obama just got savaged by vanity fair, and not in the typical partisan way that you

[kentatm]

I quit watching after the Obama segment.


:roll:


and shit like that is why you never know what you are talking about.

[longhornfan1234]

Bill Clinton tells Obama to keep his promise...
:roll: :roll:



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/11/12/clinton-obamacare-cancelled-health-plans/3505247/

Bubba is turning his back on Obama.

[rufuspaul]

Bill Clinton tells Obama to keep his promise...
:roll: :roll:



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/11/12/clinton-obamacare-cancelled-health-plans/3505247/

Bubba is turning his back on Obama.


It's bad when Bill Clinton gets on your ass for lying to the American people.

[KevinNYC]

It's bad when Bill Clinton gets on your ass for lying to the American people.

I think there's going to be a couple of things happening in the next few years in advance of 2016.

Hillary distancing herself from Obama.
Christie, with his last local election behind him will move hard right.

[KevinNYC]

After awaking from a restless sleep in the Presidential Bedroom, a disoriented and lightly perspiring President Barack Obama informed reporters early Tuesday morning that he had just had that weird sex dream about the entire nation again.

[gigantes]

and that's why most onion articles come across to me as f--ktard hipster shit on a self-reinforcing dopamine rush in front of their inflated circle jerk.

...

yes, i'm still quite angry / disappointed / sad with obama right now for about three major reasons, but if there's one thing i'm solid on, it's that he's sincere and tries hard and puts the nation first.

his networking and mild paranoia may suck, but he's at least trying to do the right thing.

although, again... a number of his unilateral decisions have absolutely just sucked. still again, i do perceive that he is indeed genuinely trying to help people and make the toughest decisions. hard situation to judge, eh?


but the contrast? bush junior's entire main team, except for maybe powell and rice, did the far worse thing with regularity IMO. they concretely wanted large sections of americans to fail and to be gone.

toning it down, in general they refused to challenge their ideology on behalf of the nation and civilisation as a whole. they made a point of willfully proselytising when it comes down to it. that's incredibly insulting for a theoretically separation of church and state.

obama deserves backlash for his stubbornness and foolishness, but the people who grabbed the republican party the last decade or two are far more damaged and insane. as we see, over and over again their main concern is their own personal fortune, preserving their way of life, and destroying all contrary feedback by way of hate and schoolyard tricks.


@longhorn,
just because you were right and i was wrong about something doesn't mean that you still shouldn't be concerned, eh?

[kNicKz]

obama deserves backlash for his stubbornness and foolishness, but the people who grabbed the republican party the last decade or two are far more damaged and insane. as we see, over and over again their main concern is their own personal fortune, preserving their way of life, and destroying all contrary feedback by way of hate and schoolyard tricks.


:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

This is what it has come to, ladies and gentleman

[gigantes]

This is what it has come to, ladies and gentleman
thank you. :cheers:

and would you mind telling us whether you're a lady or a gentleman?

[kNicKz]

thank you. :cheers:

and would you mind telling us whether you're a lady or a gentleman?

http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_super/11/110677/2304795-good_good_let_the_butthurt_flow_through_you_1.jpg

[gigantes]

no no... palpy and me are cool. :D


i was just asking which gender you were. problem, knickz?

[kNicKz]

obama deserves backlash for his stubbornness and foolishness, but the people who grabbed the republican party the last decade or two are far more damaged and insane. as we see, over and over again their main concern is their own personal fortune, preserving their way of life, and destroying all contrary feedback by way of hate and schoolyard tricks.


http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-politicians/presidents/bill-clinton-net-worth/

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-politicians/democrats/john-kerry/

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-politicians/democrats/hillary-clinton-net-worth/

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-politicians/democrats/al-gore-net-worth/

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-politicians/democrats/john-corzine-net-worth/

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-politicians/democrats/jane-harman-net-worth/

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-politicians/democrats/nancy-pelosi-net-worth/

[gigantes]

so, knickz, are you feeling okay?

you spazzed a bunch of crap just now, and i got a trifle worried.

are you feeling okay?


we can talk about your preferred gender another time... no pressure. :cheers:

[kNicKz]

http://weknowgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/50-cent-picard-gif.gif

Knickz- 1

Scrub- 0

[gigantes]

Knickz- 1

Scrub- 0
bro... i know that you know how to search the net for GIFs. well done.

my question is-- do you know how to respond to a point on a sports issue?

[gigantes]

another SNAFU: The secret, dirty cost of Obama's green power push:
http://news.yahoo.com/secret-dirty-cost-obamas-green-051200204.html

terrible article. hopefully it's not really so harsh.

[longhornfan1234]

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-to-make-obamacare-statement-at-11-35-a-m-145708141.html


Obama to announce 'keep your plan' Obamacare fix


Under heavy pressure by congressional Democrats to fix Obamacare, President Barack Obama will announce Thursday that the administration will allow insurance companies to keep individual customers on their existing plans for an additional year.

[longhornfan1234]

Census "faked" 2012 unemployment numbers.



http://nypost.com/2013/11/18/census-faked-2012-election-jobs-report/

[KevinNYC]

Census "faked" 2012 unemployment numbers.



http://nypost.com/2013/11/18/census-faked-2012-election-jobs-report/

A. Sez who?

B. Why is faked in quotes?......I see the headline, the reporter is quoting a source.

[longhornfan1234]

A. Sez who?

B. Why is faked in quotes?......I see the headline, the reporter is quoting a source.


What specifically are you asking?

[KevinNYC]

What specifically are you asking?

I read the article, but it was pretty confused*. There doesn't seem to smoke here yet, let alone fire....we'll see.

The second question was I was asking why you put faked in quotes....but then I saw you copied the headline and the reporter did that. It looked like you wanted us to doubt the word faked which didn't make sense.

*Even when I reread the article, it's still loopy. He talks about a single employee caught in 2010 faking his work and somehow in 2012 right before the election we get fake data.

[KevinNYC]

Florida Congressman says why should Rob Ford have all the fun?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/11/19/trey-radel-drug-possession-congress/3643933/

[Crystallas]

Are those that have been on full-force damage control for the last so many months, finally just reverting to distracting the issue with different problems all together?

[KevinNYC]

Senate takes first steps in closing Guantanamo.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/11/19/senate-sets-up-fight-with-house-over-guantanamo-detainees/
[QUOTE]U.S. senators backed a White House-supported push to enable the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, setting up a fight with House Republicans over the future of a prison President Barack Obama has long sought to close.

By voting down a pair of amendments to a broader defense policy measure, senators left standing provisions in the bill that would give the administration broad new authority to transfer detainees out of the prison

[longhornfan1234]

I read the article, but it was pretty confused*. There doesn't seem to smoke here yet, let alone fire....we'll see.

The second question was I was asking why you put faked in quotes....but then I saw you copied the headline and the reporter did that. It looked like you wanted us to doubt the word faked which didn't make sense.

*Even when I reread the article, it's still loopy. He talks about a single employee caught in 2010 faking his work and somehow in 2012 right before the election we get fake data.
I don't think anyone is saying that BO called this guy specifically and told him to make up numbers or he would have his family killed. But do you really think it is so far out there that a formally "apolitical" operation like the census that was put directly under the administration would make the numbers favorable? After everything that has happened... no one should be surprised if this is the case...

[KevinNYC]

I don't think anyone is saying that BO called this guy specifically and told him to make up numbers or he would have his family killed. :wtf:


But do you really think it is so far out there that a formally "apolitical" operation like the census that was put directly under the administration would make the numbers favorable?
What in everlovinghell are you talking about? Is this another fact that circulates on rightwing websites?

The Census has always been part of the Department of Commerce for over a hundred years.


After everything that has happened
Please tell me what has happened. Because a lot of the stuff that happened, turned out not to happen.

[longhornfan1234]

:wtf:


What in everlovinghell are you talking about? Is this another fact that circulates on rightwing websites?

The Census has always been part of the Department of Commerce for over a hundred years.


Please tell me what has happened. Because a lot of the stuff that happened, turned out not to happen.
What happened? In 2009 the Census bureau was moved for the first time to the control of the White House. Many people thought that was a troubling move for an independent organization to be controlled by a political arm of the government.

[KevinNYC]

What happened? In 2009 the Census bureau was moved for the first time to the control of the White House. Many people thought that was a troubling move for an independent organization to be controlled by a political arm of the government.

Got it. Another fact that circulates among the right wing.

The census bureau is independent of what? As part of the Commerce Department, it's part of the Executive Branch and the head of the Commerce Department is a political appointee. The Census Bureau in 2009 and 2010 was still subject to the same political oversight in Congress it always has been.

The head of the Census Bureau was confirmed in the Senate 76-15. They didn't even take a vote on the confirmation of Gary Locke as Commerce Secretary, it was by unanimous consent partially because he assured them the fever dreams of those on the right weren't actually happening.
During his confirmation hearings last month, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke assured lawmakers that the census director will report to him, in consultation with the White House and Congress. Locke has spent considerable time this week assuring various groups of the bureau's independence and credibility. Earlier this year, GOP lawmakers complained about an Obama White House move to play a role in overseeing next year's census, saying it would result in political meddling.

"We're going to make sure that the Census Bureau has the independent leadership it deserves and the professional oversight that Americans demand," Locke said Monday at a bureau-sponsored event.

[KevinNYC]

That NY Post article to me reads like someone rubbing wet leaves together and trying to start a fire.

I think if there was really something behind this, it wouldn't be a columnist's column, it would be investigated and reported, by a real news reporter, because if there was anything there, it would be a great several thousand word article.

I'm sure Darrell Issa will try to scream about it.

[KevinNYC]

Their playbook is terrible
http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/intelligencer/2013/11/21/21-republican-talking-points-play.o.jpg/a_560x375.jpg

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/11/only-play-gops-playbook-makes-no-sense.html

[gigantes]

i recognise that play, because randall cunningham used to be our QB.



That NY Post article to me reads like someone rubbing wet leaves together and trying to start a fire.

I think if there was really something behind this, it wouldn't be a columnist's column, it would be investigated and reported, by a real news reporter, because if there was anything there, it would be a great several thousand word article. ...
lol

but this to me plays in to what a lot of people don't understand-- that there isn't sufficient time in our lives to make fully vetted judgements on most issues happening around us. there just isn't.

using a little logic of this type can be a very efficient way of ruling out or entertaining reasonable opinions. of course examining the body of the experts' opinions is even better, but with all the streams of crap flying past us every moment, sometimes that's not feasible.


it's like bringing in a little CSI methodology... look for motives, clues, and evidence about the way the issue is being presented before you even get to examining the issue itself. beware especially of skipping this important step just because an opinion piece gives you a dopamine rush.

be not freddie kruger collecting old bills. or something. :P

[KevinNYC]

Couple of BIG, BIG things just happened.

We reached a deal with Iran on their nuclear program. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kerry-in-geneva-raising-hopes-for-historic-nuclear-deal-with-iran/2013/11/23/53e7bfe6-5430-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html)


Iran and six major powers agreed early Sunday on a historic deal that freezes key parts of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for temporary relief on some economic sanctions, diplomats confirmed.

The agreement, sealed at a 3 a.m. signing ceremony in Geneva’s Palace of Nations, requires Iran to halt or scale back parts of its nuclear infrastructure, the first such pause in more than a decade.

[KevinNYC]

Here's an actual tweet from an actual US Senator on the Iran deal.
JohnCornyn@JohnCornyn
Amazing what WH will do to distract attention from O-care

[KevinNYC]

Iran deal a result of secret talks over the last year. (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAN_SECRET_TALKS?SITE=MYPSP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-11-23-23-53-55)


The United States and Iran secretly engaged in a series of high-level, face-to-face talks over the past year, in a high-stakes diplomatic gamble by the Obama administration that paved the way for the historic deal sealed early Sunday in Geneva aimed at slowing Tehran's nuclear program, The Associated Press has learned.

The discussions were kept hidden even from America's closest friends, including its negotiating partners and Israel, until two months ago, and that may explain how the nuclear accord appeared to come together so quickly after years of stalemate and fierce hostility between Iran and the West.

[KevinNYC]

http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-deal-reached-details-nuclear-program-sanctions-relief-2013-11

Here's the details of the agreement. The big win is they can't enrich above 5%, which means if years from now they back out of the deal, they can't quickly get to a weapon.

[KevinNYC]

Irongically, the other big thing that happened this week is the Senate went "Nuclear." Democrats have changed the filibuster rules in the Senate (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/whitehouse/senate-dems-curb-filibuster-risk-future-problems/2013/11/22/fd4a3dc2-534d-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html) regarding judges and appointees

the Senate voted 52-48 to allow a simple majority vote to end filibusters, instead of the 60 votes required since 1975. The change affects nominees for top federal agency and judicial appointments, but not Supreme Court justices.

Here's why they did it. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/analysis-dems-reach-breaking-point-on-filibusters/2013/11/23/86ded420-544e-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html)

As Democrats watched Senate Republicans use filibuster powers to thwart more and more of President Barack Obama’s agenda and nominees, they wondered how much worse it could get.

They finally reached a breaking point this past week when party leaders concluded that what they called GOP obstruction had made a mockery of American democracy.

....he final straw for Democrats came when Republicans used the filibuster, which allows 41 of the 100 senators to block almost any action, to bar Obama nominees from three vacancies on a powerful federal appeals court. Republican senators didn’t pretend the nominees were unqualified, which struck some Democrats as a virtual taunt. Democrats dismissed the GOP claim that the vacancies needn’t be filled at all.

In Democrats’ eyes, the Senate’s 45 Republicans had turned democracy on its head. The party that lost the past two presidential elections and failed to win control of the Senate nonetheless was dictating who the president could or could not appoint to important government posts.

.....Obama told reporters that in the 60 years before he took office, “only 20 presidential nominees to executive positions had to overcome filibusters. In just under five years since I took office, nearly 30 nominees have been treated this way.”

[KevinNYC]

http://static.politifact.com.s3.amazonaws.com/politifact%2Fphotos%2FNew_filibuster_graphic.jpg

[OJ SIMPSON 2.0]

http://static.politifact.com.s3.amazonaws.com/politifact%2Fphotos%2FNew_filibuster_graphic.jpg
Majority of Fillabusters come from republicans in fact in 07-08 republicans waged a total of 112 filibusters. They're supposed to only be used for exceptional, extreme circumstances but they've been waging one for every single freaking vote. It's just their way to get back at Democrats, your little picture proves nothing.

[longtime lurker]

Can somebody tell me what exactly is the argument against affordable health care for everybody?

[Patrick Chewing]

affordable health care for everybody


Well, slick. It turns out it wasn't really affordable after all.

[KevinNYC]

Couple of media stories.

Alex Baldwin got a Friday night show on MSNBC, it lasted all of a couple weeks.
They axed it after he called a photographer a "**********." (http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/11/26/report-alec-baldwin-fired-from-msnbc/3757697/)


Martin Bashir who's got a daytime show on MSNBC has had to apologize for saying something stupider than Sarah Palin. Palin had compared public debt to slavery. Bashir gave some pretty heinous examples of what actually occurred under Slavery, so far so good. He's made his point. Then he suggested Palin should suffer the same fate which was.....oh go read it yourself. He's had to apologize, but it seems like he's keeping his job so far. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/11/21/should-martin-bashirs-sincere-apology-save-his-job/)


But the biggest media story, was Lara Logan and her producer at 60 minutes were given leave of absences after their story on Benghazi collapsed. (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-lara-logan-on-leave-after-60-minutes-reviews-flawed-benghazi-story-20131126,0,3420598.story#axzz2lsfrc3zJ) They interviewed a security contractor about what happened that night at the US consulate. And he gave them the goods. He claimed he not only ran to the building and scaled the 12 foot wall and hit a terrorist with the butt of his gun. He also went to the hospital and became the first outsider to see the Ambassador's dead body.

Except a year ago right after the incident, he told his employer he spent the whole night at his seaside villa in Benghazi and never went to the compound. and he told the FBI the same thing. (I think lying to the FBI would be obstruction of justice, so big incentive to tell the truth.) AND IT WAS known this guy gave different accounts of the incident, so big screwup for 60 minutes. He also had a big incentive to lie now, since he just put out a book. A book that just happened to be put out by Threshold Editions which is part of Simon and Schuster which is a subsidiary of CBS. 60 minutes did not mention this.

Threshold Editions is a right-wing publishing house that puts out nonsense from the like of Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Others.

When others immediately pointed out the problems with 60 minutes story, they dug in their heels for a few weeks and defended the story and tried to get away with just a 90 second apology.

[rufuspaul]

Couple of media stories.

Alex Baldwin got a Friday night show on MSNBC, it lasted all of a couple weeks.
They axed it after he called a photographer a "**********." (http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/11/26/report-alec-baldwin-fired-from-msnbc/3757697/)


Martin Bashir who's got a daytime show on MSNBC has had to apologize for saying something stupider than Sarah Palin. Palin had compared public debt to slavery. Bashir gave some pretty heinous examples of what actually occurred under Slavery, so far so good. He's made his point. Then he suggested Palin should suffer the same fate which was.....oh go read it yourself. He's had to apologize, but it seems like he's keeping his job so far. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/11/21/should-martin-bashirs-sincere-apology-save-his-job/)


But the biggest media story, was Lara Logan and her producer at 60 minutes were given leave of absences after their story on Benghazi collapsed. (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-lara-logan-on-leave-after-60-minutes-reviews-flawed-benghazi-story-20131126,0,3420598.story#axzz2lsfrc3zJ) They interviewed a security contractor about what happened that night at the US consulate. And he gave them the goods. He claimed he not only ran to the building and scaled the 12 foot wall and hit a terrorist with the butt of his gun. He also went to the hospital and became the first outsider to see the Ambassador's dead body.

Except a year ago right after the incident, he told his employer he spent the whole night at his seaside villa in Benghazi and never went to the compound. and he told the FBI the same thing. (I think lying to the FBI would be obstruction of justice, so big incentive to tell the truth.) AND IT WAS known this guy gave different accounts of the incident, so big screwup for 60 minutes. He also had a big incentive to lie now, since he just put out a book. A book that just happened to be put out by Threshold Editions which is part of Simon and Schuster which is a subsidiary of CBS. 60 minutes did not mention this.

Threshold Editions is a right-wing publishing house that puts out nonsense from the like of Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Others.

When others immediately pointed out the problems with 60 minutes story, they dug in their heels for a few weeks and defended the story and tried to get away with just a 90 second apology.


Lara Logan is hot.

[longhornfan1234]

Couple of media stories.

Alex Baldwin got a Friday night show on MSNBC, it lasted all of a couple weeks.
They axed it after he called a photographer a "**********." (http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/11/26/report-alec-baldwin-fired-from-msnbc/3757697/)


Martin Bashir who's got a daytime show on MSNBC has had to apologize for saying something stupider than Sarah Palin. Palin had compared public debt to slavery. Bashir gave some pretty heinous examples of what actually occurred under Slavery, so far so good. He's made his point. Then he suggested Palin should suffer the same fate which was.....oh go read it yourself. He's had to apologize, but it seems like he's keeping his job so far. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/11/21/should-martin-bashirs-sincere-apology-save-his-job/)


But the biggest media story, was Lara Logan and her producer at 60 minutes were given leave of absences after their story on Benghazi collapsed. (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-lara-logan-on-leave-after-60-minutes-reviews-flawed-benghazi-story-20131126,0,3420598.story#axzz2lsfrc3zJ) They interviewed a security contractor about what happened that night at the US consulate. And he gave them the goods. He claimed he not only ran to the building and scaled the 12 foot wall and hit a terrorist with the butt of his gun. He also went to the hospital and became the first outsider to see the Ambassador's dead body.

Except a year ago right after the incident, he told his employer he spent the whole night at his seaside villa in Benghazi and never went to the compound. and he told the FBI the same thing. (I think lying to the FBI would be obstruction of justice, so big incentive to tell the truth.) AND IT WAS known this guy gave different accounts of the incident, so big screwup for 60 minutes. He also had a big incentive to lie now, since he just put out a book. A book that just happened to be put out by Threshold Editions which is part of Simon and Schuster which is a subsidiary of CBS. 60 minutes did not mention this.

Threshold Editions is a right-wing publishing house that puts out nonsense from the like of Mark Levin, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Others.

When others immediately pointed out the problems with 60 minutes story, they dug in their heels for a few weeks and defended the story and tried to get away with just a 90 second apology.


MSNBC is going down the drain... :lol

[KevinNYC]

Lara Logan is hot.

If Dan Rather was hot, he'd still work at CBS.

[KevinNYC]

There will UN sponsored peace talks on Syria in January in Geneva. (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/11/un-brokers-syria-peace-talks-january-20131125124554102325.html)

The US, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia are said to have agreed to appear.

Supposedly, during the nuclear talks the US and Iran got together to talk Syria.

If we are reaching a stage where Iran wants to engage and is becoming less intransigent, this could be a big factor in the Syria war. People say Syria is more dependent on Iran than Russia and if Iran wants the war to end, it has strong chance of ending.

[KevinNYC]

Exclusive: Secret Talks to Save Syria Begin
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/11/22/exclusive_secret_talks_to_save_syria_begin
The United States, Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia and others held secret and informal discussions on Thursday to devise a strategy for improving the U.N.'s stalled relief effort in Syria, according to diplomatic sources familiar with the effort.

The meeting -- which was held at the French mission to the United Nations in Geneva -- was convened to lay the ground work for a more formal meeting scheduled for November 26 on the future of international relief efforts in Syria.

The participation of American and Iranian officials provides further evidence that the decades-long diplomatic freeze between the two countries is beginning to thaw, offering new areas beyond the ongoing round of nuclear diplomacy where the long-time enemies can cooperate.

The U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, Valerie Amos, organized the session to bring together regional and outside powers with influence on the warring parties. The goal: get both sides to allow international relief workers into the country, so they can help hundreds of thousands of civilians cut off from humanitarian aid. The United Nations is straining to deliver life-saving essentials, including food and medicine, to more than 2.5 million people, including more than 300,000 civilians who live in towns under siege by the Syrian army, some of them forced to survive on a diet of leaves.

[KevinNYC]

On a lighter note, this picture from the above link is pretty badass. I want one of these.

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/files/185103618.jpg

[KevinNYC]

One result of the US not intervening back during the chemical crisis in the "moderate rebel" Free Syrian Army had been someone discredited. A big Islamist coalition was just announced who are somewhere between the FSA and Al Qaeda.
The Islamic Front may challenge the growing influence of two big rebel groups linked to al Qaeda that have drawn thousands of foreigners to fight a sectarian war pitting Sunni Muslim rebels against Assad's Alawites and their Shi'ite Iranian allies.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front are not part of the Islamic Front, though they have cooperated with some of its component groups. While the new group's members want a Sunni Islamic state, most are more tolerant of other opinions than are those allied to al Qaeda.

[longhornfan1234]

California

[OldSkoolball#52]

Why do you care more about politics than policy?

You spend all your time discussing politicians and washington politics with a tabloid tone, whenever someone tries to engage you in discussion about meaningful social, economic, and political principles that are best for the country you disappear.

Youre like a chick who has no taste in movies but loves to talk about which actors are dating or breaking up, where they just bought a house etc.

Are you still collecting disability you no longer need, btw?


GIMME AN ANSWER!!!!!

[KevinNYC]

[URL="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/richard-simmons-obama-lets-move-100465.html#ixzz2m0kEVuLd"]Richard Simmons: Obamas

[gigantes]

On a lighter note, this picture from the above link is pretty badass. I want one of these.

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/files/185103618.jpg
i have a smaller version. the key is the medical tubing, or whatever th3 proper name is. the stuff they tie around your arm to prep a vein.

only problem-- it eventually breaks without warning. kind of dangerous to eyes, maybe face. goggles / mask recommended.

[OldSkoolball#52]

i have a smaller version. the key is the medical tubing, or whatever th3 proper name is. the stuff they tie around your arm to prep a vein.

only problem-- it eventually breaks without warning. kind of dangerous to eyes, maybe face. goggles / mask recommended.


What about your testicles? OH WAIT YOU DONT HAVE ANYYYYYY


lulz


Hey, im jk, kay?

[gigantes]

not a problem they got shot off in a previous incident.

[KevinNYC]

Martin Bashir who's got a daytime show on MSNBC has had to apologize for saying something stupider than Sarah Palin. Palin had compared public debt to slavery. Bashir gave some pretty heinous examples of what actually occurred under Slavery, so far so good. He's made his point. Then he suggested Palin should suffer the same fate which was.....oh go read it yourself. He's had to apologize, but it seems like he's keeping his job so far. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/11/21/should-martin-bashirs-sincere-apology-save-his-job/)

And down goes Bashir. He resigned today.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/04/21760779-msnbc-host-martin-bashir-resigns-over-palin-remarks

[KevinNYC]

Somebody is stirring up some shit in Lebanon. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/world/middleeast/hezbollah-leader-is-assassinated-in-beirut.html)


Major Hezbollah Figure, Tied to Syrian War, Is Assassinated Near Beirut

Mr. Laqees’s death was a significant loss for Hezbollah, analysts said, and any of the group’s primary enemies — Israel, the Syrian insurgents the group is battling, or their backers, such as Saudi Arabia or Lebanese Sunni militants — could have had reason to want him dead. Mr. Laqees was variously described as running the group’s telecommunications network and working to procure strategic weapons.



Suicide blasts hit Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/explosions-near-iranian-embassy-in-beirut-lebanon/)

Two suicide bombers detonated explosions outside the Iranian Embassy in a mainly Shiite district of the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, killing 23 people, including the Iranian cultural attache, apparently in retaliation for the Lebanese group Hezbollah's support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The bombings appeared to be another strike in an intensifying proxy battle over Syria's civil war that is rattling its smaller neighbor Lebanon. An al Qaeda-linked Sunni extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying more would follow unless the Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah withdraws fighters that have helped Assad's military score key victories over Syrian rebels.


http://www.news24.com/World/News/Sniper-kills-three-as-clashes-rock-Tripoli-20131201

Tripoli - A sniper killed three men on Sunday in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, bringing to nine the death toll in 24 hours of sectarian clashes linked to the conflict in neighbouring Syria.


Lebanese army taking over in second-largest city

The government authorized the army Monday to take charge of security in Lebanon’s second-largest city of Tripoli for six months following deadly sectarian clashes by rival sides stemming from the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Many fear that the violence in Tripoli — only 18 miles (30 kilometers) from the Syrian border — could tip the rest of Lebanon back toward chaos. At least 12 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in the latest fighting that broke out Saturday.

[KevinNYC]

Looks like the Syrian civil war is spilling over.

[KevinNYC]

Looks like the Syrian civil war is spilling over.

More stuff on Syria.

Syria's Bashar Assad implicated in war crimes, U.N. rights chief says (http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-syria-bashar-assad-war-crimes-un-20131202,0,4880586.story#ixzz2ml5uwp2W)
Syrian President Bashar Assad is implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's ongoing civil war, the United Nations' human rights chief said Monday.
A U.N. panel of experts, which has been investigating abuses in Syria, has gathered a "massive" amount of evidence indicating such crimes were committed, said Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.
"The evidence indicates responsibility at the highest level of government, including the head of state," Pillay said at a news conference in Geneva.All Syrian Chemical Weapons Munitions Destroyed (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/syrian-chemical-weapons-munitions-destroyed-21124734)
The international chemical weapons watchdog announced Friday it has verified the destruction of all of Syria's unfilled munitions — another milestone along the road to eradicating President Bashar Assad's chemical weapons program by mid-2014.

The next step after the munitions is to get the chemicals (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-05/u-s-plans-to-neutralize-syrian-chemical-weapons-at-sea.html) that go in them out of Syrian hands. They are going to neutralize them on a boat.
The Pentagon is outfitting a Navy auxiliary ship with mobile units capable of neutralizing Syria’s poison gas and chemicals used to make nerve gas 45 to 90 days after receiving them, two U.S. defense officials said.
The equipment is being installed on the MV Cape Ray, a cargo ship operated by the U.S. Maritime Administration, and will be ready to sail by early January to a port yet to be chosen, the officials told reporters yesterday at the Pentagon, asking not to be identified discussing operational matters.
The U.S. offered the ship to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons after Albania and other nations declined entreaties to do the work on their territory. The agreement for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to turn over chemical weapons calls for them to be removed from Syria by Dec. 31.
Officials from the international organization have visited the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland to examine the Field Deployable Hydrolysis System, which can dilute Syria’s stock of poison gas and precursor chemicals with water and bleach to neutralize them, the officials said.
The low-level effluent that results won’t be dumped into the ocean, the officials said. It will be disposed of at a yet to be determined industrial waste-treatment facility.

[KevinNYC]

Here's how hard it is to get accurate new of out Syria.

A bunch of Islamists may or may not have kidnapped a group of Syrian Orthodox nuns (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/07/world/middleeast/nuns-missing-in-syria.html)
The fate of the nuns has become the latest mysterious and polarizing episode in the war, with the government accusing Islamist insurgents of kidnapping them to target Christians, rebels saying they are protected guests, and even Pope Francis calling for their swift return.

What no one disputes is that the nuns, numbering 12 or 13, left Maaloula on Tuesday with insurgents who had just re-entered the town, which has been contested over the past several months between rebels and government forces. Until then, the nuns had been practically the only civilians left in the town, huddled in their convent, Mar Takla, retreating to rooms built deep into cliffs when shelling broke out.

But each side offers a different version of why and how they left, a debate that goes to the heart of their competing narratives of the war. The government casts itself as a secular bulwark against Islamic extremists bent on destroying Syria’s religious diversity, while rebels – at least those who reject the radical views of foreign fighters – say that they have no plans to harm Christians and that it is the government that has played on sectarian fears.

When rebels first entered the town, they filmed a video with the head of Mar Takla, Mother Pelagia Sayaf, who said the rebels had not harmed or threatened them or religious sites. Her statements contradicted accounts on state news media and were criticized by some government supporters. Both the Islamists and the nuns speak Aramaic. AKA the language Jesus spoke. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus)

[Dresta]

UN is such a joke :lol

As if anyone cares what their 'panel of experts' has to say :facepalm

[KevinNYC]

UN is such a joke :lol

As if anyone cares what their 'panel of experts' has to say :facepalm
Two questions:
So if the UN says that the Assad regime committed war crimes, do you automatically believe he didn't?

Do you believe the Assad regime has committed war crimes?

[KevinNYC]

Meet David Wildstein (http://www.northjersey.com/news/ny_metro/030312_Ex-blogger_is_Governor_Christies_man_inside_the_Port_ Authority.html).
David Wildstein.... is playing a key behind-the-scenes role in Governor Christie’s effort to get more control over the Port .........in Wildstein, an experienced political strategist who went to high school with the governor, the Christie administration may have found the perfect instrument to help shake things up, some say.

Longtime employees, however, privately describe a man intent on carrying out a political agenda rather than one built on reform or improving the region’s transportation system.

Among other things the Port Authority manages the busiest bridge in the world where a "traffic study" happened last September resulted in massive gridlock (http://www.northjersey.com/news/224519881_Unannounced_traffic_study_results_in_con gestion.html#sthash.iEEDT1us.dpuf).
An unannounced Port Authority traffic study that reduced eastbound traffic to one toll booth on the George Washington Bridge clogged Fort Lee streets for hours last week.
For four mornings beginning on Sept. 9 and part of a fifth, Port Authority closed two of the three toll booths normally used by drivers heading into Manhattan and narrowed two approaches to the bridge down to one.

Coinciding with the first day of school, the closures doubled, tripled and in some cases, quadrupled commuting times, forced parents to wake an hour earlier just to drop their children off at school on time and diverted police, fire and ambulance corps personnel away from local emergencies.

People started to whisper (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324665604579081630876156774)
Amid the controversy, there was even speculation that the closures could be retribution for Mr. Sokolich's decision not to endorse Mr. Christie in his re-election bid in November.

At first the Port Authority said it was a traffic study, except there couldn't turn a single email or other document related to this study. Then the smoke started to get closer and closer to some fire. (http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/There-are-some-who-say-Christie-is-the-wave-of-the-future-Let-them-come-to-Fort-Lee.html)
A political ally of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who ordered disruptive lane closures on the George Washington Bridge this year has resigned from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, people familiar with the matter said.

David Wildstein, a veteran political operative who was the authority's director of interstate capital projects, will leave his post on Jan. 1

Today, the smoke got a little thicker. (http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/12/port_authority_official_with_christie_ties_resigns _amid_george_washington_bridge_lane_closure_contro .html)

A Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official told lawmakers today that September's closing of George Washington Bridge local access lanes was carried out in an unprecedented manner at the direction of a political appointee of Gov. Chris Christie.

Director of bridges, tunnels and terminals Cedrick Fulton told an Assembly panel that the closures were directed by the agency's No. 2 man from New Jersey.
Wildstein got his job because he went to high school with Christie.
http://media.northjersey.com/images/030312_Yearbook_DNGMA.jpg

[KevinNYC]

Big change for Wall Street banks is about to get a vote. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/12/08/volcker-rule-nears-vote/3890809/)
Five years after the financial crisis, regulators will vote Tuesday on the "Volcker Rule,'' one of the most contested elements of the sweeping, post-crisis Wall Street reform act known as Dodd-Frank.

The rule is expected to bar most trading by banks for their own accounts and profit — so-called "proprietary trading'' — in a bid to protect the financial system and federal deposit insurance from future 2008-like meltdowns. Banks would still be able to do such trading for clients.

The Federal Reserve, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies are scheduled to consider the new rule. It is named for former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, a longtime advocate of forcing banks to curtail trading in order to limit the volatility of financial markets.

The Volcker rule has been fought by business interests, who now believe they are likely to lose on many key details. Among them: a bar on buying and selling investments for the bank's own account even when they're used to hedge positions the institutions are allowed to hold, said Anthony Cimino, vice president for government affairs at the Financial Services Roundtable.

The rule is also expected to give banks the burden of proving that any securities they do own are in their portfolios for the few remaining permitted purposes, rather than making regulators prove that the banks intend to break the rules, he said.

Regulators' tough stance heralds a new era and new approach for financial markets, CLSA banking analyst Mike Mayo said.

[gigantes]

Two questions:
So if the UN says that the Assad regime committed war crimes, do you automatically believe he didn't?

Do you believe the Assad regime has committed war crimes?
give it a couple more days and i'm sure a fabulous riposte will hatch.


side-note: is christie really the main GOP frontrunner at this point? my sense is that blowhards usually get exposed before the final leg.

[KevinNYC]

side-note: is christie really the main GOP frontrunner at this point? my sense is that blowhards usually get exposed before the final leg.

Chrisitie is the most popular Republican nationally, but the primaries are going to be rough. Iowa primary voters tend to be religious conservatives.

He is tied in New Hampshire with Rand Paul in early voting.

I can't see Rand Paul making any sort of serious run. I just can't.

Then comes South Carolina where I expect Christie to do dismal.

Actually, I just checked the list and it looks like it's different in 2016. If this list is true, it's better for Christie.

January
Monday, January 18 Iowa caucuses
Tuesday, January 26 New Hampshire
February
Tuesday, February 2 Colorado caucuses
Minnesota caucuses
Missouri
Utah
Saturday, February 6 Nevada caucuses
Saturday, February 13 South Carolina
Tuesday, February 16 North Carolina
Tuesday, February 23 Arizona
Michigan

State likes Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Colorado seem like places he could do well.

So he needs enough money to make a deep run, he will probably sweep the Northeast, but those states usually come later in the year.


The one big advantage is Roger Ailes. Fox News is going to go for Christie.

[longhornfan1234]

Lol at Obama shaking hands and bowing to Castro.

[KevinNYC]

Lol at Obama shaking hands and bowing to Castro.

Laughing at longhorn who either is regurgitating what he read elsewhere or doesn't understand what bowing means.

[longhornfan1234]

Laughing at longhorn who either is regurgitating what he read elsewhere or doesn't understand what bowing means.


http://thehayride.com/2013/12/is-obama-bowing-to-castro/


:roll: :roll:

[KevinNYC]

I'm going to go with both.

Are you heaing anything about the Tran Pacific Partnership trade deal?

I'm seeing something on lefty blogs and wikileaks had some documents, but I'm not getting the gist of it yet.

[longhornfan1234]

I'm going to go with both.

Are you heaing anything about the Tran Pacific Partnership trade deal?

I'm seeing something on lefty blogs and wikileaks had some documents, but I'm not getting the gist of it yet.

I have not heard of anything recently. I'm surprised the Obama admin is backing this.

[KevinNYC]

Chris Christie officially kicks off his 2016 campaign in January with the Statue of Liberty behind him. He is going to do his inauguration at Ellis Island.

[tmacattack33]

This doesn't deserve it's own thread but man...this is a game changer for me or anyone who doesn't like wearing uncomfortable clothing...

I just bought a pair of fleece lined jeans and these are so comfortable.

I never wore jeans throughout primary school. I couldn't stand them. Denim was so rough to me. This made me stand out, because all the other kids wore jeans 90% of the time. But i didn't care...i chose being comfortable over fitting in.

So damn, i wish they woulda made these 10 years ago. Or maybe they did, but i never knew about them :facepalm .

The game has been changed for me. No more going to college classes or going out in sweats.

[KevinNYC]

The auto bailout is over. The US sold its last GM stock on Monday. (http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/12/09/u-s-sells-remaining-stake-in-gm/)
Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said the government sold the last of what was once a 60 percent stake in G.M. Taxpayers lost about $10 billion on their $49.5 billion investment in the Detroit automaker. “With the final sale of G.M. stock, this important chapter in our nation’s history is now closed,” Mr. Lew said. In all, taxpayers have ended up in the black on the crisis-related bailouts, Treasury officials said. It has recovered $433 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program after initially investing about $422 billion.

So the GM bailout cost about 10 billion and the Chrysler bailout cost 1.9 billion. What did we get out of it. The Center for Automotive Research says


The industry shutdown scenario results estimate that the shutdown of GM and Chrysler would have reduced U.S. employment by 2.631 million jobs in 2009 and 1.519 million jobs in 2010. The GM shutdown only scenario effect would have reduced U.S. jobs by 1.196 million jobs in 2009 and .675 million jobs in 2010. ....

In this case, CAR’s results show that the U.S. government saved or avoided the loss of $105.3 billion in transfer payments and the loss of personal and social insurance tax collections or 768 percent of the net investment.

Even more impressive are the results of the GM scenario which did not even require the assumption of shutting down the supplier sector or other automaker employment. The only assumption was that other automakers could not replace GM capacity and employment until 2011. In this case, federal and state governments avoided the loss of $39.4 billion in increased transfer payments and lost taxes in just two years: 2009-2010. This is 334 percent of the projected $11.8 billion of Treasury funds not recovered on the public’s investment in GM.

[KevinNYC]

The finance part of GM, which is a separate company, has only paid back about half what it owes.

[rufuspaul]

The finance part of GM, which is a separate company, has only paid back about half what it owes.


I bought my first car through them. effing bastards.

[longhornfan1234]

The auto bailout is over. The US sold its last GM stock on Monday. (http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/12/09/u-s-sells-remaining-stake-in-gm/)

So the GM bailout cost about 10 billion and the Chrysler bailout cost 1.9 billion. What did we get out of it. The Center for Automotive Research says
I actually support Obama on the auto bailout.

Michelle wasn't impressed with the Darnish Prime Minister flirting with Barry.

[KevinNYC]

More stuff on Syria.

Post on the Free Syrian Army
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=319377

[KevinNYC]

Today, the smoke got a little thicker. (http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/12/port_authority_official_with_christie_ties_resigns _amid_george_washington_bridge_lane_closure_contro .html)

That smoke around Christie? Not going away. (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304477704579254012674389146).

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week to complain about a Cuomo appointee's handling of a growing controversy over traffic pattern changes on the George Washington Bridge, a person familiar with the matter said.

Mr. Christie, a Republican, complained in a private phone call to Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, that Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was pressing too hard to get to the bottom of why the number of toll lanes onto the bridge from Fort Lee, N.J., was cut from three to one in early September, according to this person. The lane closures occurred without notice to local authorities, officials have said, and snarled traffic for a week in the small borough on the Hudson River bluffs.

A person familiar with the matter whose Dad was the governor of NY.

Usually, I wait a bit on stories like these until the facts start to settle, but I think it's safe to say that Christie is ****ed.

The most innocent explanation is that he appointed a high school classmate to a $150,000 a year job and this classmate of his own accord, chose to do something amazingly, colossally dumb.

The more sinister (and to me more likely) explanation is that exact same sentence but the bold part becomes following the governor's orders.

[KevinNYC]

****ed! ****ed, I say!

So Christie has been until now able to stay out of this fray and last week when he was asked about it, he blew it off and joked that he was the one moving the traffic cones. But it's not going away.

So why was this thing amazing, colossally dumb? Other than the fact it lengthed people's commute by hours and endangered public safety, the Port Authority is not solely a NJ agency. It's run by both NY and NJ. And the Governor of NY is a Democrat and he appointed the head of the Port Authority. And that guy is pissed off and he, unlike the two guys Christie appointed is not going to cover for Christie.

You know who else is a Democrat? The head of the NJ Assembly Transportation Committee and he just subpoenaed those 3 guys and 4 more. (http://www.politickernj.com/70194/wisniewski-issues-7-more-subpoenas-part-investigation-port-authority-s-george-washington-bridg)

[KevinNYC]

You know who else is a Democrat, the folks at this PAC supporting Hillary Clinton. The ones who put out this photo today.

http://correcttherecord2016.com/media/Expect-Christie1.png

The Super Pac's name......American Bridge.

[KevinNYC]

****ed! ****ed, I say!

So this amazingly, colossally dumb thing the Port Authority did is exactly the type of thing that other Republicans would use against a candidate from NJ in places like Iowa and South Carolina. I suspect this story won't play well there

I can imagine certain political ad makers licking their chops and wondering if they could get the rights to this song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERYpbpqxf4o)

You know where else this won't play well if this story has legs....anyone sitting in traffic and listening to the news.

[KevinNYC]

The UN released their chemical weapons report (https://unoda-web.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/report.pdf)saying definitely that chemical weapons were used five times in the Syrian War, including the big August incident in Ghouta but also two times after that. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/world/middleeast/un-confirms-repeated-chemical-arms-use-in-syria.html?_r=0) They do not say who used them as that was part of their agreement to get the inspectors in country.


Chemical weapons were used repeatedly in the Syria conflict this year, not only in a well-documented Aug. 21 attack near Damascus but also in four other instances, including two subsequent attacks that targeted soldiers, the United Nations said in a report released Thursday.

That bolded language seems to indicate insurgents used chemical weapons against the Syrian army.

[KevinNYC]

****ed! ****ed, I say!

So Christie has been until now able to stay out of this fray and last week when he was asked about it, he blew it off and joked that he was the one moving the traffic cones. But it's not going away.

So why was this thing amazing, colossally dumb? Other than the fact it lengthened people's commute by hours and endangered public safety, the Port Authority is not solely a NJ agency. It's run by both NY and NJ. And the Governor of NY is a Democrat and he appointed the head of the Port Authority. And that guy is pissed off and he, unlike the two guys Christie appointed is not going to cover for Christie.

You know who else is a Democrat? The head of the NJ Assembly Transportation Committee and he just subpoenaed those 3 guys and 4 more. (http://www.politickernj.com/70194/wisniewski-issues-7-more-subpoenas-part-investigation-port-authority-s-george-washington-bridg)

Even more ****ed than yesterday. Christie's other guy at the Port Authority just resigned, the day after being subpoenaed. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/appointee-of-nj-governor-resigns-amid-bridge-probe/2013/12/13/5f550074-6429-11e3-af0d-4bb80d704888_story.html)
Gov. Chris Christie announced the resignation Friday of one of his top appointees amid an escalating probe into whether Christie loyalists deliberately created traffic jams at a bridge into New York City in an act of political retribution. The governor denied the lane closings were politically motivated.

The resignation of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey deputy executive director Bill Baroni comes a day after a state lawmaker issued seven subpoenas to Baroni and other agency officials and the Democratic National Committee tried to link the controversy to Christie, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate.
.....

He also denied a report in The Wall Street Journal that he called New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, this week to complain that one of Cuomo’s appointees at the Port Authority was pushing too hard for answers about the bridge incident.

So one guy walks away from a $150,000 job and a week later the other guy walks away from a $290,000 job? This story has legs.

[KevinNYC]

Christie's story: He didn't learn of the change on the GWB until weeks later when this email became public (http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/NYBRIDGE1213.pdf) and then he believed Baroni.


Mr. Baroni has been targeted with calls for his resignation by Democrats on both sides of the Hudson River ever since Monday, when Mr. Foye testified under oath that he did not believe the explanation Mr. Baroni had given the legislative inquiry for the lane closures: that the authority was conducting a traffic study.

Mr. Foye also testified to what the email exchange seems to show: when Mr. Foye discovered that the traffic pattern had been altered, he succeeded in having it reversed within minutes. But at the request of officials from the New Jersey contingent within the authority, Mr. Foye did not go public with his concerns.

Mr. Baroni will leave the authority payroll effective Friday, Mr. Christie said. Mr. Baroni’s total compensation as deputy executive director was $289,667 in 2012, according to Port Authority records.

Mr. Christie said he first learned of the dispute “in the aftermath of the leaking of Mr. Foye’s email,” which the Journal published October 1. “It was certainly well after the whole thing was over.”

Mr. Christie also said he believed Mr. Baroni’s explanation that the purpose of the closures was a traffic study.

[KevinNYC]

****ed! ****ed, I say!

So this amazingly, colossally dumb thing the Port Authority did is exactly the type of thing that other Republicans would use against a candidate from NJ in places like Iowa and South Carolina. I suspect this story won't play well there

I can imagine certain political ad makers licking their chops

Like these ones for example. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En_43F4ycLc)

[rufuspaul]

So I went to a neighborhood Christmas party last night and Paula Broadwell shows up dressed as a flapper. Strange thing is it wasn't a theme party. Anyway she was very much the social butterfly while her husband stood alone in the corner near the bar. Since I frequented the bar quite often during the night I wanted to ask him why he puts up with her but I never got the nerve.

[KevinNYC]

So I went to a neighborhood Christmas party last night and Paula Broadwell shows up dressed as a flapper. Strange thing is it wasn't a theme party. Anyway she was very much the social butterfly while her husband stood alone in the corner near the bar. Since I frequented the bar quite often during the night I wanted to ask him why he puts up with her but I never got the nerve.
That's pretty awesome.

[KevinNYC]

So one guy walks away from a $150,000 job and a week later the other guy walks away from a $290,000 job? This story has legs.

Both of Christie's guys just lawyered up. (http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2013/12/18/appointees-who-resigned-in-wake-of-bridge-controversy-retain-attorneys/)Wildstein hired the lawyer who defended Newark Mayor Sharpe James in a federal corruption case brought against him by Chris Christie who was US Attorney for NJ at the time. Ah Jersey Politics.

Also MSNBC's Steve Kornacki said yesterday that Wildstein gave him his first job as political reporter. Wildstein used to be a blogger in NJ under a pseudonym. The job interview was over IM and Kornacki only learned Wildstein's real name when he left the job. He said he knew he would be asked all the time "Who is Wally Edge?" He wanted to answer truthfully that he didn't know.

[KevinNYC]

White House task force report on NSA spying recommends sweeping reforms (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/white-house-release-report-reforms-nsa-spying-article-1.1551792#ixzz2nvyVy9c1)


—An end to the government's collection and storage of bulk telephone metadata. Instead, it urges leaving them in private (phone company) hands, with court orders mandated for certain investigations.


A panel of outside advisers urged President Obama on Wednesday to impose major oversight and some restrictions on the National Security Agency, arguing that in the past dozen years its powers had been enhanced at the expense of personal privacy.

The panel recommended changes in the way the agency collects the telephone data of Americans, spies on foreign leaders and prepares for cyberattacks abroad.

But the most significant recommendation of the panel of five intelligence and legal experts was that Mr. Obama restructure a program in which the N.S.A. systematically collects logs of all American phone calls — so-called metadata — and a small group of agency officials have the power to authorize the search of an individual’s telephone contacts. Instead, the panel said, the data should remain in the hands of telecommunications companies or a private consortium, and a court order should be necessary each time analysts want to access the information of any individual “for queries and data mining.”

Sen. Wyden, the guy who asked the question about collecting "any data on Americans" that DNI Clapper answered with a lie that he had to later correct likes this report.
Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has been an outspoken critic of N.S.A. surveillance, said it echoed the arguments of the N.S.A.’s skeptics in significant ways, noting that it flatly declared that the phone-logging program had not been necessary in stopping terrorist attacks.

[East_Stone_Ya]

White House task force report on NSA spying recommends sweeping reforms (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/white-house-release-report-reforms-nsa-spying-article-1.1551792#ixzz2nvyVy9c1)





Sen. Wyden, the guy who asked the question about collecting "any data on Americans" that DNI Clapper answered with a lie that he had to later correct likes this report.

and all this because of Snowden?