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An almost top 10,000 blog!

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Everybody saw this coming.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Bark louder, little dog.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Republicans in disarray!

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

I was promised a recession.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Lying to Each Other, and Themselves

Open Thread: Lying to Each Other, and Themselves

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(Nick Anderson via GoComics.com)
.

Gail Collins, in the NYTimes:

… Over the past few years, Republicans have terrified their most fervent followers about Obamacare in order to disguise the fact that they no longer knew what to say about their old bête noir, entitlements. Now they can’t turn the temperature down.

Let’s review. Not so very long ago, worrying about entitlements was central to Republican identity. Then, they began to notice that the folks at their rallies looked like the audience for “Matlock” reruns. The base was aging, and didn’t want to change Social Security or Medicare. The base didn’t even want to be reminded that Social Security and Medicare were federal programs…

All over the nation, Tea Party politicians have been telling their most fervid constituents that Obamacare will bring the federal government into the nation’s health system, thus wrecking the wonderful coverage they now enjoy with Medicare. Which comes into their homes through the chimney, where it is dropped by free-enterprise storks.

Representative John Culberson of Texas called Obamacare “a violation of our most sacred right as Americans to be left alone.” This was during an interview with Salon, in which Culberson waxed wroth about the whole idea of any government intervention into health care.

The interviewer, Josh Eidelson, asked, “What does that mean for Medicare, then?”

“What does that mean for Medicare? What does that have to do with anything?” Culberson demanded.

So there you are. It’s not easy leading a political movement that believes the federal government is at the core of all our problems while depending heavily on the votes of citizens who get both their retirement money and health care from the federal government…

Reader Interactions

147Comments

  1. 1.

    MikeJ

    And for all of you federal employees in Virginia who will continue to sit at home this week, why not do some phone banking/envelope stuffing/sign put uppering for Terry Mac? Cooch is campaigning with Ted Cruz. Think of this as a paid opportunity to work against Republicans.

    I would love to see signs right by where the slug lines usually are pointing out that they’re empty because of Cooch’s friend Cruz.

  2. 2.

    Long Tooth

    It’s true, you know. You can’t fool all the people, all the time. The republican party (ironically) has lost sight of that truth, and that’s where it has fucked up. Egregiously so, by my lights/

  4. 4.

    NotMax

    Total schlockfest for insomniacs on TCM later tonight. Two real stinkeroos back-to-back: Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula and Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter, beginning at 2 a.m. EAstern.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    @Baud

    The national Chamber lost its last tattered shred of credibility and objectivity some time ago, when they insisted on always substituting “death tax” for “estate tax” in their statements and releases.

    When I was running my own business, would annually get a visit from someone trying to sign me up, and that was the reason I gave for not doing so, that they were bald-faced propagandists and liars.

  8. 8.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik

    @Long Tooth:

    The problem is that you can still fool all the people enough of the time that it doesn’t matter when they’re not fooled, they’re already screwed.

  9. 9.

    Mike in NC

    @efgoldman: Meh. Chamber of Commerce morons can’t stack up against the shitbirds at Americans for Prosperity (such an inspired fucking name) who keep cranking out the anti-Obamacare ads even days after it went live.

  12. 12.

    gbear

    @NotMax: …both directed by William ‘ One Shot’ Beaudine. He was one of the finalists for worst director of all time in the original Golden Turkey Awards book but, of course, lost to Ed Wood.

  16. 16.

    gbear

    @Omnes Omnibus: It’s pretty hard to be worse than Ed Wood. He was pretty spectacular at being bad.

    I’ll confess I haven’t seen ‘Manos, The Hands of Fate’.

  17. 17.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @gbear: I watched the MS3K version and that made me track down the full thing. I was gobsmacked by the awfulness.

  21. 21.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:
    I had joined the local chamber when I opened my biz as I had mistakenly believed that it would be good for my biz. What a complete waste of time. None of my customers gave a shit that I belonged. And the chamber was only about keeping itself going. So I never renewed. When 2 reps came in to see why, I did the same thing. Told them exactly why I wouldn’t pay them any money and that I didn’t want to belong to any organization that acted politically like chambers, especially the national, do. They left without saying a word.

  23. 23.

    danielx

    @Elizabelle:

    Seen Vanishing Point a couple of times…bizarro period piece, but still a fave. I mean, any movie that includes both extravagantly excessive speed in a quintessential muscle car and snake handlers, what’s not to like?

  27. 27.

    bago

    It’s that moment when you realize you have a torrent running in the background and are on a public connection. I feel rude.

  29. 29.

    Belafon

    @Omnes Omnibus: That, to me, wasn’t the worst thing that MST did a show on. The Girl with the Golden Boots was so bad we didn’t even make it half way through the MST episode.

    Manos is what you show people to introduce them to MST3K.

  30. 30.

    gene108

    Had a little cat poke it’s head through my window this afternoon.

    I was lying on my sofa, which is up against my living room window. Being warm as hell for October, I had my windows open.

    I notice my blinds seemed to have made a noise, like the wind was blowing them, but there’s no wind today.

    I force my head up a little to look.

    Nothing out of the ordinary.

    I put my head back down.

    Then another noise from the same offending blind.

    I lift my head up again and staring at me is a white headed little kitty cat.

    It had climbed up a bush outside my window and clawed through the screen.

    It stared at me for some time.

    I stared at it.

    It then decided to make its exist from window and go back outside.

    I now have a window screen with a big gash in the lower corner.

    The cat looked cleaner than most strays I’ve seen. Either someone in my condo complex just lost a cat or someone is letting their cat out during the day.

  31. 31.

    bago

    I mean, I subscribe to Hulu Plus, but waiting a day while everyone on the internet is commenting on a show sucks. Kim Dotcom is right. Media ventures need to live on internet time, not 8, 7 central.

  32. 32.

    burnspbesq

    A good day to be a Dookie:

    Virginia Tech 27, Corrput Institution Down the Road 17.

    Florida State 63, Mouth-Breathing, Uncivilized Followers of a Stupid Turtle (and Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of Under Armour) 0.

  33. 33.

    Tommy

    That health care thing. You know I felt I might have to argue for the bill when I didn’t really like it. You know as a liberal I needed to do that. I went online the other day. Took me hours and hours to create an account. Looks like I will save $100/month. I was like that can’t be possible can it. Burt alas it is.

  35. 35.

    Hal

    So there you are. It’s not easy leading a political movement that believes the federal government is at the core of all our problems while depending heavily on the votes of citizens who get both their retirement money and health care from the federal government…

    Yet year after year those people will vote Republican even though those self same folks are trying to destroy the social safety net for their children and grandchildren.

    At first I was all for ending this shutdown asap. But the asshole part of me, let’s call it my inner Ted Cruz, wants to keep going. Show the country exactly what the Republicans wrought. Even if the teahadists stick with their reps, perhaps others will not once they see the end result of big gubmint being drowned in the bath tub.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    @gabear, et al

    Ed Wood, of course, remains in a class by himself.

    But sometime, check out the films of Doris Wishman,.

    Her skills are evident, but completely subsumed by the content and the product.

    Love to lend my copy of Nude on the Moon to a select few, who invariably hand it back and say “What were they thinking?” It’s so howlingly tacky.

  38. 38.

    Yatsuno

    @MikeJ: Open thread: there is much rending of garments on my Book of Faces feed over happenings in the Stanford/UW contest. There might be blood here soon.

    @Mary G:

    There was a brushfire on Camp Pendleton this afternoon

    This is why you don’t let Dawgs play with matches.

  39. 39.

    Mary G

    There was a brushfire on Camp Pendleton this afternoon and the Santa Ana winds blew all the smoke out to sea. The sunset was spectacular.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    @Belafon

    Dunno, but maybe MST did an episode on Frankenstein’s Great Aunt Tillie.

    Looking upwards from that ultra-turkey, one needs high-power binoculars to see the bottom of the barrel.

  41. 41.

    gene108

    @burnspbesq:

    The Va. Tech results are the one thing that gives my some solace today.

    Fucking snake pit that is Winston-Salem.

    I’ve mentally tossed MD into the Big Ten already. I just don’t care about them anymore.

    Also, too the ACC is rigged. Look for Clemson to get some calls, if it looks like their chances of winning are in doubt. The league office needs Clemson to be undefeated, or else the ACC will still be the only BCS conference without a team to play in the title game.

  42. 42.

    Chris

    @efgoldman:

    As for why business interests are siding so strongly with the GOP, it is important to remember that many of these business interests perceive Obama as almost uniquely antagonistic to them. This is very exaggerated, but the idea took root early on that Obama is ideologically driven to be hostile to business interests, and so many of those interests have lined up behind the Republicans in response to that perceived hostility. Indeed, the Senate races where the Chamber spent heavily in unsuccessful attempts to defeat Democratic candidates suggest that the main goal was to block the election (or re-election) of more economically populist Senators such as Brown and Warren. That tells me that Chamber of Commerce is more concerned with treating Democrats as their ideological enemy rather than seeking to influence them. That is why it has been throwing so much money at the Republicans, and it is probably also why Republican politicians feel confident that they can ignore the group’s objections to their losing shutdown strategy.

    We forget this sometimes, but tribalism exists among elites just as much as anyone else. And the tribal tendency for big business to vote Republican goes all the way back to the 1870s. It’s far older than, say, the Confederate/Republican connection, or the labor/Democratic connection, or almost any of the connections between X ethnic group and Y political party.

  43. 43.

    Tommy

    @Hal: I hear you. Our government does good stuff. I totally agree folks need to learn about that. Maybe we need to hit them in the head with it.

    My brother’s wife works for TRANSCOM. United States Transportation Command. She makes sure our troops have bullets, gas, and tampons.What is the phrase, an Army marches on its belly …..

    She is sitting at home and not going to work.

  44. 44.

    David Koch

    Prez says “Redskins” should change their name cuz it’s offensive to a sizable chunk of americans. He was immediately hailed by Native Americans.

    Guess who stepped up to rebuked the Prez, saying “Redskins” isn’t offensive…. wait for it…. Lanny Davis.

  45. 45.

    YellowJournalism

    @Belafon: No way. You’ve got to work your way up o “Manos.” Start with something like “Mitchell” or “Gamera” (my first episode). I always liked their take on “Alien from LA,” too.

  46. 46.

    Ash Can

    @gene108: I can’t help but chuckle. And you can always sew the gash in the screen shut with a carpet needle and some silk suture or some other thick thread. Not the most aesthetically pleasing alternative, but cheap, easy, and effective.

  48. 48.

    NotMax

    @Chris

    One reason Rove and his ilk venerate and strive to replicate the age of William McKinley (but without that RINO Teddy R.).

  49. 49.

    Tommy

    @David Koch: I have almost an entire closet of Redskins cloths. I was a former season ticket holder. I went to games where they played in RFK in DC and not Landover, MD.I will admit I am not really sure if they should change their name. I now live in a town that is named after Indians. Yet there are none of them left, we killed them all. When I think about this I often cringe. That we are the “Indians” ‘and our highschool the “Indians” I don’t know what to think.

  51. 51.

    Steeplejack

    @gbear:

    Out of Beaudine’s 300-plus movies, I can think of a few non-clunkers, e.g., The Old Fashioned Way (1934), a lesser but amiable W.C. Fields movie.

    Now, Alan Smithee—that guy is a bad director.

  52. 52.

    NotMax

    @David Koch

    Why, oh why do I cringe that should certain voices from the rightest of the right weigh in, that a name change to “Noble Savages” will be proffered?

    “It’s got ‘noble’ in it. We compromised!”

  53. 53.

    Liberty60

    @Elizabelle:
    I had the good fortune to see Vanishing Point the way it was made to be seen, in a drive in in the early 70’s- it was magnificent, a semi-coherent mashup of Easy Rider, Dirty Harry and Hunter S Thompson.

    In my memory, at least.

  55. 55.

    Steeplejack

    @centerfielddj:

    My favorite line.

    DVR Alert!

    Excellent (and infrequently shown) Humphrey Bogart movie on TCM at 8:00 a.m. EDT Sunday: Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place (1950), with Gloria Grahame. “A bungalow neighbor alibis a boozing Hollywood screenwriter accused of murder.”

    A nice palate-cleanser after the overnight silliness.

  56. 56.

    Hal

    Just read a NYT’s piece on conservatives in a Georgia district when this leaped out at me.

    Mr. Tripcony, the surveyor, said he underwent heart surgery not long ago without health insurance, “a bad blow.” He has been making payments against the cost. He had heard of the online marketplace for insurance that opened on Oct. 1 under the Affordable Care Act.

    So how about that ACA?

    “I just don’t trust it,” said Mr. Tripcony, who has an equal distrust of President Obama. “I don’t like him, and I don’t feel comfortable with anything he’s got to do with.”

    Gosh, doesn’t like Obama or trust him. Wonder what that’s all about?

    Mr. Tripcony said he had a better idea for a system to provide health care at a fair price. “I think it should be the same for everybody,” he said. “One big company, whether owned by the government or private.”

    Obama the great socialist he doesn’t trust or like. So what’s his idea for healthcare? Far more liberal than what the ACA currently is. But at least this gentleman has some self awareness.

    Informed that he had described the single-payer system that Mr. Obama abandoned when Republican critics called it socialized medicine, he said, “Yeah, I know, it’s crazy.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/politics/conservative-georgia-district-urges-gop-to-keep-up-the-fight.html?hp&_r=0

  60. 60.

    Suffern ACE

    @David Koch: I hate to ask, but is it really nescessary for the president to insert himself in the naming controversy that has been going on for 30 years?

  64. 64.

    Steeplejack

    It just sank in: Ted Cruz’s wife works for Goldman Sachs?! Srsly? I just . . . can’t . . . My gob is smacked.

  65. 65.

    max

    @Hal: Just read a NYT’s piece on conservatives in a Georgia district when this leaped out at me.

    You left out the best bits!

    Voters here viewed the Washington stalemate just as Mr. Graves and many of his party members in Congress portray it: a tale of Republicans who have repeatedly shown a willingness to compromise, while Democrats petulantly refuse to meet halfway. “Obama should not be so dogmatic,” said Julia Welch, 82, who runs an antiques store in Dallas, the seat of Paulding County. “He wants his way and no other.”

    Jon Tripcony, a surveyor in Dallas, recalled a photograph of Republican leaders in shirt sleeves facing empty seats across a table. The photo, which Mr. Graves posted on Twitter, was staged to dramatize Republicans’ call for Democrats to discuss a budget passed by the House. It may have been dismissed as a publicity stunt by much of the news media, which noted that House Republicans repeatedly refused to join a conference on a budget the Senate passed earlier. But in northwest Georgia it was taken at face value. “There was not one single Democrat,” Mr. Tripcony said. “They’re just spoiled little kids. I don’t get it.”

    Mr. Ferguson, 48, said House conservatives should not shrink from the next fiscal deadline, raising the debt ceiling, even if it means defaulting on government bonds, a prospect that economists overwhelmingly say would bring down catastrophe. “If it has to happen for the American people to get what’s best, defunding Obamacare, so be it,” Mr. Ferguson said. “Our credit rating’s going to go down, but it went down before. Did the apocalypse come?”

    Up is down, black is white and Fox News is fair and balanced!

    max
    [‘Jesus, this is like listening to old skool communists.’]

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    All righty! Oakland beat Detroit just in time for me to switch over to Epix to watch Jack Reacher, the no doubt execrable Tom Cruise adaptation desecration of Lee Child’s work.

    The novels are great, by the way, although there are a few mild clunkers late in the series.

    . . . Okay, looks like the movie is going to be butchering One Shot, if I remember correctly.

  70. 70.

    pseudonymous in nc

    The NYT has another dispatch from deepest teabagger country in dirt-poor NW Georgia:

    Mr. Tripcony, the surveyor, said he underwent heart surgery not long ago without health insurance, “a bad blow.” He has been making payments against the cost. He had heard of the online marketplace for insurance that opened on Oct. 1 under the Affordable Care Act.

    “I just don’t trust it,” said Mr. Tripcony, who has an equal distrust of President Obama. “I don’t like him, and I don’t feel comfortable with anything he’s got to do with.”

    Mr. Tripcony said he had a better idea for a system to provide health care at a fair price. “I think it should be the same for everybody,” he said. “One big company, whether owned by the government or private.”

    Informed that he had described the single-payer system that Mr. Obama abandoned when Republican critics called it socialized medicine, he said, “Yeah, I know, it’s crazy.”

    At least the NYT reporter had the decency to tell the guy who supports his preferred policy.

  71. 71.

    CaseyL

    @Tommy: Did you sign up, then? I keep trying to find reports on how many people have enrolled in an Obamacare plan, and all I can find are stories about crashing websites.

  72. 72.

    pseudonymous in nc

    Damn, beaten to it. Anyway, demographics for Dallas, Ga.:

    The median income for a household in the city was $33,750, and the median income for a family was $38,308. Males had a median income of $30,245 versus $21,747 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,811. About 8.8% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 12.3% of those age 65 or over.

    I’d look at the estimates for percentage uninsured, but the Census Bureau sites with that data are down for some reason…

  73. 73.

    Yatsuno

    @Steeplejack: I’m certain she earned that position totally on her merits an her gaining said job has zero connection with her being the wife of a Senator. To suggest otherwise would be shrill.

  75. 75.

    TaMara (BHF)

    @efgoldman: I was gone for a week and it seems that things are moving along quickly. There’s some serious damage, but wow, they’re really moving fast to fix it all before snow gets serious. thanks for asking.

  77. 77.

    Redshift

    @Suffern ACE: He was asked about it in an interview, and gave about the mildest opinion possible that they should “consider” changing it. The fact that this got attention anywhere is evidence that the media were fishing for a new shiny object.

  78. 78.

    Redshift

    @CaseyL: I doubt there are going to be more than anecdotal reports until it’s been in operation for at least a month. You can sign up now, but few (if any) of the plans take effect before January 1, so it would make sense for people to create an account and browse, but take a little while to decide before actually signing up.

  80. 80.

    amk

    @CaseyL:

    Here ya go.

    This is friggin’ KY. I am sure numbers are huge in other blue states. Obama admin is on record saying they don’t want to raise expectations in the initial weeks.They expect the peak before Dec 31 deadline.

  81. 81.

    Tokyokie

    @efgoldman: Years ago, I remember seeing the laserdisc Exotica, with an alluring cover, on display at the BX alongside exploitation titles like Stripped to Kill. I still wonder how many airmen bought the movie expecting to see a lot of skin only to get an Atom Egoyan movie instead.

  82. 82.

    Soonergrunt

    @Aaron Goldstein: If they are at home on furlough, they are not being paid by the government, and the Hatch Act doesn’t apply, dumbass.
    The Hatch Act only applies to political activities on government property to which the employee is assigned or during paid duty hours.
    God damn, but conservatives really are fucking dumb.

  83. 83.

    PsiFighter37

    @amk: I’m pretty interested to see how Kentucky goes – as far as I know, it’s the only Appalachian / Southern state to go all.the.way. on PPACA.

    The thing is – if PPACA works well and does what it’s supposed to do – all these fuckers in the GOP have gone their utmost to call this Obamacare. What happens if, in the medium-long run, all it does is embed the perception within people that the black man in the White House gave everyone affordable health insurance?…it could very well have the opposite effect the wingers want.

    Tie a long-lasting positive legacy to the Kenyan Socialist, and that, in and of itself, will go a long way towards what we’re aiming for.

  84. 84.

    MikeJ

    @Soonergrunt:

    The Hatch Act only applies to political activities on government property to which the employee is assigned or during paid duty hours.

    And just in case he’s dumber than he appears, no, a promise of back pay some time ion the future doesn’t mean that the Hatch Act applies 9-5 M-F. They aren’t being paid now. They’re free to campaign and round up all their neighbors and remind them who is putting half of Northern Virginia out of work.

  86. 86.

    Redshift

    @Suffern ACE: Also, it may have been going on for 30 years, but opposition seems to have gotten a lot more real lately. I’m not sure what it is, but there have been more frequent published stories about how the original owner who named the team was a virulent racist, that story about it having been named in honor of a Native American employee is BS, and backfiring of the “chief” that Dan Snyder put on TV to defend the name.

  87. 87.

    Ash Can

    @PsiFighter37: IIRC, Obama himself has adopted the term “Obamacare.” I don’t hesitate to call it that myself when I’m explaining its benefits when the the subject comes up in conversation.

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @gbear:

    Film critic Danny Peary had a pretty good defense of Ed Wood — basically, Wood’s ambitions outstripped his meager talent, but he was at least trying to make films that critiqued American society, especially with Glen or Glenda?

    He failed, but at least he tried, unlike some directors who were just collecting a paycheck.

  89. 89.

    Soonergrunt

    @MikeJ: Yup. Assuming I get furloughed at noon on Monday, as it appears that I will be, I’ll be manning phones in the union office by 12:30 PM.

  92. 92.

    Steeplejack

    @Yatsuno:

    For some reason I assumed that she was working at Goldman Sachs before he became a senator, but I can’t find anything that says when she started. But she used to work for J.P. Morgan and then for Condoleezza Rice, so there’s that.

    Okay, back to Jack Reacher. It’s not bad so far. Here’s hoping it’s a Collateral-type Tom Cruise movie.

    My big complaints just from seeing the trailers were: (1) Tom Cruise! In the books Jack Reacher is a huge man, not conventionally handsome—the opposite of Tom Cruise, in other words. Give me maybe Viggo Mortensen, somebody like that. (2) Cars. In the previews Tom Cruise was doing all sorts of fancy stunt car driving, whereas in the books Jack Reacher rarely drives a car and is a self-admitted mediocre driver when he does. He even lets chicks drive him around!

  93. 93.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Soonergrunt: Oh come on, you know that by taking that sweet, sweet Fed cash, you gave up your right to have and express an opinion on anything ever again, bitch.

    ETA: Also, why is Miley Cyrus still on my TV hosting SNL? Shouldn’t it be over by now?

  94. 94.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @efgoldman:

    Fallows (always excellent) has a nice piece on the not-so-nice effects of the shutdown on real people.

    The Pisgah Inn’s manager was going to close, then not close because he saw the foofah at the WWII Memorial, then close, then not close. Then the rangers came and blocked the entrance. Since it’s the district of Mark Meadows, the teabagger who came up with the shutdown strategy, there’s a wonder of whether the manager was trying to have it both ways. The fruit-loop who runs the local teabagger wing was protesting outside the entrance yesterday with 30 other teahadists.

    There’s another inn on the BRP with a concession, up in Virginia, which closed (and will lose booking revenue) without the same fuss.

    All of the parkway’s recreation areas and visitor stops are closed, not just the concessionary inns. It’s peak leaf season, which means a heavy influx of tourists. The NPS spent a lot of money making the parkway navigable up to Mount Mitchell for September-October after a 150-foot crack opened up in the road. But, y’know, evil gubmint.

  97. 97.

    piratedan

    @Steeplejack: Steep I was skeptical but grudgingly pleased with his understated performance, he may not have the body type, but the quiet confidence and self assurance was there and it wasn’t overplayed.

  101. 101.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: Well, yeah, that is why that explanation was more believable. It is still absurd though.

    ETA: Oh yeah, it is also absurd that Tampa Bay has a hockey team.

  102. 102.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Tommy:

    The asshats in Congress are an extreme case of the maxim that amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics.

  103. 103.

    amk

    @Roger Moore: Someone should tell that idjit how the ‘fine’ goes in geometric progression in 2015 and 16. Alas, #ObamaCare can’t cure idiocy & innate racism.

  107. 107.

    Steeplejack

    @piratedan:

    Damn, I think you may be right. I am getting sucked in. I just got past the part where Sandy and her “brothers” take him on outside the bar, and that was well handled. Fingers crossed.

    Oh, yeah: and Rosamund Pike. Woof!

  108. 108.

    burnspbesq

    our most sacred right as Americans to be left alone.

    Oddly, that right seems to get a lot less sacred when women want to be left alone to make their own decisions about their bodies. Care to splain that, kindly Mr. Congresscritter Sir?

  113. 113.

    Kay

    @amk:

    Kentucky’s is the big success, though. Connecticut has completed something like 700 transactions (state site) and health insurers say aps are “trickling in” from the federal site, which is a mess.
    It’ll be interesting to see how California does, but I don’t think it will break down red/blue in terms of numbers. Wisconsin has relatively few uninsured, while Texas has millions. Apparently there’s some way to skip the online site and sign up on paper in Texas. The article I read didn’t elaborate.
    I don’t understand the subsidy for the deductible myself. I know it exists, but I can’t figure out how it works, specifically. Anyway, someone in Florida got one (!) and it reduced his deductible from 2k to 500 dollars, which is great.

  114. 114.

    burnspbesq

    Also too, the new Sarah Jarosz album is all that and a whole lot more. Sounds great on vinyl, to boot; Sugar Hill must have switched pressing plants.

  116. 116.

    CaseyL

    @Redshift: @amk: Thanks for the info. I don’t need to sign up; I have coverage via my job. I was just curious to know if anyone had any numbers yet.

  117. 117.

    Steeplejack

    @Kay:

    For what it’s worth, I have tried off and on all week to sign up at the federal site (no exchange in Virginia—thanks, Gov. McDonnell and state legislators!), including several attempts around 2:00 a.m. No luck so far.

  118. 118.

    Yatsuno

    @MikeJ: I can go to bed now. But there will be much anger all over my FB feed in the morning after this result. Pretty gutsy to reverse a 4th and 10 like that I must say.

    @Steeplejack: This is, of course, WAI. They couldn’t kill it so they’re going to interfere with it working as much as possible.

  120. 120.

    amk

    @Kay: Yeah, but CT guy in charge has said their state software has the option to peruse the various schemes without actually going through the pita of registering (which I think should have been the federal model, that is a goof up from the admin) and he said the traffic has been good so far.

  121. 121.

    Kay

    @amk:

    It looks like Minnesota’s site works too, but they aren’t ready to release numbers. No state seems to be doing as well as Kentucky, though, or no one is yet reporting numbers that are higher than that.

    The federal tech lead guy is making me nervous. He’s very defensive :)

    They don’t have to explain why it’s not working well. No one will really care. They just have to fix it.

  122. 122.

    Yatsuno

    @MikeJ:

    I didn’t really have a dog in that fight

    I WITNESSED THAT!!!

    but I generally try to cheer for the locals

    I don’t fault folks for that. Hell I have really good old friends who are Huskies. I’m just going to savour the moment since Apple Cup looks more and more like it’ll be ugly for my Cougs.

  123. 123.

    Kay

    @amk:

    I agree completely. 80% of the traffic was probably browsing rather than buying.

    Hell, 20% the first day was probably media people :)

    Creating an account on the fed site IS a huge pain. I tried it.

  124. 124.

    amk

    @Kay: Yup. No one is gonna buy on the first day without actually looking at all the options. Ferchrissake, this is a novel concept for most. The idjits who designed the mandatory registration should be fired and that whole registration process should be made optional. Hope they sort out these issues before the week is out.

  125. 125.

    Tommy

    @CaseyL I have to crunch the numbers. But my gut is I will pay $100 less per month. They are a huge swing in deductibles, which I am pondering.I wanted to think as a guy that works for myself this would work for me. I wasn’t so sure it would. I am doing a happy dance cause I will pay a lot less for heath care.

  126. 126.

    Kay

    @amk:

    The level of irresponsibility in states like Ohio is just incredible. Hospitals were supposed to help with this in rural areas. When I use the search to find which hospital close to here has signed up to help, I turn up this single tiny hospital 20 miles from here, in the most backward county in this part of the state. I didn’t even know they had a hospital there. Do they want to get paid, or not?

  128. 128.

    Tommy

    @Kay: I think I understand what you are saying. My mom got really sick a few months ago. She was put into a hospital in Evansville, Indiana. I had to Google the darn place, Deaconess. I hope I am never sick, but if I was sick I want to go there.

    There was a time I was outside. Pacing around in the parking lot.Therewere like licence plates from five states. People seem to want to come here.

  129. 129.

    fuckwit

    @burnspbesq:

    our most sacred right as Americans to be left alone to do whatever we damn well please to our own sovereign property, which includes our womenfolk, our children, and our employees.

    FTFY.

  130. 130.

    aimai

    @Steeplejack: Yes! I’m heartbroken that the role of Reacher was given to that tittupping little homunculus of a dandy. Reacher is supposed to be huge, seemingly slow moving and rugged looking. I’m not sure I agree that Viggo Mortenson would be a good pick–too slender. Can’t think of who would have been good though. At any rate, I won’t bother to see the movies now that they’ve become a vanity project for Tom Cruise. The guy gives me the grue.

  131. 131.

    Soonergrunt

    @Yatsuno: Our union office is in the hospital where I work. Once I’m furloughed, and I turn in everything but my ID badge, I’ll still be allowed on the campus because I’m a service-connected Vet.
    You should check with your union for an alternate union work site. They may be able to host you at another local, for example.

  132. 132.

    Gypsy Howell

    @Tommy:
    Well now that Chuck Hagel has recalled all the defense dept workers, she may be going back to work after all.

    Apparently the last thing our congress and White House did before the shutdown was to make sure the war pig would still
    be fed, even if women and children wouldn’t. There goes the biggest point of leverage for ending the shutdown.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/politics/in-surprise-announcement-hagel-recalls-most-defense-department-workers.html?hp

  133. 133.

    Woodrowfan

    @MikeJ: HATCH ACT.

    My wife drove some voters to the polls in 2012 and was soundly pinged by her office for doing so.

  134. 134.

    Woodrowfan

    @MikeJ: Um, no. I was a federal employee and my wife still is. We were not allowed to work for ANY political campaign, period. Non-partisan activity was fine (such as League of Women voters).

    Soonergrunt: I usually like your posts, but in this case, you’re wrong. Or did I misunderstand when my agency sent out a memo that spelled out exactly what I could and could not do: lawn signs and bumper stickers, fine. phone banks, going door-to-door, handing out literature, NO.

    to be fair, some agencies define it more strictly than others. Some may allow you to volunteer on your own time, but some explicitly do not.

  136. 136.

    Matt McIrvin

    The contradiction in the OP isn’t a contradiction at all. Republican retirees say “government out of my health care,” but what they mean is very simple: they’re afraid that young, poor people will take a piece of their government-health-care pie.

  139. 139.

    Geeno

    I believe Soonergrunt is technically correct; it is NOT a violation of the Hatch Act, but it could be a violation of department policy depending where you work and who you work for. No legal sanctions apply, but possible employment sanctions – write ups, bad reviews, possibly dismissal – may well be in play. Check your employee handbook or w/e to get the policy you’re supposed to follow.

  140. 140.

    Soonergrunt

    @Woodrowfan:
    @Woodrowfan: That was wrong for that to happen. Neither you, your wife, nor I gave up our constitutional rights when we accepted federal employment.
    As long as a government employee does not use government resources (and paid time is one of those resources) and as long as a government employee does not represent himself/herself as representing the government or acting in their official capacity, he or she may:
    register and vote as they choose

    assist in voter registration drives

    express opinions about candidates and issues

    contribute money to political organizations

    attend political fundraising functions

    attend and be active at political rallies and meetings

    join and be active members of a political party or club

    sign and circulate nominating petitions

    campaign for or against referendum questions, constitutional amendments and/or municipal ordinances

    campaign for or against candidates in partisan elections

    make campaign speeches for candidates in partisan elections

    distribute campaign literature in partisan elections

    campaign for and hold office in political clubs or parties

    volunteer to work on a partisan political campaign

    participate in any activity not specifically prohibited by law or regulation

    They may not:
    May not be a candidate for nomination or election to public office in a partisan election.

    May not take an active part in partisan political campaigns. For example:
    May not campaign for or against a candidate or slate of candidates.

    May not make campaign speeches or engage in other campaign activities to elect partisan candidates.

    May not distribute campaign material in partisan elections.

    May not circulate nominating petitions.

    May not take an active part in partisan political management. For example:

    May not hold office in political clubs or parties.

    May not organize or manage political rallies or meetings.

    May not assist in partisan voter registration drives.

    May not use their official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of an election. For example:

    May not use their official titles or positions while engaged in political activity.

    May not invite subordinate employees to political events or otherwise suggest to subordinates that they attend political events or undertake any partisan political activity.

    May not solicit, accept or receive a donation or contribution for a partisan political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group. For example:

    May not host a political fundraiser.

    May not invite others to a political fundraiser.

    May not collect contributions or sell tickets to political fundraising functions.

    May not engage in political activity – i.e., activity directed at the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group – while the employee is on duty, in any federal room or building, while wearing a uniform or official insignia, or using any federally owned or leased vehicle. For example:

    May not wear or display partisan political buttons, T-shirts, signs, or other items.

    May not make political contributions to a partisan political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.

    May not post a comment to a blog or a social media site that advocates for or against a partisan political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.

    May not use any e-mail account or social media to distribute, send or forward content that advocates for or against a partisan political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.
    Source: White House Office of Special Counsel
    See also: AFGE Hatch Act Flyer

    If an agency has more restrictive rules than that, for example barring employees from driving voters to the polls while on Annual Leave or Leave Without Pay, that’s probably a violation of the law on the agency’s part. But as always, one should consult the agency ethics advisor (as I did) to cover one’s self and ensure compliance with the law.
    As the AFGE flyer notes at the bottom, some personnel are in fact legally restricted from many of the above activities due to the nature of their specific postings, ie FBI/CIA/NSA, Admin Judges, etc. I am not subject to any of those restrictions.

  141. 141.

    danielx

    @rachel:

    Liam Neeson, maybe…although these days he seems to be phoning it in, a la Burt Reynolds in the decline of his career.

  143. 143.

    Julia Grey

    Some of the “mays” and “may nots” there contradict each other, like in the giving campaign speeches thing.

    MAY

    campaign for or against candidates in partisan elections

    make campaign speeches for candidates in partisan elections

    distribute campaign literature in partisan elections

    campaign for and hold office in political clubs or parties

    volunteer to work on a partisan political campaign

    MAY NOT

    May not campaign for or against a candidate or slate of candidates.

    May not make campaign speeches or engage in other campaign activities to elect partisan candidates.

    May not distribute campaign material in partisan elections.

    Confusing.

  144. 144.

    Spike

    @sdhays:

    Oh, yeah. Mitchell was awesome! The car chase alone is just precious!

    This makes “Driving Miss Daisy” look like “Bullitt”.

  145. 145.

    val

    @David Koch: Which is the case 99% of the time the president “injects himself” into controversies. It should probably be the default assumption until you find out otherwise.

  146. 146.

    Haydnseek

    @NotMax: Thanks for the tip! I’m am both an incurable insomniac and schlock movie freak. I’ll make extra popcorn…….

  147. 147.

    Crouchback

    @WereBear: Now you’ve got me thinking Brendan Frazier could do a good Travis McGee. Really can’t see Leo Dicaprio in the role.

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