President Obama’s State of the Union speech is liable to suck up most of the media attention today. From the Washington Post:
Democrats consider President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday a launching point for a year of sustained assault on Republicans over a populist economic agenda, part of an effort to focus more on bread-and-butter issues and less on income inequality.
Party officials say they hope Obama’s speech will set the stage for Senate and House candidates to confront Republicans on issues such as the minimum wage, unemployment benefits and access to college education. Their minimum goal is to preserve Democratic control of the Senate, because not doing so could cripple what remains of the president’s legislative agenda…
I’m taking Professor Krugman’s latest as a hopeful sign:
The Realities of Class Begin To Sink In
One of the odd things about America has long been the immense range of people who consider themselves middle class — and are deluding themselves. Low-paid workers who would be considered poor by international standards, say with incomes below half the median, nonetheless considered themselves lower-middle class; people with incomes four or five times the median considered themselves, at most, upper-middle class.But this may be changing. According to a new Pew survey (pdf), there has been a sharp increase in the number of people calling themselves lower class, and a somewhat smaller rise in the number calling themselves lower-middle, so that at this point the combined “lower” categories are close to a plurality of the population — in fact, closing in on, um, 47 percent…
This is, I believe, a very significant development. The whole politics of poverty since the 70s has rested on the popular belief that the poor are Those People, not like us hard-working real Americans. This belief has been out of touch with reality for decades — but only now does reality seem to be breaking in. But what it means now is that conservatives claiming that character defects are the source of poverty, and that poverty programs are bad because they make life too easy, are now talking to an audience with large numbers of Not Those People who realize that they are among those who sometimes need help from the safety net…
***********
Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, what’s on the agenda for the day?
Baud
I hope Obama announces some traffic studies for red states.
Sly
Lots of Pete Seeger music.
JPL
What’s on the agenda?
Jury duty. They are expecting an inch or two of snow in Atlanta which means the drive home should be interesting.
Just in case it turns to ice and I can’t get home, my neighbor will take the dog for the night, so I prepared his overnight bag. Living in the south is so much fun. haha
PurpleGirl
@Sly: You didn’t say why lots of Pete Seeger music… I just heard on the news that he has passed away. He was 94.
In 2001 he performed at the school year starting ceremony of Learning Leaders (the nonprofit I worked for). He sand “This Land Is Your Land” and used those ending stanzas that usually aren’t sung. You know, the ones talking about the enclaves of the rich. The guest speaker that year was Laura Bush, who had to sit through Seeger’s performance.
Phylllis
Waiting on the ice/snowpocalypse around these parts.
OzarkHillbilly
@Sly: Indeed.
Baud
Obama is going to have Kentucky governor as his guest tonight to celebrate Obamacare success. Might watch tonight just to see the Turtle’s reaction.
JPL
@Phylllis: The schools south of Atlanta are already closed. Most of those communities have only a few plows and no sand spreaders. Since Atlanta got zapped with an ice storm a few years ago, which left cars and trucks stranded on the highways, they added to their equipment. I live north of the city so should be okay.
Betty Cracker
Why on earth would we not want to focus on income inequality, an issue that concerns Americans more these days and on which we’re on the right side of public perceptions? I think when we (Democrats) stray into less quantifiable territory like “opportunity” vs. “inequality,” we lose.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: How are you?
geg6
RIP Pete Seeger. Which makes a SoTU speech about income inequality all the more apropos.
I know it’s not his style, but I’d love for him to go all FDR “I welcome their hatred” on everyone’s asses tonight.
OzarkHillbilly
The price of propane has more than doubled in the past week, so I am real happy I heat with wood (presently somewhere below zero). I also has a happy ’cause I get to call my Baton Rouge son this morn and laugh at him as he gets hit with freezing rain and snow. And just think, the high in Nome AK yesterday? 47 degrees.
Poopyman
@PurpleGirl: From the end of the NYT obit:
A final life lesson from Pete.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I think that’s WaPo’s gloss.
Hope all is well.
Schlemizel
@PurpleGirl:
Shit, as if the world is not going down the tubes fast enough. That guy was a gaint, with a voice that reached many and a spirit that refuse to be broken. I don’t think there is anyone like him to step up and replace him, we are pooer today. Much poorer
Schlemizel
@OzarkHillbilly: Did you see TimF’s post yesterday about how Nome’s 47 is the result of global warming & directly tied to that freezing rain in LA?
Betty Cracker
@JPL: Tired and sad and worried and in need of a shower, but hanging in there, thanks!
Phylllis
@JPL: We’ve already closed for today and tomorrow. And we’ll probably have to stay closed Thursday as well. Our buses have to travel a lot of dirt or half-ass paved roads, and that’s where the safety issue really comes into play.
Mustang Bobby
It is colder in Traverse City, Michigan (0F) than it is in Barrow, Alaska (4F), and there is a winter storm watch up for Pensacola, Florida.
We have a dense fog advisory here in inland Miami-Dade County. (Okay, who wants to hit that one out of the park?)
WTF?
Karmus
@Mustang Bobby: Yes. Greetings from Pensacola.
I come from the land of the ice and snow…
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemizel: Yeah I read it, which is why I referenced it this morn. Their temps have been up for a few weeks. Now I just have to make sure to tell my son so he can mention it to all the AGW deniers who come into his restaurant.
PurpleGirl
With Arlo Guthrie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSIy0wq_-8A
With Bruce Springteeen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5KnYADCSms
Lyrics to This Land Is Your Land
Woody Guthrie (with additional lyrics)
[Chorus:]
This land is your land,
This land is my land,
From California to the New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway,
I saw below me that golden valley,
This land was made for you and me.
I roamed and I rambled, and I followed my footsteps
To the sparking sands of her diamond deserts,
All around me a voice was sounding,
This land was made for you and me.
When the sun came shining, then I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling,
A voice was chanting as the fog was lifting,
This land was made for you and me.
One bright sunny morning, in the shadow of the steeple,
By the relief office I saw my people,
As they stood there hungry, I stood there wondering if,
This land was made for you and me.
Was a big high wall there that tried to stop me,
Was a great big sign that said, “Private Property,”
But on the other side, it didn’t say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking my freedom highway,
Nobody living can make me turn back,
This land was made for you and me.
[Additional verses by Pete Seeger:]
Maybe you’ve been working as hard as you’re able,
But you’ve just got crumbs from the rich man’s table,
And maybe you’re thinking, was it truth or fable,
That this land was made for you and me.
Woodland and grassland and river shoreline,
To everything living, even little microbes,
Fin, fur, and feather, we’re all here together,
This land was made for you and me.
[And a Native American verse:]
This land is your land, but it once was my land,
Until we sold you Manhattan Island.
You pushed our Nations to the reservations;
This land was stole by you from me
From http://www.lyricsmania.com/
Davis X. Machina
The worst thing — ok, maybe not the worst thing, but the most typically bad thing — Jesse Helms ever did was to try to strip Pete Seeger of his 1994 Kennedy Center honors.
Pure dick move.
PurpleGirl
RIP Pete Seeger
I have the YouTube with Bruce Springteen playing and the tears are welling up. He was remarkable man and lived an incredible life. He gave so much to so many; he was an activist for life.
ETA I did not know him personally but for some reason he has always been important to me.
daveNYC
Jesse Helms, not just evil, cartoonish super villain evil.
Mustang Bobby
Rest in peace, Pete Seeger, and thank you for teaching my generation — and many others — to sing and play music as if it could change the world… because it did.
Mustang Bobby
@daveNYC: One of my favorite pieces of kitsch art was in a gallery in Petoskey, Michigan: Jesse Helms on black velvet, dressed as old fat Elvis.
OzarkHillbilly
The actual #s paint a horrific picture:
The price of propane is skyrocketing. At the beginning of last week, 200 gallons cost $459. At 9 a.m. Friday, the price was $799. By 10 a.m., it was $1,027, said Robert Owen, director of the Jefferson Franklin Community Action Coalition in Hillsboro, which provides heating aid for the poor. The price ended Monday at $1,000 to $1,020, or about $5 to $5.10 a gallon.
When I was heating with propane, a tank lasted about a month, of course it was an older home w/o the best insulation. Most people sign a contract at the end of summer locking in the price. I always did, and there were a couple mild winters where I paid more than the spot price. Woe to those who didn’t sign on the dotted line this year.
OzarkHillbilly
@PurpleGirl: Dogdamned socialist.
Poopyman
@Betty Cracker: I know it’s hard to tear yourself away, but if things look like they’re not going to immediately resolve themselves you need to start pacing yourself. Get out and get a shower, take a nap.
Been there, done that. Hugs.
kindness
NPR yesterday had Cokie Roberts stating that Democrats are going to run from President Obama during elections this year.
Cokie is swilling gin with Peggy Noonan I think. Doesn’t matter. Not giving NPR any more money.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
That triggered memory of a line for which the writer of one of the fan-produced Star Trek episodes must have been inordinately proud.
For those who remember the original series episode with Apollo, the producers of this homage did an episode taking place two years later, when a strangely aged Apollo returns (and managed to get the same actor, lo these 40+ years later, to reprise his role).
Anyway, the line –
Kirk to Spock (after Apollo has reneged on his pledge not to repeat his overbearing ways): “You can’t teach and old god new tricks.”
The Other Bob
A couple nights ago I mentioned to my wife the statistic that the richest 85 people had more money than the lower half of the planet. I then said that this is the stuff of revolutions. Hanging those 85 people and rediatributing their wealth would have been the order of the day in some parts of history.
She was appalled by my statement as if I was making a rallying cry. After I thought about it, some of those 85 probably have it coming.
Punchy
@OzarkHillbilly: a commodity as simple as propane rose ~30% in 1 hour? Holy fuckin heyzeus…..
Also: I love how for red states, its “capitalism, bitchez!” until capitalism gets expensive, then it’s “Gubbmint, please investigate these prices b/c it’s costly”….
NotMax
32: Ragga-fragga. Submittus prematurus.
If edit function operated for me, would remove that errant ‘d’ from ‘and’ to make it just an, which is what it should be.
Davis X. Machina
@kindness:
In two different directions.
Away from him to the left in the primaries — they’ve been doing it at DKos for five years already — and away from him to the right in the general.
If I were him, I’d go out for cigarettes.
Aimai
@Betty Cracker: all love, betty. We are in the same frail, human, barque with you. My 86 year old FIL fell and cracked his skull, has parkinsons, their house flooded, and mr aimai is heading down to florida to help out this weekend. My parents live close and are up and down but currently not a concern. My thoughts are with you and your dad and mom. Hell, ill go so far as to say im praying for you.
Baud
News saying California might finally be getting some rain soon.
OzarkHillbilly
@The Other Bob: “We all have it coming.” -IIRC, Clint Eastwood, “The Unforgiven”
That and, “Deserves got nothing to do with it.”
Davis X. Machina
@Mustang Bobby: Pete’s singing always reminded me of the story about the Athenian orators: “When Aeschines spoke, the people said ‘How well Aeschines spoke!’. But when Demosthenes spoke, the people said ‘Let us march!’
Pete, and a whole buncha kids — who were always magic with and for him: “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore”
Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets. Z”L
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: I missed it, what’s up?
Baud
@Davis X. Machina:
One of the classic Onion pieces.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: There were some rain drops here Sunday nite. Just a few.
Poopyman
@OzarkHillbilly: Here.
MomSense
I heard him perform Guantanamera and he stopped to tell the story of the man who taught him the song and the camera zoomed in on his face where this one tear was slowly falling. He wasn’t just singing a song, he was creating a community of human beings who cared about each other.! I feel so lucky that I grew up with his music and example.
raven
Pete Seeger & his (re-)actions during Bob Dylan’s electrified performance at Newport 1965
raven
Pete, Bob, Judy and Arlo
OzarkHillbilly
@Poopyman: Thanx. I’ll be thinking good thoughts for you Betty.
Baud
Obama to raise minimum wage for federal contractors. I guess he takes the issue seriously.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: No he doesn’t. If he took it seriously he would unilaterally raise the minmum wage to $27.13 per hour, install the public option, introduce rent controls across the country, nationalize the petroleum industry, and add an Amendment to the Constitution stating that corporations are not people and can not be treated as such for purposes of law.
Oh yeah, he’d also raise the top tax bracket to 93%.
marleedog
Delurking to say best wishes for your mother, and you as well, Betty Cracker. You are one of my favorite writers on this awesome blog.
Davis X. Machina
@OzarkHillbilly: You forgot Van Jones to EPA and Shirley Sherrod to the Agriculture Department.
Splitter.
ET
I got my calendar – so many adorable animals…
MikeJ
@The Other Bob:
Behind every great fortune is a crime.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@Baud:
The executive order also raises the federal minimum wage for all tipped employees, which is potentially a bigger deal, though I don’t know to what level.
Luci
@Betty Cracker… thanks for the update. I will continue to hope things go well for you and your family. Take it as easy as you can and take care of yourself, which others have also said, and it’s good advice.
Betty Cracker
Thanks, everyone. I’m hanging out on the ICU ward with my mom, who is going to have major heart surgery at some point soon. This came out of the blue as my mom is in her mid-60s and previously very healthy, and we found this out the same day (Sunday) we heard that hubby’s father has a life-threatening illness, so we’re feeling shell-shocked.
Chris
Because in a country where Herman Cain’s “blame yourselves for what we put you through” is conventional wisdom, there’s a stigma to considering yourself poor. It’s admitting that you’re a loser, that you’re not worth anything, that nobody should look twice in your direction… why George, you’re worth more dead than alive. So they delude themselves that this is just a glitch. (Throw in all the self-help claptrap they tell you about how “being poor is a state of mind,” a.k.a. “oh yeah, you can totally will this to get better…”)
Hoping against hope that the professors who were asked for letters of recommendation a month ago, said they’d do it, and were periodically reminded of since actually turn in the fucking letters by the 5PM EST deadline required for a scholarship. Modest hopes, but they keep one going.
Chris
@Betty Cracker:
More to the point, income inequality IS bread and butter. The reason we have so much less bread and butter these days is because the rich have gobbled up more and more and more of it and done so at our expense. Fixing bread and butter issues without touching income inequality is like fixing the crime problem without touching the Mafia.
Aimai
@Betty Cracker: huge hugs. Your mother is very young and they really know what they are doing these days with heart surgery. I believe you will be able to look back on this in a few years and laugh. We thought my father had pancreatic cancer a few years ago and went all the way through surgery making our peace with the news. But damed if he didn’t cheat the reaper. Im holding your mother in my thoughts. Xxoxo
Chris
@Betty Cracker:
Thanks for keeping us posted. And all my hopes.
Paul in KY
@The Other Bob: I guess she thinks she’ll be in that 85 some day ;-)
rikyrah
Former Cop Indicted In Fatal Shooting Of Unarmed Jonathan Ferrell
Jan 27, 2014
By NewsOne Staff
A North Carolina grand jury indicted Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Randall Kerrick on voluntary manslaughter charges in the shooting death of unarmed Jonathan Ferrell, just days after a partial grand jury refused to do so, reports WXII12.
The indictment came down Monday afternoon, just hours after a judge ruled that Attorney General Roy Cooper could resubmit the case.
Kerrick’s lawyers filed a motion to stop prosecutors, reports WXII12, but Judge Robert Bell refused.
As previously reported by NewsOne, a partial grand jury in North Carolina decided not to indict Kerrick, 27, for the September 14, 2013 shooting death of Ferrell, 24.
Ferrell, a former Florida A&M football player who had recently moved to North Carolina to be with his fiancee, was in a serious car crash and after kicking out his back window, walked to a nearby cluster of homes and knocked on the first door for help.
A woman answered the door thinking it was her husband and immediately slammed it in Ferrell’s face before calling 911.
On the 911 tape released by the city, the woman can be heard sobbing to the dispatcher, begging them to hurry and telling them that her baby was in the house with her.
“He’s in his bed. I don’t know what to do. I can’t believe I opened the door…Please don’t let him get my baby,” she cried.
Kerrick was one of the responding officers and as they approached, Ferrell ran towards them for help. One of the officers allegedly tried to stop him with a Taser, but Ferrell continued to approach. That is when Kerrick shot him 12 times, 10 of the bullets piercing his body.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe said that even if Ferrell didn’t stop running toward Kerrick, deadly force wasn’t justified.
http://newsone.com/2853047/former-cop-randall-kerrick-indicted-in-fatal-shooting-of-unarmed-jonathan-ferrell/
rikyrah
Black Students Shine At Greene Scholar Programs Science Fair In Californ
Jan 27, 2014
By D.L. Chandler
The Dr. Frank S. Greene Scholars Program dedicates its focus on preparing and challenging students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, also know as the STEM fields. Now in its 12th year, the Greene Scholar Programs (GSP) Science Fair, held this past weekend in San Jose, Calif., has been one of the most-dynamic events focusing on the excellence of African-American students in the Bay Area.
The San Jose Mercury News reported on the event, and spoke with several of the young participants, ranging from grades from third to 12th. One sixth-grader’s science presentation was rather impressive given his young age, and the 11-year-old raised a fine question with his experiment regarding the Tesla Motors electric car.
“As a car guy, I wondered if this small change would alter the aerodynamics of the car,” said Ayinde Olukotun, who attends Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School in Palo Alto.
Olukotun’s experiment studied the effect of the electric car manufacturers’ decision to raise the body of the Model S version of the vehicle after some reported battery fires. Olukotun compared the energy efficiency of model cars of different shapes and sizes, although he notes Tesla did the right thing in addressing the issue while possibly raising another. He says he “might e-mail” Tesla concerning his finds.
Program Director Gloria Whitaker-Daniels, who began at Dr. Frank S. Greene Scholars Program as a parent volunteer in 2001, has been heading the GSP for the last five years. With the South Bay area’s lower number of African-American residents, Ms. Whitaker-Daniels boasts that 100 percent of its students enter college and that 90 percent of them graduate.
More than 40 percent of GSP participants major in STEM fields, which reportedly is five times the national average for Black students.
http://newsone.com/2852467/frank-green-scholars/
rikyrah
Here is your DEATH PANEL, you evil ass muthafuckas of the GOP that won’t expand Medicaid.
………………………………………
Lewisville woman pleads for help removing massive cyst
LEWISVILLE — Despite appearances, 38-year-old Sherilyn Hurdle is not nine months’ pregnant.
“I’ve had 30,000 pregnancy tests, because they thought at first I was when I come in because of the nausea and vomiting,” Hurdle said, patting her rounded belly.
What is expanding her waistline is a massive cyst on her left ovary. According to medical documents, it measures 6 x 7 inches.
Since October, it has swelled from the size of golf ball to the size of a basketball.
Every day, the condition causes Hurdle pain, nausea, and shortness of breath. She’s been advised to get surgery, but says she can’t.
“No insurance… no money,” she said. “I don’t qualify [for an Affordable Care Act insurance subsidy]; they said I’d still have to make a premium of $258 a month, which — if I could work — I would do that.”
Hurdle said the pain and discomfort is so great, she currently cannot work. Since her condition is reversible, she says she has been told she doesn’t qualify for disability.
She also does not qualify for Medicaid, though she says she has filled out applications.
Medicaid in Texas is not solely limited to those who qualify due to low income. Medicaid in Texas is generally limited to children, pregnant women, seniors over 65 and people with disabilities.
Hurdle isn’t in any of those groups.
She also had a tubal ligation to prevent pregnancies, which further limits her options in Texas.
And because she lives in Denton County, Hurdle does not have access to a public hospital, like Parkland in Dallas.
http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/North-Texas-Woman-Pleads-for-Help-Removing-Massive-Cyst-242293171.html
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: Best wishes on safe recovery for your loved ones. Lucky to live in age where we have this wonderful medical care. Please stay optimistic
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW – ‘
Elaborate network obscures Koch influence
————————
Rachel Maddow traces part of the vast network of Koch-funded groups and initiatives to show their influence on conservative politics.
———————————-
http://on.msnbc.com/1b3fN4z
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: Saw this morning that some crazy guy in WV up & shot to death 2 men who were inspecting property that the shooter had previously sold to the 2 men.
Shooter was white, 2 victims were black.
Very sad story.
rikyrah
The Central Park 5
By Post Editorial Board
January 26, 2014 | 5:53am
During his campaign for mayor, Bill de Blasio called for the city to settle a $250 million lawsuit brought by five men who had their convictions for raping a Central Park jogger in 1989 overturned. It now appears this settlement will happen. And that itself would be a miscarriage of justice, as The Post has maintained all along.
more of this racist diatribe here
http://nypost.com/2014/01/26/central-park-5s-250m-lawsuit-about-to-be-settled/
rikyrah
Dad with cancer writes daughter 826 notes to last after he’s gone
Eun Kyung Kim TODAY
Garth Callaghan started slipping notes into his daughter Emma’s lunchbox when she was in kindergarten. She could barely read at the time, so he kept the napkin notes simple with easy words, sometimes using drawings or symbols.
Today, Callaghan’s eighth-grade daughter has come to depend on those brief missives as a daily source of inspiration — and a reminder to never take her dad for granted.
Callaghan, 44, has battled kidney cancer twice over the last several years and currently lives with prostate cancer, a slow-growing disease. Recent blood work shows “no evidence” of kidney cancer these days, but Callaghan said his oncologist has bluntly told him that people with his medical history only have an eight percent change of surviving the next five years.
“This isn’t a story about cancer, because any parent at any time could be hit by a car or have a heart attack,” he said, explaining to TODAY.com about why he continues to write “napkin notes” to his daughter. “This is really about leaving a legacy so that she can understand some of my life philosophies and how much I love her.
Callaghan is now striving to reach a goal of writing 826 napkin notes, one for each school day his daughter has left until her high school graduation. He came up with the goal after reading an article about “because I said I would,” a non-profit group that stresses the importance of keeping promises.
“That’s when I thought, I can write out napkin notes ahead of time, and have them ready if I can’t fulfill my own promise if something bad happens,” he said.
Callaghan has only about 40 notes left to write — the finished ones are sitting in a cabinet in his home office in Glen Allen, just outside the Virginia capital of Richmond. But he hasn’t slipped any of the notes he’s banked into Emma’s lunchbox yet — he’s leaving those for his “just in case” pile. Every morning, he writes a brand-new note for his daughter.
http://www.today.com/news/dad-writes-daughter-826-notes-2D11999985
rikyrah
Yesterday at 11:56 AM
Obama’s Plan to End Discrimination Against the Long-term Unemployed
By Jonathan Chait
In his State of the Union address tomorrow night, President Obama will announce that some of the largest firms in the United States have signed a pledge not to discriminate in hiring against the long-term unemployed, reports The Wall Street Journal. This is an interesting and creative response to the most vexing repercussion of the economic crisis: millions of workers who have lost their jobs and cannot find work precisely because they have don’t have it.
The crisis of mass unemployment can be thought of as two problems, one of which is normal, and the other of which is not. The normal problem is simply a standard, albeit very large, recession. The basic policy response is for the government to stimulate demand through low interest rates and fiscal stimulus to create more jobs. Since congressional Republicans (and deficit scolds) are imposing contractionary fiscal policy, Obama has no viable fiscal solution.
There is, however, a second and more unusual aspect to the economic crisis. Even the jobs that are appearing are unavailable to the long-term unemployed. A series of studies have found that employers simply won’t consider candidates who have been out of work for six months or more. One widely circulated experiment found that being out of work for a long time is more harmful to one’s job prospects than even a lack of relevant experience.
The chart showing this is a little hard to figure out, so let me explain. It depicts the results of fake résumés sent out, carefully designed to control for everything but two factors: relevant job experience, and length of unemployment. The red line represents workers with relevant job experience in the field for which they’re applying for a job. The blue line represents workers without relevant experience. The résumés are clumped into short-, medium-, and long-term unemployed. As you can see, for any given duration of unemployment, a candidate is better off with job experience than without. But after six months of unemployment, the value of relevant job experience, represented by the gap between the red and blue lines, has dwindling to almost nothing. And a candidate with relevant experience who has been out of work a long time is far less likely to be called back for a posting than a candidate out of work a short time and no relevant experience.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/01/obama-hire-the-long-term-unemployed.html
rikyrah
Poll: Christie numbers tank as scandals continue
By Domenico Montanaro, Deputy Political Editor, NBC News
Chris Christie’s political future looks to be in serious danger with more Americans believing the embattled New Jersey governor is lying about the bridge closure scandal than telling the truth, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Christie’s overall standing has taken a major hit in the survey, with just 22 percent of Americans viewing the Republican New Jersey governor favorably — down from 33 percent in October.
Twenty-nine percent now view Christie unfavorably, versus 17 percent a few months ago.
http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/27/22471140-poll-christie-numbers-tank-as-scandals-continue?lite?ocid=twitter
rikyrah
Romney knocks CNN’s Crowley over debate flap
BY AARON BLAKE
January 27 at 10:18 pm
Mitt Romney said Monday that CNN’s Candy Crowley overstepped her bounds by playing fact-checker during a debate between Romney and President Obama in 2012.
Appearing on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, Romney said Crowley shouldn’t have interjected to confirm President Obama’s claim about the evolution of the administration’s talking points about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.
“Well, I don’t think it’s the role of the moderator in a debate to insert themselves into the debate and to declare a winner or a loser on a particular point,” Romney said. “And I must admit that, at that stage, I was getting a little upset at Candy, because in a prior setting where I was to have had the last word, she decided that Barack Obama was to get the last word despite the rules that we had.”
Republicans were highly critical of Crowley for her decision to confirm Obama’s claim that he had described the attack in Benghazi as a terrorist attack the day after it occurred. While Obama referred broadly to “acts of terror” during a Rose Garden address, the administration didn’t include terrorism in its talking points in the days afterward.
Romney added: “So, she obviously thought it was her job to play a more active role in the debate than was agreed upon by the two candidates, and I thought her jumping into the interaction I was having with the president was also a mistake on her part and one I would have preferred to carry out between the two of us, because I was prepared to go after him for misrepresenting to the American people that — the nature of the attack.”
Romney declined to say whether he thought the administration was deliberately covering up the true origins of the attack.
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/01/27/romney-knocks-cnns-crowley-over-debate-flap/
rikyrah
Hayes Brown @HayesBrown
Follow
! RT @igorvolsky: RT @vplus: CNN: UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF PM AND CABINET
8:18 AM – 28 Jan 2014
rikyrah
The Republican Obamacare Alternative Raises Taxes on 150 Million Americans
By: Jason Easley
Monday, January, 27th, 2014, 5:47 pm
Senate Republicans unveiled their big Obamacare alternative plan today, and besides taking healthcare away from 10 million Americans, it also raises taxes on the 150 million people who get health insurance from their employer.
In order to force employees to pick cheaper healthcare insurance plans, because the Republican plan doesn’t lower healthcare costs any other way, the proposal would cap the amount employers get to deduct from the cost of an employees health insurance at 65% of the average cost.
This means that everyone who gets their health insurance from their employer would have to pay a 35% tax on their plan. Currently, employers are able to deduct 100% of the cost of the plan, so the tax is zero. If a worker chooses a plan that is more expensive than the average, they would pay an even higher tax rate.
The party of no tax increases has just proposed a healthcare plan that is a defacto tax increase on 150 million Americans. The tax increase comes on top the fact that at least 9.3 million people would lose their health insurance. Even worse, the Republican plan repeals the ACA’s ban on denying coverage due to preexisting conditions. If the Hatch/Burr/Coburn were to become law millions more Americans who have preexisting conditions would either be thrown off of their insurance, or see their rates skyrocket.
The Republican plan isn’t an alternative to the ACA. It’s let’s repeal Obamacare, and go back to the way things used to be. Republicans are going to try to dress this disaster up as liberty and freedom, but the truth is that this is Mitt Romney’s healthcare plan, which was John McCain’s 2008 healthcare plan.
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/01/27/republican-obamacare-alternative-raises-taxes-150-million-americans.html
Rex Everything
wtf? When did Pink grow hips?
rikyrah
Those who will be sitting with FLOTUS tonight.
Aliana Arzola-Piñero (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
2013 Kids State Dinner Attendee
Cristian Avila (Phoenix, AZ)
DREAMer, “Core Faster” and Voter Engagement Coordinator, Mi Familia Vota
Mary Barra (Detroit, MI)
Chief Executive Officer, General Motors Company
Governor Steve Beshear (D-KY)
Tyrone Davis (Winston-Salem, NC)
Fellow with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps
Vice Admiral Michelle Howard (Washington, DC)
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans & Strategy
Sabrina Simone Jenkins (Charleston, SC)
highlighted in the Shriver Report
Mayor Ed Lee (San Francisco, CA)
My mayor!!
Andra Rush (Detroit, MI)
Founder and Chairperson, The Rush Group, Detroit Manufacturing Systems
Amanda Shelley (Gilbert, AZ)
Physician Assistant who benefitted from Obamacare
Antoinette Tuff (Atlanta, GA)
DeKalb County Bookkeeper
Read their stories!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/01/27/first-ladys-box-seats-2014-state-union
rikyrah
Molly Gum @MollyGumAz
Follow
Republicans are asking the Supreme Court to declare that they have a 1st Amendment right to lie during campaigns. http://bit.ly/1fbUAb3
9:45 AM – 22 Jan 2014
fidelio
@rikyrah: That’s a great story, and I hope he doesn’t need to use those bakled napkin notess ever.
However, a small, nasty, snarky part of me wonder of he has Bill and Emma Keller’s permission to do that.
rikyrah
Obama Promises To Veto Republican Bill That Forces The IRS To Investigate Rape Victims
By: Sarah Jones
Monday, January, 27th, 2014, 6:21 pm
The Obama administration just cut House Republicans off at the knee in order to protect American women from the egregious bill they were trying to pass that would force the IRS to investigate rape victims. No, that’s not a joke.
The Obama administration strongly opposes the Republican bill that forces the IRS to investigate rape victims. “If the President were presented with H.R. 7, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.”
The White House issued a statement today on H.R. 7 – the Orwellian “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” (Rep. Smith, R-New Jersey, and 164 cosponsors) – that included, “The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 7.”
The Obama administration doesn’t like the infringement upon women’s freedom or the theft of home rule inherent in the GOP bill, “The legislation would intrude on women’s reproductive freedom and access to health care; increase the financial burden on many Americans; unnecessarily restrict the private insurance choices that consumers have today; and restrict the District of Columbia’s use of local funds, which undermines home rule.”
This bill officially makes the Republican Party the party of big government.
The Obama administration explained that it is already law that we do not use tax money for abortions (it’s called the Hyde Amendment), “Longstanding Federal policy prohibits the use of Federal funds for abortions, except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered. This prohibition is maintained in the Affordable Care Act and reinforced through the President’s Executive Order 13535.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/01/27/white-house-republicans-treat-women-slaves.html
fidelio
@Betty Cracker: Add me to the list of people hoping this turns out well for you all, and also add me to the list of people reminding you to look after yourself, so you can carry on looking after everyone else.
catclub
@MikeJ: “Behind every great fortune is a crime.”
On the MHz network they have Mystery programs, lots from scandinavia. In this one, they are investigating three butchers who had done experiments on prisoners in WWII Germany. Also, one the of the investigators has just inherited money and he and his wife are buying a house. Of course, told like that, you know that the old uncle who died made his fortune in gold teeth, during WWII.
bemused
Krugman’s last sentence to Americans in the 86th percentile, “If you think you’re upper middle class, you really have no idea” is interesting. Figuring out what percentile one’s family is in can be confusing. A commenter suggested wealthometer.org which starts out with you estimating what percentile you are in and then showing your actual percentile position.
bemused
@Mustang Bobby:
Awesome.
catclub
@rikyrah: “the proposal would cap the amount employers get to deduct from the cost of an employees health insurance at 65% of the average cost.
This means that everyone who gets their health insurance from their employer would have to pay a 35% tax on their plan. ”
I think there are lots of different interpretations of those words. For instance, if the employees already pay – say 35% – of the average cost of their policy. I can see no change at all. Rather than a 35% tax.
I am not claiming that is actually what the proposed law says. I just am not sure about -‘motivated reading’. And that looked like motivated reading.
Chris
@catclub:
In an age when people are still going hungry, homeless and otherwise destitute, there’s a pretty compelling argument that the great fortune is the crime.
Tata
@Mustang Bobby:
I read that as “a dog fence advisory” and wondered that that could mean.
Mnemosyne
@rikyrah:
I would say let me guess, but I don’t even have to guess: she’s one of the people in Republican-controlled states who makes between 100%-125% of the poverty level who were supposed to be covered by Medicaid but fell into the donut hole between Medicaid and subsidies because assholes like her governor decided she doesn’t need healthcare because only a lazy moocher would develop an ovarian cyst.
Kathy in St. Louis
I’ve told my kids, many times, that the difference between poor people who can’t get ahead, who are in real debt, who make foolish or illegal decisions because of their financial status, is that they don’t have that backup system of a family they can turn to when they get into some financial bind. When you are in a minor, or even middle-sized financial mess and you are from a middle class family, you have someone who will make an effort to help you out, in most cases. They poor usually have family that is, at best, just treading water, so their minor binds become major financial messes. So, instead of looking at the poor as deserving of their problems, look at the whole picture and hope you always have people you can turn to.