Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

This fight is for everything.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

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12Comments

  1. 1.

    Elizabelle

    I bought ObamaCare (Kaiser Permanente), beginning January 1, and it feels GREAT to be insured again.

    I think my teeth are even whiter!

    Need to check in with them to begin some preventative services.

  2. 2.

    satby

    Richard, question for your expert opinion. I was unable to pay the premium of my subsidized health insurance for the last several months of last year, this year the exchange suggested that I qualified for Medicaid. Then I got notice that I was re-enrolled in my former plan. And I still am unable to pay that part of the premium. Do I need to cancel that? I just assumed I was dropped last year after I couldn’t pay any longer.
    I’m afraid to even imagine what a mess my taxes will be.

  3. 3.

    Sherparick

    Despite it being done sotte vocce, and further initially drowned out by Paris killings, the Republicans are really looking like they intend to go after Social Security, this time using the Disability Program as a “divide and conquer” strategy to tell all their old white voters that they if they don’t do something now, then their benefits will be be taken for “those people” on Disability. Steve M at “No More Mister Nice Blog” has a nice run down on talking points we can expect to see. http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2015/01/rand-pauls-attack-on-disability-program.html#links

    Of course, besides the Republicans hating social security, our Village Media Elite also hates it, and so are willing to echo all the right wing and Petersen Institute talking points while suppressing the progressive and liberal defense of the program. Further, just because tribal identity has grown exceptionally strong the last 10 years, and thereby drives people to take up positions or vote for people they disagree in order to defend what they consider their “Freedom” and “Rights” (a/k/a as white privilege), a Republican like Tom Reed of New York may figure that he has the room to serve his corporate masters by putting the knife in Social Security without electoral consequences.

  4. 4.

    richard mayhew

    @satby: Good set of questions Satby.. I would do the following if possible:

    1) Apply for Medicaid and await a determination notice.

    2) Go on the Exchange and get the cheapest policy that you feel comfortable with.
    2a) Pay the first month premium
    2b) Don’t pay the 2nd month premium

    Once you pay the first month premium, you get a 3 month grace period before you get dropped for non-payment of premiums. So if you are determined to be eligible for Medicaid in March, you are still in your grace period. If you incur services in Month 2-4, you are still liable for the deductible/co-insurance as well as the premiums BUT if you don’t use any services, and you drop the Exchange policy in March once you are Medicaid eligible, you just had a free option on hit by the bus coverage for March that you did not use.

  5. 5.

    Buddy H

    What will be the end result for people collecting disability? I have a neighbor who gets it, she told me she’s worried she’ll be kicked off. I tried to reassure her; told her that the repubs might force a reduction in her benefits, but that she shouldn’t worry about the program ending altogether.

    But here’s the thing: I don’t really know that. I was just trying to make her feel better. What is the end game for the republicans? Kick everyone off the program? Reduce benefits?

    Different subject for an open thread: http://tomdegan.blogspot.com has been completely overrun by right-wing trolls. I don’t know if it’s a gang of them, or just one troll commenting under various aliases, but the comments section resembles something out of Fox or The Blaze. I don’t know if the trolls are paid to post, or if they just do it for fun, but it would be nice if some smart people from this place dropped by and blew some fresh air into the comments section.

  6. 6.

    karen

    Richard, I have a bad situation where I reapplied for Maryland Medicaid in December but made a mistake on the application. They fixed it on the Maryland Health Connection so it reflects that my end date is on November 2015 but Maryland Medicaid (and my insurance MCO) says that I have presumptuous eligibility of 90 days. I’ve been trying to straighten things out for over a month and will need to get my ovaries taken out in the spring. I cannot afford not to have insurance and knowing today is the deadline is making me panic. There are more details but it’s too much to put here. I don’t know what else to do because each agency says the other has to fix it. Help? And if you can help me, please contact me offline at my email the FPs have and I can give a lot more detail. If not, maybe you can tell me what to do next?

    Thanks.

  7. 7.

    karen

    @Sherparick:

    their benefits will be be taken for “those people” on Disability

    I see it as the vampire old white voters draining Disability and they need to have a stake put into their hearts.

  9. 9.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    obOpenThread: Dean Baker has some comments that apply to the Red Hot job market thread here recently. CEPR:

    First, the biggest rise in openings compared with pre-recession levels are in low-paying sectors like retail and restaurant employment. This may mean some shift from these low-paying sectors to higher paying sectors, but the high-paying sectors do not appear to be having trouble getting workers. One exception is the government sector, which has also returned to pre-recession levels of openings. This could reflect the deterioration in the pay and work conditions of government employees.

    A second fact worth noting is that real wages were rising very modestly even before the recession. The last time we saw strong real wage growth was at the very beginning of the decade. This series began in December of 2000, just before the 2001 recession kicked in. But the job opening rate was higher in the three months preceeding the recession than the number released by the Labor Department this week, 3.6 percent in 2001 compared to 3.4 percent in November.

    Finally, the quit rate at 1.9 percent is below the 2.1-2.2 percent pre-recession level and well below the 2.5 percent rate of 2000-2001. This means that workers still do not feel comfortable leaving their jobs.

    Clearly the labor market is improving, but we likely still have a long way to go before most workers see real wage gains. The one wild card is that the Affordable Care Act, by allowing workers to get insurance outside of employment, may make workers more comfortable leaving jobs they don’t like. This could lead the labor market to tighten up more quickly than otherwise would have been the case.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  12. 12.

    Frances

    Hi,

    I’d love to hear your thoughts on what happened in Tennessee today. Apparently CMS gave permission to Community Health Alliance, a new insurance company that was created for the exchange, to close its enrollment.

    It appears that larger subsidies will be given on BCBST Plans for the remainder of open enrollment.
    Thanks.

Comments are closed.