Today, featured prominently on the CNN website:
The vote was yesterday at two. I guess their political editor was busy with other stuff.
Reader Interactions
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.
“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.
Bark louder, little dog.
Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.
Republicans in disarray!
This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.
“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”
Come on, man.
If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.
If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.
When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.
They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.
Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.
The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.
You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.
But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.
Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.
Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.
This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.
President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.
We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.
Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.
Nothing worth doing is easy.
If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.
You are here: Home / Well, That’s Certainly a Lot of Fucking Help Now, CNN
Yutsano
Ask Mayhew if it hurt.
Patricia Kayden
The poor get screwed and the rich get “helped” via tax cuts. Pretty simple.
dr. bloor
Every time I convince myself that this won’t come to violence, they up the ante.
hovercraft
This is the same shit they pulled with the election last year. Leading up to election day it was all about all the ways Hillary could be corrupted and or fail, and barely a peep about all the ways Twitler was corrupt and clueless. With democrats they want to look ahead and around the corner about things that may happen while also parsing everything they’ve ever said or done, but with GOPers it’s all about their attitude, image and strengths, don’t worry about the policy they will be the sensible adults.
Villago Delenda Est
Villago Delenda Est
Villago Delenda Est
Villago Delenda Est
The Dangerman
Unless there are inappropriate photos of Senators with Farm Animals, this doesn’t get 50 in the Senate; now, it’s just a matter of how big the Fuck You that comes back to the House after the Senate is done with it.
Yarrow
Wait! So the media sucks? Wow…
kmeyer the lurker
It’s not completely tardy; it still has to pass through the World’s Worst Deliberative Body.
germy
http://cookpolitical.com/story/10342
hovercraft
When even someone as dumb as Morning Ho is calling you stupid….
Morning Joe On Obamacare Repeal Party: ‘A Sea Of Political Stupidity’
By Susie Madrak
The denizens of Morning Joe had a lot to say this morning about the absurdity of Republicans voting to take people’s health care “to give the richest 1% in their district tax breaks.”
“I know some of my Republican friends will say, gee, Joe, you’re being tough on your party. I’m not being tough. this is simple. Nancy Pelosi was right yesterday, this is going to glow on them for a long time to come,” Joe Scarborough said.
Donny Deutsch was even more blunt.
“Only 5% of people with pre-existing conditions will be covered going forward. The 11 states hit hardest on this, they all voted for Trump. There is no moral compass, there’s no political compass. Disabled children will lose their benefits and we’re looking at a bunch of fat middle aged white guys.” He noted that many of them are millionaires.
hellslittlestangel
Well it hasn’t been repealed. In fact, I understand that the senate won’t even bring this bill to a vote.
Yarrow
@germy:
One of the targets on the Swing Left list is the Republican Congressman whose staffer I berated yesterday after the vote. I saw an article that at least ten people have now declared to run in that district and one of them is a doctor. The Dem primary there will be interesting.
waspuppet
The fact that this story wasn’t posted until 2017 is bad enough.
BlueDWarrior
The people who vote in Congressional elections want a conservative hegemony, even if it kills them. And the national media has locked itself into death spiral where thier best audience are these people.
We may not need to burn the village, it may likely drown itself.
Hunter Gathers
@hovercraft:
Only upper class white men can be considered sensible adults. No woman can, what with their lady parts making them all emotional and shit. Non-whites? Sorry, genetically inferior. Only men of European stock can be counted on to think correctly and rationally. The correct and rational thing to do is shove as much money upwards as possible, and to yank health care away from those undeserving darkies. With less geneticall inferirior stock around, there’s less of a change that their Precious Snowflake daughters Kymberlee Ann and Kaleigh Lee gets knocked up by one.
BlueDWarrior
@hellslittlestangel: if you go by public statements, the Senate appears as if they are going to do something entirely on thier own.
Humboldtblue
@Yarrow:
All 14 California GOP members voted for the bill and Swing Left was already busy in their districts. You could see as many as 10 face serious challenges including Issa.
hovercraft
@Yarrow:
BAUD 2020 may need to amend his slogan , NY Times is Garbage.
matt
Maybe it’s because they didn’t give anyone copies of the bill until they passed it.
mdblanche
To be fair to CNN they probably did a better job and a quicker job of researching this bill than the people who were voting for it yesterday.
SatanicPanic
@Humboldtblue: Issa’s got 2 serious challengers, and he barely won last time. If he gets reelected it’ll be a shock to me.
Kenneth Kohl
Meanwhile, in Western NY (from TPM):
Not to be too delicate, but fuck Chris Collins
hovercraft
@Hunter Gathers:
As a black woman, I know I’m really and truly incapable of making any sense, or being a really productive member of society, all I’m really good for is spitting out babies and collecting my welfare checks so that my children and I can continue to be burden on hardworking real Americans.
Speaking of which:
State Department Belatedly Deletes Tweet Promoting Ivanka Trump’s Book
n yet another Trump administration ethics misstep, an official State Department Twitter account this week shared a post promoting Ivanka Trump’s book “Women Who Work.” The post, which was retweeted from the first daughter and White House adviser’s personal account, has since been deleted.
“Thank you to my beautiful sisters for the support of my #WomenWhoWorkBook!” Ivanka Trump wrote in the original post, which showed her sister Tiffany and sister-in-law Lara posing with hardcover copies.
The Office of Global Women’s Issues @GenderAtState account shared the tweet without comment.
These fucking people.
rikyrah
Tell that truth, Cole.
germy
@Yarrow:
Excellent.
Just no circular firing squads, please. United, forward together.
Yarrow
This is funny.
Feeling a little nervous there, Rand? Also misdirection:
Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.
Just remember: these are the same cowards who passed a straight ACA repeal bill 30 kajillion times from 2010-2016 knowing it had a snowball’s chance in hell of ever becoming law. And those versions of the law were arguably worse than even the current AHCA before it gets Senatized(tm), reconciled with the Hpuse version etc. Note that gaining control of the White House and getting even closer to the actual consequences of enacting their GOPaganda has made these cowards even more cowardly.
germy
Is there a German word for scrolling down to the end of a Balloon-Juice page, and then reading comments up and backwards?
Humboldtblue
@SatanicPanic:
He’s definitely in trouble as are the others even McCarthy in Bakersfield may not be as secure as he thinks. That may be prime wingnut territory but it’s also filled with a lot of people who need their medicare and health care. McClintock may be introuble too not least because he’s a fucking prick.
Representative Stance
Rep. Ken Calvert (Corona) Yes
Rep. Paul Cook (Yucca Valley) Yes
Rep. Jeff Denham* (Turlock) Yes
Rep. Duncan Hunter (Alpine) Yes
Rep. Darrell Issa* (Vista) Yes
Rep. Steve Knight* (Palmdale) Yes
Rep. Doug LaMalfa (Richvale) Yes
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Bakersfield) Yes
Rep. Tom McClintock (Elk Grove) Yes
Rep. Devin Nunes (Tulare) Yes
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher* (Costa Mesa) Yes
Rep. Ed Royce* (Fullerton) Yes
Rep. David Valadao* (Hanford) Yes
Rep. Mimi Walters* (Irvine) Yes
* — district voted for Clinton — LA Times
Taylor
@BlueDWarrior:
You’re just saying that to make me feel good.
I’d throw them an anvil, but they’re doing a good enough job of doing that themselves.
Spanky
@SatanicPanic: I’m guessing he’ll just retire to spend more time with his car alarm. I’m hoping none of the chickenshits do, though. I’d love to see them lose bigly.
But another possibility is that local GOP orgs look at the situation on the ground and start recruiting candidates to challenge the incumbents, if only to try to keep the district Republican in the only way possible.
Humboldtblue
@germy:
Unterscrollingflauschautenflugel. I do it all the time
bemused
@The Dangerman:
Ha! My musings didn’t go as far as R’s and farm animals but after the vile House Gop partied when they passed the death panel bill, I couldn’t help but wonder if the percentage of Republicans who abused and tortured pets when kids is much higher than the rest of Americans.
Spanky
@Yarrow: The intel community doesn’t have to tell Little Rand jack shit.
hovercraft
@mdblanche: I’m not sure that having the bill in advance would have made much of a difference. The GOP has become a party of incoherent rage and ignorance, between the ones who just want to undo Obama’s signature legislation, and don’t care what if anything replaces it and the ones who know this is a naked transfer of wealth to the 1% their votes wouldn’t have changed. Ryan et al aren’t just lying to us, they are lying to their members. Ryan has been getting killed on the right for his inability to do anything, he like Twitler was desperate, now it’s up to McTurtle and if he wants to, he can get it through.
@Kenneth Kohl:
Collins said that no one had read the whole thing but he was confident that members of his staff had read “parts” of it, so relax America, they’ve got this.
Elizabelle
Trevor Noah last night. Better than anything CNN or the major nets likely put up. For one thing, he devotes 6:30 minutes to his subject. And does not have talking heads/paid partisans in there, squid inking alongside him. He addresses the substance seriously, albeit with humor
from Crooks & Liars: Trevor Noah: Republicans Act Like Yesterday’s Repeal Vote Was A Game
He’s got a pretty good Trumpspeak imitation in there too.
Yutsano
@germy: It’s a jungle primary. One will need to get out of the way of the other unless both win which would give me great joy.
Personally I’m behind Applegate although Levin has been making a lot of social media noise.
Elizabelle
@BlueDWarrior:
The Fuck the Fucking New York Times is out there midstream, without a paddle. I think they’ve made a business decision to go after Wall Street Journal readers and glibertarians.
ETA: I mean, those have always been their targets. But they’re willing to screw their longtime readers, from the reality-based community, to go after the Trump curious. Clinton Derangment Syndrome. Emails!! Being colonized by Politico.
The Moar You Know
They were busy having a mass circle-jerk celebration over all the poor people that will die. Makes good clickbait.
germy
@Spanky:
He’ll cross that bridge (or burn down that dealership) when he gets to it.
SFAW
@BlueDWarrior:
TPM reported something similar.
I’m assuming they’ll do something almost-as-horrible, but they’re doing it this way so that they don’t need 60 votes to pass the House version, and then they’ll get it to reconciliation, where they can fuck over the non-rich “under cover of darkness” a/k/a typical useless coverage by the MSM.
HOWEVER: I am not well-schooled in Congressional processes, so there is a reasonable possibility that my preceding paragraph is COMPLETELY FUCKING WRONG (vis-a-vis my assumptions re: procedures; the MSM is still fucking useless). So, if someone knows the answer re: 50 vs 60 votes needed, reconciliation, etc., can you pass that info along?
artem1s
@dr. bloor:
Last night Dr. Maddow started a segment with the over throw of the Romanian government, the violent protests and the eventual trial and execution of Ceausescu and his wife.
They faced charges including illegal gathering of wealth and genocide. Ceaușescu repeatedly denied the court’s authority to try him, and asserted he was still legally president of Romania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu#Death
The whole segment was about the most recent protest in Romania against corruption and the current government’s attempts to make corruption ‘legal’ (no really, they have tried twice now and failed) as cover for the head of the ruling party. It was interesting that she started with the violent protests to explain protests happening now. She went on to misrepresent the US history of protests as not-violent. But you have to blind yourself to a lot of recent history (Kent State, Selma, etc) to believe that nonsense. So maybe she was referring to violence against the government rather than by the government (WTF, Murrah bldg, OK?, LA riots, Philly riots, every inner city riot 1960s). But maybe she was just saying…”OK Romania butchered their corrupt leader/s, I’m not saying you should go out and emulate them”?
In any case, the violent execution of Ceausescu was in 1989. Qaddafi was beaten to death by protestors 6 years ago. Bloody revolutions that take out the 1% are in no way a part of some long lost human past. They happen now even in ‘advanced’ countries, not just war torn hell holes like Somalia and Libya.
hovercraft
@Yutsano:
I liked Applegate last time, my dream scenario is for Issa to run and lose so badly he doesn’t even make the second round. Having the two dems make the runoff, bliss.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Keep in mind once it gets out of the Senate they will have to vote on the reconcilation bill. That’s why the pressure still needed of these jackasses
currants
Ima steal a line from my nephew:
The north remembers….
(Game of Thrones clip.)
schrodingers_cat
@Humboldtblue: Why are Californians still electing Rs?
? Martin
@Humboldtblue: We’re taking out all of the Orange County Republicans in 2018. Issa is the easiest, he only won by 1 point, and the other 3 won by 15 points, but people here are pissed. We’ve got candidates for these races and money is already flowing to them. I’ll be volunteering to flip our seat. Orange County didn’t just go blue for the first time since 1936, it’s now a D+5 county. From 2014 to 2016 Royce went from +37 to +15, Walters +31 to +17, Rohrbacher +29 to +17, Issa +21 to +1. Those are HUGE losses for the GOP here, and I don’t think that’s going to slow down given Trump and Congress’ behavior.
The good news is that there are no truly uncompetitive red districts in CA in that every one had a Democrat that made it to the general. They may have lost the general by a lot, but they got there.
LurkerNoLonger
@Kenneth Kohl:
That healthcare program is called the Essential Plan. It’s what my wife and I are covered under. Without it we can’t afford the $600 a month premiums. These people are morally dead inside.
? Martin
@schrodingers_cat: Remember that large parts of California look more like Nebraska or Montana. It’s an exceptionally diverse state in terms of demographics, industry, and so on. Expecting CA to go all blue is akin to expecting the US to go all blue.
SFAW
@Yarrow:
Hey, Rand, you fucking mook, why would Obama waste ANY government resources on surveilling a moron like you? That would be like keeping an eye on the Bill Pullman character.
hovercraft
@SFAW:
They could take up the House bill and tweak it, I think they’re doing this because what TRyan produced is such a shit sandwich, so they’ll make their own equally terrible one and then reconcile them.
Republicans hate their own healthcare bill—but they passed it anyway
I’m not an expert either, but this is what Wiki says:
schrodingers_cat
@? Martin: All our reps are Dems. Turnout was 75% and Hillz won easily with 60%. United States was like the Commonwealth we wouldn’t have these problems.
? Martin
@Kenneth Kohl: Seriously. Effectively all federal funding is eliminated for all health care plans in both NY and CA due to the fact that NY and CA require abortion coverage as part of the essential benefits. It’s illegal in these two states to offer an insurance plan that qualifies for federal funding under Trumpcare.
The Dangerman
@schrodingers_cat:
Endangered species laws.
Almost all CA R’s are from VERY Red districts (curiously, and staying on a theme, districts with more farm animals than people; for example, Tulare, where the smell of cow shit is so strong that it obviously kills brain cells).
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@matt: Yes, to be fair to the MSM the game was to hide the bill from everyone because they knew it sucked.
SatanicPanic
@Humboldtblue: IIRC the OC went blue for the first time in 2016, so all those OC GOPers should be polishing their resumes. They’re going to be the low hanging fruit for taking back the House.
hovercraft
@LurkerNoLonger:
Well according to him only a couple of states took advantage of the money for those kinds of programs, so there aren’t that many of you, ergo no biggie, right? Seriously these people are truly monsters. Cuomo has been able to duck and weave on this issue because it hadn’t passed, he better get his act together and do something to fix this, California has been shoring up their system for months, it’s time NY got it’s act together.
Josie
I just got an email from Swing Left. They have collected $850,000 since yesterday and are shooting for $1,000,000 to divide among the swing districts.
JMG
@SFAW: OK, basically, if the Republicans want anything bad enough and have 50 votes for it, they change the rules to allow passage of anything under reconciliation. They might have to fire the parliamentarian, but they’ve done that before. But suppose they don’t want some things bad enough (like the pre-existing conditions clause of AHCA). Maybe they’d like to get rid of those without their fingerprints on it. Then they let current rules stand. Reconciliation only applies to budget-related legislation. That means the tax cuts and Medicaid cuts could pass right now with 50 votes plus Pence, but the pre-existing conditions, high-risk pools, etc. need 60.
That’s why I think they’ll wind up with instant tax cuts and Medicaid cuts pushed off for four or five years. That allows a couple of election cycles to pass before the pain comes.
? Martin
@schrodingers_cat: Swell. Now, expand to the 5th largest economy on earth, and produce half the nations’s fruits and vegetables, and the majority of its leading technology, most of its immigrants, and see if you can still elect Dems to all 53 seats.
hovercraft
@SFAW:
Rand still believes just like Wilmer that there is a huge hunger for a revolution that only he can lead, he just knows that he has an army out there just waiting for him to lead them. The establishment conspired to defeat Wilmer, Obama and the IC must have conspired to stop Rand.
Humboldtblue
@schrodingers_cat:
What Martin said.
I live in a rural and very white area and while it’s a reliably (hell, overwhelming) Democratic district that’s only because of the University. Otherwise Humboldt would be Del Norte to the north (where Pelican Bay state prison is located) or Turlock or Modesto. Nearly all white, deeply Christian and anti-liberal just because.
The Districts that all went to Clinton and have a GOP rep are also districts that have a university (I think) and if Democrats get out the vote (and Martin is the go-to on this) they could sweep in 2018. The key is getting people to vote and that’s why since 2006 I have been a proponent for an all mail-in ballot system in California. Just compare voting percentages between California and Oregon to see how effective making it as easy as possible to vote leads to 75-80 percent of voters taking part. If we get that in California this state would be so deeply blue the GOP would probably just quit altogether and imagine if it were nationwide.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@The Dangerman:
The literal end of the road of White Flight in California. I have relatives and friends out there to fled those awful, collage educated others and their polite kids to live a free REAL American life with drunken and stoned rednecks.
? Martin
@schrodingers_cat: Hillary won California by more votes than the total who voted in your state. Hell, she won one of our counties by 1.7 million votes. Seriously, we’re on a whole other scale out here. California is more like its own country (both good and bad) than a state.
LurkerNoLonger
@hovercraft: If NY comes up with a state version of the Essential Plan and I have to pay a bit more in premiums than I do now, but not the entire $600, I would be ok with that.
Humboldtblue
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
.
Hey, hey, hey! We stoned and drunken liberals are out here too!
Mnemosyne
@The Dangerman:
I am less sanguine than you are about what the Russian hackers have shared with their pals at the White House. The RNC was hacked, too.
hovercraft
@JMG:
NO.
SatanicPanic
@Humboldtblue: I’m from California and it wasn’t until I tried driving to Oregon that I realized just how big this state is. I drove for over 12 hours on the first day and I was still in California when I stopped. We SoCal people tend to think of SF as the far north, but there’s a lot of state to the north of that. And some of it is shockingly empty. Also of note, some of the rural farming areas in SoCal are very blue, because of Mexican farmworkers. People like to poop on agribusiness, but it does have some unintended benefits.
? Martin
@The Dangerman:
It will be very interesting to see if the DCCC and DNC recognize the opportunity in Orange County. 4 of the 22 they need are here and we have 3 democrats now. These districts are close together, and easily to mobilize. We’re only 62% white, and has the highest rate of college attainment in the state, and about half of those degrees are in science and related fields – among the highest in the state. We have large Korean and Chinese communities, trade is very important here, as is the environment, tourism, etc. Dems can win this place.
ArchTeryx
@hovercraft: My life may be i Cuomo’s hands. And people wonder why I was so despondent yesterday?
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
Had to quote this. Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun Times
SgrAstar
@Yarrow: Why on earth would anyone want to spy on Rand Paul? He’s trying to inflate his very marginal relevance. Total loser move.
? Martin
@SatanicPanic: Yep. If two people set out from San Diego, one heading north and one heading east, by the time the first driver hit the next state, the second driver would be partway across Texas.
jacy
@germy:
There should also be a word for answering as you read and realizing your answer has already been given by a dozen other commenters, and far more cleverly than you did. That’s me!
West of the Rockies (been a while)
The NPR website this morning had a rundown of who benefits and who gets hurt. It was scathing in its facts-only assessment. Millions are hurt. Millionaires will benefit.
Humboldtblue
@SatanicPanic:
I’ve lived up here for almost 15 years and it was only after a few days I started laughing at the notion that the Bay Area was “northern California”. When you are closer to LA (in San Fran) than you are to the Oregon border you aint the north, you’re the fat beer gut middle of the state.
And speaking of Ag, it’s one area where I sympathize with local GOP voters. Environmental regs designed as one-size-fits-all are never a good idea (like emergency drought regs that were absurd in a region that got at least its normal amount of rain during the five years of drought elsewhere) and they have serious and legitimate gripes about the burden non-negotiable enviro regs have on their businesses/homesteads. Many of these folks are as concerned about the air, water, and soil as any local enviro (and maybe moreso) but we can never them into our camp because of government overreach and such.
rikyrah
Saw on twitter:
They don’t understand (with this Trumpcare vote). They just killed John Wick’s dog.
rikyrah
The Three Senators (and Two Races) That Will Decide the Fate of Obamacare
Washington is watching as Democrats in two special elections rip the repeal effort and run surprisingly close races in red-hued districts.
MICHAEL TOMASKY
05.05.17 9:39 AM ET
You’re going to be reading and hearing lots of breathless stuff over the next few weeks on health care. My advice to you would be not to take it seriously if it doesn’t recognize this basic fact: The is going to come down to the conference committee. That’s where the action is here.
You remember what a conference committee is? The House passes its version of a bill. The Senate passes its version. They’re different. Then, leaders from both chambers appoint a conference committee to smooth out the differences. Then, the agreed-upon bill goes back to both houses for passage a second time. Only then does it go to the president’s desk.
No, they didn’t make this easy. But usually conference committees do what they’re designed to do for the simple mathematical reason that if a bill passed both Houses, it was nearly by definition supported by the majority party in both houses, and it’s those party’s leaders who appoint most conference committee members, and they can stack it however they like.
All that is presumably a few weeks away. First, the Senate gets to work. All eyes turn to the wily Mitch McConnell. There is a slim chance—really slim—that McConnell, for whatever baroque set of insider-y reasons, doesn’t really want this to pass. Maybe opposition to what the House did really rises up over these next few weeks and he senses that his majority may be in danger. Maybe enough Republican senators come to him and say things like “Mitch, I’m getting hammered back home on this.”
If that’s the case, he can easily fix things behind closed doors in such a way that the House bill fails in the Senate, and he can say hey, we tried.
Another failure scenario is that three Republicans vote against it. This isn’t impossible. Dean Heller of Nevada, who’s up for reelection next year; Susan Collins of Maine; Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Those are the three Republicans to watch. If you’re against what the Republicans are doing here and want to devote some time or energy to stopping this, devote it to groups working in those three states, trying to pressure those three senators.
LurkerNoLonger
@hovercraft:
So am I understanding this right? They have to decide if they want to use reconciliation on AHCA or the Tax giveaway bill, they can’t do both?
jacy
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
“Millions are hurt. Only Millionaires will benefit.” is a good line. Somebody should use that. Hell, everybody should use it.
TenguPhule
@The Dangerman:
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but…..
SatanicPanic
@? Martin: It was mind blowing. Have you ever been to very northern corner of the state? There’s no one living up there. More cows than people. It might as well be another state because the California I live in is nothing like theirs’. I go to the Bay Area and it’s not that different.
SgrAstar
@JMG: I thought that reconciliation couldn’t be used if the bill in question increased the deficit. The tax cuts, etc def fall i to that category. ???????
TenguPhule
@rikyrah: If Paul Ryan’s last words are “It was just a fucking do-“, I will seriously reconsider my atheism.
TenguPhule
@SgrAstar: Hence why they’re trying to be done before the CBO score is out.
SatanicPanic
@Humboldtblue: I think they do need to be more careful in drafting environmental regulations, but coming from one of those places I’d be nervous about getting too hung up on that as their reason for hating Democrats. They’re still marinating in the same talk radio stew.
chopper
@SgrAstar:
the bill can’t increase the deficit after 10 years. that’s why the bush tax cuts had a 10-year sunset provision, so it could be passed by reconciliation.
ETA: i could be wrong here. reconciliation is kinda goofy.
TenguPhule
@hovercraft: Only as long as Republicans don’t change the rules. Again.
Weaselone
@jacy:
I’d make it simpler. Millions hurt. Billionaires benefit.
? Martin
@SatanicPanic: I’ve visited nearly every one of the states 150 public colleges and universities. So yeah, I’ve been up to Lassen College. I love traveling to these places – there’s so many surprises to this state.
artem1s
@? Martin:
Issa is a moron. The GOP are going to piss on him again, you watch. They won’t commit funds to that race. Issa should have won by double digits alone given how much Orange county GOPers want to see Mexican’s deported. He is damaged goods; he cast the deciding vote and they will now throw that asshole under the bus, just like they did when they finally got rid of Davis. He was always a stupid criminal who got lucky because there was always someone there to take the rap when he got caught. If he had an ounce of sense he would have sold out to the Dems and voted NO for cash and then resigned. He would still lose his seat but at least he won’t get shafted by the GOP again. Dunce.
germy
Turgidson
@hovercraft:
That’s a good way of putting it. The GOP only needs to *seem* like they want something/care about something in order for the entire media other than pinko shrill commies like Krugman to praise them to the heavens and back and not dare to question their sincerity. The Democrats aren’t allowed to show strength, sincere or not, without being accused of spiking the football, being intemperate, or whatever the fuck else the Beltway Boobs like Cillizza barf up. I mean, Obama wasn’t permitted to celebrate any of his many achievements without a round of fainting couch hysterics from the Village about how rude he was being. A standard they never held the Bush Crime Syndicate to and will never hold Hair Furor to. In fact, they love it when a GOPer struts around like an arrogant asshole.
So annoying.
Sloane Ranger
Accidentally switched to CNN and caught a segment with some female presenter trying to interview a Repub Congress person, also female. Didn’t catch their names. They were basically talking over each other. The interviewer kept on asking if the congresswoman would guarantee that no-one with a pre-existing condition would lose coverage as a result of the Bill. The Repub kept on droning about how she had faith that the States would step up and how there were innovations they wanted to introduce that would reduce both premiums and medical costs and anyway Obamacare was a disaster. What she wouldn’t do was give a guarantee.
At the end of the interview, the presenter pointed out that they were talking about the Repub Bill and not O’care. She ended by saying that they would no doubt talk again and hoped that the Congress critter would answer the question then. She sounded sarcastic.
bemused
I know House GOPers are giddy they finally passed a repeal bill. What about Republican voters? Any reliable polls out yet?
Yutsano
@SatanicPanic: I will say there are spots where it’s quite beautiful up there. Especially around the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.
@hovercraft: That would be ideal, but as long as one doesn’t undercut the other so that nether make it (unlikely but possible) then it’s all good. It’s also IMPERATIVE the loser back the winner right away.
japa21
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: Steinberg is one of the main reasons I read the Sun Times. He hates Trump, but he also hates the people who voted for him.
SFAW
@hovercraft:
His revolutionary-leadership triumvirate will include Assange and Greenwald, those paragons of something-something. Get them all in one place while planning strategery, makes it easier for the DRONEZZZ.
ETA: And little Lord Randy is still a moron, revolution or no. An overprivileged one at that. Or does EVERYONE get to become a doctor by having a degree bought for them?
artem1s
This is great! The ONLY thing that might shake this investigation loose is the revelation that Twittler and Putin were pulling the same shit on the GOP from the start during the primaries. It’s the only explanation of why so many NeverTrump leaders flipped 180 degrees moments after declaring they would never ever support him if he became the nominee. The hackers had info from the RNC computers. How many of the GOP campaigns got hacked too? All of their opposition research against each other all out there to be used against them. Too bad it’s crazy Rand making the initial complaint. If Kasich wants to be the savior of the ‘rational’ GOP, he should be the one out there questioning the GOP primary.
Jacel
@LurkerNoLonger: I think they saved the 2016 reconciliation slot to use for AHCA, and would use the 2017 slot as well this year for a tax-cuts-for-the-very-rich bill.
Yutsano
@artem1s:
It did kind of shock me how easily Tailgunner Ted folded.
EDIT: Or, really, all of them. It’s not like the Hairy Yam didn’t have a disgusting record for them to exploit. Yet they all more or less ignored him and turned on each other. Curiouser and curiouser said Alice…
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@jacy:
Thanks. Let’s run that baby!
SatanicPanic
@? Martin: @Yutsano: Oh yeah, absolutely, it’s really pretty up there. There’s so much diversity in this state and not just in terms of people.
Gretchen
I just called Kevin Yoder’s office to say that I am disgusted that he voted to take health care away from millions of people and then went to a beer bash to gleefully celebrate. The guy on the phone quickly jumped in to say he didn’t go to the beer bash! I gather that I’m not the first to mention it. What public relations genius thought up that idea? I just wish we had some pictures of them high-fiving with their Bud Lights in hand. I also mentioned that Cook’s Political Report downgraded his chances of re-election this morning because of yesterday’s vote.
Humboldtblue
@SatanicPanic:
True, and there remains a cohort we will never be able to touch, but just like the rust belt, you take away the health care and basic services of government as we may peel a few.
Turgidson
@SatanicPanic:
The Bay Area is barely halfway “up” California, geographically – but few people think of it that way. I’d noticed from maps how far California stretches to the north, so had a vague understanding of this when I made my first drive from the somewhat-southern part of the state (Santa Barbara) to visit my brother in Seattle. But you don’t realize how vast Northern California beyond the Bay Area or Sac is until you actually drive through it. It felt like I should have completed a substantial chunk of the drive when I stopped off to visit family near SF, but it was just a small fraction.
Humboldtblue
@Gretchen:
Ask and ye shall receive
hovercraft
@LurkerNoLonger:
The “thinking” is that you use reconciliation to repeal Obamacare thereby saving billions, which is a requirement since in order to pass under the reconciliation process it cannot add to the deficit, and then you can pass the tax cuts as part of next years budget using reconciliation, but only if they have to, they believe that they will be able to strong arm democrats in red states into voting for the tax cuts because everyone loves tax cuts. The democrats may be able to hold the line on Obamacare but they don’t believe they will be able to on tax cuts. Of course this is bullshit the tax cuts are in the trillions so they can’t be deficit neutral but this is where dynamic scoring and magic unicorns will come in.
Gretchen
@Humboldtblue: It’s really disturbing just how gleeful Ryan looks in all these pictures. I’ve never seen him happier – all by taking money away from sick people to give to billionaires!
Kathleen
@West of the Rockies (been a while): Sjocked that NPR actually reported facts with context. My cynical self says watch for a spate of stories about beleaguered. WWC Trump voters who will be most harmed by this bill.
hovercraft
@SFAW:
Not just bought for him, he also created his own accreditation board thingy so he could set up his practice, he never actually got credentialed by an entity other than the one he created.
Turgidson
@Gretchen:
But I’ve been assured so many times that he’s an earnest, sincere wonk who wants to find solutions to problems and really cares about poverty and he seems like such a nice young man so I’m sure he’s not a soulless ghoul whose entire career has been devoted to using the machinery of government for afflicting the afflicted and comforting the comfortable on as massive a scale as is possible.
…
God, I hate that cruel, insufferable fraud.
schrodingers_cat
@? Martin: OK I get it, that its big. The goal to make it R free is a good one, that’s all.
Omnes Omnibus
@hovercraft: He did actually become Board certified. He and some other docs founded their own group in a fight over lifetime vs 10 certification. (Source) I can’t stand the guy, but there is enough real shit to dislike about him that we should avoid the fake stuff.
quakerinabasement
Hey, they had to wait for the ink to dry on the motherfucker before they could analyze it!
Yarrow
@artem1s: I think it’s pretty much too late for any Republican who hasn’t already distanced themselves from the Traitor Trump GOP. They can try to do it when the news breaks, but it’ll be too little too late. Besides, Rand Paul is asking because he’s scared. Traitor.
Yarrow
@Gretchen:
YES! Are there a good assortment of pictures from the post-murder vote kegger? We need to identify ALL the Republicans who attended and jam their phone lines. Drinking beer after sentencing people to death. Make them own it. Fuckers.
Edit:
@Humboldtblue: Thank you! I posted my comment before I saw yours.
Mnemosyne
@Yutsano:
Someone on the Levin side tried to kneecap Applegate yesterday by feeding out of context Facebook comments to a Democratic strategist.
This makes me think very, very poorly of Levin now.
kd bart
Meanwhile, Bernie Bros on my Twitter TL rather primary Pelosi. OY!!!!
Mnemosyne
@Turgidson:
SF is really the upper edge of Central California/lower edge of Northern California, with Santa Barbara as the border between Central and Southern California.
Really big, really diverse state, using all the meanings of that word.
mr_gravity
@bemused: Absolutely! There are wingnuts down the road from me who will swerve in effort to kill kittens and puppies in their path. I’ve seen them do it.
SatanicPanic
@Mnemosyne: yeeesh, that Adam Parkohomenko guy comes off like a real a-hole.
Juju
@germy: Rückwärts.
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne: Has the whole thing back tracked back to who did it and they work for Levin?
hovercraft
@Omnes Omnibus: Thanks, I didn’t know ;)
Omnes Omnibus
@hovercraft: Yeah, the incorrect version is out there in strength.
SFAW
@Juju:
Fixed
ETA: Weil ich weiss nicht, wie man “Bass-ackwards” auf Deutsch sagt.
bemused
@mr_gravity:
That’s what I’m talking about. The cruelty they have shown with this bill and celebrating has to have had roots early on and all along.
Shalimar
@artem1s: THE GOP already knows exactly what the Russians got from their hacking, because the Russians are blackmailing them with it.
MomSense
@germy:
aufbackwardgebjlesen
TenguPhule
Gold plan for me, not for thee.
I’m sure this will go over well with people.
mai naem mobile
CAP has a graphic of all the states with them number of people on the exchanges and the medicaid expansion numbers done by congressional district . What I don’t understand is that quite a few of these GOP Reps who voted for Trumpcare are in their top 2 or 3 districts in people on their Exchanges and/or Medicaid expansion. You would have to be literally stupid to vote for it. We’re talkin 20K to 50K+ people. I realize that part of this bunch would be kids and people who can’t vote but still most districts are not won with these kind of high margins. And then you have people employed in healthcare who would see a decrease in their income who you would puss off. Are there that many jobs in Kochworld for these people?
mr_gravity
@bemused: The thing I find most disturbing is, after watching dad run down a kitten I see his offspring chasing a cat with a baseball bat. Teach your children well I guess.
bemused
@mr_gravity:
I feel like vomiting. Some people are absolute scum. If they bother to vote, that’s who they vote for. The Trump supporters at his rallies make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
MCA1
@Yarrow: “any Republican who hasn’t already distanced themselves from the Traitor Trump GOP…” I believe the correct Balloon Juice phrasing there is “all of them, Katie.”
laura
@Humboldtblue:McClintock may be introuble too not least because he’s a fucking prick.
It cannot be overstated that McClintock is a smarmy, self-entitled bag-o-douche. I still can’t scrub the stench of condession off myself after testifying in a legislative hearing in which he was a committee member.
It’s an understatement that he cares only about himself and his corporate owners.
Mnemosyne
@Yarrow:
No idea. It smells like ratfucking, but I have no idea where it came from. It could well be a Trump supporter trying to sow division.
Hopefully Levin and Applegate will get together and talk about what to do when stuff like this surfaces, because it will.
artem1s
@currants:
Karl Rove, Pat Buchanan, Jeff Weaver, Jerry Falwell Jr, Ralph Reed, Rupert Murdock, Charles and David Koch, MoDo, entire editorial board of the NYT, Paul Manafort, Alex Jones,
Bill O’Reilly, Carter Page, Mike Flynn, Jason Chaffetz, Tom Cotton, Ivanka Trump, Husay Trump, Ouday Trump, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, all 237 GOP House Reps and Darryl Issa, James Comey…SFAW
In the (non-Swiftian) “modest proposal” category: can we start referring to it as either the ADCA (American Death Care Act) or the RDCA (Republican etc.) or perhaps MADA (Make Americans Dead Act) or something similarly pithy and in the face of the Rethugs. They’re always so fucking good at (A) putting bullshit names on their bills to make it seem like they’re actually helping people and (B) finding a Luntzian term to create false impressions re: Dem bills that really DO help Americans.
There’s gotta be something that we can hang on those motherfuckers, and is “catchy” enough that non-Shitgibbonistas will use the term a lot between now and November, 2018.
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: I just care that the loser supports the winner. Also that if both somehow manage to get the top two slots that the loser there supports the winner.
BlueDWarrior
@SFAW: Oh there are a lot of things we could label this clusterfuck with… the problem is getting past people’s “Hurr durr Liburls Bad” filter.
That’s the nut we can’t seem to crack right now.
Yarrow
@SFAW: Trump Care. Hang it on him. Tie the Republicans to him and make them own it.
efgoldman
@mdblanche:
So did my four year old granddaughter
efgoldman
@hovercraft:
Isn’t it on the remainder table yet?
SFAW
@BlueDWarrior:
I think it’s less dire than that, given the right phrasing. The “Teh Evul Libruls” crowd shrieks a lot, and are much more dedicated to destroying America than most others have been to stopping them, but it’s the 27-percenters making all/most of the noise.
@Yarrow:
I think “Trump Care” gets us only part-way there, because it doesn’t explicitly state that the Rethugs are trying to kill or impoverish middle-class voters. So, I think it should be something like “Trump Care — a/k/a the Republican Make Americans Dead Act.” (Figuratively) killing two sets of treasonous motherfuckers with one stone.
Of course, some might consider something like that to be “shrill” or “uncivil.” If so, then as the great philosopher efgoldman has said on occasion:
Fuckem.
SFAW
@efgoldman:
Yes, but your lovely granddaughter wanted to know what’s in it.
efgoldman
@? Martin:
NY and MA AGs have already said the bill is unconstitutional and they’ll sue if it becomes law. I imagine CA would also be party to any such suit.
Yarrow
@SFAW: DeathCare, then. Republican DeathCare.
The issue isn’t us coming up with something clever, it’s coming up with something that will stick. ObamaCare stuck. Trump is a terrible brand at the moment and getting worse all the time. Hanging it on him has advantages. However, he can distance himself from it because he hasn’t signed it, so Republican Death Care cuts to the chase. Needs to be something people can remember and repeat easily.
SFAW
@Yarrow:
Completely agree. It’s been my experience that the “clever” ones are more concerned with being clever than in getting a point to stick.
efgoldman
@rikyrah:
Suzy Q will be very concerned and make a lot of noise, and then vote however Yertle McTurtle needs her to.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus:
This is a quote I need to have engraved above what passes for my heart.
@Mnemosyne: also, too, the context thingie. I’ve been known to ignore it myself on occasion, usually inadvertently, but that’s no excuse.
Miss Bianca
@SFAW: I’ve been calling it “the American Wealth Care Act”, and hammering the point that its real purpose is to either kill or bankrupt the middle-class and poor so that the rich can get their tax cuts. Or as someone else pithily observed, “Millions hurt. Millionaires benefit.”
Lizzy L
@Yarrow: I like DeathCare. Stealing.
The Moar You Know
@Mnemosyne: Oh hooray. I’ll have Issa as my rep for the rest of my fucking life while Dems and fake Dems kneecap each other. Fucking great.
On the other hand, this is exactly the kind of clusterfuck I expect in my very wealthy, and very, very, very stupid district. On a good day it’s like living around a bunch of inbred toy poodles.
efgoldman
@SFAW: I
The primary driver of mid term elections is voting against the president’s party.
Name it after Amber Asswipe; let the flying monkeys try to run away from it.
Yarrow
@Lizzy L: I saw it somewhere else, but can’t remember where to give credit. I liked it and remembered it, so maybe that’s a good sign that it could work?
Kenneth Kohl
@LurkerNoLonger: jesus, Lurker, I am truly sorry to hear that… And, yes, they are dead inside.
scuffletuffle
@SFAW: DonTCare
Bishop Bag
@Jacel: Yes, saved 2016 reconciliation bill to pass AHCA which gives them $900 Billion savings from Medicaid cuts to then use on 2017 Tax Cuts and can claim that the tax cuts are balanced by the cuts to Medicaid….I think??? Not positive…Think I read it on the internet so it must be true!!!!
Miss Bianca
@The Moar You Know:
Oh, great, now you’ve made me LOL at work. Time to shut down now…
J R in WV
@bemused:
Has to be. Probably wet the bed well into their teens, and set fires around the neighborhood. These are the strongest markers of sociopath/psychopath behavior as an adult, which all of these guys obviously exhibit on a daily basis.
So abuse of animals, bed wetting and pyromania are bound to be present in a strong majority of Republican office seekers and holders. Wonder why Donald Trump was enrolled in a Military School for remediation as a teen? Hmmmm.
SFAW
@Miss Bianca:
Relative to that, I was thinking about something like “TrumpCare: Wealth Care for the Rich, DeathCare for Everyone Else”
No One You Know
@Yarrow: “I am STILL RELEVANT!”
evodevo
@artem1s: Yeah, where is Arya when you really need her !!