Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

T R E 4 5 O N

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Giving up is unforgivable.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

White supremacy is terrorism.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

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

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

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Whaaaaaatttttt….

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130Comments

  1. 1.

    Chyron HR

    Yes, but “Alaska handout” or “Alaska kickback” are not alliterative, so there’s no issue here.

  2. 2.

    Elizabelle

    I don’t see Murkowski going for this. Or McCain. Or Collins.

    And maybe a few other Republicans, in purple states, will want to set themselves aside from their whorish sociopathic GOP brethren.

    ETA: But keep slamming them. Call and contact their offices.

  3. 3.

    Gravenstone

    How exactly does “everyone gets screwed, except you and you (until much later)” qualify as equal protection?

  4. 4.

    d58826

    As people in other red states lose their insurance they should burn their GOP Senator in effigy for not getting them as good a deal as Lisa is getting for Alaska.

  6. 6.

    TenguPhule

    @d58826:

    As people in other red states lose their insurance they should burn their GOP Senator in effigy for not getting them as good a deal as Lisa is getting for Alaska.

    Why stop there?

  8. 8.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Elizabelle: McCain? What? It’s too early for cocktail hour, so I don’t think you’re drunk. He will toe the party line (suck it, Mnem) like he always does.

  11. 11.

    TenguPhule

    @Gravenstone:

    How exactly does “everyone gets screwed, except you and you (until much later)” qualify as equal protection?

    The Californian as well as the Texan, shall be forbidden from sleeping under bridges and developing a working medical coverage.

  13. 13.

    clay

    @Chyron HR: Caribou kickback?

    (Whoever said that the Repubs are using their bullshit complaints about how Obamacare was passed as a blueprint was dead on.)

  14. 14.

    Amir Khalid

    Is any “justification” being offered for offering special treatment to Alaska in this bill? It doesn’t seem to me that that will sit well with Senators from other states.

  15. 15.

    Van Buren

    I’m sure the MSM will excoriate the rethugs for this. I mean, it destroys every norm and precedent.
    Oh, wait…

  16. 16.

    TenguPhule

    @Gin & Tonic:

    He will toe the party line (suck it, Mnem) like he always does.

    Unless he has to go to the hospital for medical treatment.

    Perhaps he can be handed victory cigars and encouraged to smoke them ahead of time?

  17. 17.

    Barbara

    @d58826: I want to know how Darrell Issa and any Republican in New York or New Jersey plans to explain this to their constituents if it ever comes up for a vote in the House. Republican members from those three states alone could prevent the House from adopting this. In the Senate, Heller, Portman and Cory Gardner would appear to be screwing their states over colossally (as would Flake and McCain), not to mention Pat Toomey, but he sees screwing over Pennsylvania as one of the reasons he became senator. So he is a lost cause. Shelly Moore-Capito will also be screwing people in West Virginia, but she only talks a good game. Never has she found the courage to follow through.

  18. 18.

    dmsilev

    @Gin & Tonic: McCain didn’t toe the line last time this came up for a vote, and there’s nothing about either this bill or the process that it’s following which addressed what he claimed were his objections. Not saying that he’s a hard-and-fast no, but I don’t think you can count him as a definite yes either.

  19. 19.

    Kay

    This is really wonderful:

    Flush with cash and a newfound demand for activism, the American Civil Liberties Union next month will launch a new effort to expand voting rights in all 50 states that top officials hope will finally let liberals play offense on an issue that has long bedeviled them.
    Rollout will start on Oct. 1 in Lawrence, Kansas — and that location is no accident. It’s the home state of Kris Kobach, Kansas’ secretary of state and a prominent Republican advocate of restricting voter access. He is co-chair of President Donald Trump’s commission to investigate so-far unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
    The ACLU campaign, called Let People Vote, will forgo a federal approach to expanding voting rights; indeed it ignores Congress altogether. Instead, it will pressure each state to adopt individually tailored plans, including proposals such as creating independent redistricting commissions and restoring voting access for convicted felons.

    People ask me who to donate to for voting rights. I think the ACLU is generally considered to do really high quality work on voting rights – so this might be one to back if you’re so inclined.

    Kobach’s team is crap. It’s a bunch of hacks and discredited Right wing loonies. They had trouble getting decent people to join so they ended up appointing people like a county probate judge. Nothing wrong with county probate judges but they don’t know shit about election law.

    You’d be on the winning team.

  20. 20.

    trollhattan

    This a.m. I heard a Republican senator, maybe Graham, intoning on the unfairness of a mere four states (unnamed) receiving 34% of federal healthcare dollars, to which I asked my radio: and what percentage of the country’s population do those four largest states represent? If he meant the largest four states by population they add up to 33.3%.

  23. 23.

    Miss Bianca

    @Barbara:

    In the Senate, Heller, Portman and Cory Gardner would appear to be screwing their states over colossally (as would Flake and McCain),

    You know, Cory Gardner is such a tool, I could almost imagine he’d be fine with this, but at the same time unless he really is as dumb as he looks, he has to be looking at the momentum this would lend the movement to get rid of him, and be thinking, “h’mm…is this the hill I want to die on?”

    Off to fax his office again…

  24. 24.

    David Anderson

    @TenguPhule: To make this not a specific targeted state provision. The Parliamentarian knocked out a provision of the BCRA during the last Byrd Bath that was laser focused on New York on the grounds that was state specific policy. As written, this now targets two states and thus it is “fiscal” not “policy” for the Byrd Bath.

  26. 26.

    sukabi

    @ Alain the site fixer… FYI, All of a sudden I’m getting about 8 HUGE ads before the comments on Adblocker browser, android phone. This is the first time that’s happened. What’s Up?

  29. 29.

    catclub

    @Julia Grey:

    I don’t know, I think this bribe will work for Murkowski.

    I have no idea. But I suspect in one or two years, if it passes this month with those provisions, there will be 96 senators voting to end those provisions.

  30. 30.

    trollhattan

    Good morning, South Dakota! It’s abundantly clear Ms DeSanto has read the guidebook on non-apologies and the SD Republicans have read the Sgt. Schultz manual on conducting business as usual, regardless.

    South Dakota Rep. Lynne DiSanto, the GOP’s majority whip in the state house, is baffled as to why anyone would think her Facebook post of a meme showing a car running over protesters with the banner “All Lives Splatter” meant that she condoned running over protesters. The meme also said “Nobody cares about your protest. Keep your ass out of the road.” She commented, “I think this is a movement we can all support. #alllivessplatter.”

    She is probably just as baffled as to why her ass was fired, too. The Rapid City Journal reports she lost her position at Keller Williams Realty of the Black Hills, and The Argus Leader reports that Working Against Violence, Inc. cancelled DiSanto’s speaking gig at an upcoming event.

    “I am sorry if people took offense to it and perceived my message in any way insinuating support or condoning people being hit by cars,” DiSanto told the Rapid City Journal. “I perceived it differently. I perceived it as encouraging people to stay out of the street.”

    House Majority Leader Lee Qualm, R-Platte. called DiSanto’s post an error in judgment, and that she will serve again as majority whip during the 2018 legislative session.

  31. 31.

    LurkerNoLonger

    These fucking idiots are so dumb. If they hadn’t shuttered the bi-partisan negotiations with Alexander/Murray, they could have come up with a plan, passed it with more than 50 + 1 and called it a day. Nope, they’re so fucking stupid on top of being evil.

  32. 32.

    jl

    All this stuff is just too fast and furious for me to keep track of the numbers in detail.
    but just looking at the long term cuts, C-G just seems to be pretty much the same on Medicaid and individual market as BCRA, just cynically drawn out longer to get some GOPer Congress people past 2018, 2020 and 2022, In some ways, the long term cuts are worse.

    Might be good to bring up in communications with people like Murkowski. She can’t plausibly claim her concerns about Alaska are addressed in the bill,.
    Her concerns about how the bill will affect her career over the next two or three elections are addressed, but that is about all.
    If she votes yes, I think she needs to be warned that she will face ads over next elections that say “She sold out her state to buy some elections, Is she the representative you want for your state in Washington DC?”

    If we knew where the diumbass rancid goofball Heller stands, he should get the same message. He may have already been bought off by his Vegas billionaire buddies though. From what I’ve heard of him, even with big bucks, fighting to win the next election might just seem like a whole lot of too much trouble if he’s got a credible promise of a golden parachute. But, need to bother him anyway, since he deserves all the political harassment and aggravation he gets.

    Murkowski, so far, has shown far more brains and integrity than Heller, so somewhat more hope that she does the right thing.

  33. 33.

    ruckus

    @Kay:
    Been an ACLU supporter for some time. Sometimes it’s a convoluted argument with yourself but one does half to admit, overall it’s easily a worthwhile deal.
    @trollhattan:
    You don’t expect those fuckers to do maths do you?

  34. 34.

    d58826

    @Barbara: Screwing over the citizens of their respective states is the first principle of the modern GOP. Besides there is a much bigger issue at stake here. The Kochocotpus has promised 400 million in campaign funds in 2018 if Obamacare is repealed and tax cuts enacted. So the GOP IS listening to their ‘constituents’, or maybe masters would be a better term

  35. 35.

    sukabi

    @LurkerNoLonger: think they scuttled the bipartisan plan because their GOAL is to destroy healthcare access for the majority of people, the other approach wouldn’t allow for that AND the huge tax cuts the Kochs’ are demanding.

  36. 36.

    les

    @sukabi:

    FYI, All of a sudden I’m getting about 8 HUGE ads before the comments on Adblocker browser, android phone. This is the first time that’s happened. What’s Up?

    You’re not alone; ads all over the place, using Adblock on Fire Fox. Still stopping the auto play video, so bearable. Why did the crowd start cheering?

  38. 38.

    les

    @jl:

    Might be good to bring up in communications with people like Murkowski. She can’t plausibly claim her concerns about Alaska are addressed in the bill,.

    plausibly. What does that have to do with anything a republican says?

  39. 39.

    catclub

    @LurkerNoLonger:

    If they hadn’t shuttered the bi-partisan negotiations with Alexander/Murray, they could have come up with a plan, passed it with more than 50 + 1 and called it a day.

    If Murray goes with it I suspect many more than just one Democrat – enough so reconciliation rules not needed.

  40. 40.

    trollhattan

    @ruckus:
    It just sounded so unfair when he said it.Too, there’s the whole “if you didn’t participate in the exchanges there’s a good chance you didn’t get exchange money” angle. I never check the Powerball number because there’s a zero chance someone without a ticket won.

  41. 41.

    clay

    @d58826: I get that the GOP is bending themselves backwards to try to get that Koch money. What I DON’T get is…. what is the Kochs’ motivation here?

    Tax cuts, I guess, but they could get tax cuts without this monstrosity being rammed up the asses of average Americans. I’m sure enough Democrats would be willing to work on a tax cut package that would be plenty generous to the 0.01%, as long as the middle class gets a decent benefit too.

    So “tax cuts” can’t be the only reason. How, exactly, do the Kochs’ benefit if millions of Americans get worse or no insurance?

  43. 43.

    zhena gogolia

    @ruckus:

    It’s one of the few organizations I set up a monthly contribution deal with after the 2016 election. I have not been disappointed.

  44. 44.

    jl

    @sukabi: They scuttled two bipartisan efforts to go with this junk. The first was a bill that Sen. Collins was working on early this year, and that actually got good early reviews from David Anderson. The effort that involved Collins was scuttled for the BCRA skinny repeal repeal no replace votarama farce earlier this summer. That didn’t get much mention in the news, probably because it was scuttled fairly early in the negotiations.

    Last, week, or the week before (stuff going so fast I can’t keep track), they scuttled Sen. Alexander’s effort. That had made much more progress.

    I wouldn’t last long as GOP Congresscritter, because of the leadership did that to something I was working in favor of the turds that they are pushing, I wouldn’t be able to utter anything but a string of obscenities to the likes of Ryan and McConnell. For me, their new name would be “Hey, you corrupt dishonest asshole.” “No thanks for calling, shithead. I just answered the phone so I could call you an ass one more time.”

    I think the cynical destruction of two, apparently much better, bipartisan bills for the dreck they are pushing should be a topic of communications with politicians, and the media too, if you don’t think that they are mentioning it enough.

    Edit: I will pray that I can be transported into the body of a moderate GOP Congresscriter during an interview, so I could say “Well, all this stuff the GOP leadership is pushing is a corrupt swindle. You gotta remember McConnell is depraved liar. He lies all the time. I’m an automatic no vote on any health crap my disgusting leadership pushes the rest of the session.”

  46. 46.

    catclub

    @sukabi:

    the other approach wouldn’t allow for that AND the huge tax cuts the Kochs’ are demanding.

    I may be a version behind: One version of Graham Cassidy was opposed by Heritage Action because it did not cut enough taxes. But maybe this one does cut a lot of taxes? Anybody know? My guess would be this cuts fewer taxes. OTOH: I have seen no rightwingers come out against it because it does not cut enough taxes, except for Rand Paul.

  47. 47.

    Kathleen

    They get satisfaction of knowing they’ve made people’s lives miserable. It’s a Rethuglican thang.

  48. 48.

    sukabi

    @jl: yeah, I know they’ve shitcanned other plans. Ryan & McConnell seem intent on shoving the most destructive piece of crap they can cobble together. The next version will probably demand the actual sacrifice of babies on the Senate floor “for the good of the country”.

    It’s almost like they’re begging for the guillotine to be brought back.

  50. 50.

    LurkerNoLonger

    @catclub: Yeah, exactly. That’s what I meant, they wouldn’t have to scramble and try to bribe Republican senators because it would have enough Dem/Rep votes to pass.

  51. 51.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    So… call your R Senator’s DC office and say you oppose the bill, then call their local office and ask why they can’t get a deal like Murkowski?

  54. 54.

    les

    @clay:

    What I DON’T get is…. what is the Kochs’ motivation here?

    Hard core libertarian assholes. Gummint got no business in no business. And, of course, every penny gummint doesn’t spend, they get to keep.

  56. 56.

    jl

    @sukabi: I think that there is exactly one, and only one, factor that explains it. There is one and only one thing that all the plans that the GOP Congressional leadership is willing to push. That is massive cuts in spending by the end of the various budget horizons they need to worry about, in order to pass their plans for truly enormous and unprecedented tax cuts.

    That is really the only bottom line. Otherwise is it an amazing coincidence that is the one thing all the bills they are allowing to come to vote have in common.

    That might be another issue to bring up when you contact Congresscritters, and complain to the media on what (I would guess, I don’t have time to watch enough right now to really know), crappy uninformative GOP-friendly news coverage.

    Remember to contact media, local or national too, when they produce lousy coverage. Killing of two much better bipartisan bills for this junk should be a big topic of discussion, I think. Killing Alexander’s effort should still be newsworthy,. It happened over last two weeks.

    Edit: bottom line is that EVERY health care bill allowed by GOP leadership to come to a vote is a massive spending cut to grease a huge tax cut give away to the super rich. That explains pretty much everything we’ve seen all year on health care.

  58. 58.

    les

    @catclub:

    I may be a version behind: One version of Graham Cassidy was opposed by Heritage Action because it did not cut enough taxes. But maybe this one does cut a lot of taxes?

    I think it leaves some ACA taxes in; but it still cuts a shit load of money out of healthcare, which opens the door for big cuts. It’s always been a two step.

  59. 59.

    Elie

    While people talk theoretically about this crashing the insurance market, no one has pointed out that this would have real economic impacts and job losses in the insurance companies, but also among providers such as hospitals and other institutions. These job losses will impact local and state economies and are not easy to replace. Even if it passes, not sure how the House members in blue states are gonna explain to their constituents why they voted for money being taken away from them.

    Of course, if they don’t pass something, they will have wasted a ton of time on this AGAIN and have the problem of all the other stuff they still have to do in a very short time. I frankly don’t get it but we’ll see…. I should not be surprised by anything they do that is stupid.

  60. 60.

    Sab

    So Portman is the senator from Koch Industries rather than the senator from Ohio. Potential vote not surprising, position before the vote has me gobsmacked. He has never had a position on anything, ever. The Kochs withdrawal of funding threat must be serious. Although he’s five years away from election, he knows he won it entirely by Americans for Prosperity attack ads on Ted Strickland. You couldn’t be for Portman because he doesn’t stand for anything except his desire to be reelected.

  61. 61.

    Yutsano

    @Elie: I can see them spiking CHIP reauthorization out of this just for spite. Doesn’t matter if it’s pass or fail on the C-G monstrosity.

  62. 62.

    Shana

    Just chiming in here to say I’ve started getting autoplay ads. It just happened when I clicked on the comments for this post and it’s an Amazon ad that autoplayed.

  63. 63.

    Paul in KY

    I assume this is to get Murkowski on board. BTW, I am still alive. Went back to work at a Senior Developer in private sector. Not able anymore to hit Balloon Juice during my work hours (that is a bummer).

    Hope everyone is doing great!

  64. 64.

    Jay S

    I was thinking this morning that Schumer could start working on Trump. Tell him that if this thing passes he would get great press by vetoing it and calling for a real solution to the “Obamacare failure”. Suggest that McConnell and company are lying to him and trying to sabotage his presidency by passing a bad bill and letting him take the fall for its consequences.
    It would be a hail Mary, but a possible backstop to complete collapse.

  65. 65.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    So. If this thing passes will it affect my chances of getting RN job when I graduate in 2 years?

  66. 66.

    BruceJ

    @Elizabelle: Ol Mavericky Maveric McCain is probably going to go along. He indicated last week that he was waiting to hear what Gov. “Il Deuce” Ducey thought about it. Gov Ice Cream announced today he’s all for it, even though it’s going to fuck Arizona up the ass, kick some 400,000 Arizonans out of their health insurance, and probably cause the closure of most of the rural hospitals in the state.

    Il’ Deuce ADMITS he doesn’t know whats in it but because he’s been marinating in the ALEC juice all week at the GOP Governors convention, he’s all gung ho to fuck over other people’s lives.

  68. 68.

    Repatriated

    @jl: This, and entirely this. It’s to cut spending (and the 3.7% tax on high incomes) to reset the baseline for regressive (spare the rich, soak the poor) tax cuts. The effects on health outcomes and the healthcare sector generally, are merely a side effect with which they are totally unconcerned.

    My guess is they assume that they can buy enough ads and talking heads to deflect blame for the outcomes.

  69. 69.

    jl

    @les: Long term effect of Graham-Cassidy is essentially the same as BCRA. The time line is stretched out much longer for huge cuts. The mechanism for how the cuts will happen is different, and I think more cleverly designed. Long term, cuts to Medicaid are bigger in some ways.

    I think the basic idea is that the change in mechanism makes it easier for them to deny the effects of the bill. I think basic idea is, starting around 2022, put a bigger squeeze on Medicaid and individual market subsidies and risk adjustment than previous bill, and then allow individual states to adjust by slashing PPACA benefits and regulation through waivers. From the few GOP lying festivals that are called interviews in the media, this allows them to deny that the bill itself destroys PPACA, but they can’t say that bad stuff won’t happen. So, I’ve had time to watch a couple of interviews with GOPers who, after denying that the bill cuts stuff, just spin out the interview repeating things and filibustering. I have no clue whether that will work or not. So obvious that the GOPers spend the last half of the interview being evasive and shifty, that to me it looks awful, but I am not typical viewer.

  70. 70.

    Name Under Development

    FYI to any PA residents: as of 10 minutes ago, a real live human was answering the phone at Senator Toomey’s Allentown office. I live elsewhere in the state, but his local voice mail is full, of course. Call!

  72. 72.

    rikyrah

    @trollhattan:

    This a.m. I heard a Republican senator, maybe Graham, intoning on the unfairness of a mere four states (unnamed) receiving 34% of federal healthcare dollars, to which I asked my radio: and what percentage of the country’s population do those four largest states represent? If he meant the largest four states by population they add up to 33.3%.

    It doesn’t include Texas, but I hear you.

  73. 73.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    I can’t see how any of this is more than a blatant F you to relatively wealthy blue states: we take your tax money and you get nothing! I mean, that’s basically what it is…as if blue states haven’t been basically subsidizing public spending in red states for decades anyway. This just tilts it ever more toward the blue states just giving free money to red states. At some point the blue states are going to get tired of that. They’d be better off just paying for the same federal benefits at the state level and letting red states fend for themselves. At that point we basically become the Confederate States of America without slavery, but does anyone really believe that wouldn’t follow close behind south of the Mason Dixon line, with the exception of Maryland and Virginia?

  74. 74.

    catclub

    @BruceJ:

    Ol Mavericky Maveric McCain is probably going to go along.

    I think flip-flopping will get him the maximum coverage – perhaps not as fawning, but still lots. Same vote as previous time might not get as much coverage.

  75. 75.

    Miss Bianca

    Can you tell I’m starting to lose it?

    Dear Senator Gardner,

    I just heard that Alaska (and Hawaii, so it won’t look like *too* pointed a bribe) is being offered a deal…if their Senators vote to repeal Obamacare, they get to keep…their Obamacare! Hey, do you think you could ask for that kind of bribe for Colorado? You know, so that all of your constituents who depend on the ACA to be able to afford their health insurance won’t lose it? So that all the rural health care facilities that depend on the ACA to stay open won’t have to close?

    Or…here’s a better idea. Just vote NO on Graham-Cassidy.

    Regards,

    Miss Bianca

  77. 77.

    jl

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: That is short term tactics. Long term, every state will have to slash in order to make up for long term cuts. Mississippi insurance commissioner just put out an short report and opinion saying pretty much the same thing. Won’t make any difference to their Senators, I suppose.

    The blue state red state slush fund is short to medium term kluge to try to dupe some voters and take heat off their Congressaional delegations.

  78. 78.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    I hate to go all TenguPhule…but if this passes, will these assholes pay for this physically? I have to believe that they will. There won’t be enough Capitol police, security personnel, whatever, in the country to protect them from the consequences of this disaster if they completely rig elections.

  80. 80.

    Repatriated

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:

    I can’t see how any of this is more than a blatant F you to relatively wealthy blue states: we take your tax money and you get nothing!

    Not exactly, but close. It’s more, “We need money for tax cuts, let’s take as much of it as possible from the Blue States first”. All states get hit eventually in the end.

    Or what Jl said at post 77.

  82. 82.

    catclub

    It says they’d keep the premium tax credits, and on top of that they’d get the new block grant that’s supposed to sub for them.

    Murkowski seems to be taking them to the cleaners.

  85. 85.

    JMG

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: It will be very bad for the country when it happens, but given the number of firearms in our society, the number of people this bill will leave in desperate straits, and the effect desperation has on people, I think the probability is overwhelming that some R legislator gets ventilated if it becomes law.

  87. 87.

    feebog

    The supposed solid “NO” vote that concerns me is Rand Paul. He is a no because this is not draconian enough. Watch him cave like the empty suit he is.

  88. 88.

    FlipYrWhig

    @BruceJ: I know that the real answer is “because Republicans” and that Vox already did a whole thing about this, but I have no fucking idea what problem they’re trying to solve here, and THAT’S WHAT GOVERNMENT IS FUCKING FOR. It seems like they’re trying to solve the problem of too many people having too much peace of mind about health care, making it necessary to create anxiety and misery instead, you know, to balance it out.

  89. 89.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @Repatriated:

    @JMG:
    I hate feeling and thinking this way, but how else am I supposed to feel and think when elected leaders are seemingly trying to kill as many of their fellow citizens as possible to try to hold onto power a little longer (getting that Koch money, tax cuts passed, suppressing votes). They’re horrible people and they deserve to be riddled with bullets if they pass this.

  90. 90.

    Sheila in NC

    Jane Mayer lays it all out in Dark Money. Required reading. Decades long project of the Kochs and other members of the 0.01% to roll back the New Deal and every aspect of government responsibility for the well being of the people. It’ll be a libertarian paradise…

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    “This draft includes three separate provisions benefitting Alaska.”

    This bill is not legislative sausage-making. It is legislative pet-food manufacturing—now with extra melamine!

  92. 92.

    Paul T

    I think we should call the Alaska Secretary of State and office of the Governor to ask about the requirements for Alaska Citizenship. A few thousand phone calls and the threat of hordes of unwashed and uninsured new citizens might make they note the error in this……..apparently, establishing residency isn’t hard:

    wikihow.com/Become-an-Alaska-Resident

  96. 96.

    jl

    @Paul T: Does Alaska have an insurance commissioner. Maybe contact that office and ask them if they are making a stink, and if not, why not?

    If Mississippi Insurance commish can make a stink, Alaska can too.

    Stop the Seward Swindle!
    Kill the Kodiak Kickback!
    Bust the Barrow Burglary!
    Can the Juneau Claim Jump!
    Asskick the Anchorage Auction of Alaska’s Health.

  97. 97.

    Millard Filmore

    @les:

    @clay said: “What I DON’T get is…. what is the Kochs’ motivation here?”

    Hard core libertarian assholes. Gummint got no business in no business. And, of course, every penny gummint doesn’t spend, they get to keep.

    And yet, none of the billionaires are asking that the government withdraw from the massive interference in commerce that the creation, protection, maintenance, and subsidy that corporate law represents.

    Obviously the government should be big enough to protect my wealth and activities, but not big enough to protect yours.

  98. 98.

    Kathleen

    @Sab: When I called his offices I asked staffer to ask Portman how he could look in the mirror or sleep at night knowing he voted for a bill that would kill people and affect the economy just to get a cut of the Koch pie.

  104. 104.

    J R in WV

    @Kay:

    I started a monthly contribution to ACLU as soon after the election as I was able to think what to do next. Also the Southern Poverty Law Center for anti fascist work. Helps me sleep knowing that they are working for us against the tide of ugly.

    Ran into my only local cousin at the Kroger’s not long ago, and he proudly pulled his new ACLU card out, saying “Card-carrying member since November 9th!” A little surprised, he’s a little more conservative than I am, but also a Dead-head from way back, so maybe not. I should call the HQ, I don’t think we’ve got ID cards yet, that’s just wrong!

  106. 106.

    les

    @Millard Filmore:

    And yet, none of the billionaires are asking that the government withdraw from the massive interference in commerce that the creation, protection, maintenance, and subsidy that corporate law represents.

    Nope, just the regulations that keep them from giving us the illnesses that we won’t be able to afford to cure.

  108. 108.

    les

    @Kathleen:

    At that point we basically become the Confederate States of America without slavery,

    Not if the Republicans have anything to say about it. I’m referring to the slavery part.

    No, no, serfs are much cheaper than slaves. Kill the unions, right to work, eliminate minimum wage–same results, and cheaper.

  109. 109.

    TenguPhule

    @Paul T:

    I think we should call the Alaska Secretary of State and office of the Governor to ask about the requirements for Alaska Citizenship.

    Don’t give anyone ideas.

    We don’t have affordable housing in Hawaii as it is. I mean, BJers are always welcome but we literally don’t have room for the rest of the sane people too.

  110. 110.

    TenguPhule

    @les:

    No, no, serfs are much cheaper than slaves. Kill the unions, right to work, eliminate minimum wage–same results, and cheaper.

    Yep, you have to take care of slaves. Serfs are replaceable.

  111. 111.

    Citizen Alan

    @clay:

    They are elderly sadistic billionaires. They know that they’re going to die before too many years have passed, and they are incensed at the thought that millions and millions of Americans are going to live on past them. So they want to kill as many people as they can before they go.

  113. 113.

    Kathleen

    @les: I’m sure Rethuglicans really want to bring slavery back, and would devise a plan in which slaves would have to pay them to be slaves. Such a win for them.

    ETA They would brand the arrangement as a “Theme Park”.

  116. 116.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    @trollhattan:

    1. How does someone get to be her age without learning any better than that? Good on the employer for firing her ass over it.

    2. What in the nine Hells is going on with those sleeves?

  117. 117.

    debbie

    Last night Colbert said that there will only be 90 seconds of debate. Google seems to confirm this, but I can’t tell if it’s overall or per Senator. Either way, the Senate Parliamentarian needs to call bullshit on this idea.

  119. 119.

    J R in WV

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:

    Only if you want to work in a hospital, rehab center, or doctor’s office. Those will all go bankrupt about the time you get your degree and pass your clinical and board tests. (I’ll admit I’m hazy on the tests for RNs, I just know there are some and they’re aren’t easy peasy…)

  120. 120.

    NorthLeft12

    Admission of just how bad the bill will be for the rest of the country. t.co/HZF5fpZwMs And this STILL screws Alaska long-term.

    The Repubs don’t even know how to bribe right. How is the national media not pointing this out to the rest of the country? And the local media should be all over the states that are getting hosed and trying to get a response from any Repub officials over why are they doing this?

  124. 124.

    JaneSays

    @trollhattan: It wasn’t actually the four largest states, it was two of the four largest states – California (#1) and New York (#4), as well as Massachusetts (#15) and Maryland (#19). Texas (#2) and Florida (#3) were not part of Graham’s equation (and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that neither of them are nearly as blue as the four he was referring to).

  125. 125.

    JaneSays

    @clay: It’s purely ideological for them. They hate government and they hate government programs, and much like Grover Norquist, they want nothing more than to shrink the government to a size that it could be drowned in a bathtub. If there was any remote chance they could get rid of Medicare and Social Security, they’d push for that as well.

  129. 129.

    J R in WV

    @Ohio Mom:

    Yes, because the Soviets didn’t recognize “intellectual property” Koch could do business over there while his inventions were being litigated in the US.

    Koch Industries also built the largest oil refinery in Germany in 1934, a project personally approved by Adolph Hitler, Chancellor of Nazi Germany.

    Word is Koch was much happier working for him than for Stalin, who liquidated many of the Russians Koch worked with building the Soviet’s energy infrastructure… but Stalin’s money still worked for Koch and his family.

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