Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

Everybody saw this coming.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Cole is on a roll !

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

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

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

I was promised a recession.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

You are here: Home / Anderson On Health Insurance / Enjoy the win

Reader Interactions

182Comments

  3. 3.

    Tom

    If you have a Democratic senator or two, call and thank them – their unified resistance is what made this possible.

  4. 4.

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

    Awesome news! I’m skeptical they would try in an election year. They would need 60 votes without reconciliation. Budget time would be close to November. Ain’t nobody got time for that

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    Now, can’t wait until Moore wins runoff in AL and watch the crushing weight get to the Twitler Tyrant.

  10. 10.

    Elizabelle

    No word yet on WaPost or FTF NYTimes. I hope this is true ….

    WaPost does say McConnell didn’t address whether he’d bring GC up for a vote, since he does not have the support. Hour old story on website; the blurb:

    As GOP health-care push unravels, Trump says he is disappointed by some ‘so-called Republicans’

    The president declined to speculate on whether he wanted a vote to unwind the Affordable Care Act. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell offered no clues this morning in his opening Senate remarks about whether he intends to bring the bill to a vote, given that it lacks the support to pass.

  11. 11.

    Corner Stone

    I have been loving watching Mags Habs get drug aaaalllllll over Twitter today. Somebody call her corner man and have him throw in the towel. “Stay down, Mags!! Stay down!”

  13. 13.

    Oatler.

    I can’t enjoy another day of those cocksuckers collecting sweet salaries and sweeter healthcare. That I pay for.

  14. 14.

    Kay

    Nate Silver‏Verified account
    @NateSilver538
    Follow
    More
    Replying to @NateSilver538 @maggieNYT
    We screwed up in the GOP primary and acknowledged it. NYT could stand to do the same for its general elex coverage.

    They could but they won’t! It’s too late, really. Now they’ll have to apologize both for the coverage and for denying the obvious for 9 months.

    Never happen. Ever. They’re dug so far in they’re underground.

  17. 17.

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

    @Elizabelle:

    As GOP health-care push unravels, Trump says he is disappointed by some ‘so-called Republicans’

    The president declined to speculate on whether he wanted a vote to unwind the Affordable Care Act. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell offered no clues this morning in his opening Senate remarks about whether he intends to bring the bill to a vote, given that it lacks the support to pass.

    I just can’t even with this dick. He has have some kind of win somehow and undermine an achievement by Obama. He wants to kill people.

    Hopefully, now the ACA (and any subsequent universal healthcare system) has achieved third rail status. Still, the fight against them can never stop. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

  20. 20.

    Spanky

    @Elizabelle:

    The Health 202: Obamacare repeal appears dead — again

    So there’s at least that.

    Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) officially lost his bid to pass an Obamacare overhaul late Monday as a third Republican senator announced her defection from his bill and brought the Senate’s desperate, 11th hour effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act to a grinding halt – again.

    That senator was the very lawmaker who had co-sponsored a health-care bill with Cassidy earlier this year: Maine’s Susan Collins. And it is also the one whose state would have gotten more funding under a new version of Cassidy-Graham, which Senate Republicans and President Trump hoped to vote on this week. Now, that’s very unlikely to happen.

    Cassidy told me earlier in the day that if Collins just looked at his bill – which he’d tweaked over the weekend resulting in $1 billion more federal health-care dollars for her state – she could be convinced to support it. Maybe Collins could even help implement the measure if she decides to run for Maine’s governor in 2018, he suggested.

  21. 21.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    On to killing the tax breaks for millionaires!

    Er, you do realize the next plan is to bundle ACA destruction and tax cuts together in the next try at reconciliation in 2018?

  23. 23.

    CaseyL

    Some good news – but does that mean there will be no vote on C-G at all before October 1? or only that there will be no vote today?

  24. 24.

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

    @Kay:
    The Grey Lady cannot fail, it can only be failed. Nate Silver, 538, Vox,etc, are the little people. They’re prestige media. They don’t have to apologize, especially for how they covered that frigid bitch, Hillary. Trump is a real American and a true alpha male. QED.

  25. 25.

    Spanky

    @Spanky: Oooh! Oooh! Here’s an awesome quote from that article:

    “Does my wife worry more about me now? She does,” Cassidy told me in the interview, saying he wishes there would be more “civility” in how people express their opinions. He and his bill have been sharply criticized by many health-care advocates, Democrats and, most recently, talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel.

    And by “awesome” I mean “fuck your idea of ‘civility'”.

  27. 27.

    Corner Stone

    @geg6: Maggie is genetically incapable of admitting error or simply acknowledging criticism. She took some sideways ass shot at Nate Silver on twitter, he bounced one back at her which she then had the bad idea to snark back.

    It’s this keen understanding of media and politics that you demonstrated with your own modeling

    She then proceeded to get eaten up by elebenty hundred people telling her she was the plug at the bottom of the sink full of dregs of humanity. I’m paraphrasing.

  28. 28.

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

    An interesting question: If, knock on wood, repeal fails once again for sure, will the Koch’s really lock down their piggybanks for 2018?

  29. 29.

    JMG

    @TenguPhule: Interestingly, Mark Meadows, head of the Freedom Caucus, said they wanted taxes only under reconciliation in the FY 2018 budget, health care for FY 2019, meaning the debate would take place in the 2018 election campaign, which can’t possibly help the Republicans.

  30. 30.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    I liked Whataburger.* Liked it in Texas back in the day, and there was one lonely outpost somewhere in the Florida panhandle that I always hit on the way to Perdido Key outside of Pensacola.

    To be uniquely Floridian, though, the unhealthy food would probably have to involve badly prepared seafood of some sort.

    * I didn’t really consider it unhealthy, just always got a bit of grumbling from my “foodier than thou” girlfriend.**

    ** Now I am hungry for a Five Guys burger. Thanks a lot!

  31. 31.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Kay: The power we have as consumers is stop reading Vichy Times but I have been piously advised by more than one commenter how they have to read it because it is the paper of record or some such BS.

  32. 32.

    Corner Stone

    @Spanky: He was trying to kill people just to satisfy wealthy donors. What the fuck does he expect, a polite tip o the cap in passing on the street?

  33. 33.

    TenguPhule

    @geg6:

    That should go over real well in an off-year campaign year. Because people love that shit.

    Unfortunately its not the people that have a deciding vote on it. Its 4 deplorable Senators who may love tax cuts enough to pull the switch on killing millions of Americans.

  36. 36.

    Corner Stone

    Why are we allowing Trump to speak today? Good God, this fucking piece of deranged shit for a human.

  39. 39.

    SFAW

    @Corner Stone:

    PaulWartenberg: What’s a go-to “unhealthy” food in FL?

    That’s when Paul walks into the corner deli and shouts “Alligator sandwich! And make it snappy!”

  40. 40.

    Ohio Mom

    @TenguPhule: I had a similar reaction this summer, it took a couple of days for it really sink in and for me to relax and smile about it. I am a little superstitious as well, I will not take a full deep breath until Saturday night, either.

  42. 42.

    Jeffro

    @Spanky:

    And by “awesome” I mean “fuck [Cassidy’s] idea of ‘civility’”.

    I’m sorry but that really should be in all caps, as in, CASSIDY, FUCK YOUR IDEA OF CIVILITY AND DIAF, ASSHOLE

    Whew! What a day, what a day…

  44. 44.

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

    @schrodingers_cat:
    Sorry, that title goes to WaPo. With Newsweek and Buzzfeed (Gawker deserves an honorable mention) in a battle for a close second.

    I read somewhere that the NYT actually has never liked that nickname.

  45. 45.

    SFAW

    @Corner Stone:

    Why are we allowing Trump to speak today?

    Orange is close enough to “white” — or at least far enough from “black” — that Obergruppenfuehrer Mnuchin will allow him to speak.

  46. 46.

    TenguPhule

    @JMG: Which is what I’d like to believe. But it didn’t make any rational sense to keep coming up with these horrible anti-ACA bills in the first place. We’re trapped in a neverending cycle of having to keep them from killing us all.

  47. 47.

    TomatoQueen

    Maggie is hiding behind the oh look emails story, a paragraph plucked from which reads: While the private email accounts spurred accusations of hypocrisy from Democrats, there are differences. Mrs. Clinton stored classified information on a private server (1), and she exclusively used a private account for her government work, sending or receiving tens of thousands of emails(2). The content and frequency of the Trump advisers’ emails remain unknown, but Trump administration officials described the use of personal accounts as sporadic.
    (1) no she fucking didn’t you liars
    (2)no she fucking didn’t you liars

  48. 48.

    Corner Stone

    @JMG: Mark Meadows is a domestic terrorist. One can only hope he firebombs the GOP and is stopped before he can get the rest of us.

  50. 50.

    ThresherK

    Time for a closer look at those who made didn’t make the difference.

    They’re whispering silent thanks to the few of their party which the press is talking about. Let’s hear some up-close-and-personal interviews with the 40+ Senators who were actually going to vote for this flaming bag of shit.

  51. 51.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack: I like the Five Guys burger but really do not like their fries. I’ll hit Whataburger a couple times a year just to get something with bacon on it and a side of onion rings, which I enjoy.

  52. 52.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kay:

    Yay! On to killing the tax breaks for millionaires!

    Oh, Kay! Youre going to make Baby Jesus and the Koch Brothers cry!

  53. 53.

    TenguPhule

    @Ohio Mom: Yeah, we got burned once after thinking it was dead in the house. I’m hoping this is just jumping at shadows and I can enjoy a nice drink on Oct 1.

  54. 54.

    Lyrebird

    @Jeffro: You’re right, but I think the revenge-best-served-cold angle might be a huge donation drive to get people to donate to ADAPT and list his name as the honoree of the gift.

  57. 57.

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

    @TomatoQueen:

    The content and frequency of the Trump advisers’ emails remain unknown, but Trump administration officials described the use of personal accounts as sporadic.

    And why are we giving these assholes the benefit of the doubt in the first place? As they say the fish rots from the head down and Trump isn’t known for his ethical standards.

  60. 60.

    TenguPhule

    @Mnemosyne:

    Why is it bad to be able to kill two terrible ideas that have been bundled together into a single package?

    Because it relies on the same Republican “moderates” who have never met a tax cut they didn’t like.

    Just look at all the effort that had to be put forth just to convince them this version of the bill was a bad idea.

    Now imagine just how much more effort its going to take next time when they’re distracted by all the tax cuts those cuts to Medicare will enable.

  61. 61.

    ArchTeryx

    Not celebrating until the clock strikes 12 on the morning of October 1. THEN I’ll allow myself to celebrate…and no sooner.

    I wouldn’t put it above them to call for a vote some morning at 3am and pass it with whoever is present. They’re just that evil. Maybe i’m paranoid, but the stakes are just too high for me and my loved ones to rest until this goddamn demon bill turns back into a pumpkin.

  64. 64.

    Spanky

    Oh Jesus! What is the WaPo Breaking thingy talking about Trump going after NoKo again? Do I really want to know?

  70. 70.

    Elizabelle

    From fuck the fucking NY Times:

    WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell on Tuesday officially pulled the plug on the latest plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, telling senators they will not vote on the measure and effectively admitting defeat in the last-gasp drive to fulfill a core promise of President Trump and Republican lawmakers.

    Mr. McConnell’s announcement came less than 24 hours after a pivotal Republican senator, Susan Collins of Maine, declared firm opposition to the repeal proposal, all but ensuring that Republican leaders would be short of the votes they needed.

    Senate Republicans already tried once this year to approve repeal legislation, an exercise that ended in defeat when Senator John McCain of Arizona gave a thumbs-down in July to kill that repeal proposal.

    This time, Mr. McConnell, the majority leader, and his fellow Republicans were trying to make one more attempt at passing a bill, and a deadline was fast approaching: They have only until the end of this week to pass a repeal bill using special budget rules that shield it from a Democratic filibuster.

    Mr. McConnell could afford to lose only two of his members. But when he conceded defeat on Tuesday, three members of his conference had already publicly declared their opposition: Ms. Collins, Mr. McCain and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

    None of the three senators seemed likely to drop their opposition: Mr. McCain detested the partisan process used to push the bill, Ms. Collins had broad concerns about the legislation’s effects on health care, and Mr. Paul objected to the fundamental architecture of the legislation.

    At the White House on Tuesday, Mr. Trump expressed his displeasure.

    “At some point there will be a repeal and replace, but we’ll see whether or not that point is now or will it be shortly thereafter,” Mr. Trump said. “But we are disappointed in certain so-called Republicans.”

    The failure in the Senate was also a disappointment to Republicans in the House, who managed to pass a repeal bill in May after their own struggles.

    “We’re a little frustrated that the Senate has not acted on a seminal promise,” Speaker Paul D. Ryan said.

    Then he returned to talking up the next big goal for Republicans: overhauling the tax code.

    Good luck with that, fuckers.

    NYTimes reporter is Thomas Kaplan. Maggie’s probably off comforting some Republican.

  71. 71.

    Brachiator

    @Corner Stone:

    I have been loving watching Mags Habs get drug aaaalllllll over Twitter today. Somebody call her corner man and have him throw in the towel. “Stay down, Mags!! Stay down!”

    Was it because of anything in particular that she wrote recently?

  72. 72.

    TenguPhule

    @ArchTeryx:

    Maybe i’m paranoid, but the stakes are just too high for me and my loved ones to rest until this goddamn demon bill turns back into a pumpkin.

    Its not paranoia when they really are trying to kill us.

  74. 74.

    Steeplejack

    @geg6:

    People were dinging her about why hasn’t the use of private e-mail by Jared, Ivanka et al. rocketed to the top of the Times front page instead of being buried on page A18. She Magsplained that it is totally different from Hillary because reasons, and hilarity ensued.

    Nate Silver weighed in with a comment about how at least he apologized for getting the primary wrong, and at that point she was reduced to “I know you are but what am I.” It’s worth going over there to see her getting pummeled.

  75. 75.

    Mike in NC

    Read in an email that Trump Organization wants the turtle out of the Senate ASAP. Rooting for casualties in this fight.

  76. 76.

    Elizabelle

    @schrodingers_cat: Lady of ill repute. Lady of misleading political reporting. Lady who does not want to offend advertisers (screw the readers instead).

    In other words, the Pinch and Bacquet show.

  77. 77.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Corner Stone: “The guy from Spain” is the Prime Minister. Whom the White House referred to as “the president” of Spain. Spoiler alert: Spain does not have a “president.”

  78. 78.

    different-church-lady

    @Kay:

    Nate Silver‏Verified account
    \We screwed up in the GOP primary and acknowledged it.

    His big mistake was not factoring Russian interference into his model.

  79. 79.

    Redshift

    @Spanky:

    Cassidy told me earlier in the day that if Collins just looked at his bill – which he’d tweaked over the weekend resulting in $1 billion more federal health-care dollars for her state – she could be convinced to support it.

    “If only she’d looked at how big the bribe was, surely she’d have agreed to screw the rest of the country immediately and her own state after she leaves office!” The GOP concept of “public service” in a nutshell.

  82. 82.

    TenguPhule

    Sadly, not the Onion. A Trump judicial pick said transgender children are proof that ‘Satan’s plan is working’

    Before Jeff Mateer became Trump’s nominee for federal judgeship in Texas, he fought a local ordinance extending equal protections to members of the LGBT community and said the separation of church and state does not exist in the Constitution.

    But likely his most controversial statements were made in two 2015 speeches, in which he said transgender children are proof that “Satan’s plan is working” and same-sex marriage is a harbinger for “disgusting” practices such as polygamy and bestiality. He also appeared to advocate for gay conversion therapy, a discredited practice banned by a handful of states and condemned by human rights and medical groups.

    Those comments, which did not appear in media reports until CNN unearthed them last week, have outraged LGBT rights groups and drawn scrutiny to Mateer’s legal career as he awaits a Senate confirmation hearing.

  87. 87.

    Spanky

    And speaking of closing the barn door after the horse spontaneously combusted:

    The chief executive of Equifax, the troubled credit reporting agency that suffered a massive data breach affecting as many as 143 million people, is retiring, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

    Retiring? I’d rather it were to a 5X10 cell.

  90. 90.

    Ohio Mom

    @ThresherK: Except for Portman. I hear he’s still at his desk, studying the bill, hasn’t made up his mind yet//snark

    Playing and winning at Chicken is his greatest talent.

  91. 91.

    Jeffro

    @Kay: @Miss Bianca:

    Here’s some encouraging news on that front: Good Luck With Tax Cuts, GOP

    THE BIG IDEA: Two in three Americans believe that large corporations pay too little in taxes. Only 11 percent of U.S. adults think these businesses pay too much, while 17 percent think they pay their fair share. Even half of Republicans believe big businesses pay too little in taxes, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

    Overwhelmingly, across party lines, people feel that the current tax system is rigged in favor of the wealthy. Over 7 in 10 Americans think the tax system favors the rich. Just five percent think the current code favors the middle class.

    But the more details that leak out about President Trump’s plan, the clearer it becomes that the wealthiest are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries. Top White House negotiators and key GOP leaders have reportedly agreed on two targets: lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent and cutting the top income tax rate — for those who make more than $418,000 a year — from 39.6 percent to 35 percent.

    Oh, I know the GOP reps and senators don’t care, but on top of pissing off their own base over the failure to repeal Obamacare, now they get to piss off majorities of Americans when they try to give away the store to their rich donors. Please proceed, Republicans.

  93. 93.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah:

    The ZEGK will have to put off his dream of destroying Medicaid for a little while longer

    They’re going to have to hold off on that 2nd keg party a little while longer…maybe a LOT while longer…

    We should all mail Paulie Blue Eyes some red Solo cups with nasty-grams written on them in Sharpie.

  95. 95.

    Redshift

    @Jeffro: The main thing likely to sink their tax cuts dressed up as tax reform is that there are internal GOP divisions about that, too, and they won’t have money looted from health care to help paper them over.

  96. 96.

    Jeffro

    @Redshift:

    “If only she’d looked at how big the bribe was, surely she’d have agreed to screw the rest of the country immediately and her own state after she leaves office!” The GOP concept of “public service” in a nutshell.

    For their next step, the Randians are just gonna run charming, attractive folks with paper-thin resumes who can be convinced to vote for all their evil bullshit and then be sent out to (paid) pasture while the next Rand-bot comes down the line. Why not? This whole “conscience” thing keeps getting in the way of destroying Medicaid, after all…

  98. 98.

    Captain C

    @TomatoQueen: If it were to come out that Haberman had pics of Trump and Judith Miller on her desk or office wall at the Times, I would not be overly surprised.

  100. 100.

    different-church-lady

    @Spanky:

    …saying he wishes there would be more “civility” in how people express their opinions.

    Maybe he could start by talking to his president?

  101. 101.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    I liked Whataburger because it was a mustard-based sandwich, as opposed to the ubiquitous ketchup.

    When I go to Five Guys—which I recently discovered opened an outlet very close to my modest rooms in Threadkill Lane—I usually just get a cheeseburger. As I get into my dotage I’m good for about one full meal a day and intermittent snacking, and a loaded burger qualifies as the former.

    ETA: Yes to Whataburger onion rings!

  102. 102.

    Corner Stone

    Kornacki has really gone full fucking bullshit. I can not even with his stupid self. He’s defending Trump’s response to Puerto Rico disaster.

  103. 103.

    NotMax

    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
      – Edmund Burke

    Today we witness the masrhalled power of enough good people.

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    @Steeplejack: Thank you for that.

    My god, Haberman is purposely obtuse.

    She should quit the FTF NYT and just go work for the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. She’s awful.

    Glad to see her getting so much blowback.

  105. 105.

    Jeffro

    @Redshift: I think they’ll just go for as big as number as possible, and ‘sunset’ it after 10 years to avoid a big fight and budget rules. It’s still going to be ridiculously slanted towards the rich and corporations, and they’ll still pay a price for it. Healthcare ‘reform’ or no, “repeal & replace” or no, they can just put up a $3T tax cut with a sunset provision and call it a day. That’s still $2,600,000,000 net return to the Kochs and their network.

  108. 108.

    Betty Cracker

    @Steeplejack: Maybe fried gator? It’s good if my stepmother makes it, akin to fried erasers if not, but certainly unhealthy in any incarnation because fried?

  110. 110.

    Elizabelle

    @Captain C: Or the reverse.

    What DO people have on the crack NY Times political team? They’re so much worse than just pulling creeps out of the Politico pipeline.

  111. 111.

    Brachiator

    @TomatoQueen:

    Maggie is hiding behind the oh look emails story, a paragraph plucked from which reads: While the private email accounts spurred accusations of hypocrisy from Democrats, there are differences. Mrs. Clinton stored classified information on a private server (1), and she exclusively used a private account for her government work, sending or receiving tens of thousands of emails(2). The content and frequency of the Trump advisers’ emails remain unknown, but Trump administration officials described the use of personal accounts as sporadic.

    Wow. What a bunch of bullshit.

    I have previously been cool to some of the NY Times bashing here, but this shit is not journalism. It is a straight up lie and an apology for the Trump administration. There have been a couple of Weiner jokes here, but damn, Mags is stroking her sources here with this crap about how ” Trump administration officials described the use of personal accounts as sporadic.” Just taking them at their word? Ridiculous.

    Ultimately, this is all about the publisher and the editor. Reporters who are really advocates for the people they cover are not unusual, but you want at least a pretense of finesse.

  117. 117.

    prufrock

    @Betty Cracker: My uncle Mike (may he rest in peace) introduced me to fried gator tail when I visited him on the Swanee River. He sourced the meat from his back yard.

    Picture the best fried chicken you’ve ever eaten. Now throw away that pile of shit and imagine something that tastes 100x better, and you’d have my Uncle Mike’s fried gator tail.

  118. 118.

    Jeffro

    @Steeplejack: “Magsplained” = LOL, love it!

    @Elizabelle: I thought I was the only one who used the phrase “purposefully obtuse”…cheers! And yes, she is awful and yes, it’s great that she’s feeling the heat. I’m sure it will wear off on her in 3, 2, 1…but still…

  121. 121.

    A Ghost To Most

    Funny how much the FTFNYT gets quoted here.

    I prefer to ignore it completely, rather than quoting it for bullshit.

    YMMV.

  122. 122.

    Jeffro

    @TenguPhule:

    Corner Stone: He’s defending Trump’s response to Puerto Rico disaster.

    TP: How is that possible?

    You mean, how is it morally possible to muster a defense of Trumpov’s response, or technically possible to defend something – a response by Trumpov – that doesn’t exist? Or both?

  124. 124.

    Corner Stone

    @Elizabelle:

    Equifax dude still gets his $18 million pension.

    That MF’er should have to pay every cent of that pension and all other liquid wealth to a class action suit dispensation.

  125. 125.

    Betty Cracker

    @prufrock: So you’re saying my stepmother isn’t the only person who can properly cook gator tail? I’ll concede that possibility. Do you have Uncle Mike’s recipe?

  128. 128.

    TenguPhule

    @Jeffro:

    You mean, how is it morally possible to muster a defense of Trumpov’s response, or technically possible to defend something – a response by Trumpov – that doesn’t exist? Or both?

    Yes.

  130. 130.

    TenguPhule

    Oh FFS, not the Onion again.’A feeble no may mean yes’: Indian court overturns rape conviction

    Appealing against the decision in Delhi’s high court, lawyers for Farooqui argued that the encounter never took place and that if it had, he had not been aware the victim did not consent.

    Justice Ashutosh Kumar overturned the conviction on Monday, concluding he had to give “the benefit of the doubt” to Farooqui on both arguments.

    He found it was unclear whether Farooqui had known the alleged victim did not consent because, even though she testified that she had repeatedly said no to his advances and tried to physically resist, she accepted she had ultimately gone along with it.

    “Instances of woman behaviour are not unknown that a feeble no may mean a yes,” he said.

    I can’t even……fuck.

  131. 131.

    Brachiator

    @Steeplejack:

    I liked Whataburger because it was a mustard-based sandwich, as opposed to the ubiquitous ketchup.

    When I was a kid in Texas, if you made burgers at home, you might put mayo on one bun and mustard on the other, but every burger joint I ever went to would only put mustard on the buns. Ketchup or mayo on request, but they would look at you funny. And no “secret sauce” or thousand island dressing.

    When I visited family in Denver, we went someplace where they lathered on the mayo with burgers. Thought I was going to die.

    Nowadays, young’uns just don’t appreciate the old ways. A food truck comes by and kids will put ketchup on corn dogs instead of mustard, mayo on anything. And salsa and other condiments are nudging mustard into oblivion.

    On the other hand, the bacon wrapped hot dog, with onions and peppers is a street vendor thing. Praise Jesus.

  132. 132.

    Corner Stone

    @Gin & Tonic: She may not read the comments but she can’t help but become indignant when criticized, then respond to it. So she reads some amount of something aimed at her.

  136. 136.

    Corner Stone

    @prufrock: I’ve never had Uncle Mike’s, but have had fried gator on a few occasions, from bayou dives to family stuff of a friend when we went to LA. I’ll take fried chicken every time.

  137. 137.

    TomatoQueen

    @Captain C: Judith Miller for sure. I’m not sure she could get away with anything more overt, what with all the nodding and winking that lot does.

  138. 138.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    I would like to hear just one time of some exotic, wild meat that doesn’t “taste like chicken.”

    “Walrus butt? Tastes like aged Kobe beef.” I’m there!

  142. 142.

    Brachiator

    @Jeffro:

    Two in three Americans believe that large corporations pay too little in taxes. Only 11 percent of U.S. adults think these businesses pay too much, while 17 percent think they pay their fair share. Even half of Republicans believe big businesses pay too little in taxes, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

    However, when the GOP promises tax cuts for all, most voters will fall for it, even though the wealthy will get the biggest share of any tax cut.

    Democrats and honest reporters should pop out the easy to find graphics that kill the two big lies that the GOP always tell here. The US does NOT pay the highest percent of corporate taxes of any industrialized nation. And it can easily be shown any number of ways that a larger share of wealth has been accumulated by the wealthy for decades. They are already working the system. People need to be shown how fucked up the tax system is, not just asked their dumb ass uniformed opinion about it.

    Any time Trump talks about the need for tax cuts, he should be asked to show his tax returns.

    Overwhelmingly, across party lines, people feel that the current tax system is rigged in favor of the wealthy. Over 7 in 10 Americans think the tax system favors the rich. Just five percent think the current code favors the middle class.

    The average middle class taxpayer ain’t never gonna benefit from a repeal of the estate tax. Never. But Trump and his buddies will. Including the sports team owners he loves so much.

  144. 144.

    sharl

    Every little victory is welcome.

    David, thank you so much for busting your ass and putting in hours of writing here – hours that are not part of your paying day job – on this life-or-death topic. I hope you will take your own good advice and enjoy today…hell, enjoy the remainder of the week and the upcoming weekend!

  148. 148.

    Steeplejack

    @Betty Cracker:

    I would think it would have to be widely available. I yield to your expertise as a native, but I lived in L.A. (lower Alabama) for seven years and visited Florida a lot. When I think of uniquely unhealthy Florida edibles, my mind runs to bad piña coladas and daiquiris, stuff like that. I saw alligator on a few menus here and there, but it seemed like an oddity or a gimmick. Sort of how in the Dakotas you find the occasional restaurant offering a buffalo steak.

  149. 149.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack: You need a much more hipster branding to be able to sell that. Although, if you call it “farm to table” and have a celeb chef prepare the meal on the tundra from the back of a converted old firetruck, plate under a one-time tent with lanterns, served with some type of micro greens and three infused sauces I think you’re on to something!

  150. 150.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    @Steeplejack: Horse is sweet. Dog tastes somewhere between mutton and beef. Rattlesnake (unfortunately for your purposes) really does taste like chicken.

  151. 151.

    ksmiami

    @Spanky: and he walks with over 18 million while potentially destroying the finalncial lives of millions of Americans. Their dick CFO needs to go too. Arrogant prick.

  152. 152.

    Steeplejack

    @Brachiator:

    Ketchup on corn dogs?! No effin’ way. Mustard or nothing. And not your fancy-pants European stuff either. Just good old chemical-laced, artificially colored yellow American stuff.

  154. 154.

    rikyrah

    @ArchTeryx:

    I wouldn’t put it above them to call for a vote some morning at 3am and pass it with whoever is present. They’re just that evil. Maybe i’m paranoid, but the stakes are just too high for me and my loved ones to rest until this goddamn demon bill turns back into a pumpkin.

    I’m with you.
    Like I said above..

    See you in the Sunday Garden Open Thread…

  156. 156.

    LurkerNoLonger

    Yes! Good news! That we have to beg and plead with our elected representatives every few months not to vote for something that will kill us is really getting old. 2018 can’t get here soon enough.

  157. 157.

    JaneSays

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: They can actually do it with only 50 votes again after January 1st, but the problem they face is that they only get to use reconciliation rules once per fiscal year, and they’ll need to use it next year to get their tax giveaway to the 1% passed. There is talk that they could try to combine both efforts into one reconciliation bill, but I think that might be pretty tough to get passed in an election year.

    In any event, it looks like we’ve got at least a three month reprieve. I won’t feel really safe until we retake at least one house of Congress, and even then, Napoleorange still has plenty of tools to sabotage the ACA as long as he’s still in office, so we’re going to have keep fighting to protect this law for the foreseeable future.

  158. 158.

    Spanky

    @Steeplejack: Exactly. Bison is now commonly raised for beef, and it’s healthier than cow because it’s leaner. We just spent two weeks post-eclipse in South Dakota and Wyoming and had a lot of both bison and cow, both locally sourced. The cow was way better, in our (me & the Mrs) opinion.

  160. 160.

    Repatriated

    @sylvania: I’d call it a win. They had the butts in the seats to push it through on a party-line vote, and nearly half a billion in campaign contributions ready to back them up if they did. Yet, our resistance and messaging made the political cost too high. It kind of helped that the facts and morality were on our side, though.

    They’ll try again — it’s what they do. But they’ll have to do it closer to elections, when people pay as much attention as they ever do. This was their last best shot to do maximal damage, and we held them off. That’s a win, even if it’s just holding the line.

  164. 164.

    LurkerNoLonger

    Shout out to Jimmy Kimmel too. He used his platform to shine a light on how awful this thing was.

  165. 165.

    Repatriated

    @Shana: Mostly agreed, but this was a test of the limits of what’s achievable with a bought-and-paid-for Congress. If they can’t advance their agenda (ACA repeal and high-end tax cuts) even with control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, they might be prepared to fall back to defending their gains. And that only takes “buying” a veto point — a House majority, or 40 Senators, or the the Presidency. More alarming to the GOP, the Congressional blocking coalitions don’t have to exclusively made up of Republicans (remember Blue Dogs?)

  167. 167.

    rikyrah

    Not to be a downer, but if Dems don’t turn out in huge numbers in 2018 Rs will get a 60v Senate and pass s’thing worse than Graham Cassidy.
    — Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) September 26, 2017

  175. 175.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Brachiator: I like ketchup on tuna.

    No, not really. But I did in fact absently slather ketchup on a tuna melt a couple of weeks ago and then happily eat it. And only after finishing it did I realize what I’d done, and nothing in my taste buds was sending up alarm flags while eating it. This has me worried about myself a little. What else am I capable of ingesting if not paying attention? Is Bud Light or Utica Club next?

    In my defense, such as it is, I had been wavering between the tuna melt and the hamburger patty melt, and I’d forgotten which I’d actually ordered. Also, my wife is a fascinating dinner companion who held all my attention.

  176. 176.

    JaneSays

    @Frank Wilhoit: He doesn’t and won’t have the votes. McCain and Collins aren’t going to change their minds, and if he puts something on the table conservative enough to get Rand Paul’s vote, it won’t have Lisa Murkowski’s vote.

    The votes just aren’t there right now. Crossing my fingers that John McCain will remain healthy enough to stay in his seat at least until the midterms.

  177. 177.

    Steeplejack

    @Major Major Major Major:

    My bison steak was in the ’80s, before “locally sourced” became a thing. I think I was told that it came from “General Custer,” who had recently died of natural causes after many years as head of the East Oglala herd. Pretty sure that’s what I was told.

  178. 178.

    JaneSays

    @Yutsano: No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in Tennessee since 1990 (Gore 2nd term). No non-incumbent Democrat has been elected to the Senate in Tennessee since 1984 (Gore 1st term). It’s not an impossible win, but it will be pretty tough.

  179. 179.

    catclub

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

    Hopefully, now the ACA (and any subsequent universal healthcare system) has achieved third rail status.

    no where near that status. 95% of the Senate GOP is happy to be recorded voting for throwing 25M people off their health insurance.

    Shutting down SS or Medicare has it, and you can tell, because ANY action on them has to be extensively bipartisan.
    Kind of like military base closures.

    How many would be happy to be recorded voting for ending SS or Medicare?

  180. 180.

    J R in WV

    @Spanky:

    And speaking of closing the barn door after the horse spontaneously combusted:

    The chief executive of Equifax, the troubled credit reporting agency that suffered a massive data breach affecting as many as 143 million people, is retiring, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

    Retiring? I’d rather it were to a 5X10 cell.

    Pretty sure it will be a lonely, sad, awful retirement for him. Report I saw said his retirement is only $19 million. Not sure if that’s a lump sum or the annual payment, but in either case, so sad. I hope he comes down with something painful and incurable soonest, even though that’s mean of me.

  181. 181.

    NorthLeft12

    Cassidy told me earlier in the day that if Collins just looked at his bill – which he’d tweaked over the weekend resulting in $1 billion more federal health-care dollars for her state – she could be convinced to support it.

    This is what infuriates me more than anything about US politics. The above is considered how you get things done. It is flat out bribery. No mention of the common good, or how this bill would improve and save lives throughout the country. And it appears that the media and a fair bit of the public are completely okay with this kind of philosophy.
    This patriotism, does not mean what the Rs think it means.

  182. 182.

    Ptocopius

    I’ll celebrate on Saturday, thank you. Those f*ckers would sneak into the Senate Chamber at 2:00AM and vote without a quorum if they could get away with it. As for the bill(s) that’s sure to crop up multiple times next year I don’t believe they can get together enough votes to even pass the budget bill to put tax reform under reconciliation, and that’s their highest priority. They’d be guaranteed every one of their votes and probably several Blue Dogs would vote the the massive tax theft. They haven’t passed the FY 2018 budget yet, so tax cuts are still under “regular order.” Filibuster allowed.

Comments are closed.