Mitch McConnell says Senate Republicans may try again to repeal Obamacare if they win enough seats in the midterm election, per @Reuters.https://t.co/fB8OVk2Wb2
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 17, 2018
Go vote early if your state allows you to do so.
Open thread
Yutsano
JFC…
I swear at this point he’s intentionally trying to spike the midterms. He HAS to know this is ad fodder bait. And he doesn’t do ANYTHING without a strategy. But I can’t figure out how he can possibly think this is a good thing to say when healthcare is the number one issue in the country.
Patricia Kayden
Repealing the ACA, destroying entitlement programs, and stuffing the courts with Rightwing justices is what we can expect if Congress remains in Republicans’ hands. No shocker but just another reason to get up and vote and help others to do so.
Humdog
@Yutsano: R voters still like the “repeal Obamacare” line. Furthermore, R politicos are lying and saying they want to protect those who have preexisting conditions, which makes repeal sound less scary.
Fuckers.
Humdog
One thing that really gets me when these assholes talk about the “problems” with Medicare and Social Security is they always say they “solve” it by cutting the programs. But the programs exist to meet a need. Cutting the bill from the national budget does not solve the problem of old age and disabled poverty or the fact that no biz wants to insure the elderly or infirm. What are they fixing? What do they propose to do with the bodies that will pile up if their “fix” is enacted?
Fuckers
Princess
I don’t think he is intentionally trying to lose the midterms. But if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was. First saying he’ll gut medicaid and social security, now saying he’ll end Obamacare?
I *still* don’t think he’s trying to lose. I think it is so if the GOP wins, he can say he has a mandate to destroy the safety net.
dmsilev
Between “let’s cut Medicare and Social Security” the other day and this, is McConnell trying to troll us or something? I mean, he’s thoroughly in the ‘evil’ rather than ‘stupid’ bin, so he must know how unpopular these sorts of statements are, especially only three weeks before the election.
Baud
@Humdog:
Food for their exotic pets?
dmsilev
@Humdog:
Soylent Green, probably.
Schlemazel
I have been weary of early voting ever since turd blossom had the Wellstones murdered late in the election campaign. People who had already voted for him lost their vote.
So far MN has had very clean elections, The Dems have controlled both the AG and SoS offices except for a brief stint with a wingnut as SoS (and yes, she tried to ruin fair elections, it is what they do). I am deeply afraid Keith Ellison’s smart-ass move will allow a real wingnut to become our AG (imagine the ads we are seeing – a Muslim who is in favor of sanctuary cities and also is black and has charges of domestic abuse (I have had decent Dems tell me they can’t vote for him). But as of now there will be no problems on Nov 6th and I will keep my options open till then
JPL
@Princess: You might be right. The democratic candidates have lots of money and they need to run ads using the asshole’s words. If we don’t take the house, he will definitely say he has a mandate to screw over the middle class and the poor.
piratedan
It’s possible that McConnell is well aware that the fix is in and that not only will votes not be counted, some could even be changed because the penetration is so thorough…. he’s speaking with a confidence of a man has made his bets once he’s paid off the horse trainer. Remember, he could even be doing this with the complicit help of GOP SOS folks at the local level. It’s not as if we haven’t seen the telltales out of Georgia, North Carolina and North Dakota
Martin
@Humdog: We need to acknowledge that some of the argument here is because the ACA does a better job of protecting preexisting conditions for people not on Medicare than those on Medicare. Medicare Advantage plans can turn you down due to some pre-existing conditions and Medicare Supplement plans can for a wide range of pre-existing conditions.
A lot of older voters are pretty pissed about that. Those fixes to Medicare got stripped during the negotiations over the cost of ACA. There’s a large perception thanks to bad faith arguments on Fox News that ACA is sapping tax dollars that could go to those fixes. Those voters are hearing what they want to hear in the debate.
Redshift
@dmsilev: My best guess is that he thinks Democratic enthusiasm is maxed out, and obviously GOP enthusiasm isn’t, so he’s throwing out any red meat that might goose the base, and it doesn’t matter how much everyone else hates it.
It still doesn’t seem like what I’d expect from Mr. Evil-but-not-Stupid, but it’s the best I can come up with.
debbie
@Yutsano:
Not only ACA, but Social Security and Medicare too. As much as I loathe McConnell, part of me hopes this is an intentional effort to undermine Trump and wrestle the party away from him.
lollipopguild
Trump repeatedly promised to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something “better”. He was going to make sure everyone “was taken care of”.
Ella in New Mexico
@Yutsano:
I’m guessing he’s calling out an SOS to the big dark money donors and the scumbag firms they’ll pay for who will pull as many dirty tricks as they can to fuck with the election again…Cuz he’s not talking to the rank and file voters anymore. They have all of them they’re gonna get, pretty much.
I SO want these corrupt motherfuckers taken out of power. So bad.
debbie
@Redshift:
Except that the base he’s goosing depends on Social Security at the very least.
Ella in New Mexico
@piratedan: My worries exactly.
We are in dark times, my friends. Very dark times.
Raoul
Tumbrels. Soon.
geg6
@Schlemazel:
Ellison’s domestic violence situation seems to have taken an unexpected turn today or yesterday when his divorce case was made public. It turns out his ex-wife abused him and he never touched her. Doesn’t sound like a guy who would beat up a girlfriend. He didn’t want the case public to shield his ex, who has emotional problems. Talked to a friend who has known him, the ex and the girlfriend for many years (has known Keith himself for 30 years) says this is exactly what he thought it would be. I believe him.
Ella in New Mexico
@Schlemazel: I thought they had pretty much shown that the woman was lying about the whole thing with Ellison? I suspected pretty quickly that she had “issues” he was unwilling to air in order not to embarrass her.
@geg6: Sounds like Keith needs to pick healthier women.
eemom
Maybe he has some latent pathological impulse toward self destruction which has finally wormed its way to the surface. One can hope.
jl
@Humdog: McConnell has been very explicit that he wants to go after ‘entitlement’ spending, and specifically mentioning Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. He’s joined Paul Ryan in being quite open about it. Cruz is equivocating by saying ‘socialized medicine’ which could mean Obamacare or entitlements, and the hearer wants to hear.
So, GOPes like Cruz are playing an equivocation game, but Congressional leadership just says they want to kill social insurance. Maybe the leadership thinks they say that on business cable channels and speaking engagements to think tanks, and no one will notice?
Schlemazel
@geg6:
Ah, I have been out of town this week and missed that. This is great news as at least it will bring the Dems back in the fold. I am still unsettled about the nominal Dems outstate, they were not on board with Obama and many are terrified of the brown menace despite leaning D.
@Ella in New Mexico:
Until I read what geg6 said nothing has been proven. These are Dems who joyously threw Franklin overboard on a series of dubious claims & I have been told they simply believe any claim made and will never vote for anyone who has been accused. I got called names simply for saying Al deserved an investigation. This is a single issue for them & if the GOP decides to weaponize it we are dead in the water
Redshift
@debbie:
Good point. He can probably come in Fox not to tell them, but in that case, why say it at all?
Amir Khalid
I think Mitch McConnell feels compelled to talk like he’s going to win to rally the troops, regardless of the current odds. He can’t go out and say, “We’re going to lose Congress to the Democrat party”, now can he?
Michael Cain
Purely guessing, but he thinks the Senate is safe and wants to lose the House. Two years of nothing to do but confirm reactionary appointees, pass continuing resolutions for the budget, and let the deficit balloon. The regulatory agencies and the courts can do any heavy lifting that needs to be done. Then retire (he’ll be 78).
A Ghost To Most
@Amir Khalid:
That’s a lot easier when you know the fix is in.
ruemara
@debbie: You’re cute. The base will willingly cut their own throats if they get to see ours cut first. They really believe ObamaCare is the devil. I wouldn’t trust their sense of self-preservation because it’s been proven that they don’t have any.
lamh36
Good evening BJ.
I know a lot of ur BJ folks see old men and ladies like John (?kidding), so I’m share my latest I think I’m getting old pain issue.
So i noticed this pain in my hip for a few days now that has gotten progressively painful each day. At first i figured I’d pulled a muscle somehow. it hurts everytime I stand or put my weight on it, but it’s doesn’t hurt when I’m sitting or lying down. Since I’m off today and tomorrow I made a doctor appt for tomorrow with my PCP.
I made the mistake of googling hip pain and now I’m afraid and hoping i don’t have something called hip dysplasia…for which the only remedy is hip surgery ☹️
Lord let it just be a muscle pull!
It’s way too early but i’m getting back in bed and trying not to think about the pain or it’s possible cause until my doctors appt tomorrow afternoon!
raven
@lamh36: Check out Dr Jo, she is awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1YEEhJI2IU
WaterGirl
@lamh36: That’s why I won’t google for medical symptoms or go to those medical websites. There lie dragons.
raven
@WaterGirl: Dr Jo is a physical therapist and dog lover and her exercises are great.
WaterGirl
@raven: That sounds great; I would look at that. But I still wouldn’t google.
WaterGirl
@lamh36: Sorry about the pain in your hip. There are tons of possible reasons for that are just a drag, but not scary.
We have a walk-in sports medicine clinic here, and I think the physical therapist there probably knows more about what you’re experiencing than a physician. You might think about something like that.
Yutsano
@lamh36: I’m hoping for your sake it’s just a pull that happens to sit on the joint so walking makes it worse. Prayers for ya sis!
zhena gogolia
@lamh36:
What WaterGirl said.
p.a.
Thank god we have Susy Collins to backstop ACA!
WaterGirl
@p.a.: That would almost be funny if it didn’t make me want to beat my head against a wall.
I think/hope/believe that with her Kavanaugh play, Susy ruined her reputation as a moderate once and for all.
Redshift
Thinking it over, McConnell is probably relying on right wing media to run their usual multi-part scam about “entitlements”:
1. Social Security and Medicare are going broke! The only way we can save them for current seniors is to cut what everyone else can expect! (Don’t worry, GOP-voting seniors, will protect yours!)
2. Social Security and Medicare are going broke! For younger people, no matter what we do they won’t be there, so you shouldn’t care that we’re screwing you.
3. We had to destroy the village to save it.
(Note: every word of this is a lie, but it’s depressing the number of under-40s who have totally bought into “Social Security won’t be there for me.”)
Amir Khalid
@A Ghost To Most:
It’s also entirely possible that he’s whistling past the graveyard here.
chopper
this really doesn’t make any sense. i mean, it’s one thing to try to rile up the base, but this is the sort of thing that riles up the other party’s base way more. this would be like schumer coming out for a “free late-term abortions for everyone” bill. i don’t know why he’d be trolling when the polling isn’t super heavy in the GOPs favor.
Elizabelle
@chopper: Yeah. I can’t figure out why McConnell is doing this either. Maybe just to pwn us? To give the stenographer press something to do?
r€nato
I have dual citizenship and can’t fucking wait to leave this country permanently. What other country on Earth would have a substantial part of the electorate motivated by this shit? Putin is much less popular than he previously was because of a plan to raise the retirement age. In the US, politicians are rewarded for robbing the working people blind, by those very same people.
John Revolta
It didn’t seem to make any sense when he stonewalled Merrick Garland either. Everybody knew Hillary was gonna win, right?
I don’t like this shit.
Ruckus
@Yutsano:
Maybe he knows the fix is in.
Maybe he’s getting senile.
Maybe he’s just a fucking asshole.
¿Porque no los tres?
Ruckus
@Humdog:
Pay the undertakers?
Omnes Omnibus
@r€nato: So go. And then fuck off.
Ruckus
@debbie:
Those SS recipients/republican voters will never believe the truth, facts or reality. They know, just know, deep down, that democrats are going to take away all their SS/medicare and give it to minorities. But brave mitch is going to save it for them, not allow it to go broke because of the huge debt that was left by that bad man that was president between GWB and shitgibbon.
Never forget, in faux world facts are whatever you believe them to be.
Mo MacArbie
@lamh36: Following your example, I’ll give you my I-think-I’m-getting-old dispensation of medical advice. When you go to bed, how old is your mattress? Getting rid of the futon made my hip feel a whole lot better.