Dropped off Steve at the groomers, and on my way home, I picked up a dozen donuts , a dozen paczki, some apples, and a case of bottled water and dropped it off at the teacher strike. By the time I got home, the bill was mostly dead:
The West Virginia House of Delegates voted today to kill an education omnibus bill that would have provided a pay raise to teachers and school workers, but would also have opened the door to charter schools and private education savings accounts, among other measures opposed by teachers and school workers unions.
The House vote to kill the bill, officially a vote to postpone it “indefinitely,” was 53-45. A previous motion to delay consideration of the bill until 4 p.m. failed by the same margin.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
The Senate will need to learn that the House of Delegates is a co-equal branch of government, and learn to work with them rather than trying to just ram shit through. Additionally, it is worth remembering that what they were trying to do was to take the teacher pay raise that Justice promised last year, and add in a bunch of egregious nonsense, and force it through that way. However, it ain’t just over yet:
BREAKING NEWS: It’s been brought to our attention that Delegate Steele (R-Raleigh) switched his vote at the last minute even after giving a passionate speech against those who killed SB 451 with the Motion to Postpone Indefinitely. It appears the Republicans still have some tricks up their sleeve, because according to parliamentary procedure the Republicans could technically move to make a Motion to Reconsider the Motion to Postpone Indefinitely which would bring the motion back to the floor for another vote. Only Delegates who voted in favor of the winning motion can move to reconsider it. In a process full of dirty parliamentary procedure tricks, it appears we aren’t out of the woods quite yet. Ultimately, we don’t think they can flip enough votes to change the outcome, but it’s a possibility….
They’re sneaky and shameless. In the years before social media and cell phones, they would have gotten away with it.
Jeffro
No pepperoni rolls? I thought those were mandatory at all gatherings in West By God.
TaMara (HFG)
Anonymous At Work
Steele’s move isn’t a sneaky trick but a standard parliamentary one. Harry Reid used to do that all the time for cloture votes, so he could bring a bill back directly to the floor. That WV GOP thinks they can swing 4 more votes AND avoid the fallout of a teacher’s strike…that’s a different reality.
tobie
This is like a horror film. Just when you think you’ve managed to beat the demon coming after you, he comes after you again.
I see in the daily annals of Republican shenanigans, that NC election workers have admitted that they tallied the early vote in Bladen County before election day, which is against the rules given the value of that information. Bladen County is the tip of the iceberg as far as I’m concerned. We’re merely seeing there what the GOP does nationally. On that note: I would love to see a full hand recount of Florida’s Senate and Gubernatorial races in 2018. Last time only rejected ballots were counted. That’s not enough IMO.
J R in WV
And what about the Teacher’s Pay Raise, which was also part of this otherwise despicable “Education” Bill???
Strike until a clean pay raise is passed? Hope so.
Brachiator
As Coroner I must aver,
I thoroughly examined her.
And she’s not only merely dead,
she’s really most sincerely dead.
— Wizard of Oz
Patricia Kayden
Good luck to the WV teachers. Hope they get the pay raise they deserve without any strings attached.
trollhattan
O/T but holy shit, this is bad even for Alabama.
“Democrats in the Republican Party and Democrats”?
waspuppet
Republicans don’t think any branch of government controlled by Democrats is equal. By definition. Even if they controlled it two years ago. They will, of course, change their minds the next time they control it. Cf. The US House, The Only Branch That Matters 2011-2017.
Miss Bianca
@trollhattan: yeah, speaking of “the ignorant, the uneducated, and the simple-minded”..
I wonder if he routinely refers to his own paper as “The Democrat Republican”.
Brachiator
@trollhattan:
With Trump’s election, racists feel comfortable letting it all hang out.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@trollhattan: Tax hikes are communism is another good one. too.
Mary G
I learn so much on this blog. I had to Google paczki and now I want some. Your state senator sent me a lovely handwritten thank you note after the election.
ruemara
They’re just waiting to see if your focus will be on something else soon.
J R in WV
@trollhattan:
And Mr Sutton pretends the KKK wasn’t a racist fascist organization by stating without providing any evidence that black folks “borrowed” their former owners’ robes and horses to ride against those who endangered the black community. Like HELL they did!
Encouraging others to riot is a crime for a reason — people did it a lot back in the decades around the early 1900s, and black communities always suffered for that rioting. This Goodloe Sutton character should learn about federal prosecution for such crimes… perhaps after Trump’s administration is in jail instead of in power?
John Cole
@waspuppet: The house of delegates is controlled by the Republicans. That’s how bad this bill is.
Mary G
RIP Don Newcombe.
ruemara
@J R in WV: I like how the KKK didn’t kill but a few people and they weren’t violent except when they needed to be. From a guy calling on them to raid DC and lynch people. Brilliant.
Elizabelle
@J R in WV: Yeah, that part leapt out at me. Borrowing the former owners’ robes …
Lord dog, that sounds like an alternative history written by Quentin Tarantino. WTF is Sutton going on about?
I predict full retirement very soon for Mr. Sutton’s career as a publisher.
Brachiator
Sounds like the Republicans have committed an illegal motion. Isn’t that a 15 yard penalty?
takebakawashi
“Only Delegates who voted in favor of the winning motion can move to reconsider it.”
Harry Reid did the equivalent in the U.S. Senate a lot when he was Majority Leader… I think this is standard and expected.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/02/17/why-is-harry-reid-always-voting-against-his-own-plans/
ETA: I see Anonymous At Work got there first.
Yarrow
@trollhattan:
If you go to Mikayla Burns’ Twitter feed she’s documenting what’s happening in response to her posting about this guy’s KKK editorial. Awards are being taken away, he’s being removed from a Mass Comm. and Journalism Hall of Fame, etc.
https://twitter.com/mikaylasburns
rikyrah
Glad that it’s mostly dead, Cole.
Aleta
I believe that Maine was well on the way to open carry on campuses; and increased attacks on public schools, teachers and unions; and more reductions in mental health support and shelters. The change in governor has countered that for now, but it’s chilling what can happen (to any state) if backers with dark money decide the state is vulnerable to putting their front man in power.
TriassicSands
The Republicans have done a fine job of wrecking our political system. They’ve also been hard at work trying to destroy our public education system. And we shouldn’t forget what they’ve done to our health care system.
Gee, you’d almost think they have a problem with systems. Or civilization.
Kraux Pas
@ruemara:
Take a moment to consider which groups this writer may grant or deny status as a person in his view.
Aleta
@Yarrow: I think he needs to be hauled in for encouraging terrorism and questioned under oath about his connections and finances.
smintheus
OT, Klobuchar is running basically as a 60s era Republican: Reform? Yes eventually, but just not now.
Aleta
@J R in WV: do you have a link to where he said that?
Gravenstone
@trollhattan:
Purity purges for everyone!
scott (the other one)
@smintheus: It’s 2019. Good luck winning Democratic primaries with that approach.
trollhattan
@Yarrow:
Glad to see there’s more than a flash of pushback; guy’s a piece of work but obviously playing to an audience he knows is receptive. His pics do look like he’s from Central Casting (editor voted most likely to be mistaken for Paul LePage).
“Know what would be great? Nazis! If we had Nazis we could solve our immigrant problems real quick!”
The Moar You Know
@Elizabelle: I do not. Read up on Linden a bit. At a minimum, he’s perfect for his location and customers.
Linden is special: maintaining a 100% legally segregated school system in the year 2017 is something I’d have thought impossible, but they’ve done it. If they put that amount of brainpower, effort and cunning into transportation I’d be driving a fusion-powered hovercar right now.
Gravenstone
As long as we’re on the topic of bad legislation/decisions; our old pal Justice Thomas is openly advocating that a 1964 court decision making it more difficult for public figures to sue for libel/slander be reconsidered. I’m guessing Ginni took some “suggestions” back home with her when she and her merry band of medievalists were trying to convince Trump to take society back to the Dark Ages a couple of weeks ago.
trollhattan
@The Moar You Know:
Hey now, I’m first in line for my hovercar!
Steve in the ATL
@Elizabelle: he owns the paper, which he inherited from his father. I was pondering last night what sort of boycott might work against its advertisers. But it may be just Hobby Lobby and Chik-Fil-A and local racist businesses already.
Steve at Whole Foods in Conshohocken, PA
jl
Surprised but pleased that Cole survived the Steve threat this morning.
The Moar You Know
@Aleta: The Montgomery Advertiser has a good, brief synopsis.
@Kraux Pas: He’s clarified that. I doubt any of us would qualify.
smintheus
@scott (the other one): My first reaction was, “Is Politico doing a hit piece on Klobuchar?” Because she appears to be saying just incredibly off-putting stuff.
Well OK then.
Because I guess all the other Democrats want to ban deer rifles.
Thank you for your contribution, Jeb.
The kids will be overjoyed to hear we need to start a debate about possibly cutting a couple thousand off their student loan debts.
So Klobuchar’s role will be to run out the clock for 8 years until somebody else ‘in the future’ calls for ‘aspiring’ to do something about global warming. Dandy.
jacy
@smintheus:
I don’t want Klobuchar. I want an actual progressive Democrat. The time for “pragmatism” was during the Obama admin, and we see where that got us. No more half-measures.
As I have said here before, time for Democrats to stop apologizing for running on the ideas the vast majority of Americans want. Full stop.
Yarrow
@Aleta: Read the tweet in my comment up thread. It has an image of the actual editorial.
tobie
@smintheus: Sorry but the description of the GND as aspirational doesn’t bother me. The resolution put forward is the very definition of an aspirational piece of legislation. It sets laudable benchmarks but offers no proposals on how to reach them. It doesn’t even address the second most potent greenhouse gas, methane. How else should one describe it?
ETA: Have you seen Warren’s and Booker’s recent statements on M4All? Both emphasize that as a first order of business we need to shore up the ACA and lower drug prices. Then offer a buy in into Medicare at 55. Then set up a single payer system. There is no quick switch from the flawed Bismarck system we have to single payer. Sherrod Brown is right about that, as are Warren, Harris, Booker, and Klobuchar. I’m actually surprised at how much of a consensus there is on this issue this time around.
lgerard
@Steve in the ATL:
You can look at his ‘newspaper” here….it isn’t much.
The Planned Parenthood cartoon is a nice touch
http://www.smalltownpapers.com/newspapers/newspaper_pages.php?id=111
germy
http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-editorials-in-that-alabama-paper.html
THE EDITORIALS IN THAT ALABAMA PAPER HAVE BEEN RACIST FOR QUITE A WHILE
Nothing new. He called Obama a “yard boy” a few years ago.
Here’s what he said about black parents:
When parents who are uneducated get a mindset on what’s best for a school, watch out world.
Tribal rules from the dark continent will not suffice.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I see Roger Stone has been ordered to appear in court Thursday to explain why his Instagram post doesn’t violate the gag order.
germy
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Revoke his bail. Put him back behind bars.
Yarrow
@Dorothy A. Winsor: It’s too funny. He’ll fundraise off it, though.
Cacti
O/T, but related to the now dead thread about the Instagram habits of defendant Roger Stone, vis the presiding Judge in his criminal case, and posting a photo of her head with crosshairs over it:
Judge Amy Berman Jackson has ordered Roger to Court this week to show cause on why the terms of his bail shouldn’t be changed (aka, why shouldn’t Her Honor revoke it, and throw your ass in jail).
The Moar You Know
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’d like that news better if the judge was going to have a couple of 4x4s, some rail spikes, and a couple of union carpenters in the courtroom during his appearance.
She won’t throw his ass in jail but she’s not doing herself or her fellow federal judges any favors by not doing so. What he did was a straight up death threat and needs to be treated as such.
trollhattan
@The Moar You Know:
From your link, this was instructive.
smintheus
@tobie: Those 3 things are legislative fixes, which need not even cost vast sums of money and could easily save money. It shouldn’t represent an excessive commitment to fight to get those fixes passed. Instead, Klobuchar is talking about supporting a public option, a ship that tried to sail and sank years ago.
Immanentize
@trollhattan: I’m still in line for my jet pack.
Kraux Pas
@smintheus:
Ooh, I can pull quotes too .
I think her message here is that we can make progress but some people need to temper their expectations. This isn’t a bad thing.
I’m still in wait-and-see mode re: the staff controversy.
Mary G
@Dorothy A. Winsor: LOCK HIM UP!
Kraux Pas
@smintheus:
Well, you know what they say about falling off a bike, try a car instead because riding a bike clearly isn’t going to work.
Robert Bowsher
@Brachiator: 5 yards.
smintheus
@Kraux Pas: Is anybody seriously proposing that “we get rid of entire industries in the US”? Klobuchar loves to use straw men to position herself as a sensible centrist. To me, it seems like her top commitment is to expanding the straw man industry in the US.
smintheus
@Kraux Pas: If you’re trying to get people to a doctor, then yeah a car is a better option than a bike.
Raven
@Yarrow: From Auburn, big whoop!
Patricia Kayden
@trollhattan: I guess if it’s his own private newspaper, the only pressure for him to step down will have to come from advertisers. From reading other tweets, this is not that newspaper’s first racist article.
The Moar You Know
@trollhattan: The Advertiser has done a few stories on Linden, which are all instructive, and by “instructive” I mean utterly horrifying. Worth pursuing.
Funny thing is, the last time I recall reading the Advertiser was back in 1986 when I was visiting my grandparents, which would turn out to be the last time I saw my grandmother alive. Used to hate having to go visit there every year, it was not a good environment for a smartass SoCal kid. The fucking locals had never seen a skateboard before. Last time I was there was in 2003 while my grandfather was dying. I wouldn’t mind seeing it again, but without them there it would be utterly pointless and probably very sad.
My parents don’t see it this way, but the best thing they ever did for me was, through career choices, insuring I’d be raised in CA rather than the shithole state they were from.
tobie
@smintheus: I wouldn’t get caught up in semantics on this. I wrote in the morning thread that the idea behind the ACA with Medicaid expansion and a public option was to create the conditions for an eventual transition to a Canadian style healthcare system. There simply isn’t any way to move 180 million to a public system overnight without causing chaos. I’ll leave it to the experts to explain the difference between a Medicaid buy-in, a Medicare buy-in, or a public option. That’s way beyond my expertise.
Kraux Pas
@smintheus:
Private insurance? I’ve definitely heard that come up. Also, the GND FAQ that AOC put up suggested eliminating air travel if I’m not mistaken. It was retracted, but still, the notion of eliminating industries isn’t unheard of.
Personally, I think if we could wean off of them and develop plans that don’t hurt too many stakeholders and give people time to transform their business mode, it will lower resistance.
Cacti
@Kraux Pas:
It would be kind of tough to get rid of private insurance, when Medicare only reimburses 80 percent of covered services. For some reason, that never seems to be brought up in the Medicare for all discussion.
Kraux Pas
@smintheus:
What I was trying to get across is that if a policy doesn’t get passed the first time around you shouldn’t give up on it. You also shouldn’t try for a bigger, bolder, but less fleshed out policy that will meet still more resistance without having the more gettable idea in mind for a potential compromise.
O. Felix Culpa
@Steve in the ATL: I used to visit Conshocken regularly (my ex in-laws had a business there). Not a place I would have imagined for a Whole Foods. Must have gentrified in the intervening decades.
Yarrow
@Raven: At least there’s some response.
smintheus
@Kraux Pas: Even under Britain’s NHS, private health insurance has remained. Apart from the question of why would you, how could you regulate out of existence private health insurance?
Everybody’s goal is to create the conditions in which undesirable industries like coal mining can go the way of the buggy whip industry. It’s not about eliminating them, it’s about moving beyond them.
Kraux Pas
@Cacti: I think a reasonable end goal would be universal coverage for basic health needs, with private insurance optional for people who always want the bestest newest drugs, new testing technologies, etc. rather than settling for cheaper services that have been shown to work in most cases.
I love the idea of getting us to a public option that would let anyone opt-in. This would allow them to build their ability to provide healthcare for the broader public, make government healthcare less scary, and give better leverage to put in cost controls that don’t hurt patients.
Kraux Pas
@smintheus:
Exactly. And what Klobuchar appeared to be trying to get across was that this wouldn’t happen immediately just because we said so. It’s something we have to work toward.
I would say we want to incentivize best practices and help people transition to the new economy, not just disrupt.
ruemara
@Cacti: These people pushing it haven’t been poor and dependent on Medicare.
smintheus
@Kraux Pas: My problem with Klobuchar is partly that she indulges in passive aggressive attacks on her Dem rivals by postulating straw men that she personally does not favor. Nobody favors “us” eliminating entire industries, any more than “we” want to ban hunting rifles. She’s moving into Joe Lieberman territory. The farther she goes down that road grandstanding against the fake threat of fake Democratic extremism, the more damage she is going to do to the ultimate Dem nominee – who is very unlikely to be her.
Frankensteinbeck
@The Moar You Know:
She threw Manafort’s ass in jail for violating his agreement.
Kraux Pas
@smintheus:
That’s not the impression I’ve gotten…yet. Still, that’s how the D agenda is often/usually framed in the media, so I think it’s a good answer that we don’t want to do those things. It’s still early and I agree that if that’s the impression she has of the other D candidates, that wouldn’t be good.
So again, wait and see.
Aleta
@Yarrow: Thanks. I read the editorial at the paper’s site last night. But was wondering about the quote JR mentioned that was not in the editorial:
“borrowed” their former owners’ robes and horses to ride against those who endangered the black community”
@The Moar You Know: thanks. I quickly read that extra information, but unless I missed it, I didn’t see the quote (above) or where it came from
Fair Economist
@smintheus:
Sanders has actually proposed legally eliminating the health insurance industry in his Medicare for All bill, in 2024 or something like that. Several of the other candidates have expressed support for the bill, although I doubt they really support that particular provision. Nonetheless, a major candidate for the Dem Presidential nomination *has* seriously proposed eliminating an entire, and quite huge, industry. This is not a straw man.
The Moar You Know
@Aleta: You did miss it. It’s right on the page of the Advertiser that I linked to. It is in his original editorial.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Kraux Pas:
On the other hand, it is the opposite of inspiring. “Take what you can get” is not a winning message, no matter how true it may be.
When campaigning, candidates should be inspiring about addressing the big challenges – and they should go light on the details. We’re going to be stuck with legislation that can pass the Senate – so instead of fighting about policy details, candidates should be building popular momentum for doing SOMETHING about the big challenges.
Make it so the public won’t accept inaction from the President and Congress in 2021.
Ruckus
@ruemara:
Of course logic is not republicans forte.
Or anywhere near their extremely narrow viewpoint. Logic is actually repelled by the mere scent of republicans.
Yarrow
@Aleta: I took it as JR’s inference and not an actual quote. The editorial says, “they borrowed their former masters’ robes and horses to ride through the night to frighten some evil doer.” So, similar but not specifically stating “to ride against those who endangered the black community” as JR said. The “some evil doer” is not the same as “those who endangered the black community.”
smintheus
@Fair Economist: Cite? I’m skeptical that Sanders believes he can simply outlaw private health insurance, especially with Medicare already having generated a forest of private health plans.
Anyway, the hunting rifles BS shows that Klobuchar is using straw men to distance herself from other Dems.
Fair Economist
@smintheus: Section 107 of the bill:
What’s provided under the act and therefore not allowed for private insurance to cover:
So, can’t insure in-patient care, can’t insure out-patient care, can’t insure rehab, can’t insure children – can’t even cover dental care.
Yeah, that’s outlawing private health insurance.
Aleta
@Yarrow: thanks. I’d thought the difference was from a different statement he made somewhere else.
rikyrah
@tobie:
Medicare age should be lowered to 50…get your AARP Card…get into Medicare
Honus
@Jeffro: wheeling’s not a big pepperoni roll town. You have to over to Fairmont or Clarksburg to find them.
smintheus
@Fair Economist: No, that is not the same as outlawing private insurance tout court. I notice that you left out part B of section 107:
Also, the list of benefits such as hospitalization is qualified by this:
In other words, not all medical costs related to e.g. hospitalization will be covered…hence as with Medicare currently, there will exist a private health insurance market.