Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Let’s try this again. For some reason (Watergirl?) FYWP thought this was an “On The Road” post, which it isn’t.
It’s been a big news day – I haven’t posted everything I’m following – and tomorrow will bring two big Supreme Court decisions and a lawsuit against the Trump Corporation.
I’ve been working through my naturecam pics and thought I’d share some of my faves. What are your oldies but goodies? Music? Film?
Hey, scholar of genocide/genocide denial here. Extremely worrying that the premier far-right talking head in America is now explicitly citing actual genocides to whip up a paranoid frenzy among his millions of viewers. Genocidaires always justify their violence as “defensive”. https://t.co/ggsfAQVVdw
— Jasmin Mujanovic (@JasminMuj) June 25, 2021
Preferably, of course, Those People, who are ‘dark’ and ‘dirty’ and ‘absolutely un-American’, people who ‘should never have been allowed’ to live in Tucker Carlson’s country in the first place. But if the victims turn out to include a few Good American Patriots, well: One, two, many Ashli Babbitts…
Tucker claims the NSA is spying on him pic.twitter.com/SZVO3NLaxB
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 29, 2021
A statement from NSA regarding recent allegations: pic.twitter.com/vduE6l6YWg
— NSA/CSS (@NSAGov) June 30, 2021
The NSA basically never comments publicly on identities of surveillance targets. Ever.
That they did so here shows how much they’re not going to let @TuckerCarlson play this game.
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) June 30, 2021
Everything old is new again…
“When [press baron] Aitken acquired the Daily Express his political views seemed to Kipling to become more and more inconsistent, and one day Kipling asked him what he was really up to. Aitken is supposed to have replied: ‘What I want is power. Kiss ‘em one day and kick ‘em the next’ and so on. ‘I see’, said Kipling, ‘Power without responsibility – the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.’”
GOP Death Cult Open Thread: Tucker Carlson Wants to Get People KilledPost + Comments (63)
Rep. Clyburn frequently endorses Democrats. Shontel Brown is a Democrat – unlike her opponent. https://t.co/UuhExpEJKC
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) June 30, 2021
Don’t want to step on local toes, but I’m strongly tempted, because the NYTimes political desk is hot garbage, and no friend to actual Democrats:
… On Tuesday, Mr. Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat, took aim at one of Mr. Sanders’s most outspoken acolytes, Nina Turner, a hero to the left who is surging in her campaign in Ohio to claim the Cleveland-based congressional seat vacated by the housing secretary, Marcia L. Fudge.
In a rare intervention into a party primary, Mr. Clyburn, a veteran lawmaker and the highest-ranking Black member of Congress, endorsed Shontel Brown, Ms. Turner’s leading opponent.
He said his decision to back Ms. Brown, the chairwoman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, was not about Mr. Sanders, or even Ms. Turner, who remains the favorite before the contest on Aug. 3 in the heavily Democratic district. But he took a swipe at what he called the “sloganeering” of the party’s left flank, which has risen to power with calls for “Medicare for all,” and to “abolish ICE” and “defund the police.”
The special election in Cleveland is highlighting the vast generational divide and ideological gulf that the Democratic Party faces as the entire House leadership heads toward the sunset. Mr. Clyburn, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House majority leader, Representative Steny H. Hoyer, are all octogenarians, leading an increasingly youthful, diverse and restive caucus. Ms. Pelosi even agreed to vacate her position after this Congress, and the next year will be an ideological battle over who will succeed her.
Ms. Brown has the backing of the Democratic establishment, including not only Mr. Clyburn but also Hillary Clinton; Richard Cordray, a former Ohio attorney general; Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus; and moderate Democrats like Representatives Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and David Trone of Maryland…
Ms. Turner is undoubtedly a divisive figure as well. A prominent surrogate for Mr. Sanders in 2016 and a national co-chairwoman for his campaign in 2020, she has never minced words about what she calls “corporate Democrats.” She has declined to say whether she voted for Ms. Clinton in 2016, and before Election Day in November, she suggested the choice between Donald J. Trump and Mr. Biden was the choice between a full bowl of excrement and half a bowl…
Democratic leaders asking Democrats to vote for the Democratic candidate. Imagine the NYTimes‘ horror.
Local Races Open Thread: Ohioans, Should I Donate to Shontel Brown?Post + Comments (137)
He worked for Richard Nixon but kept clear of Watergate. He and his protege, Dick Cheney, worked for Gerald Ford. Under Ford, Rumsfeld became Secretary of Defense. George H. W. Bush felt no need of his services, but his son recalled Rumsfeld to Secretary of Defense, where he oversaw the disastrous Iraq War and encouraged the use of torture.
From Twitter:
Open thread.
I’m tired of leaky investigations that don’t amount to anything, so color me skeptical that this will yield anything:
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is expected to charge the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, with tax-related crimes Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The hope is that Weisselberg will drop a dime on the Trump Org’s fraud because he’s facing time in prison, but hasn’t Michael Cohen already pretty much done that?
As I was writing this post, news broke that Bill Cosby will be released from prison after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction on charges of sexual assault. I realize these cases are quite different, but Weisselberg has to believe that Trump’s attorneys will be able to delay his conviction by using their usual tactics, then appeal it and perhaps get him off, just like Cosby. Weisselberg has spent his career watching Trump get rich man’s justice (no consequences other than a little bit of inconvenience), and he might reasonably expect to receive the same.
(Also, sorry I didn’t respond to John’s call for posts the other day — I’m traveling and have some family stuff going on. )
Go ahead for all the good it can do — Have yourself a dime’s worth of talkingPost + Comments (176)
Minnesota has embraced several voluntary aspects of the ACA:
The Section 1332 waiver mixes state funds with federal pass through funding to lower gross, pre-subsidy premiums. Lower gross premiums are valuable to folks who are not eligible for subsidies. This was a fairly large and potentially politically potent cohort prior to the passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) as someone earning 400% FPL would pay 9.86% of income for the benchmark silver plan while someone earning 401% FPL would pay the full premium which could be, if the household was large enough, old enough and likely rural enough, be a quarter to a third of family income. The ARP changed the subsidy table for 2021 and 2022 so that no one would pay more than 8.5% of family income for the benchmark silver plan. The ARP has addressed most of the affordability concern as a function of family income.
Last night, Minnesota’s legislature passed along a budget to the governor:
MN HHS budget bill sent to Governor
✔️12 month Medicaid coverage for new moms
✔️family glitch fixed
✔️one year extension of reinsurance w/coinsurance at 60/40
✔️financing of MNCare (ACA BHP) to replace loss of federal passthrough $ from reinsurancehttps://t.co/ptdHUKEZ4r— Dr. Lynn A. Blewett, MA, PhD (@LynnBlewett) June 29, 2021
I have a hard time understanding the policy rationale for not freezing the reinsurance program for 2022. I can get an abundance of caution that the ARP subsidies won’t be extended or made permament so having a reinsurance program on the books that can be readily re-activated in 2023 makes a lot of sense. However, lower gross premium levels leads to lower premium spreads which compresses affordability for subsidized buyers AND in the Minnesota context, lower gross premium levels also reduce the federal pass-through amount for their BHP program. The BHP is a per-capita block grant where the federal government sends Minnesota 95% of what they would have spent on individuals earning from 133% to 200% FPL on the Exchanges with the expectation that Minnesota can provide the same or better coverage for a little bit less federal expenditure. Lowering gross premiums lowers the federal funding share.
This is a head scratcher to me.
I thought this was a joke–south dakota is at least 1,000km from the southern border of the u.s.–but it’s not https://t.co/nqFUCpsrp5
— Gerry Doyle (@mgerrydoyle) June 29, 2021
Kristi Noem says the deployment of our South Dakota National Guard to Texas “will be paid for by a private donation.” Kristi Noem has turned our military into mercenaries. It is morally wrong to deploy troops for political purposes using private funds.
— SD Democratic Party (@SoDakDems) June 29, 2021
The governors asked for it – literally!
Craven Idiocy Open Thread: GOP WannaBes Rush the (2024) BorderPost + Comments (103)