Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

The Supreme Court is corrupt. Democrats must win in November and force court reform.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Let’s finish the job.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

If West Virginia and San Francisco had a love child.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

People are complicated. Love is not.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

A consequence of cucumbers

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Open Thread: Mission Implausible

Late Night Open Thread: Mission Implausible

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Jonathan Karl may well be the Bob Woodward for a new generation. As a lifelong GOP operative, and now a professional tv-news ‘talent’, he’s got the skills and the social network to reassure the Right People that all is indeed for the best in this best of all possible worlds: The occasional KKKrazy may mar the unruffled surface of proper Republican political control, but never for long enough that the Democrats will be able to weaponize them.

Troutmouth Bob’s probably jealous — he had to make do with minor zealots like Al Haig embarrassing themselves behind closed doors, while JonKarl gets Mike Flynn’s flagrant public breakdown…

Ezra Cohen-Watnick… there’s another up & coming Republican stalwart about whom we are no doubt going to be hearing more…

Reader Interactions

65Comments

  1. 1.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Kevin McCarthy is filibustering in the House so he can say BBB was passed “in the middle of the night”

    Nicholas Wu @nicholaswu12
    “Keep going, no one’s listening,” Rep. Tim Ryan says to McCarthy on the floor

  5. 5.

    Martin

    Can we tell Manchin and Sinema how embarrassing it is that the House has a talking filibuster but the Senate doesn’t? We can’t allow a filibuster gap! The Senate must take up the talking filibuster immediately!

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Paul Kane @pkcapitol 22m
    Hoyer says theyll let McCarthy speak all he wants tonight. Then reconvene at 8 am. They’ll pass the $2.1 trillion boll “in the daylight,” Hoyer tells us.

  12. 12.

    Kropacetic

    Why do I see the CBO tweeting that BBB will reduced the deficit and FTFNYT reporting the opposite?

    ETA: Or am I missing something because I refuse to subscribe to NYT and can’t look past the headlines?

  13. 13.

    patroclus

    There is no rule but the tradition of the House is that the Leaders of the parties get to speak for as long as they want.  It’s a good tradition although tonight is testing that boundary.  Eventually, he’ll get tired and they’ll move on.  It’s a really good bill – Rachel Maddow gave a good summary of some of its provisions.  I’m gonna stay up and watch when it passes the House.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    Quick, where’s the barf bag?

    Promo for Morning Joe just flashed by, beginning with the announcer solemnly intoning “When you need brutal honesty.”

  20. 20.

    Fair Economist

    @West of the Rockies: Yes. The infrastructure bill contains mostly “hard” infrastructure like roads, bridges, water pipes, and internet service, while the Build Back Better bill is much broader with a lot of provisions to reduce greenhouse gases, support providing childcare and eldercare, and universal pre-K, as well as as substantially increased taxes on the very rich and detection of tax cheats.

    The Infrastructure bill was signed into law Monday. The House will pass Build Back Better tomorrow, it looks like; it will still need to be passed by the Senate before Biden can sign it.

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @West of the Rockies: The bill Biden signed earlier this week was the BIF– Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (roads, bridges, ports, charging stations, lead pipe removal and replacement, etc). The Build Back Better bill the House is voting on tomorrow morning is the “human infrastructure bill” (early childhood care, universal pre-K, Medicare expansion, broader environmental spending, etc), then it goes to the House to see what Manchinema will agree to, then when that passes  (I believe?) to a House Senate reconciliation committee to work out a final version that Joe Manchin and Pramila Jayapal can agree to

  23. 23.

    Fair Economist

    @Major Major Major Major:  BBB actually raises taxes on people with expensive houses in the long run. The SALT exemption was due to return completely in 5 years, with no restrictions on any level of income, and the current bill extends the cap for 5 more years. After that, the cap falls back to 10K indefinitely (when it would have been previously uncapped.)

    So long term, a huge increase on taxes for the professional class.

  25. 25.

    Fair Economist

    @Kropacetic: FTNYT is ignoring the effect of better tax enforcement, which Treasury estimates will raise 40 billion per year.

    Any lie or distraction to make Biden look bad.

  27. 27.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Fair Economist: about that SALT provision (cue the theme from The Odd Couple)

    But the bill is almost certain to change in the Senate, where Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) have a counterproposal: Leave the limit for the deduction at $10,000 but create an exemption for households earning less than $400,000 annually.

    “I think it’s bad politics, it’s bad policy,” Sanders told reporters on Thursday, referring to the House bill’s SALT provision. “The bottom line is we have to help the middle class, not the 1%.”

    seems Rube Goldberg-y– the limit kicks back in at $401K? I don’t get it

  30. 30.

    Fair Economist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    seems Rube Goldberg-y– the limit kicks back in at $401K? I don’t get it

    Yeah, hopefully no cliffs. They have pretty pathological effects. Very pleased the BBB will remove the Obamacare subsidy cliff.

  31. 31.

    Kent

    @Kropacetic: I have both NYT and Washington Post online subscriptions.  The coverage from both is exactly opposite.

    Washington Post:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/18/why-dems-shouldnt-listen-to-the-cbo/

    CBO delivers surprisingly good news to Democrats on Build Back Better 

    It’s the Washington equivalent of a new Beyoncé album dropping: The Congressional Budget Office just released its “score” of the latest version of the Build Back Better bill. The House hopes to pass the bill Thursday night, and centrist Democrats may have been waiting to hear a bad deficit score to cut back or kill the bill.

    But it turned out that the CBO score looks quite good for the BBB. It found that the bill will increase the deficit, but within a margin that should permit an important principle to kick in: While we should take the CBO’s analysis into account, we should also remember that there’s always a good bit of uncertainty in its projections.

    Let’s first review what CBO found. Taking into account the various provisions, the CBO estimated that in total, the BBB would increase the deficit by $367 billion over 10 years.

    On one key question — how much money will be raised by providing $80 billion to increase IRS enforcement on rich tax cheats — the CBO said it would raise $207 billion over 10 years, meaning the net savings would be $127 billion.

    But while the $207 billion in savings wasn’t included in CBO’s top-line numbers, the $80 billion in enforcement was. Subtract that $207 billion, and it means the CBO thinks this bill will raise the deficit by only $160 billion.

    That’s $16 billion a year. In the scope of the federal budget, that’s a tiny amount.

    On top of this, many people think CBO’s figure on the cost savings from tax enforcement is a drastic underestimate. The Treasury Department estimates that it would generate $400 billion in revenue, for a net savings of $320 billion, almost $200 billion more than CBO thinks. If Treasury is right, the bill’s effect on the deficit is almost nothing.

    New York Times:  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/18/us/politics/cbo-biden-spending-bill.html

    Social Policy Bill Will Add to Deficit, C.B.O. Says;

    Democrats Delay Vote:  The White House and the Congressional Budget Office are at odds over how much revenue the Internal Revenue Service could recoup from tax cheats.

    WASHINGTON — The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday that President Biden’s sprawling climate change and social policy package would increase the federal budget deficit by $160 billion over the next 10 years.

    That determination was at odds with Mr. Biden’s pledge to fully pay for the $1.85 trillion legislation but was unlikely to stop House Democrats from approving the bill.

    Plans to do so Thursday evening, however, were derailed when a marathon speech by Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority leader, prompted Democratic leaders to send members home with plans to reconvene at 8 a.m. Friday.

    The budget office’s analysis found that the bill’s tax cuts and spending programs were almost — but not entirely — offset by new revenue and spending cuts. The package would be largely paid for with tax increases on high earners and corporations, which were estimated to bring in nearly $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Savings in government spending on prescription drugs were estimated to bring in another $260 billion.

  32. 32.

    Comrade Colette

    OT? I got Shingrix shot #1 yesterday, and 36 hours in, my only side effect is a moderately sore arm (a bit worse than a flu shot, but not as bad as Moderna). Thanks to DAW, Ruviana, Kalakal, Almost Retired, and others who offered reassurance and well-wishes. I was absurdly scared, and am very relieved to just be a coward and not a coward who’s sick as hell.

  33. 33.

    frosty

    @Comrade Colette: Now comes Shingrix #2. For me they were so mild I don’t remember them. I do, however, remember getting Shingles during the long period when the vaccine was unavailable. Mild case, fortunately.

  34. 34.

    Poe Larity

    Well, who fixed the Air Force satellites over Italy that changed the vote counts? Was it JFK Jr and his secret space shuttle?

  36. 36.

    prostratedragon

    @Comrade Colette:
    @frosty:
    Yaay! Got mine at end of October, a day after my flu shot; no significant side effects. Had Pfizer booster Saturday and felt just a little cold-ish for a couple of days. And now I’m all caught up. My father and another relative had shingles back before the current vaccine, and it really looked like something to be avoided.

  37. 37.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Love the idea that for a super-secret operation, CIA sent its director, the agency’s most-recognizable face

    It’s like whenever the senior bridge staff on Star Trek would go on away missions; particularly when Picard, Beverly Crusher, and Worf all went on a secret mission in that one episode of TNG (that was well-written of course). Senior leadership never get sent on missions like that in real life.

  39. 39.

    Tony Jay

    Love the idea that for a super-secret operation, CIA sent its director, the agency’s most-recognizable face

    Duh! The CIA has access to that micro-moulding face goo that lets you look like anyone. Plus, it saves on budget to have the main cast do all the away missions.

    Honestly, it’s like these Internet Kids have never even seen a TV.

  41. 41.

    PST

    The lunar eclipse is underway. It’s clear as glass here in Chicago. Wish I didn’t have to step outside to see it. Brrrr.

  42. 42.

    Anne Laurie

    @Kent: That’s why the WaPo is my go-to paper for national politics:  The ‘generic’ Post subscriber is a DC local who has a vested interest in how bills will influence who keeps / gets their job — not just political staffers, but the retail owners & real estate agents who make their living selling to those staffers.

    The ‘generic’ NYTimes subscriber is a well-to-do, not necessarily NYC-based reader who is less likely to be interested in day-to-day national politics than in what Big Finance and Big Media (both NYC-based industries) want readers to *think* about those tedious details.

  44. 44.

    Chris T.

    @Comrade Colette: We (Spousal Unit and I) got three shots yesterday, Shingrix #2, Flu, and Covid booster. S.U. feels fine now while I had chills-and-fever feeling for a while and then a headache for much of the day (but headache was easily tamped down with OTC pain relievers: ibuprofen for me).

    I still have mild muscle soreness at the Shingrix shot site and the Covid booster site, but almost nothing at the flu-shot site.

  45. 45.

    mrmoshpotato

    A rumor spread on the right after the election, from QAnon to Louie Gohmert, that the CIA and US soldiers had been in some sort of gunfight in Germany over election fraud.

    LOL!  These slapdicks!

  46. 46.

    mrmoshpotato

    “Sir, the election is over,” Cohen told Flynn

    Flynn replied: “This is not over! Don’t be a quitter!”

    Flynn can choke on a bag of dicks.

  48. 48.

    Wvng

    @Anne Laurie: The Post has changed markedly since Barron left the newsroom and Buzbee took over, really dramatically negative on Biden. So bad that Eric Boehlert is asking wtf happened to the newsroom.

  52. 52.

    Shalimar

    I suspect Cohen-Watnick is exactly the kind of guy who would lead a military coup and everyone in the Trump administration knew this, if only they had given him more than a month to plan and figure out which officers he could trust to carry it out.

  53. 53.

    Ruckus

    @prostratedragon:

    My father and another relative had shingles back before the current vaccine, and it really looked like something to be avoided.

    You are correct it looks nasty.

    Feels a lot worse than it looks.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    @Wvng:  I think Buzbee is a disaster hire.

    It may turn out that Marty Barron’s retiring when he did was a preventable tragedy.

    Buzbee hails from the AP.  As did Ron Fournier.  The land of “both sidesism.”

    Democracy dies in both sidesism.  Really disgusted with Buzbee.

    I wonder what Jennifer Rubin and Margaret Sullivan think of their new executive editor.

  58. 58.

    Geminid

    Representative Jaime Raskin on Twitter last night, during Kevin McCarthy’s rambling late night filibuster:

        I must admit Kevin McCarthy has accomplished one thing. America is no longer woke.

    Earlier, Raskin said his favorite moment thus far was when McCarthy said, “No one elected Joe Biden to be FDR,” and Representative Ocasio-Cortez shouted, “I Did!”

  59. 59.

    Kalakal

    @Comrade Colette: Yay! Good for you. I wouldn’t call you a coward, I’ve heard loads of people go on about how terrible they felt after Shingix shots. Hardly unreasonable to be apprehensive

  60. 60.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: As McCarthy’s “Mr. Stiff Goes to Washington” speech dragged on, the Democrats drifted out of the House Chamber. A few dozen Republicans remained to back up their Minority Leader as he flailed on. A twitter wag had one of them asking another, “Can I just be censured instead?”

  62. 62.

    Betty

    @Kropacetic: Most reporters are refusing to include the IRS revenue in their headlines and tweets. Even with the CBO number there is a small deficit. With numbers put out by the Treasury, there is no deficit. Games are being played with numbers.

  65. 65.

    Miss Bianca

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    particularly when Picard, Beverly Crusher, and Worf all went on a secret mission in that one episode of TNG (that was well-written of course).

    Ah, Chain of Command. Which I just re-watched the other night, by coincidence.

    That one was well-written. I had forgotten how many stinkers you had to wade through in Seasons 1 and 2 to get to the good stuff later on. Still, even Angel One was better-written than this crap coming from these GOP “operatives”.

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