Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Be a wild strawberry.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Let there be snark.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

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

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

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

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

When I was faster i was always behind.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

You are here: Home / Archives for 2024

Archives for 2024

Friday Evening Open Thread: Full Credit to AOC

by | 77 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

… And also Wonkette. (My thanks to commentor TBone for the reminder!) Per Wonkette, “AOC Gonna Impeach Justices Thomas And Alito, For Torts Of Shameless, Disgraceful VERGOGGGGNA”:

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez yesterday filed articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to call attention to their complete indifference to judicial ethics and their refusal to recuse themselves from hearing cases in which they either have friends with interests at stake or in which they (or their spouses) have clearly taken a political stance.

Both justices took oaths to be impartial, but then refused to take even the most basic action to comply with ethical norms by recusing themselves. Chief Justice John Roberts hasn’t seen fit to enforce those norms by taking the rogue justices by the ear and explaining why their behavior is unacceptable, either. And they certainly won’t resign. Therefore, Ocasio-Cortez argued, impeachment is the only option left to Congress, which is still allegedly an equal branch of government…

Yes, of course Ocasio-Cortez knows full well that as long as Republicans hold the House, the effort to bring some accountability to the Court will go nowhere. Hell, that’s half her point: The entire Republican Party is now happy to look away from the sleaziest behavior by its most powerful figures, both elected and not, even those who are officially supposed to be neutral arbiters of the law, as long as it means the GOP gets the political outcomes it wants. By any means necessary, as some guy said long ago.

Oh, right, the other half of her point: No one should be above the law. Even the most powerful judges have to follow the rules, and if they don’t, they must be held accountable if our Constitution is going to work…

show full post on front page

Friday Evening Open Thread: Full Credit to AOCPost + Comments (77)

PSA: Postcards Stamp Buyers (and Open Thread)

by | 129 Comments

This post is in: 

Postcard stamps are going up this week – from 53 cents to 56 cents – so the folks who have offered to buy stamps for a few longtime BJ peeps who are writing postcards probably want to buy them TODAY.

To take advantage of prices before the USPS increases prices this weekend, please email me TODAY if you are able to help buy stamps for those BJ peeps who are writing postcards.

Please write to me even if you have already let me know; I have been so swamped my email inbox is a disaster.  I know Nukular Biscuits is one, and JR is another.

LET ME KNOW HOW MANY STAMPS YOU ARE UP FOR SUPPLYING TO POSTCARD WRITERS (who are regular BJ peeps).  Roughly speaking, 2 postcard stamps cost $1.  We’re probably looking at people who are up for funding 100 stamps.  (or more)

(You can expect another post asking for information on who needs stamps in the next week or so.)

 

PSA: Postcards Stamp Buyers (and Open Thread)Post + Comments (129)

First They Curse, Then They Press Me ‘Til I Hurt

by | 74 Comments

This post is in: 

First They Curse, Then They Press Me 'Til I Hurt

Whatever our feelings on the Democratic ticket, I think we can all agree that Rudy Giuliani getting thrown out of bankruptcy court is worth a laugh or two:

A New York judge dismissed Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case on Friday, clearing the way for two Georgia election workers to try and recover nearly $150m Giuliani was ordered to pay them for defaming them after the 2020 election.

The ruling by US bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane comes after lawyers for the two women, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss, as well as other creditors accused Giuliani of concealing information about his finances. The judge also prevented Giuliani from refiling for bankruptcy within one year.

I hope Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss bleed him so bad that he ends up making his martinis from plastic bottle vodka and smoking Swisher Sweets.

First They Curse, Then They Press Me ‘Til I HurtPost + Comments (74)

Isn’t There Some Event Happening Next Week?

by | 255 Comments

This post is in: 

I know something is gonna happen, but I can’t remember what.  Let’s see,  I’m going to visit my aunt in another state — no, that’s not it.  Vampire Weekend is playing Red Rocks, nah, I didn’t get tickets in time.  Hmmm,  now I remember:  the Republican National Convention.

Jesus, I had to actually google it to see when it started (Monday, July 15).  There is not a single story mentioning it on the Post’s front page.  The Guardian has one story about Teamsters’ President Sean O’Brien possibly addressing the convention (what’s up with that guy, anyway?  He seems to have some real misunderstanding of the Republican Party’s attitude towards unions.)  There’s one more story waaay down the page.

Overall, though, the biggest free media opportunity for Republicans is not drowning out even this little turd,  which is top right on the Guardian US home page right now:

Isn't There Some Event Happening Next Week?

So, a no-chance nepo baby’s rape allegation is bigger news than the accused pedophile and convicted felon’s convention.

I understand that the Republicans really don’t want us paying attention to their convention — it’s all fan service for fans of the worst things.  What the christofascists, glibertarians and rich, entitled fucks who serve as delegates want to hear is which folks need killing.   They’re going to play all the hits:  Project 2025, life beginning at the first thought of conception, sending goon squads into cities to round up immigrants, and how contraception needs to be outlawed.

What I don’t understand is how the media gaggle is going to justify basically ignoring a staple of American politics.  Even in 2020, coverage started more than a couple of days before the event.  I mean, it’s clear that they’re totally afraid/unable to write a set of declarative sentences describing the horrors that await if Trump is elected, but does their fear and inability stretch far enough to ignore an entire convention?  I guess we’re about to find out.

(One kind of related point about the press conference yesterday:  the only reason some of the questions were half decent was because there were foreign press in attendance.)

Isn’t There Some Event Happening Next Week?Post + Comments (255)

Networks, Adverse Selection and races to the bottom

by | 6 Comments

This post is in: 

Dr. Amanda Kreider and colleagues have a new paper at the Journal of Health Economics that looks at how insurers respond to adverse selection caused by a specific hospital in network when the insurer has to operate as a community-rated, guaranteed issue product.  Those last five words means everyone gets charged the same price and anyone can sign up.  I’m posting the link to the working paper.

Using data from New York’s Medicaid program, we present visually transparent evidence of adverse selection in response to a health plan’s coverage of a top specialty cancer hospital. In 2005, a large, private Medicaid plan added this cancer hospital to its provider network, becoming the only private plan in Medicaid to cover the hospital. Consistent with adverse selection, demand among enrollees with cancer responded differentially to this change in coverage: the plan’s market share rose by 50% among enrollees with cancer, while remaining constant among non-cancer enrollees. One year after adding the cancer hospital, the plan reversed course and dropped the hospital from its network, leading to a symmetric outflow of enrollees with cancer.

The short version of this story is that “ABC” Hospital in New York City has a tremendous reputation at being awesome at cancer care.  As soon as a single Medicaid managed care entity elected to included ABC Hospital in-network, the insurer was adversely selected by people who really needed/wanted care at ABC instead of other hospitals in the city.  There was no corresponding increase in enrollment for individuals who did not strongly desire ABC hospital.  The incremental enrollment was unprofitable for the insurer.

The insurer dropped the hospital from the network the next year and the went from being very heavy on cancer to neither heavy nor light on cancer enrollees in a relatively short time frame.  Kreider and co-authors find that a small hospital inclusion bonus on a per-member per month basis would be sufficient to counter-act the adverse selection.

I love this paper.  It highlights that in selection markets where there is a price floor and positive selection occurs that there are very strong incentives by insurers to race to the bottom.  Imperfect risk adjustment is a critical but insufficient piece of the puzzle if we want to have a given level of quality available for enrollees.  We see this in the ACA — national PPO networks and Platinum plans are very rare.  Insurers will tweak every knob and dial that they get if the incremental membership that a particular manipulable piece of the puzzle is either profitable or not profitable.  The aggregate plan level profitability really does not matter, the incremental profitability matters.

From a policy point of view, these incentives disappear under single payer systems such as the VA or non-managed care Medicaid programs.

 

Networks, Adverse Selection and races to the bottomPost + Comments (6)

If you’re looking for someone who’s young and athletic, go watch a fucking movie.

by | 232 Comments

This post is in: , ,

I have been so busy with work that I don’t think I’ve looked at Balloon Juice for two days.

I don’t even know how Biden’s NATO press conference went, but I can guess that to the press it won’t matter how well Biden did – it will only matter to the press if he didn’t do well.  And even then they may make stuff up.

In any case, fuck what the media says. This is what it’s about.

Maybe this has been covered already?  If it has, it’s still worth sharing again.

EYES ON THE FUCKING PRIZE.

BrookynDad_Defiant

When I cast my vote for President Biden, I wasn’t expecting much.  I just wanted trump out of office.

I knew he was old.
I knew he had a stutter.
I knew he had a rep for “gaffes.”
I didn’t care.  Just wanted trump gone.

Four years later, things are different.
I wasn’t expecting that President Biden would be the most legislatively successful President in my lifetime.

I wasn’t expecting him to help expand NATO.
I wasn’t expecting him to lower insulin & inhalers.
I wasn’t expecting him to create & recover 15m jobs.
I wasn’t expecting him to bring manufacturing back.
I wasn’t expecting him to forgive student debt.

But he did ALL those things, and more.
He surpassed my expectations by a lot.
And he has more planned for 2025-2028.

He’s not a master orator,
He doesn’t move so smoothly
But neither did FDR from his wheelchair.

Meanwhile, trump is STILL a threat. He wants to be a dictator.
He wants to stay out of prison.
He wants revenge on his enemies.
He wants to take away from the poor and middle class and give to the ultra wealthy.
His Project 2025 will enable a national abortion ban to criminalize women seeking safe and legal abortions.
His Project 2025 will take away the rights of our LGBTQ family and friends.
His Project 2025 will transform the government into a loyalty pledge, not to America but to him ALONE.
We might never have another free election.

THAT is what is at stake in this election.

We can continue to progress with Biden policies, or we can let trump destroy democracy as we know it.

If you’re looking for someone who’s young and athletic, go watch a fucking movie.

I’ll take the old guy who needs a nap while saving democracy over the old guy trying to overthrow democracy who needs a legal team.

.

If you’re looking for someone who’s young and athletic, go watch a fucking movie.Post + Comments (232)

TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Should Our Failed Major Media Step Aside?

by | 202 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,

If any of these well-dressed drones were capable of shame, well…

And some people wonder why President Biden is popular with non-white voters!

Yeah, I’m tired of screaming into the void where the Major Media outlets supposedly have souls, or at least some vestigage of self-awareness. There are already not-major-media tidbits being reported about the RNC KlownKar Konvention — anybody wanna bet on how the various pending stories out of Milwaukee will compare to the laser focus on Biden’s reelection campaign?

show full post on front page

TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Should Our Failed Major Media Step Aside?Post + Comments (202)