Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

People are weird.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

I don’t recall signing up for living in a dystopian sci-fi novel.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

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Unintended Consequences of Section 1332 Waivers

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In this month’s Health Affairs, I have a new article co-authored with Coleman Drake of Pitt and Ezra Golberstein of the University of Minnesota.  We examine the enrollment effects of Georgia’s Section 1332 Reinsurance Waiver on subsidized enrollment using a matched border county design between Georgia (which adopted a waiver) and the five surrounding states that did not adopt a waiver nor have Medicaid Expansion during the study period.

BLUF:  Section 1332 Waivers decrease non-subsidized premiums.  These waivers ALSO increase the minimum cost of coverage for subsidized enrollees.  Enrollment in the 250-400% FPL group DROPPED BY A THIRD!

WHAT?

Weren’t waivers supposed to make health insurance more affordable?

YEAH BUT…..

The key question in the ACA when we think about affordability is: FOR WHOM?

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Speaking of Super Tuesday

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My first laugh of the day.

It’s Super Tuesday.

If you’re standing in line today to vote for a twice impeached adjudicated rapist with 91 felony charges who owes over $600 million in civil verdicts…

…dreaming about a wall he never built

…longing for his infrastructure plan that’s still two weeks out

…wishing for a health care plan that doesn’t exist

…craving tax cuts you never benefited from

…wanting the kind of leadership that got him mocked by his own staff and world leaders everywhere

Take a sincere moment to ask yourself.

What the hell is wrong with you?

Can’t wait to see Dean Phillips pull in that 12% of the vote today!

Can we make this a point and laugh post?  (Just a thought.)

Totally open thread.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Sooooper Tuesday

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For some reason [glares in general direction of EM], the bulk of the tweets I’m seeing right now are MAGAts imploring each other to vote early & often. Of course, their guy has a serious (if doomed) challenger — CRUSH NIKKI HALEY FAITHLESS BROWN BEYOTCH is a common subtext. Even the most frantic doomers have trouble proposing Dean Phillips as a potential threat to Our Guy in the Oval Office.

All the details spelled out, for those who want to start marking their cards:


Associated Press writers gettin’ snarky, or maybe punchdrunk:

… ARE WE THERE YET?
As of Super Tuesday, there will be 132 days until the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, 167 days until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and 245 until the November general election.

“For entertainment purposes only”, as the betting sites always say:

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On The Road – SuzieC – Tuscany 2023

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SuzieC

Hello fellow jackals.  WaterGirl found out that in the last five years I traveled to Hawaii 3 times, and to Tuscany last October.  She asked me to compose a submission for On The Road and coached me through the process.

I visited Tuscany last October for 9 glorious days with a culinary tour group.  Our objective was to eat our way through Tuscany and see the world’s greatest works of art in between meals.  My friend and I stayed for 2 extra days because we certainly could not miss Michaelangelo’s David.  Here are some highlights.

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On The Road - SuzieC - Tuscany 2023 9
FlorenceOctober 18, 2023

Our headquarters, the Hotel Berchielli located next to the River Arno.

Dank Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: (Past) Time to Take Out the Trash

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After tomorrow — Sooooper Tuesday! — I’m hoping we’ve seen the last of some of the grifters attaching themselves to this year’s bandwagon. From Politico, “Is No Labels about to face plant?”:

Donors to No Labels are starting to fear that the third-party group missed its window for launching a much-hyped presidential bid and are questioning whether to make future financial commitments to the organization.

Those fears have intensified after two high-profile No Labels candidate targets — former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat — passed on the chance to run for president, and as the party’s planned April presidential nominating convention approaches without a clear ticket in place.

“No Labels just missed one heck of an opportunity to potentially be viable, and now I don’t know that they can be viable,” said Jim Teague, the CEO of a Texas oil and gas company and a No Labels donor. “I don’t know who they can possibly get to run that would generate excitement that Joe Manchin would have generated,” he said, adding that it’s “pretty doubtful” he will donate to the organization in the future.

No Labels officials say they are continuing to move forward with plans to launch a presidential run and are looking at “sometime after Super Tuesday to determine if we offer our line and who would be on it,” spokesperson Maryanne Martini said.

The sense that there is a lack of clarity around the group’s 2024 plans — including the absence of a slate of candidates — has caused anxiety among at least the half dozen donors who spoke with POLITICO…

“I’d be pissed if I was a donor,” said the person who has direct knowledge of No Labels’ vetting process, noting that the ticket, if it comes together, will likely include lesser names at the top of it. “It’s like buying a ticket to see Taylor Swift, and you show up to see Madonna fall off the stage.”

No Labels, for now, says it is plowing ahead. The group has regular Zoom calls with supporters where they discuss the status of getting on the ballots and encourage relaying names of potential presidential candidates.

Some supporters would like to see Romney or Ryan on the ballot, even though No Labels “has not spoken” to either of the veteran Republicans, Martini said.

And I would like to see my favorite potato chips available in a no-calorie variety, but I don’t plan on getting much satisfaction in that hope.
 

‘Democratic commentator’ Kaivin Shroff brings receipts from the distant past (last November):
Dank Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Time to Take Out the Trash

And Dean’s not doing so well, at this point in time…

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War for Ukraine Day 740: Russia Goes Off the Looking Glass as It Debuts Its New Map of Europe & Go

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Painting by NEIVANMADE. It has a black border. There are grey buildings with black windows along the left side. The center is a yellowy-grey, perhaps Ukrainian wheat fields. There is a black shadow figure striding through it. The figure's legs and feet are all that is visible of it. On the right side are red Zs, which symbolize Putin's/Russia's "Z" war/special military operation in Ukraine. The sky above the buildings is light grey. "GENOCIDE IS GOING BUT WHO EVEN CARES?" is painted in black in the upper left hand corner.

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

It was very long day today, so I’m going to keep this as brief as possible.

Ten years ago today:

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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