Man I'm not sure that they've thought this through.
Missing paychecks to the military historically has… not gone well for the head of state.— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 11, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Per CNN:
… It’s the most dramatic step yet by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson to attempt to force Democrats to end the government shutdown, even as they realize their party will, too, face political pain for the move. And it comes at a high-stakes moment for both parties: This will be the first time in recent history that active-duty military service members will miss a paycheck on a large scale during a shutdown.
But behind the scenes, Thune and Johnson have agreed that Republicans can make no attempts to lessen the pain they argue Democrats are causing millions of Americans by rejecting the GOP’s plan to simply extend current funding — concerned that if Congress took that step, Democrats would face less pressure to reopen the government, according to multiple GOP leadership sources.
As the shutdown drags into its third week, tensions are rising in the GOP with no clear way out. Lawmakers are angry at one another for getting into now-viral hallway confrontations with Democrats or doing high-profile interviews where they blame their own party for the lapse. Some are angry at GOP leadership for failing to address the military pay issue from the start, or for the optics of keeping the House out of session for weeks on end. But those CNN spoke with expressed an acute anger at Senate Democrats.
“I’m going back to DC. I’ve had enough,” GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, who has raised his concerns with House GOP leadership, said. “I just can’t fathom why we would not be there.”
Also, my constituents? *Extremely* whiny & annoying, in person!
But Thune and Johnson are publicly resolute in their position and the party remains in lockstep on big-picture strategy: Republicans will make no guarantee on Affordable Care Act subsidies and the only way out of a shutdown is for Senate Democrats to retreat, despite any political pain that the GOP will feel in the coming days and weeks over the missed paychecks, according to interviews with two dozen lawmakers and senior aides. It underscores the depth of Congress’ ugly stalemate, with Democrats equally dug in.
“We’re in a bind as Republicans, but they’re in a huge bind as Democrats,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey said, summing up the party’s mood. Even Van Drew, who believes the party does need to take action on the expiring subsidies, was clear that Democrats must be the ones to yield…
Inside the upper rungs of leadership, Republicans have been astounded by Democrats’ continued rejection of a bill to extend Biden-era funding levels and their hardline position on the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. But publicly and privately, GOP lawmakers in both chambers have expressed they believe the public will ultimately support their argument — despite some early polling favoring Democrats — and are prepared to let the shutdown drag on until Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backs down.
“We think we’re winning this argument,” one GOP campaign operative said, summing up the party’s overarching position…
Republicans also insist Democrats are making a major miscalculation in their shutdown demands.
Democrats have said they will not agree to reopen the government until they have a concrete deal to prevent billions of dollars in those subsidies from lapsing at year’s end.
But Republicans are privately not sure if there will be a deal at all. Senior members of GOP leadership in both chambers are unsure whether any version of a subsidies measure can pass with enough Republican votes. Any deal would would likely require extended negotiations, with clear buy-in from Trump — and Congress is running out of time.
Some center-right Republicans have been vocal about the need to do something about the deadline: They acknowledge that many of those receiving subsidies are their own voters and that the party can’t afford politically to simply let that lapse…
The only meaningful line in this, imho, is the fact that GOP leadership is completely gobsmacked that dems have dug in.
They literally just expected they could say "lol no" and Schumer would give them the votes.— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 11, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Which means it's more than they think they're winning the fight or w/e, it's that they literally don't have a plan.
— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 11, 2025 at 12:44 PM
===
This push might have worked had there not been articles titled “Republicans bloc Dem bill to pay troops through shutdown”. The republicans seem like the only strategy is that the public will blame the Dems
— William Easley (@williameasley.bsky.social) October 11, 2025 at 12:52 PM
===
No questions! NO questions, dammit!…
It looks like Mike Johnson just ensured the shutdown will continue for at least another week. www.c-span.org/clip/us-hous…
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) October 11, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Don’t know what blackmail material TrumpCo is holding over Pastor Mike, but it must be pretty rank.
Baud
I honestly can’t blame them for thinking that they can get the public to blame the Dems
ETA
Also, their whole society rests on alpha males winning by being alpha males. I don’t know what happens to them if they give that up.
narya
@Baud: if they truly give it up, they’ll live longer, happier lives, and in some cases, will come out of the closet.
Scout211
LOL “respondents who could correctly identify which party holds the majority in Congress”.
Americans. Getting their news from Facebook and Fox News. 🙄
waspuppet
@Baud: One perception — probably the only one — that’s baked into our politics that favors Democrats is “Democrats want to keep the government open and Republicans want to shut it down.” They’ve spent 40 years literally saying out loud that we’d be better off without a federal government. Their 2012 nonpresidential platform was “Shut it down.” Even the best efforts of our wealthiest political observers isn’t going to change this in a couple of weeks. Especially when you’ve got Russell Vought screaming YES THIS IS AWESOME.
It shows how much of a death cult they’re in. Even a nominally functional political party would say “Well, might as well open up the House, seat Grijalva and deal with the discharge petition for the Epstein files — we gotta do it at some point in the next six days so we can pay the troops.” These guys have their fingers in their ears and their eyes closed and they’re screaming NONONONONO DONALD TRUMP WILL THINK OF SOMETHING.
Baud
Anyway, if the public does turn against us, health care is a good hill to die on.
Urza
There was that threat to have his Grindr released along with his IP to prove its his phone. If all those closeted conservatives got together and realized they are the majority of the party imagine what would happen.
Tony Jay
Good old Meedjya. Bending over backwards, sideways, and inside-out to craft a sentence that leaves it up in the air who, exactly, is responsible for shutting down the US Government, and tries to paint Maga Party leadership as being willing to (bravely) take political damage in order to force the Democrats to stop… whatever it is they’re doing that is keeping the Government shut.
Whoever they go to to get their ribs and spines surgically removed must be raking it in.
West of the Rockies
@Urza:
What’s happening with the Johnson Grindr story? Did the YouTube guy say he passed the info on to credible journalists for them to investigate and publicize? The Cricket Chorus has been quite noisy.
Miss Bianca
@Urza: Is that Grindr thing real or just rumor? I haven’t seen anything but speculation that Pastor Mike has something like that in his…closet…so to speak.
Not that I’d have trouble believing it, mind you, which is why I suspect that confirmation bias is a hell of a drug, at least in my case.
Shalimar
If they convene to pay the military, the public finds out the Epstein info the GOP doesn’t want out there. That shit must be really bad. This shutdown might be permanent.
trollhattan
Guessing Modi has zero fucks to give about women so-called journalists. As to who he chooses to climb into bed with, the fucking Taliban? Maybe they provide a handy thorn in Pakistan’s side and that’s reason enough.
Was a band of Neanderthals not available? At least they have artwork.
Hoodie
Seems like not voting for military pay undermines their narrative of “blame Democrats” because they look like they’re actually the ones holding the hostage. Overall, looks like they’re in that mode where they’ll risk pissing off a wide swath of voters for an ideological goal (“remaking government?”). Sacrificing political popularity for an ideological goal isn’t always bad (e.g., Dem reps taking a hit for passing Obamacare), but often has serious electoral blowback. Voting for Obamacare was unpopular with some people, but was popular with a fair segment, particularly the Dem base. I don’t see what’s popular about what these assholes are doing with the ACA and it’s likely unpopular with a lot of their base. It’s almost like they just bullheadedly want to believe they can “win” the shutdown just because the Dems are holding up the CR this time or that they’re entitled to the win just because they’re idealogically committed. Even MTG senses that’s dumb as she probably understands the MAGA base better than they do.
Another Scott
@Shalimar: Keep an eye on the Air Traffic Control system. Those folks aren’t getting paid, they’re critical to the system, and cannot be replaced. If the ATC system is substantially disrupted, there will be some sort of bill to fund the government – one way or another.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
David_C
Just came back from the weekly vigil at the NIH entrance. Lot’s of shock and anger about the CDC. Talked to other BD signers and did some more networking, giving and getting support. Got a nice note from Angie Rasmussen. She wrote about the CDC firings. I don’t know if people realize what can happen when a system that hums along when things are going right, but can ramp up when things go sour, is crippled.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmussenretorts/p/the-death-of-public-health?utm_campaign=post&utm_mediu…
Ishiyama
So Trump is just going to take the money to pay the troops from every other source of funds he wants, budget authorization be damned. We are seriously getting into King Charles the First territory.
bbleh
… it’s that they literally don’t have a plan.
@Baud: Also, their whole society rests on alpha males winning by being alpha males. I don’t know what happens to them if they give that up.
I think it’s this exactly, and not something deeper or more nefarious like some kind of blackmail. They don’t know what to do except bluster, it confuses them mightily if someone says “no and fk off” to their faces, AND — I think importantly — a YUGE chunk of their base believes likewise, and they’re scared of what the base will do if they back down in any way.
I would also observe — and have done to Schumer — that if Republicans think they’re in a bind now, just wait ’til those premium-increase notices start showing up
@Hoodie: Even MTG senses that’s dumb as she probably understands the MAGA base better than they do.
Yabbut she’s just a dumb GIRL. Wadda THEY understand about this stuff, amirite?
Geminid
This is kind of funny. From Noga Tarnopolsky:
Witkoff was speaking to a crowd in Hostage Square, Tel Aviv.
The rest of his speech was very well-received. Witkoff has a good reputation in Israel, and the committee of hostage families who have led regular Saturday night rallies at Hostage Square asked him to speak first tonight.
New Deal democrat
Accidentally posted this at the end of the morning thread, so re-posting it here:
For those who are interested, here is a link to a Reddit thread asking people about any memorable direct contact they or a family member has had with ICE:
reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1nxmase/serious_people_who_have_had_a_direct_runin_with/
Some very strange and/or depressing stories. The “wildest” although I guess unsurprising one’s are the Native Americans who are getting detained because they “look” like immigrants, and their tribal ID isn’t believed.
Anonymous At Work
Lake Charles to Shreveport are highly government dependent areas. It’s a district that does a few things and needs a lot of specific things. Plus whatever MAGA Mikey promised Trump. And there is no Pro-Mike caucus in Congress. Either Trump told them to, or they don’t want more Speaker elections.
Baud
Baud
WTFGhost
“Republicans finally decide to start shooting hostages. Film at 11!”
In my heart, I think the Democrats won’t cave. They’re thinking of millions of people without health insurance, and the thousands of cases of death and debility as a result. And sooner or later, someone is going to tell Republicans, that if the economy is in the toilet for the midterms, they’re in big trouble. Democrats don’t like that, but, it’s a Republican caused problem, surrendering to Republicans won’t help matters. So, the longer the shutdown, the worse the economic hit.
Trump is sure they’ll cave, they’ll feel “oh so sooowwwwy” for the people hurt by the shutdown, but I think the tens of thousands of needless deaths Trump is causing will cause them not to buckle. I sure hope so.
Baud
If Republican voters want to prioritize owning the libs, the least we can do is make ourselves costly.
p.a
This is NOT a complaint about Dem messaging or actions, but has any Dem also pointed out “so the continuing resolution is for seven
fuckinweeks and then they’ll pull the same bullshit again”?schrodingers_cat
Rs have done this shutdown drama so many times and I have yet to see them pay a price for it.
scav
Maybe this military no-paycheck policy is just Kegsbreath & Trumpy following through on their No-Fatties plan for the military. Maybe in their eyes this macho GOP diet is evidence of p their devotion to healthcare? (No Vaccines! No Tylenol! No Food!)
?
Melancholy Jaques
@Baud:
When was the last time that didn’t work for them?
And they are more concerned with their base than with normies at this point. Normies don’t know who does what and whatever happens in 2025 will not impact their votes in 2026.
rk
@schrodingers_cat:
I agree. I’ve heard this hundreds of time. Republicans never seem to pay a price for anything.
WTFGhost
@Baud: Well… that time, that guy (who was definitely not Baud, 7 billion other people on the planet you know!), asked if I’d have sex with him, using full safe sex practices for a million bucks, and when I said, maybe… okay, sure, and he offered me ten bucks instead.
I dunno, maybe he expected me to scream, in outrage, “what kind of man do you think I am?” but my response was “screw off if you think I’m that cheap a lay!”
And yes, I agree, if we’re going along for the unpleasant ride, we should sell out for as huge a price as we can.
Scout211
Posted downstairs. Hormone therapy as well. It’s an aggressive form of cancer.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
They won’t pay a price. But they tend to lose shutdown fights. Voters just don’t hold it against Rs.
WTFGhost
@Baud: Land of the ‘mostly free’, home of the chickenshit cops afraid to show their faces.
“Your citizenship only makes you MOSTLY free. When you’re completely free, there’s only one thing left to do, tell the judge a sob story and hope it works.”
You know, like, Princess Bride and all?
Baud
@WTFGhost:
There’s a reason Republicans always filibuster reform of civil rights laws to hold police accountable.
bbleh
@Melancholy Jaques: And they are more concerned with their base than with normies at this point. Normies don’t know who does what and whatever happens in 2025 will not impact their votes in 2026.
I think the first point is exactly right, per above. I think that’s what motivates them generally — not the fear of losing in a general but of losing in a primary, because primary voters skew extreme. I think this is just one of maaaaany examples of that.
As to the second point, I’m not so sure. Even assuming the Dems win and subsidies are restored, it could take a while for everything to reset — say, long enough to put a big dent in Christmas budgets — and even normies remember hits to their wallets. Moreover, things ain’t lookin’ so good on a whole other bunch of economic fronts (jobs, agricultural and other prices, the tariffs and the AI bubble in the stock market), and if those start to go bad too, it will persist well into the ’26 election season, and pretty much everybody’s gonna notice.
Scout211
Another Scott
@WTFGhost:
This is what my gut tells me as well.
Even Johnson’s comments that (IIRC) (roughly) ‘the plan always was to discuss and debate and address’ the GQP healthcare crisis later, note that he didn’t say that there would be votes and opportunities for amendments and all the rest that a normal legislature does. And it wasn’t even clear to me that Democrats would be allowed to do any of the “discuss”ing in a meaningful way.
Congressional and Senate Democrats have memories longer than that of a fruit fly. They know where the levers of power are, and they’re using them, and demanding input on legislation and the functioning of the legislature in return for their votes.
As it should be.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Baud
@Scout211:
Unless everyone in the Establishment endorses, no one on the Establishment endorses. /cynicism
Anyway, good on Martin.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@David_C:
From your link:
Gotta shit on the Democrats, even when they’re doing the right thing. What else does Rasmussen expect them to do that would be realistic and effective? Even at the end of the piece, she doesn’t really answer this question.
Also, I find it interesting that she frames this shutdown as planned and engineered by the Trump administration/Republicans, that they are essentially winning, when all I’ve read is the exact opposite.
What exactly are Trump/Vought doing that they haven’t done already/were going to do anyway, shutdown or no shutdown?
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
It is Rasmussen. Basically, Fox.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Different Rasmussen, unless you’re making a joke
cmorenc
@Ishiyama:
Agree that if the pressure on the GOP for the shutdown becomes too threateningly uncomfortable, Trump will simply reallocate funds congress appropriated / designated for completely different purposes, eg the CDC, to pay the military and ATC controllers, and will use any lawsuits by Ds to stop the misappropriation to shift blame on the Ds for refusing to allow the troops and ATCs to be paid. And take advantage of delays in the legal system and the pattern of the SCOTUS 6 to block any injunction granted by lower courts over the reallocation, pending review.
Melancholy Jaques
@bbleh:
My perhaps over the line contempt for normies comes from the fact that they completely forgot that asshole fucked up the response to COVID and incited a violent attack on the congress to overthrow the government. It was like it never happened.
I will bet dinner for two at a decent restaurant that normies will not remember any of this a year from now
You are correct that if the economy is in the toilet, that will be the issue in 2026. But I will never forgive the normies for going for that asshole the second time.
Splitting Image
Damn. Diane Keaton has passed away. This one hurts.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I didn’t click through, and thought there was only one Rasmussen when I read your comment mentioning them.
I don’t know how the other one is, but if it’s not a eighties, then good on you for calling them out.
Baud
@Melancholy Jaques:
Same. It’s why I would be a terrible person to do outreach to voters we need.
David_C
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Angie’s much better on the public health stuff than the political angle. Obviously, if she were down here in Maryland instead of in Canada she would have a different picture. Democrats are making noises, but it’s hard to get the media coverage. My colleagues have a lot of connections in the region, and the GOP disarray is there, but not very visible.
eclare
@Scout211:
Sigh.
cmorenc
@Melancholy Jaques: Especially since in some red states, there is pressure to re-characterize the J6 insurrection as a peaceful protest against election fraud that was hijacked by ANTIFA infiltrators to create the impression of a violent attack. I am thinking particularly of efforts in Oklahoma to present J6 in this fashion in school history curriculums.
Lyrebird
@Geminid: Thank you for keeping the news flowing — last night & this morning I’ve been looking for more info…
..and more power to you, @David_C!!
Ella in New Mexico
BOOM!
“Donald Trump, You ARE the Weakest Link!!!”
Trump says funds have been ‘identified’ to pay troops amid government shutdown
bbleh
LOLOLOL aaaaand just like that, Republicans cave. Per CNN:
Trump says funds have been ‘identified’ to pay troops amid government shutdown
So now Trump has publicly thrown Pastor Mike and That Guy From The Senate under the bus. After only a few hours. I’m sure they’re very pleased. Great coordination there, guys!
Marcopolo
Just dropping in to note Trump just put out a post on his social media site instructing Hegseth to pay the troops; that they have identified funds available to do this.
Yes, this expressly illegal & goes against the Constitution (it’s the legislature that has the authority to appropriate funds even during a shut down), but Congress has already given over pretty much every other bit of power they have to the executive. And it’s probably a bad look to sue the federal gov’t to not pay the troops.
Baud
@Ella in New Mexico:
@bbleh:
Thanks,
QatarUnited Arab Emerites.ETA: Corrected geography
trollhattan
Frogs in Portland, toadies in Tel Aviv.
Okay Steve you get a check, unlike all those pesky generals.
Melancholy Jaques
@Splitting Image:
One of the greats, no doubt. I’m a little surprised that the headlines identify her for Father of the Bride and First Wives Club. She’s Annie Fucking Hall! Best Actress Oscar! She was critical to Woody Allen’s best movies. (My opinion)
trollhattan
@bbleh:
The hidden bit: they’re being paid in soybeans.
Geminid
@Baud: This could be a coincidence, but– I’ve been checking out pro-Palestine/anti-Israel Twitter the last few days to sample reactions to the Gaza ceasefire. These folks talk about US politics and I saw some of them criticizing Mamdani. One line of criticism was that he has backed off his pledge to arrest Netanyahu if the PM comes to New York City.
The other criticism was that Mamdani had more firmly distanced himself from the slogan, “From the River, to the Sea.”
trollhattan
@Splitting Image:
Damn. :-{
Interesting Name Goes Here
@Baud: Mamdani’s fans don’t just want endorsements – they want everybody to kiss the ring.
The moment when his adoring crowd turns on him will be…entertaining. Once again, in that bitter “We didn’t have to do this” sense of the word.
Baud
@Geminid:
Good. That was a dumb pledge.
I know reasonable people have different interpretations of that. But if one interpretation is genocidal, calling it a double entendre isn’t really a great defense (for a Dem).
cmorenc
@Ella in New Mexico: Alas the link you provided hits the CNN subscription paywall. CNN has walled off behind a subscription paywall all but a handful of widely available news highlights stories. I am not going to give them $ for shitty RW-tinged news stories.
trollhattan
@Melancholy Jaques:
“We’re cloning the nose. Never clone alone.”
“I believe this is going to be a very difficult croning job.”
youtu.be/_x1gC_YGKcs?si=sqAoojugAfte4w7S&t=30
Baud
@Interesting Name Goes Here:
Honestly, if I had to pick the biggest problem that the left has, it the behavior of about 10% of their most rabid fans.
bbleh
@cmorenc: copy the link and open it in a private/anonymous browser window. If it still won’t open, delete any CNN cookies in your cache and try again. You’ll have to click through a legal notice but bfd.
Ella in New Mexico
@cmorenc: How wierd! I don’t pay any subscription at CNN.com
Enhanced Voting Techniques
This is just like when the House GOP leadership assumed Nancy Pelosi would get them the votes they needed to pass the laws they wanted when they took over the House in 2023. I think the real truth is the House GoP is just too dumb and too lazy too do anything.
Another Scott
@Marcopolo: +1
It’s more of the same from 47. It’s illegal and infuriating.
I’m no expert, but I would be surprised if there were enough “available funds” to pay salaries for more than a few weeks. As huge as the Pentagon is, it doesn’t have massive vaults full of money just sitting around doing nothing.
Pay and retirement benefits, etc., was $192B in FY2024. So roughly 200/12 = $16.7B/month. That’s a lot of money to come up with all of a sudden, even for the Pentagon.
We’ll see.
Best wishes,
Scott.
trollhattan
Ha-ha-ha. They should partner with UFL and have a 100% Alternate Superb Owl.
Cool story, my dudes. Cool.
Another Scott
@cmorenc: lite.cnn.com seems to still work – fast, no nonsense.
HTH!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Baud
@trollhattan:
I wonder if Lee Greenwood can extend his song to 15 minutes.
dexwood
@Baud:
He can if Phish backs him.
eclare
@Splitting Image:
Oh…
zhena gogolia
@Splitting Image: Oh, that is so sad. I loved her.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Melancholy Jaques: She really was Annie Hall, too. Her birth name is Diane Hall. I’m not familiar with Annie being a nickname for Diane, but I can see how it could be. I too thought the movie list was odd. Written by a younger person more familiar with more recent, lighter films, I guess. We’re old LOL.
Ishiyama
@Marcopolo: The money to pay the troops (and the secret police) will come from other people’s mouths – what happens if/when paying Social Security Benefits is sacrificed? There is a limit to how much money the Executive can misdirect without calling on Congress for more funds. If we are going to have a political rebellion, it starts with these maneuvers.
Geminid
@Baud: Well for one thing, that slogan has reached its sell-by date. Plenty of nations– including the 21-member Arab League– have signed on to the “New York Declaration” recognizing a future Palestinian State. But this means they are recognizing Israel as a state as well.
Under this framework, there will be a Palestinian state, but it won’t run from the river to the sea. There will be two states beteen the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. The Palestinian state will exist beside Israel, and not instead of Israel.
Only five of the 21 members in the Arab League recognize Israel. Ed. That would be Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.
In Iraq, it’s a crime to even advocate for recognition. But the Arab Leaugue unanimously endorsed the New York Declaration. I think they meant it too; they accept that Israel is there to stay.
eclare
@Melancholy Jaques:
Something’s Gotta Give. It has Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson as the leads. Magic.
Baud
@Geminid:
Right.
There’s a headline I saw where Hamas is refusing to disarm under Phase 2. If course, who knows what will end up happening? But still a long way to go.
trollhattan
@Baud:
“Lee Greenwood on Acid” can be the formal title of the halftime show. He can get the guitarist from Phish.*
*I assume Phish has a guitarist.
cain
@Another Scott: well, they will have to otherwise GOP pols won’t be able to fly to DC safely. Literally stuck there. All the Dems never left.
mrmoshpotato
And over the rest of the Gross Old Perverts.
geg6
@trollhattan:
I read they were talking about Creed as a headliner and Pastor Mike is begging for Lee Greenwood. I laughed and laughed and laughed. Maybe Kid Rock and Ted Nugent, too, boys. Some hippity hop and a pedophile pants shitting draft dodger would round out the bill nicely.
trollhattan
@dexwood: Jinx!
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan:
LOL!
Another Scott
@geg6: What? Pat Boone wasn’t available??
Best wishes,
Scott.
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan:
Narrator: It will not be superb in any way, shape, or form.
rockclimber
cain
@cmorenc:
I wonder if he will use the non-compliance by Dems to use the insurrection act and take over the entire govt saying we are in danger.
Melancholy Jaques
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):
It would be like Al Pacino, star of such films as Any Given Sunday and Scent of a Woman.
mrmoshpotato
@geg6: Will Child Stone have pole dancers on stage like back in 2000?
cain
@Splitting Image:
Damn really? I thought she was fairly young ? Eg late 60s?
eclare
@Melancholy Jaques:
Hahaha…
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: They will pay a price. I don’t when or how but they will. The devil’s bill always comes due.
Geminid
@Baud: That’s a problem for the International Stabilization Force to work out. They should begin to deploy from Egypt through Rafah crossing on Monday.
Egypt is reported to have vetted and trained a couple thousand Palestinians for the police force which will accompany the multinational peacekeping force.
They need to get in there. There are reports of fighting between Hamas forces and anti-Hamas, clan-based militias in the areas the IDF withdrew from yesterday.
mrmoshpotato
@Splitting Image: Rest in Peace, Kay.
schrodingers_cat
@Interesting Name Goes Here: They will turn against him. He is just the flavor of the day for them now. Just like Palestinians in Gaza are the cause until something shiny comes along.
Baud
@Geminid:
Jeez. At least let Gazans enjoy the long weekend after all they’ve been through.
cain
@Geminid:
Hamas won’t roll over easy. They have every intention to renege on the deal. The Arab league should be very firm with them.
Iran is not going to help them either.
schrodingers_cat
@rockclimber: Who wrote this? MAGA or Tankie/DSA type. I can no longer tell the difference.
This opinion is BS.
It does not consider the H1-Bs employed in the non-profit sector.
The H1-Bs that are subject to the cap have an insane lottery system that can be improved upon
Of course the guy who shuts the comment section down when he blogs here wrote it. Not surprising in the least.
Castor Canadensis
@waspuppet: wrote
To clarify a bit, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary said
merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anarchism
Anarchists, in short, are the folks who want to shrink the government enough they can drown it in a bathtub.
Castor Canadensis
@Ishiyama: I’m pretty sure King Charles the Third would accept if you folks asked to come back to the commonwealth (:-))
Nettoyeur
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Rasmussen has long been in the GOP tank.
Matt McIrvin
@waspuppet: They think our side will break first. That’s usually been the case until now.
divF
@rockclimber: The assertion that this is exclusively to get cheap, compliant, mediocre labor is not correct. In the national laboratories, the standard immigration track for non-citizens is to hire under an H1B, then transition them to green card status. I hired two Canadian staff members during my time as a research group lead, both under H1B, then eventually was able to get them green cards. Both are first-rate researchers, with indispensable skills and roles.
I think that there is a similar practice in academia.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Who is that? I don’t recall anyone with the nym Scott H.
Castor Canadensis
@cmorenc: Hey folks, can I ask a favour?
Instead if saying antifa or ANTIFA, please say Anti-FA. After all, it was named after the Germans who fought Hither before the war, the ones that got written out of the history books and sent to the first camps. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Fascist_Action
I’ve actually heard people calling it anTEEfa, like a little island somewhere near Antigua (:-))
Please, say Anti-FA, the Anti-Fascists.
Scout211
@Nettoyeur: as Goku said, this isn’t Rasmussen Reports, this is Dr. Angela Rasmussen and her substack is called Rasmussen Retorts
She is part of this group:
The Save America Movement
I don’t know anything about her but I did click through when Goku said it was a different Rasmussen.
Shinobi42
Can we talk about how I have seen more than one post today complaining that Obama called Gazans people instead of families?
Still with the tan suit.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: The link takes you to MM’s post on his blog. That quote is from the post I just linked.
heymistermix.com/p/a-couple-of-notes-on-the-latest-trumpisms
Matt McIrvin
@Castor Canadensis: I first heard an-TEE-fa as Donald Trump’s pronunciation.
Jackie
@Splitting Image: One of my favorite actresses. She, and Robert Redford, in the space of a month… 😢
schrodingers_cat
@divF: Thanks. What both ends of the horseshoe don’t like is that there are too many Indians getting that damned visa and getting jobs that should only go to white people.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Thank. But I didn’t see the quote in # 87 at your link.
Jackie
@eclare:
One of the rare DVDs I ever bought.
Gvg
I think it’s time to stop abbreviating anti-fascists.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
I like someone’s idea to call it Auntie Fa.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Ok you are right not the exact quote but something similar in spirit. The Scott H link took me to the MM post
Exactly how many people on H1B does MM know? Can he prove his assertions
I know at least 4 people who have come on this visa from India worked on projects and then went back. My brother is one of them. Not because they were ill treated, but because they had better opportunities. This is from the early aughts so nothing to do with the current upheavals.
There have been abuses, outsourcing companies have paid hefty fines. The program can be improved but the way it is characterized by the ends of the horseshoe is simply not the whole picture.
Calling them indentured servants is an insult to millions of indentured servants mostly but not exclusively from British India who toiled in the colonies in conditions not that much better than slavery. Britain started indentured servitude of Indians since 1834 a year after it abolished slavery.
MisterForkbeard
@rockclimber: I work at a fairly responsible multi-nat (mostly responsible) and I’ve always really liked the H1-B program.
We’ve used it to get high performers from other countries into the US. It’s a fantastic thing for them to do, and the company has brought a lot of really amazing people over.
I have no qualms at all about letting companies bring over good people that aren’t Americans, but who want to be. They just need to actually give those people protections.
Geminid
@cain: It will.be an Arab-led peacekeeping force composed of troops from Muslim nations. Egypt has the most troops on hand and Turkiye can provide a substantial number quickly. I expect these all will be combat ready.
The Emiratis could supply a good amount but I’m not sure they committed any yet. The President of Indonesia says his nation can supply as many as 20,000 soldiers, and Pakistan will likely supply some.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the “stabilization force” will operate under the command of a US general headquartered close by in Egypt. The operation will be staged through the Rafah crossing.
MisterForkbeard
@divF: Yes, this – we’ve used this in software development and administration, too: We get to bring really talented people over and have them go through the citizenship process over time.
Other companies do legit use them to control employees, though
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: If you were thinking of Mistermix, he did not write the material at #87. A commenter on his blog did.
schrodingers_cat
@Geminid: The quote in comment 117 is from his blog post that I linked in Comment 109.
Steve Paradis
There may not be a peep from the manure piles that sent Thune and Johnson to DC, but red states tend to have heavy representation in the military, and when Mom and Pop start getting requests for money and food parcels from Camp Swampy, it may be pitchforks and torches time at the next townhall–if there is one.
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: Yes. I just didn’t want you thinking he wrote the material at #87.
Shinobi42
@Jackie: best Keanu Reeves, you could really see how the two pros brought out the best in him.
schrodingers_cat
@Geminid: The Cringely blogpost cited by rockclimber from 2015 suggests EB-2 GC instead of the H1-B. I stopped reading after that. This person has zero idea what he is talking about.
WTFGhost
@Castor Canadensis: You know, it seems like a lot of trouble to have a difficult to pronounce term that saves a single syllable.
Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever save the syllable, because it’s easier to say “Trump is trying to root out and destroy anti-fascists.” It also refuses to buy into the Republican narrative that there *is* an “antifa”.
Sally
@Baud: Love this comment!
bjacques
@Geminid: I hope Hamas’s former protectors and sugardaddies have made clear the ride’s over and this is their chance to walk away and live. Otherwise, what’s in this for Hamas?
I don’t know what leverage Trump has over Netnyahu not to resume bombing once the hostages are freed, but at least Qatar or other kingdoms hosting the Hamas leaders on the outside could chuck one out a high window pour encourager les autres.
Kayla Rudbek
@Another Scott: yeah, they’re not user-funded and they don’t legally have an operating reserve as far as I’m aware of, so where are they getting this money from, and where are the proper authorizations coming from?
wjca
People who bitch about H-1B visa holders taking jobs from Americans apparently missed the memo. A company which wants to being in someone on an H-1B visa first has to demonstrate that they can’t find a qualified American for the job.
Eyeroller
@WTFGhost:We talked about it yesterday and this whole discussion is getting tiresome. The word originated from German antifaschistisch. The “fa” has a long “a” sound like “ah” in English. But English “antifascist” has a “short” (flat) “a” in “fa.” English does not like to accent the last syllable of words. Most exceptions are words of foreign origin that have not been anglicized, such as fiance(e). Final “a” in English tends to become a schwa (neutral vowel) which is never stressed. So the options would be ANTI-fuh or anTEEfuh. anTEEfuh seems to be winning.
sab
@Baud: Scott Rasmussen is a pollster ( Fox related?) Angela Rasmussen is an American virologist who moved to Saskatchewan (during Trump1) who gets quote a lot about epidemics etc.
Jay
@wjca:
Having had a H1-B for a decade, that’s not a difficult thing for a Fortune 100 Company to do.
The comment, and thread was about H2-B visa’s which have been abused by the MOTU’s in Silicon Valley to bring in “code monkeys”, for temp jobs, with no path to residency or citizenship, saving them the cost of setting up a sweatshop in New Delhi, to set up a sweat shop in East Palo Alta.
Chris S. Sherbak
@Another Scott: I agree, they won’t cave. At this point, there’s nothing in it for them: another rescission coming thru just overturns it all.
Gotta believe someone will just call their bluff and say “Sen. Thune, why aren’t you changing the rules and removing the filibuster for the CR?” If he did that, it leaves Pastor Mike off the hook and keep the House out till Halloween. IMO that’s the likely pathway for the GOP.
Chris S. Sherbak
@wjca: this is often done with tech people – there are usually tons of available ‘muricans but H1B’s are cheaper (and easier to control) so they jimmy up the reqs that ONLY immigrant peeps can satisfy. OR they just offshore the position.
schrodingers_cat
@Jay: Programmers are not coming on H-2b visas. That’s for non-agricultural temp workers without a degree. H1-B visa is for 3 years and can be renewed once, unless you are on the GC track.
And calling programmers from India “code monkeys” that’s pretty racist.