Night two of the CNN debate debacle.
Open thread!
by Adam L Silverman| 263 Comments
This post is in: 2020 Elections, America, Domestic Politics, Healthcare, Open Threads, Politics
Night two of the CNN debate debacle.
Open thread!
This post is in: 2020 Elections, I'm With Her, Open Threads
I probably won’t be at my computer when tonight’s event starts, so here’s a placeholder.
From CNN, “How to Watch Night Two”:
What time is the debate?
Tonight’s debate will start at 8 p.m. ET and end around 10:30 p.m. ET.How can I watch them?
CNN’s Democratic presidential debates will air exclusively on CNN and will stream live in their entirety, without requiring log-in to a cable provider, exclusively to CNN.com’s homepage, across mobile devices via CNN’s apps for iOS and Android, and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast and Android TV…Who is debating?
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, Former Vice President Joe Biden, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, California Sen. Kamala Harris, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Businessman Andrew Yang…
Hard to argue:
If you ain’t at 1, you should be done. https://t.co/e3uYonQiDI
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) July 31, 2019
by Betty Cracker| 156 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, General Stupidity, Our Failed Media Experiment
I know healthcare is Mayhew’s bailiwick, but it’s incumbent upon us to point and laugh at the Trump administration’s effort to put together a 20,000-page term paper the night before it’s due. Prior to becoming the first person on the planet to discover that healthcare is “so complicated,” Trump made some pretty big promises about how he would change coverage in the US:
“I am going to take care of everybody. I don’t care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now.”
“We’re going to have insurance for everybody. There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us. It will be in a much simplified form. Much less expensive and much better.”
Three years later, Trump’s flunkies are desperately seeking small-bore policy-tweak “wins” as the freight train of the upcoming election bears down on the administration. The Post:
White House advisers, scrambling to create a health-care agenda for President Trump to promote on the campaign trail, are meeting at least daily with the aim of rolling out a measure every two to three weeks until the 2020 election…
One senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the White House believes it has “tremendous authority” to write executive orders under food, drug and cosmetic laws, as well as through the ACA, which gives the government broad power to test ways to improve health care and reduce costs in government programs.
“We think the [ACA] authority is pretty tremendous,” the [Trump admin] official said. The administration is currently arguing in federal court to overturn the law, however, with a decision expected late summer or fall.
But many health policy and legal experts disagree and are also skeptical the steps the administration is talking about would have a tangible effect on consumers before the election.
“It’s unlikely the administration is going to be able to use an executive order that Americans are going to be able to notice before the election,” said Benedic Ippolito, a health economist at the American Enterprise Institute. “It’s an incredibly ambitious timeline.”
What could possibly go wrong, aside from wingnut judges nullifying coverage for tens of millions by overturning the ACA on the Trump admin’s advice, thus also deep-sixing the executive order experiments, or the spectacle of top GOP pharma donors suing the Trump admin in court in the run-up to the election?
Other participants in the sometimes contentious daily meetings include Azar, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and representatives from the vice president’s office.
Oh.
I get that a lot of folks are nervous about some of our candidates’ ideas on healthcare. I share your anxiety, mostly because the media goes all budget-ninja on Democrats when healthcare (or any other topic, really) comes up and doesn’t even bother pointing out the absurdity of Trump’s stream-of-semi-consciousness lies on the subject. But Judd Legum* on Twitter made a good point here:
Last night’s debate revealed the real bias in the media which is the assumption that the status quo is “moderate” and anyone that proposes structural changes is “radical”
In my view, letting people die because they can’t afford insulin is more extreme than proposing a new policy.
Truth. As for Senator Warren locking herself into Medicare for All and the abolition of private insurance, did anyone happen to see the wee hours of the post-debate coverage? I did, God help me. Warren joined the CNN panel, and they pressed her on that issue, particularly on how Medicare for All would affect unions that negotiated Cadillac coverage as part of their compensation.
I don’t remember Warren’s exact words and cannot find a video of the exchange on YouTube, but she mentioned having unions at the table when negotiating the healthcare transition. She talked about leadership and gaining consensus, and she sounded a good bit more flexible on the topic than the post-debate pundit pearl-clutching suggests.
Let’s also recall that the 2008 candidates evolved quite a bit on healthcare by the time the rubber met the road in DC. IIRC, then-candidate Obama scoffed at the idea of an individual mandate on the campaign trail. But since they seriously intend to govern, Democrats have to be willing to compromise and take new factors into account as appropriate.
Given the clown show we’ll be up against, I like our chances on every hot-button issue, including healthcare. As Buttigieg rightly pointed out, the Trumpublican retort will be “socialism!!!” no matter what, so you might as well fight for what you believe is the best plan.
*H/T: Valued commenter germy
by Adam L Silverman| 173 Comments
This post is in: Absent Friends, Balloon Juice, Open Threads, RIP
For those who didn’t or weren’t able to donate to David’s/Scotian’s GoFundMe and didn’t get the update by email earlier today, David passed away last night. I got a text a little while ago from whom I’m assuming is his wife also informing me as I was in direct contact with him over the past week. John will be reaching out to her this afternoon and he, I, or both of us will have some updates for you later today.
Please keep David’s widow in your thoughts.
Open thread!
Rest in Peace David C. MacDonald: Scotian Has DiedPost + Comments (173)
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 12 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture, Travel
Good Morning All,
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Today, pictures from valued commenter ?BillinGlendaleCA.
Churches and City Halls
I believe I’ve mentioned El Aliso in my dispatches here, it was the large sycamore tree along the banks of the LA River that was the location of a Tongva village prior to the settlers arriving from Mission San Gabriel to found the City of Los Angeles. A few months ago a plaque was dedicated a few months ago, I thought I’d venture to downtown and get a picture. That part of my quest was unfulfilled, I was looking for an upright marker, and it’s embedded in the sidewalk. I’ve also been meaning to see this church in Pasadena with a tall tower that you can see from the 210. So I took the train into downtown LA and hopped the Gold Line to Pasadena. I took some infrared pictures of Pasadena City Hall(the last time I did this was before a Balloon Juice meetup in Old Town Pasadena). I’ve photographed Pasadena City Hall many times, but it’s been at night so I’ve not been able to shoot infrared pictures. While I was there I shot some pictures of both the exterior and interior of All Saints Episcopal Church which is right in back of city hall. Making my way back to the Gold Line station I stopped by Saint Andrew’s Catholic Church(my primary goal for the Pasadena leg of the journey. The interior is truly a special treat. So it was back on the Gold Line again for the return to DTLA. I searched for the El Aliso plaque(I think I know where it is now) and walked though the Civic Center up to the top of Grand Park for some IR pics looking towards LA City Hall.
Taken on 2019-07-19 00:00:00
Pasadena, CA
The Gold Line station is only a few blocks from Pasadena City Hall. Once I got up to ground level, I could see that they were setting up for some event in front of City Hall. While I did take some photos in front of City Hall, there were tables and a stage that was partially obscuring the building. I retreated to the back of the building and shot the building from the rear. This photo looks though the arches in back of the building below a walkway on the second floor.
Taken on 2019-07-19 00:00:00
Pasadena, CA
All Saints Episcopal Church is across the street from the back of City Hall. It’s a very attractive stone building. I thought It’s look good in IR, especially with the scattered clouds in the sky.
Taken on 2019-07-19 00:00:00
Pasadena, CA
I’ve been inside All Saints Church once before for a wedding of one of Madame’s co-workers back in the early 1990’s. It was nice to get inside and get a couple of shots of the really pretty interior.
Taken on 2019-07-19 00:00:00
Pasadena, CA
Having driven by Saint Andrews on the 210 freeway, I’d never really seen even any pictures of the interior. I saw a few pictures on Google Maps and I knew I had to see it for myself. I think it’s one of the prettiest churches here in the LA area, though I’d still give the edge to St. Sophia’s Cathedral.
Taken on 2019-07-19 00:00:00
Los Angeles, CA
While I have captured this exact photo in the past, I’ve changed the way I capture and process my IR photos. I take two photos: one with my IR camera and another with a visual camera and then use the IR layer for brightness and texture and the color layer for color. I’m able to retain some of the visual color that gets lost(reds) in traditional IR processing.
Thank you so much ?BillinGlendaleCA, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form
This post is in: 2020 Elections, Dog Blogging, I'm With Her, Immigration, LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, Nature & Respite, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Warren for President 2020, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome
Hey, at least these two are having fun running in circles!
Indy has met her match pic.twitter.com/2CDNPStVvF
— Ned Pyle (@NerdPyle) July 27, 2019
Elsewhere…
In honor of #Stonewall50, @RepDebHaaland and I teamed up with @NOH8Campaign to stand up against hate and show our support for the full spectrum of the LGBTQ+ and two-spirit community. pic.twitter.com/2bB02hUta7
— Rep. Sharice Davids (@RepDavids) June 28, 2019
Elizabeth Warren wants to break up Google. She's also getting more donations from Google employees than any other Democrat, and Sanders, who is also in favor of break-up, is second.
Turns out a lot of Google employees think a break-up would be just fine: https://t.co/vlDOWdoV22 pic.twitter.com/IelmKUq1X9
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) July 30, 2019
Crucial new finding from Quinnipiac.
Majority favors *releasing* migrants, rather than caging them in bad conditions, *even if* they might not show up for hearings.
Restrictionists say they have the winning side of this argument. Nope.
New piece:https://t.co/hy4uNaPYZp
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) July 30, 2019
?? 10 out of the 40 vulnerable freshmen @HouseDemocrats have now publicly called for an #ImpeachmentInquiry to begin.
They're gonna need LOTS of help next year…show you have their backs by donating today!*
*(you can also donate to the other 30!)https://t.co/w21aAjGiAD
— Charles Gaba (@charles_gaba) July 31, 2019
Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Detroit RespitePost + Comments (225)
by Betty Cracker| 130 Comments
This post is in: 2020 Elections, Open Threads, Politics, Our Failed Media Experiment
I wonder who at CNN decided it should be the Delaney vs Warren show. Warren should send that person a fruit basket.
CNN making it Warren vs Delaney: pic.twitter.com/61cC7hVs1T
— Betty Cracker (@bettycrackerfl) July 31, 2019
What did y’all think?