GRAHAM: Well, all i can say is the commander-in-chief thought — came up with the idea of sequestration, destroying the military and putting a lot of good programs at risk. It is my belief — take Obamacare and put it on the table. You can make $86,000 a year in income and still get a government subsidy under Obamacare. Obamacare is destroying health care in this country and people are leaving the private sector, because their companies cannot afford to offer Obamacare and if you want to look at ways to find $1.2 trillion in savings over the next decade, look at Obamacare, don’t destroy the military and cut blindly across the board. There are many ways to do it but the president is the commander-in-chief and on his watch we’ll begin to unravel the finest military in the history of the world, at a time when we need it most. The Iranians are watching us, we are allowing people to be destroyed in Syria, and i’m disappointed in our commander-in-chief.
The notion that miniscule cuts to the most bloated military in the world is, in and of itself, offensive to common sense. That this douchebag wants millions of Americans to die without health coverage to keep shuffling three quarters of a trillion to said military really says it all.
dmsilev
This always annoys the living shit out of me. A time when we need it most? Like, more than was needed during World War II or the depths of the Cold War? It’s the same line of argument that an Iran with a couple of nukes and some short-ranged rockets is the biggest security threat to the US EVER, even more than the Soviet Union ever was with their thousands of warheads and all those ICBMs and subs and so forth.
Scott
Of course, everything he is saying about Obamacare is false. Killing Obamacare will increase the deficit. On top of hurting a whole lot of people.
BGinCHI
Does the Southern Queen really think that if you make 87K a year you can afford good health care on the open market?
Oh, wait, it’s worse than that. Without ACA you wouldn’t be able to even get affordable HC if you had a pre-existing condition, even if you made a much larger salary.
Someone needs to ask that idiot what it is he thinks we’re protecting with that giant military.
Hint: it’s not the right to bear arms.
Assholes.
hildebrand
The Grand Unified theory of Graham – anything that might actually harm South Carolina’s place at the federal feeding trough must be fought tooth and nail.
Baud
The Dems have put together an alternative plan to avoid the sequester. If the GOP wants to repeal the sequester altogether, I think our side should acquiesce.
Otherwise, Lindsey, STFU.
Jennifer
Not to mention the fact that “getting rid of Obamacare” won’t save money, but rather cost more.
MattF
What makes me gape in disbelief is the notion that there is any possibility that Obama would ‘put Obamacare on the table.’ Maybe it’s just the latest ‘no enemies to my right’ meme… But it really is just breathtaking.
dmsilev
Oh, and just in case anyone cares, Graham is also not particularly honest when he says that the sequester was Obama’s idea.
dmsilev
@MattF: Maybe the House could vote to repeal Obamacare again. It would be, what, the 38th time?
raven
Girls and boys repeat after me “It is all bullshit”. You may go now.
Maude
In the first place, Obama is not Graham’s CIC. He is only the CIC of those in uniform.
From what I’ve read, not one base in the US will be closed down.
Mike in NC
Iran is watching us? Holy shit! That alone means we need to build 10 new squadrons of stealth fighters (in red states, of course). Graham & McCain have taken their road show to several states, at taxpayer expense, to push this crap. Call it “Benghazi, The Musical”.
Hungry Joe
The unfortunate answer to “What planet does this guy live on?” remains “Ours.”
Ella in New Mexico
Whatever it takes, regardless of how ridiculous or obviously bitter and impotent his statements, is exactly what Lindsay Graham will say from now until election day.
At which time his party, in it’s last, kamikaze gasps at imposing right wing hell on America, will reward his craven, wretched miserable existence these next few months— by nominating someone else.
Keep it coming, Linners.
Spaghetti Lee
That’s 5 ‘Obamacares’ in about 3 and a half sentences. I predict by mid-2014, Republicans on talk shows will do nothing but repeat ‘Obamacare’ over in over in snide tones while rolling their eyes.
Baud
It’s times like these that I really like the 22nd amendment.
Kyle
Does he even know what “Obamacare” is, or is he just repeating another mindless Repuke mantra like labelling everything “communist” in the old days? How does a private company “offer Obamacare” since his cronies gutted the public option? Is he admitting that his paymasters at private health insurance companies provide an outrageously overpriced and bloated, perverted monstrosity of health care?
How fucking stupid are people in South Carolina to vote for this assclown?
Maybe Miss Lindsey needs to lose his guaranteed government socialist healthcare and spend some time looking for private insurance that will cover his pre-existing conditions of mental retardation and stick up his ass.
jon
I know it will hurt, but I genuinely want the sequester to go through BECAUSE it’s the only way ever to cut the military and show the morons that it won’t destroy it to have only 93% of whatever they usually get to spend on all of their stuff. Let them cut bureaucrats for once. All the other programs affected already know how to cut and shuffle and make do with less, and it’s about damn time the military figured this out, too.
Apologies to everyone who will be affected, but this is what happens when Republicans act like spoiled children. This is what happens when they get elected promising to cut things. This is what happens when they get their way. This is what happens when Austerity becomes its own inertial force once everyone shoves the economy in that direction. I just hope enough pain goes to the idiots who voted for this, though I’ve already seen the projections that suggest the usual victims will be victimized. Still, I want the sequester austerity to hit hard and fast and be shown for the bad idea that it is, as that’s the only way some people can learn.
Face
Doesnt Obamacare take effect next year? So hows it doing all these supposed things already?
Doc Sportello
@BGinCHI: Have always been a fan of Pierce’s “Huckleberry Closet Case,” but I think I may now switch to Southern Queen.
de stijl
Guns and Butters.
1bb3
Does he really suppose anyone takes him seriously aside from McCain? He’s doing all this macho posturing, but it’s coming off all bitchy and whiny, and he’s still gettin’ primaried regardless. I can’t even bring myself to imagine the mutant creature they’ll dredge up to run against him. What fun that will be.
Tumbrel for Hire
A Confederacy of Dunces, indeed.
Yutsano
@jon: The blame will all be place on Obama with The Village sagely nodding in agreement that perhaps the American people now regret their choice. And then head off to Sally Quinn’s latest party.
Richard
But Lindsay, you own an AR-15 assault rifle. You, like tens of millions of other Americans, are supposedly part of the “well regulated militia” that is protecting everyone from “tyranny”. With all those hundreds of millions of guns owned by “patriots” out there, why do we even need a military?
Calming Influence
Ironically many of those who lose their healthcare will be I&A veterans who are struggling to make it after being discharged with debilitating combat injuries and/or post traumatic stress.
minutemaid
Of course wr0ng on EVERYTHING Cole believes everything these clowns have to say on the political stage as if the political theater was real. Even people coming up for re-election that need to throw red meat to their neanderthal base.
He probably also believes the WWE and spiderman are real too.
BGinCHI
@Richard: To force our exceptionality on those unable to achieve their own, obviously.
Julia Grey
Lindsey is looking down the barrel of a very large Tea Party shotgun in 2014. Count on him to get more and more “REEEEEEpublican! YEEE-HA!” as time goes on.
The whole “I’ll get to the bottom of Ben Ghazi” bit (oops, did I spell that wrong? Pardon my innuendo) is just part of his re-election strategy. He doesn’t believe a single gaud-damned word he says, including all the bullshit he’s spewing above.
Lindsey isn’t one of the delusional types. He KNOWS he’s trying to shine his shoes with shit, but he also knows filthy shoes are real popular with his shit-kickin’ constituency. So he cheerfully buffs away, whistlin’ while he works.
Xantar
@Face: Through the magic of the Uncertainty Fairy, presumably.
Maude
@Yutsano:
You got it right.
Baud
Shorter Graham: Maybe drowning government in the bathtub wasn’t such a good idea after all.
I blame Obama.
WereBear
I believe the South has a disproportionately large number of military bases. So it seems really stupid for a party anchored in that area to play Chicken with funding.
But let me call them stupid, let me call them Republicans… but I repeat myself.
gnomedad
I think I know what you’re trying to say, but I can’t parse this sentence.
JoyfulA
@Julia Grey: DeMint’s Senate seat and Haley’s governorship are also on the ballot in 2014. I wonder if one teabagger will primary all three, hundreds will get into the act, specific designated hitters for each job, or what? All very interesting, as long as I’m not living where it’s happening.
Julia Grey
Unfortunately the condition of “stick up the ass” comes from being raised as a Privileged White Male Southerner. That’s the upbringing that teaches the Nicest People that taking care of the Negroes and others of the world’s natural unfortunates is one of the burdens of Noblesse Oblige.
And let’s make this clear — he’s absolutely no racist: he had a black mammy and he loved her to DEATH!
jdrs0819
That doesn’t make the sequester good policy though, John. Because it’s happening in the middle of the fiscal year, lots of government workers are going to be forced to take a 20% paycut until October; then many of them are going to be without a job at all. And it’s all discretionary budgets, not just DoD (including my department, Commerce).
ranchandsyrup
I hate lady Huckleberry so much that . . . Take it from here Madeline:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Raf5JdFecPQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Litlebritdifrnt
During the Libya debacle my boss was mocking my country because we ran out of weapons to lob at the government forces. My response? “So says the guy who has to pay fifteen grand a year for health insurance, at least my country has its priorities straight, taking care of its citizens instead of its weapons manufacturers”. He really had no answer to that.
Montysano
I live in the heart of the military-industrial complex. The assholes who profit from it have no qualms, indeed, about fucking up anyone who endangers their Jeebus-given right to a 5000 sq. ft. house, a 26′ boat, 2 new cars, and a 50′ RV (towing one of the new cars). If their kids and grandkids have to eat cat food and go without healthcare in order to preserve that lifestyle, so be it. This is who we’ve become.
IowaOldLady
Every time these guys open their mouths about Obamacare, they reveal how much this is NOT about the deficit.
SFAW
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Jeez, you sound like one o’ them bleedin’ Limeys, ya know?
Julia Grey
DeMint IS the Primo de Primo of Tea Baggers. Nobody could get to his right; they’d fall off the edge of the world.
O-no-I-di-int! bed-hopper Nikki might get a primary, but everyone seems to be pretending to believe her claims of marital purity now. It would be very fun if Jenny Sanford (spurned wife of Appalachian Trail walker Mark Sanford) were to primary her, but I don’t expect that. But wouldn’t it be hilarious?
Lindsey is the only sure bet to get a challenge from his right, which is why he is being such a gold-plated, shit-kickin’ dick.
Litlebritdifrnt
@WereBear:
Which is why my local (Eastern NC) RWNJ radio host has all of a sudden switched his tune from “government doesn’t create jobs” to “OMFG the military bases are going to be cut we are all DOOOOOOOOMED” in the space of about a month. They want the government to be drowned in a bathtub alright, just not their particularly profitable bit of the government.
Yutsano
@Litlebritdifrnt: That ain’t the gubmint! That’s the MILITARY!!
(Yes I’ve heard this argument.)
Litlebritdifrnt
@SFAW:
And damn proud of it don’tchaknow! :)
dmsilev
@Julia Grey: deMint resigned from the Senate (the Heritage Foundation for some reason waved lots and lots of money at him to become their president). A replacement has been appointed, but there will be an election at some point to chose a full-term Senator.
SFAW
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Well, I guess everybody’s gotta be proud of something.
Julia Grey
It’s fascinating how the term “Limey” was considered derogatory when it referred to (IIRC) something that kept British sailors healthier than their Continental counterparts: lime juice (to prevent scurvy) being served with the daily grog.
Scott Alloway
@gnomedad: needs a concluding verb and object, as in “notion … is laughable.”
srv
The cuts are not miniscule to a MIC that is grinding on a war and a lot of very expensive toys. Given that the Generals and Admirals hoping to retire to a plush second career are not wanting to come up with practical management schemas and impact their options at LockMart or other big firms, we are very likely to see some crash and burn here.
The Army will take the brunt of it, but not quick enough to save major pain in AF and Navy acquisition here.
Calming Influence
@Julia Grey: Beer with a wedge of lime? The things Brits will come up with just boggle the mind.
Julia Grey
:: head smack ::
Yes! And my very own SC-1 representative, the opportunistic and not-too-bright Tim Scott, was appointed in his place. How could I have forgotten!
I don’t think anyone will primary Timmy. He’s their only black senator!
ChrisNYC
Ha! Remember when the big topic was how 250K was REALLY NOT THAT MUCH money! How it was just brutal to raise taxes on people who were struggling to pay a $1 million mortgage (thanks mortgage interest subsidy!), send two kids to private school (natch!) and still have enough to take a nice vacation or three a year? Such slimeballs they are.
Julia Grey
I do believe it was more like a mojito. RUM with lime.
Kent
Remember when Republicans used to talk like this?
That was Eisenhower 3 months into his presidency by the way. In fact, the first politician I ever voted for when I turned 18 was a Republican–Mark Hatfield, Senator from Oregon. In part because he was one of the few in Congress who opposed Carter’s saber rattling against the USSR in 1979 (draft registration, Olympic boycott, grain boycotts, etc.) What happened to that sort of Republican?
Hungry Joe
@1bb3:
… until that mutant creature takes his seat in the Senate.
Redshirt
3D Butter Printers of the Futures will make Guns.
scav
@Calming Influence: Lemon with beer is Mexican (and spreading to hefeweizen), but shandy (lemonade with beer) is indeed swigged in the UK.
Bobby Thomson
@1bb3:
I can’t believe all y’all have forgotten George Tierney of Greenville, South Carolina so quickly.
PurpleGirl
@Face: Projection. With the repubs, everything is projection.
roc
@Kent: It ain’t a mystery: gerry-mandered “safe” districts.
Chris
I realize it’s fucking blasphemy to impugn the efficiency of the U.S. military in the American political spectrum, but try this on for size. The U.S. military just spent eight years blundering around Iraq with nothing to show for it, and the only significant improvement we had in all that time was when we hit upon the innovative idea of paying our enemies to not shoot us. That’s what spending more on defense than the next seventeen nations combined will buy you, apparently.
You want to talk about waste and inefficiency in the federal government? The Department of Defense is the fucking poster child for both. Hey, I’m not saying I or anyone else would’ve done any better managing things (though maybe we should’ve thought of that before going to war). I’m just saying that if the Post Office had wasted that much of the public’s money and had that little to show for it, it would be fucking abolished right now, constitutional amendment and all. The DOD is pretty much the only department in the government that’ll get a pat on the back, a hearty “attaboy” and at least half of Congress screaming for increases to its budget now matter how badly it performs.
SFAW
@Julia Grey:
Maybe it’s just me, but “Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of mojito” doesn’t have quite the same ring when pirates say it.
mai naem
Is there a reason my gaydar goes off loudly with Ted Cruz and Miss Lindsay and tweets off lightly at Rand Paul and these are the three that are giving Hagel the hardest time? McCain’s giving him a hard time but we all know what’s behind that.
PurpleGirl
@Chris: A few years ago, the Bead Society of Greater New York had as a speaker an Army colonel with the public relations office. He’d been in Iraq and among the programs he oversaw was one where the Army gave beads and stringing materials to young Iraqi women and had people show them how to make necklaces. (The Bead Society had donated an amount of beads and other materials.)
Anyway, he colonel talked about the pallets of cash that were kept in the office. When someone was meeting with an Iraqi, they’d take some cash on their way out of the office. No real accounting was done — maybe a note was written down sporadically, but they went through a few million this way. No names, no amounts, no dates, etc. were logged anyplace. The money on the pallet just got smaller and then got replenished. Talk about buying off the enemy.
SFAW
@mai naem:
I think it may be confused because of his “looks as stupid as a REALLY BAD toupee but isn’t” hair.
Not that there’s anything gay about bad hair, of course.
Rosie Outlook
My parents, victims of Fox News (they’re 85 and 83) knew nothing of the sequester even though they live in a town that is a suburb of a huge base. It seems Fox has not mentioned the sequester at all. I found that interesting.
RSA
I don’t understand the Affordable Care Act that well, but from what I read, this means that if you’re earning $86,000 a year and you have out-of-pocket expenses for medical insurance premiums over 9.5% of your income ($8,170), then the rest will be covered by the government.
So I wonder what percentage of income Graham thinks is reasonable to pay toward health insurance alone? Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t have used “Graham” and “reasonable” in the same sentence.
JoyfulA
@Julia Grey: DeMint quit to make a million a year, and there’s a temporary replacement until 2014.
Haley’s been named in a state rep’s wife’s divorce suit, and her approval ratings weren’t good before. She was, though, the teabagger candidate in the last go-around.
Three Republican primaries!
El Cid
Also, he nor any of his ilk give a shit about the ‘security’ of the ordinary American, the stability or peacefulness of the world, the actual strength of the US military, or any such ostensibly desirable things (from a mainstream point of view).
It’s about venality, money, cruel projection of death, harm, intimidation, pain and suffering upon inhabitants of the world which might impede the aims and profits of their friends, and institutional and party political gamesmanship.
Now, it’s true, that the 2nd paragraph’s list of things is always seen by such types as really being the 1st paragraph’s list of things, but it isn’t.
B'hommad
Doesn’t anyone remember where this guy came from?
He was one of the House Managers during the Clinton impeachment.
He worked himself up to that by baring his soul when interviewed as a yokel congressman. He was always tearing himself apart on camera about the moral implications of these great United States on the one hand, and a blow job on the other.
He was one sick fucker from the get-go. Just a meaningless little fop who grabbed onto a star. Clinton’s dick.
Why bother with this sick child?
Bob h
There are scads of military facilities in S. Carolina that Hagel could close if he needs something to do right away.
Todd Dugdale
Wait a minute. Sequestration was something that the Republicans agreed to. Now Graham is trying to make it sound as if it was some sort of executive decree. The entire reason for it was because the Republicans would not compromise on a budget.
See, this is why negotiation with the Republicans is hopeless. Anything that they agree to becomes the Democrats’ fault when unpopularity arises. The Iraq war was the Democrats’ fault when it became unpopular. Cutting $700B from Medicare became “the Democrats’ idea” in the last election, though it had bipartisan support.
The Republicans complain about Obama “leading from behind” at the same time that they portray him as a dictator who imposed sequestration on a helpless Congress.
Tonybrown74
@Todd Dugdale:
Corrected for accuracy.
jon
Further corrected for accuracy.
mclaren
Silly Cole.
Haven’t you realized yet that sick twisted America is all about death and suffering? The U.S. military burns brown babies and carpet-bombs their moms; bingo, plenty of death and suffering. Actually helping sick people would decrease death and suffering — big no-no for the sick twisted cultural Chernobyl misnamed “America.”
So obviously, America has to gut healthcare. Gotta keep those sick people suffering and dying.
American social policy is simple and easy to predict: whatever maximizes suffering and death.