American Politics Thread 2013: I'm a cool Rodham grandma in the USA

Obama's always killin' it, or him, or someone, when he's not disappearin' it.

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/10/07/obamas-rendition-operation-in-libya-its-like-president-george-w-bush-got-a-fourth-term/

Bartlett's article ends:

My prediction: The GOP is going to refuse to raise the debt ceiling on October 17 based on the calculation that they have at least until October 22 and possibly until October 31 before an actual default takes place. The morning of October 18 they'll issue a statement to the effect of "see, we breached the debt ceiling and nothing happened", followed shortly by a litany of demands that must be met before they agree to a debt ceiling increase, along with a sudden willingness to negotiate over those demands over the following few days.

agree to continue with the standard process of governing, claim victory

― i too went to college (silby), Tuesday, October 8, 2013 3:27 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i guess it just depends on how many republicans are ready to admit defeat and move on

honestly think some of people pushing this are so self-infatuatedly confused that they aren't clear whether the shutdown was a tactic or the goal itself. hence all these vague statements about "keeping up the fight" trending into "we better get something"

yeah thats the scary part

My prediction: The GOP is going to refuse to raise the debt ceiling on October 17 based on the calculation that they have at least until October 22 and possibly until October 31 before an actual default takes place. The morning of October 18 they'll issue a statement to the effect of "see, we breached the debt ceiling and nothing happened", followed shortly by a litany of demands that must be met before they agree to a debt ceiling increase, along with a sudden willingness to negotiate over those demands over the following few days.

pretty sure the stock market will have a fucking meltdown on the 18th

Many Republicans in Congress just do not seem to grasp that there are tens of thousands of federal laws, passed by Congress, signed by the president, and upheld by the courts, plus hundreds of thousands of legal contracts in place, that require the government to spend more than its current revenues. It is the law. If they don't like it, let them change the laws the old-fashioned way, by getting the votes.

the market will probably meltdown long before the 18th if there's no sign of progress. hell, it's been a shit show since the shutdown.

"require the government to spend more than its current revenues."

or raise revenues ffs. if GOP dopes want to make this asinine (but annoyingly effective) argument about how govt should be "run as a business" or how "i cain't run a household budget like this!!", then anyone who's not an idiot will say that besides just cutting spending (which we've done, and Obama hints he'll do more), viable businesses will need to search out new revenue streams. a family would need to take on second jobs, sell shit, whatever to pay off those credit cards. i guess some ppl on the right get it. but no one's listening to them.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/17/60-year-low-tax-revenues-contribute-deficit-growth/?page=all

and yeah, Obama managed to wrangle an end to Bush tax cuts on those making over 450k, but that's kind of a drop in the bucket when you consider how many corporations are paying effective rates of zero, or even NEGATIVE rates - all while whining about admittedly high nominal rates. or how most of the 1% are paying effective rates of ~15% bc the bulk of their income ends up being taxed at cap gains rates.

and to be fair, maybe it's time we rethink child tax credits, EITC, etc.
http://keithhennessey.com/2010/04/15/off-the-rolls/

also, each year we add another 2-3 million people to the population. even keeping all else equal (amount of money spent per citizen, efficiency of services, etc), you'd need to increase the budget a bit each year to accommodate population gain.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/boehner-clean-debt-limit-would-be-unconditional-surrender-for-gop

the gop is turning the 'wont negotiate' line into their whole cause now because the phrase is the only thing that tested well for them in focus groups.. now they can't even utilize the catch phrase to properly argue just what in the fuck it is they want.. other than a closed government.

"I just did CNN and I just go over and over again 'We're willing to compromise. We're willing to negotiate.' I think... I don't think they poll tested we won't negotiate. I think it's awful for Democrats to say that over and over again," Paul said.
"Yeah, I do too and I, and I just came back from that two hour meeting with them and that, and that was basically the same view privately as it was publicly," McConnell agreed.

Paul added, "I think if we keep saying, 'We wanted to defund it. We fought for that and that we're willing to compromise on this', I think they can't, we're gonna, I think... well, I know we don't want to be here, but we're gonna win this, I think."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/03/rand-paul-mitch-mcconnell-hot-mic_n_4036591.html

that's several days old

But they still won't negotiate

I just remember seeing this exchange last week now all I hear on tv/radio/etc is THEY WONT NEGOTIATE OH MY DEAR GOD WONT SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN

Hmm...

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/10/obama-meets-with-krauthammer-gigot-174603.html

A transparent attempt to overawe these zealous guardians of the public weal?

Disgusting. Krauthammer is evil of the lowest order.

obama suffocating krauthammer with a pillow

in dreams, they aren't that different

They met in January 2009 at George Will's house for lamb, remember?

one hateful warlock, one slaughterer

and Barack Obama.

Walk into a bar...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-who-shut-down-yellowstone/2013/10/03/1b1cb4a8-2c64-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html

Wonder if Krauthammer brought up his ridiculous interpretation of the constitution he offered in his last column

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/business/obama-to-nominate-janet-l-yellen-as-fed-chairwoman.html

pretty sure the stock market will have a fucking meltdown on the 18th

The bailing started last week. It’ll continue until the 18th (i.e. it’ll likely be priced in, unfortunately).

House Democrats have been invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW on Wednesday afternoon, a White House official said. Senate Democrats, House Republicans and Senate Republicans will be asked to attend similar sessions in the coming days.

let's see, so there was a conservative pundits session, now a house dem session, then senate dems, house republicans, senate republicans. then the liberal pundits i'm sure!!

cancer patients not being enrolled in clinical trials are next

Washington Post editorial page was rooting for "entitlement reform" to come out of this, and now W. Post editorial page contributor Ruth Marcus has done the same thing. These folks will never let go of cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid... I bet the conservative bloggers happily discussed it with Obama since they all agree on this too.

it's gonna happen, per Doug Henwood in Salon today. It's what our socialist president wants.

he's been fighting for it for several years now. if he can work in something in there to cut or eliminate pensions for public workers, too, i'm sure he'd be ecstatic.

let's see, so there was a conservative pundits session, now a house dem session, then senate dems, house republicans, senate republicans. then the liberal pundits i'm sure!!
--reckless woo (Z S)

Will this be a learning session for congressmen to find out how the government actually works?

paul ryan op-ed:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303442004579123943669167898.html

"Here's How We Can End This Stalemate"

bunch of tax & entitlement stuff, no mention of "obamacare" at all

conservatives on twitter already calling him a rino. jesus.

George Will, joining FOX after 32 years at ABC, honors his new employer's intelligence.

STEPHANOPOULOS: [Harry Reid] says -- and he said it publicly on many occasions, that you came to him back in July and offered to pass a clean government funding resolution, no Obamacare amendments, that was $70 billion below what the Senate wanted. They accepted it. And now, you've reneged on that offer.

BOEHNER: No, clearly there was a conversation about doing this.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Several conversations.

BOEHNER: Several. But--

STEPHANOPOULOS: And you offered a clean resolution.

BOEHNER: But I and my members decided the threat of Obamacare and what was happening was so important that it was time for us to take a stand. And we took a stand.

JON STEWART: DID YOU FUCKING HEAR THAT?! can we stop having a conversation about 'both sides are gonna blink, wa-wa-wa-wa' - THEY HAD A DEAL! but...'OBAMACARE!'. 'we decided to take a stand. Look, you think Obamacare is a big enough threat to this country that you need to shut down the government over it? Fine. Own it. Don't fart and point at the dog.

http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-house-speaker-john-boehner/story?id=20476180&singlePage=true
http://gawker.com/jon-stewart-to-john-boehner-don-t-fart-and-point-at-t-1442813143

lol

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/capital-beltway-shutdown-all-a-ploy-trucker-says/2013/10/08/1e446572-3033-11e3-bbed-a8a60c601153_story.html

“The comments to U.S. News were designed to do one thing and one thing only: stir the feather of the mainstream media,” said Conlon, a father of three.

stir the feather

absolutely dying @ stir the feather

http://www.dvd.net.au/image.cgi?movie_id=6562&grab_id=2

"Stir the feather!"

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130704001945/en.futurama/images/a/a9/Hedonismbot_2-4-.jpg

"Have the feather stirred, and butter the orgy pit!"

“The comments to U.S. News were designed to do one thing and one thing only: gently trail the feather of the mainstream media along the throbbing penis of democracy,” said Conlon, a father of three.

Bachmann Laughs Off SNL Parody: 'I've Never Done Twerking'

'oh thats just silly ive never twerked in my life, never even thought about it, what i couldnt possibly, well ok just because its for my constituents' *twerks expertly*

I am sure that's what you meant Paul:

Rep. Paul Ryan on Wednesday insisted that he wasn’t giving up the fight against Obamacare as he defended an op-ed he wrote that proposed a solution to end the stalemate in Washington without mentioning the health care law.

The day the op-ed touched off blowback from conservatives, the Wisconsin Republican told radio host Bill Bennett that even though he didn’t mention Obamacare in his piece in the Wall Street Journal he still sees it as part of his reform proposal because it is an “entitlement.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/paul-ryan-i-havent-dropped-obamacare-98062.html#ixzz2hFlg0vFt

cool, these guys are in lock step, funded by a fun array of crazy billionaires, and have a following of devout zealots who are impervious to reason. might as well get used to crap like this, because i have a feeling this is just the start.

he still sees it as part of his reform proposal because it is an “entitlement.”

haha bro this still counts as fucking up in your world

Just think, before the internet we'd have no idea the crazy and stupid rural right was so crazy and stupid. We'd just have to assume.

before the internet they didnt hold office, they just voted