Thursday Reads
Posted: September 19, 2013 Filed under: Barack Obama, morning reads, Republican politics, U.S. Economy, U.S. Politics | Tags: Federal debt limit, Income Inequality, John Boehner 18 Comments
Good Morning!!
Before I get started on today’ news, I want to say that I hope all the surgeries go well. Today RalphB is having surgery and then will have to go through rehab. In addition, JJ’s daughter just had hers on Tuesday and is home recovering. Please keep them in your thoughts. Hang in there JJ and RalphB! Remember you have friends at Sky Dancing Blog who care!
Now to the news…
As I’m sure you know by now, the House Republicans are again engaged in a fruitless but damaging effort to get rid of Obamacare. Speaker John Boehner is threatening to shut down the government by refusing to raise the debt limit unless the Affordable Care Act is killed. From the LA Times: ‘This is the line in the sand,’ House Republicans say.
House Republicans united Wednesday around a plan to use the threat of a government shutdown as leverage to repeal President Obama‘s healthcare law, confident the American people are on their side.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) yielded to his right flank by agreeing to attach the healthcare law repeal to a must-pass bill to keep the government funded past Sept. 30. A vote is expected Friday on a bill that would allow the government to stay open for the next few months.
The measure is all but certain to pass the Republican-led House, but faces rejection in the Senate, where the Democratic majority has shown little interest in undoing Obama’s signature domestic achievement.
Without a resolution by Oct. 1, the start of the new federal fiscal year, the government will run out of money to keep federal workers on the job and provide basic services.
And so, after a quiet summer, the battle begins again. Honestly, sometimes I really feel as if I must be having a bad dream that I can’t wake up from. Some responses to the shutdown threat:
Gail Collins at the NYT: World War O
Seriously, people, why do you think the Republicans have gone so completely lunatic when it comes to this issue? Why do they behave as if, once the health law begins to roll out, it will be cemented in place like an amendment to the Constitution?
True, it would be a pain to repeal the whole thing if it doesn’t work out. But not a pain sufficient to wreak havoc on the global economy like, say, refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has been leading the push to shut down the government unless Congress repeals Obamacare. But have you ever heard him vow that if Congress doesn’t repeal Obamacare there will be … elections and then a new Congress that will repeal Obamacare?
Actually, Ted Cruz has an answer for this. Once the law goes into effect, he told the Web site The Daily Caller, the public will be overwhelmed by its sugary sweetness — “hooked on the subsidies.” It’s the duty of Congress to take it back before people can taste it, just the way New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to whisk away high-calorie Big Gulps.
So, the message is clear. The new health care law is going to be terrible, wreaking havoc on American families, ruining their lives. And they are going to love it so much they will never have the self-control necessary to give it up.
Karl Rove, who used to be considered a far right wing nut is now trying to reason with the even farther right nuts who have succeed him. At the Wall Street Journal, Rove pleads for rationality:
A shutdown now would have much worse fallout than the one in 1995. Back then, seven of the government’s 13 appropriations bills had been signed into law, including the two that funded the military. So most of the government was untouched by the shutdown. Many of the unfunded agencies kept operating at a reduced level for the shutdown’s three weeks by using funds from past fiscal years.
But this time, no appropriations bills have been signed into law, so no discretionary spending is in place for any part of the federal government. Washington won’t be able to pay military families or any other federal employee. While conscientious FBI and Border Patrol agents, prison guards, air-traffic controllers and other federal employees may keep showing up for work, they won’t get paychecks, just IOUs.
The only agencies allowed to operate with unsalaried employees will be those that meet one or more of the following legal tests: They must be responding to “imminent” emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property, be funded by mandatory spending (such as Social Security), have funds from prior fiscal years that have already been obligated, or rely on the constitutional power of the president. Figuring out which agencies meet these tests will be tough, but much of the federal government will lack legal authority to function.
But won’t voters be swayed by the arguments for defunding? The GPS poll tested the key arguments put forward by advocates of defunding and Mr. Obama’s response. Independents went with Mr. Obama’s counterpunch 57% to 35%. Voters in Senate battleground states sided with him 59% to 33%. In lean-Republican congressional districts and in swing congressional districts, Mr. Obama won by 56% to 39% and 58% to 33%, respectively. On the other hand, independents support by 51% to 42% delaying ObamaCare’s mandate that individuals buy coverage or pay a fine.
EJ Dionne at the WaPo: Why Republicans are desperate for a shutdown:
To begin with, this is not just a fight between Republicans and Democrats. The GOP is clearly divided between those who take governing seriously — they still believe in government enough to accept responsibility for keeping it open — and those who see in every issue the “final conflict” that Marxists kept predicting. Stopping Obamacare, in their view, is necessary to prevent the country from reaching the end of the road to serfdom. Compared with this hellish prospect, who cares about shutdowns?
What’s fascinating, and this speaks to the perceived power of the tea party in primaries, is that it has taken only a small minority of House Republicans to push toward Armageddon. The Post’s Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane estimated thatroughly 40 conservatives revolted against their leadership’s efforts to keep the government open past Sept. 30. That’s 40 in a 435-member House of Representatives. What’s become of us when less than 10 percent of one chamber of Congress can unleash chaos? What does this say about the House Republican leadership gap?
But it’s also important to understand why the Republican right is so fixated on killing or delaying Obamacare before it goes into effect. Its central worry is not that the program will fail but that it will succeed.
So I guess the House Republicans believe it is worth it to destroy the economic recovery we’ve made so far and possibly crash the global economy to prevent millions of Americans from discovering what it would be like to have health care coverage. It’s unbelievable!
In other economic news, the Fed yesterday indicated that it will not taper of the stimulus as many were expecting them to do. Bloomberg:
The Federal Reserve unexpectedly refrained from reducing the $85 billion pace of monthly bond buying, saying it needs more evidence of lasting improvement in the economy and warning that an increase in interest rates threatened to curb the expansion.
“Conditions in the job market today are still far from what all of us would like to see,” Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said at a press conference today in Washington after a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. “The committee has concern that rapid tightening of financial conditions in recent months would have the effect of slowing growth.”
U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a record, while Treasuries and gold rallied as Bernanke stressed that the pace of bond buying would be dependent on economic data, and the Fed has no predetermined schedule for tapering the purchases that have pushed its balance sheet to $3.66 trillion.
“There is no fixed calendar schedule, I really have to emphasize that,” Bernanke said. “If the data confirm our basic outlook” for growth and the labor market, “then we could begin later this year.”
No kidding. Earth to the top 1 percent: most of us are still making zero progress. We’re essentially in the same boat as people like us in the days of the Robber Barons. Economic inequality is the highest in history, salaries are stuck at about 1980s levels, and we’re sick and tired of you 1 percenters hogging all the riches. It’s getting close to the time when ordinary people are going to break out the pitchforks and the tar and feathers.
Now here’s a sample of what the 1 percenters think from some moronic Ayn Rand fan at Fortune named Harry Binswanger: Give Back? Yes, It’s Time For The 99% To Give Back To The 1%. Here’s a taste, but you really need to go read the whole thing.
It’s time to gore another collectivist sacred cow. This time it’s the popular idea that the successful are obliged to “give back to the community.” That oft-heard claim assumes that the wealth of high-earners is taken away from “the community.” And beneath that lies the perverted Marxist notion that wealth is accumulated by “exploiting” people, not by creating value–as if Henry Ford was not necessary for Fords to roll off the (non-existent) assembly lines andSteve Jobs was not necessary for iPhones and iPads to spring into existence.
Let’s begin by stripping away the collectivism. “The community” never gave anyone anything. The “community,” the “society,” the “nation” is just a number of interacting individuals, not a mystical entity floating in a cloud above them. And when some individual person–a parent, a teacher, a customer–”gives” something to someone else, it is not an act of charity, but a trade for value received in return.
I’m running out of space and time, so here are the rest of my news items link-dump style:
The Daily Mail: Sister of suspected Boston Marathon bomber appears in court charged with dealing marijuana
The NYT: Starbucks Seeks to Keep Guns Out of Its Coffee Shops
NBC News: Gamer stabbed, robbed of ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ just minutes after buying game
NBC News: ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ torture episode sparks controversy
Science Recorder: European scientists plan to free robot snakes on the Red Planet
NPR: Officials Say Edward Snowden’s Leaks Were Masked By Job Duties
WaPo: Navy Yard shooter carved odd messages into his gun before carnage
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
mablue2
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
A few more links:
Oklahoma bodies in lake date to 1960s, 1970 disappearances
Texas parents want history book banned over Second Amendment ‘militia’ definition
State-Sponsored Hacker Gang Has a Side Gig in Fraud
Great post this morning BB! The Republican party has been taken over by insurrectionists and neoconfederates. Their commitment to our Republic and the Constitution should be questioned.
“Earth to the top 1 percent: most of us are still making zero progress. We’re essentially in the same boat as people like us in the days of the Robber Barons. Economic inequality is the highest in history, salaries are stuck at about 1980s levels, and we’re sick and tired of you 1 percenters hogging all the riches. It’s getting close to the time when ordinary people are going to break out the pitchforks and the tar and feathers”
Bravo and Double Ditto to all of that. I would add that we’re actually “sick and (goddam) tired of (the) 1 percenters hogging all the riches”. And I wonder how those who travel behind the dark windows of luxurious vehicles and live in homes that are the size of small hotels or upscale resorts lay their heads down at night and sleep knowing that millions of people. all around them, are in need, many living in desperation.
The notion that anyone gets rich solely through their own merit and accomplishment and that those accomplishments entitle them to live a life of total self-indulgence is ridiculous. I don’t give a damn what Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or Henry Ford designed or created, because without an audience to PURCHASE their inventions, their projects weren’t worth a plug nickel. At some point the 1% must be forced to recognize who grows their food, purifies their water, builds their castles, constructs their roads, assembles their vehicles, trims their lawn, cooks their meals, cleans their homes, makes their clothes, manufactures their meds, provides their health and end of life care.
When I hear people say that Bill Gates is “generous” it is infuriating and especially infuriating when they use his work in Africa as an example of his “generosity” . Bill Gates net worth is $72 Billion dollars which is more than the GDP of half the countries in Africa and many countries around the world.
Check out this World Gross Domestic Product chart produced by the CIA
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2195.html
Until society stops holding these people up as “special beings” entitled to lives of opulence, and characterizing their crumb throwing as “generosity”, when it’s basically nothing more that Public Relations, nothing will change.
you got that right mouse
Sending hugs to Ralph today, hope your surgery goes well. Bebe and I will be thinking of you.
Hope Bebe is doing better today, JJ and I hope you’ve been able to get some rest too.
And ditto on the hugs to ralph.
Hope the surgery went well today, Ralph. Best wishes for a quick recovery. We need you back here as soon as possible with your always insightful comments and great links!
Any of you that are interested in either Woodard or the entire watergate thing: This shows that woodward is a serial exaggeration expert:
Don’t Woodward’s notes http://t.co/r0Qa6XGSoj support Barry Sussman’s view that Deep Throat’s role was exagerated?http://t.co/9bDeNad7gi
Colorado Republicans unanimously support flood relief
Unanimously opposed Sandy Aid
http://thkpr.gs/16IEtQs
I suppose that proves the old saying about the right wingers, “if it ain’t happening to them, then it ain’t happening”.
Thinking of Ralph………….and hoping Bebe is getting back to her old self……………
This is so damn creepy……….made me think of the doctor that shamed the woman who had a hicky and wanted birth control.
http://youtu.be/R7cRsfW0Jv8
I think hell must be getting ready to freeze over
“Pope: Church Can’t Be Obsessed With Gays, Contraception, Abortion”
http://www.voanews.com/content/pope-urges-catholic-church-to-find-balance-on-divisive-issues/1753290.html
Most of what the pope is saying is still far to the right of where I am on the political and social spectrum, but this pope almost sounds like a real human being. Damn, I’m beginning to wonder if the pope is reading all of the conspiracy theories floating around the tubes concerning the comet ISON.
Pope Francis: Catholic Church must focus beyond “small-minded rules”
WTF?Really? These are quotes that I couldn’t/wouldn’t have imagined could ever have come from the mouth of a pope. Something’s up!!!!!
“Pope: Leave gays alone” “Pope Francis says the church shouldn’t “interfere spiritually” in the lives of gays and lesbians. He also says women must play a key role in the church”
OMG…..It must be the end of the world. LOL!!!!!
Wow.
Those damn Jesuits! They will destroy the Church yet. /s
“House passes GOP plan for $39B cut in food stamps USA TODAY – 31 minutes ago”
Unbelievable!!!!! The GOP just cannot leave the poor, the unemployed and those who are trying to survive on shrinking wages alone. Maybe this pope will suggest that his cardinals in the USA address this from the pulpit, instead of gay marriage or contraception. It would be nice to see the catholic church work on the real problems in society.
It’s Christmas in September! Bah Humbug!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6MFN8yiVc0