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Boehner goes berserk on capital hill because he was turned down for a free donut being offered to all federal/government workers during the shutdown. ;-0 So, do we know who the shooter was this morning on Capitol Hill. Was he also on a psychotropic drug or is he a member of the TeaParty? Looks like one rather porcine Capitol guard was shot and taken to the hospital. And they temporarily locked down the Capitol and White house.
Apropos to post #9. The White House and Congress has just been assaulted by an unknown assailant.
chuckle8 ~ As if to give an example of what I am talking about. The effect the Executive Orders have had on gun control apparently has done little to curtail gun violence; in fact, it has directed it toward Capitol Hill. Unbelievable! What timing!
Gun control is the responsible thing to do. However, as you can see, it is a Red Herring.
Should we examine the idea of sedition as applied to current Republican behavior?
The Republic Party is now pushing for piecemeal funding of the federal government. Wonder if they are ok with us paying our taxes a la carte?
According to the White House staff that have been asked this question the fear is that a court decision could overthrow an Executive order. This could adversely affect the economy. However, the way I see it, the economy is going to be adversely affected anyway. Why not try to nip this tactic in the bud and issue the order. This charade has to come to an end.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-01/white-house-rejects-14th-amendment-to-raise-debt-ceiling.html
The 14th Amendment--the way I read it--makes doing so mandatory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
If Congress does not uphold the "validity of the public debt of the United States" they are not protecting and defending the Constitution. Therefore it falls on the executive branch to do so. Such an action would take weeks to be addressed by the Superior Court. If the Court overrules the action the President still can act by simply continuing to remain firm and refuse any compromises. He will have made it clear by then that he is resolved to getting his way. That way the Republicans in congress will eventually be pressured by their wealthy puppet masters to fall in line. If the Court upholds the action then the President wins and this charade of raising the debt ceiling is over for good. It certainly is a risk worth taking with sooo much at stake.Either way, the President stands to win. Checkmate!
Actually, if any money should be paid for writing legislation, regardless whether it's legislation to help the 99% of Americans or legislation that fattens their own pockets, it's certainly not these elected officials in the House. They've allowed their own special interest groups and lobbiests to do all the "writing" so why aren't they the ones negotiating to not shut down the government? These wooden-headed dingbats in the tea party still don't know what the words "Clean Bill" means.
Dan -- Thanks. I probably didn't listen to Thom on that issue. I listen to every podcast except for those on gun control, because it seems so hopeless. Do you know if any of those executive orders had any impact on gun control?
Obviously you missed Thom's show that covered this issue. Here is a review:
http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/obama-firing-off-more-executive-orders/
Are we to assume that "reducing gun violence" is more important than the Federal Government itself?
Never forget "It all began with Reagan". He started the dumbing down as governor of California with taking away free College education. Ronnie boy said something like why should I pay for their education when all they do is protest against what I do. He then went along with the Powell doctrine to consolidate all the media under the thumb of the 1%.
We should all keep remembering that a key plank in the The Texas Repubilican Party was to eliminate critical thinking from the educational system. It was in their platform until it was revealed nationally and then it disappeared.
Great news!! California legalizes the growth of Industrial Hemp. Bad news, it only goes into effect after the Federal government approves.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/03/california-hemp_n_4033632.html
Another major goal almost met. Today is a good day to be an American.
http://thehempsolution.blogspot.com/
Dan -- What gun control did he effect by Executive Order? I think everyday the Prez is realizing more and more how uncaring the repugs. The last debt limit ceiling debt led to the sequester which is destroying the economy. I hope he learned. The Prez has until Oct 24 to pull out the trillion dollar coin trick or whatever to use the 14th Amendment.
Why doesn't the President simply raise the debt limit with an Executive order? This makes no sense. Thanks to GW he can declare a national emergency and do it too. Why is the President acting like he is powerless and subject to the whims of the House of Representatives? Did he not enact gun legislation on his own with an Executive order. When he wants to he oversteps Congress. Hopefully he is just hesitating to make the Republicans look bad for the next election. If so, it sure is working.
Anyway, any feigned compromise at this point is a pure cop out. I hope that doesn't happen. Let the Republicans crash and burn. They deserve it. If he gives in any way all is lost for the rest of his term. This is the real red line in the sand. If he doesn't uphold it the Republicans are right and he is soft.
I have never seen a law or regulation formulated by humans that did not have difficulties or biases in it. Nevertheless, each law/regulation is an attempt to improve something. We tend to forget what the conditions were like before the necessity for the law/regulation was determined. For example, the cost of medical care in the US before Medicare was enacted and put into practice had a very high rate of annual increase. Medicare reduced that incresase. Hopefully, inspite of the problems in The Affordable Healthcare Act, we will have another reduction in the rate of increase experienced in the US healthcare system.
I am retired. My income is about 88% Social Security. I recently calculated the ratio of medical expenses to income for the first nine months of this year. It was 29%. I know this is not averagese since both my wife and I have heart conditions. However, normal household expense does not allow for this kind of expense ratio.
As a result of the above, I seem to remember a graph showing the rate of increase of medical care prior to Medicare and subsequent to the introduction of Medicare. I don't remember the actual rates computed for averasgge Amertican household g before was about 18% per annum and after Medicare was aboiut 14% per annum. I' estmating thes rates frpm observong the graph showing costs over time so thes are only poor estimates. This indicated an improvement in annual rate of about 4%. The redukction was not as good as hoped for but it was an improvement. Do you have updates on this? Also, what do they hope The Affordable healthcare system will do to the rate of increase of medical care for the average American?
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I hear ya, brother. Scary indeed. But still good for a laugh. Like "Get your government hands off my Medicare!" (What a classic!) and "Youth in Asia will kill your grandmother!" (regarding "death with dignity"...) Beam me up...
Aliceinwonderland ~ That sure was a weird coincidence. I guess you are right about that corporate infotainment. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. What ever happened to saying, "Gee! I don't really know that much about it." How do people prattle on so passionately about something they don't even know the name of like they know what they are talking about. This is really scary. Funny! Yes. But also really scary. A friend of mine had this to say about this video:
I know it sounds harsh; but, what can I say? I want to disagree; but, I can't.
Aliceinwonderland: You took the words right out of my mouth! This is precisely why we have numbnuts like Cruz and the Tea Party in control of the House.
DAnneMarc, not only did your post kick in the very moment mine did; but it was on the VERY SAME THING! Gimmie some skin, bro.
I think we both know what has interfered with people's "normal cognitive process": garbage-in-garbage-out infotainment and high- fructose corn syrup! - AIW
Just one more thing to share before I'm done. On Randy Rhodes' talk show this afternoon I heard this no-nothing twit explaining that she hates "Obamacare" but thinks the Affordable Care Act is okay. Isn't that hilarious! Or tragic, depending on your take. But I laughed my ass off.
This is what decades of corporate infotainment have done to the minds of our fellow citizens. Without an informed electorate, we have no democracy. - Aliceinwonderland
Hey guys! Check out this Jimmy Kimmel skit. It's called Obamacare vs The Affordable Care Act. They ask random people on the street whether they prefer Obamacare or The Affordable Care Act. Of course they are the same. But listen to the sheer raw ignorance of our fellow citizens. You won't believe it. (Then again, maybe you will.) Thom is so right! There is a lot of confusion out there. And a lot of sheer ignorance and what can only be described as misplaced preconceived notions. Racist notions? Maybe. Something is obviously interfering with the normal cognitive process.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504784_162-57605754-10391705/jimmy-kimmel-on-obamacare-vs-the-affordable-care-act/
"Oh boy, what a ride..." You've got that right, Sandlewould.
Over the past couple of months I have been posting on various blogs in Der Spiegel, the German media outlet, on various topics. Inevitably the subject of the ACA has surfaced. Here's a clip you might find of interest:
From a Der Spiegel article: Shutdown Spectacle: "America Is Already Politically Bankrupt":
The overwhelming consensus among the German press is that the Republicans are the most to blame for the gridlock. In a Tuesday commentary, SPIEGEL ONLINE's Gregor Peter Schmitz dubbed them the "kamikaze party." He attributed the gridlock to America's mercenary political culture -- where directly elected lawmakers run for re-election every two years and campaigns are privately financed -- as well as to the lack of party infrastructure compared to Germany's parliamentary model with its publicly funded campaigns.
"It's circumstances like these," writes Schmitz, "that explain why a brigade of Republicans conduct themselves like a bunch of Berlusconis -- as enemies of the state from within who want to cripple the country because that's the desire of their conservative voters at home."
When it came to the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, the German press was not pulling any punches. "There are fundamentalists within the world's largest democracy: The hardline wing of the Republican Party are once more crippling the United States," writes Nuremberg's Nachrichten. The Tea Party movement, it concludes, "does not engage in democracy, but in dogmatism."
"Here are fundamentalists at work who hold up their country to ridicule to advance their pure doctrine," wrote a commentator in Collogne's Stadt-Anzeiger. "What a tragedy!"
Gee, how nice to be reminded that there's intelligent life elsewhere on this planet!
Anyway here's what one of our fellow yankies has to say about it, along with my response:
With all due respect, the author has missed the essence of one of the major factors that has resulted in this difficult period for the USA government. The Tea Party's absolute abhorrence of the so-called Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is at the root of their willingness to temporarily shutter the government. The healthcare law was passed without one Republican vote, with the Obama administration riding roughshod over any Republican suggestions to modify or amend the law. The majority of the American people in poll after poll have shown their dislike of this major revamp of healthcare in our country. Obama has dug in and refuses to negotiate with the Republicans who ask for a one-year delay in implantation across the board, something Obama has already granted to corporations but not to individuals. - "parkidoc777"
Screw the Tea Party Republi-con oligarchs! And by the way, that was a good article.
Gee, I'm so sorry the Tea Party has a problem with working class Americans seeing a doctor. But hey, let's consider the source: our almighty fossil fuel plutocrats, the Koch Brothers, and all their corporate fascist buddies!
I too am an American, by the way. I have had ENOUGH of this "uniquely American" pay-or-die, money-grubbing fraud that passes for healthcare in this country. It is bankrupting and killing us. And I mean that literally. Over the past thirty years, millions of people (even children!) have died unnecessarily and avoidably because they couldn't afford a damn doctor. You call that a civilized society, Mr. "parkidoc"?! Another year's delay on the ACA means more bankruptcies, ruin and death for our fellow Americans.
Contrary to "parkidoc's" ridiculous assessment, people over here are signing up for ACA like gangbusters. Apparently I'm not the only one sick to death of living under Republican-sponsored financial terrorism. With luck, the ACA will soon morph into something much greater: single-payer Medicare for all!!! - AIW
Doggone it, can I change my vote?
I hear the polls indicate most people favor the Affordable Care Act over the Obamacare Act. This is what I mean about the misinformation or should I say lack of information many folks operate under when voting for the Teapublicans. I know of only one Act and it's best described as the Affordable Health Insurance Act! ....soon to be state by state single payer. We will finally get on board with the economic sense the rest of the world already has when it comes to paying for healthcare.
Has the Tea Party gone Frankenstein or is the Cruz control all about a back room deal with the Koch's in order to get the Keystone XL pipeline? In my opinion the shut down has nothing to do with Obamacare like they want us to think.