Still No Obamacare Boiling Pit of Sewage In Which We Will All Roil and Scream

The CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation released a series of new estimates Monday on the law’s costs and the number of people it will cover. Here are the numbers and main points:

• Insurance premiums under Obamacare are projected to rise less than 3 percent in 2015, a smaller-than-expected jump as the health insurance exchanges enter their second year.
• 12 million more Americans will have health coverage in 2014 than would have been the case without the ACA
• Coverage through the law will cost the federal government about $5 billion less than expected this year.
• The law’s 10-year cost for the coverage provisions is pegged at $1.383 trillion — $104 billion less than prior calculations. Both figures are lower than prior estimates mostly because the CBO and JCT anticipate premium subsidies being smaller.
• The budget estimates now project premiums to be about 15 percent lower in 2016 than initial projections four years ago.

SMALLER premium rises? Really? That's not what the folks are telling me inside the bubble.

Name Changed to Protect the Guilty

Samuel Warde has a piece up about political discussions on digital media that is fucking hilarious. It looks like it's been up for awhile but has just now been making the rounds in my social media circles. Check out some of the lines from "Name Changed to Protect the Guilty."

Well, first you commie fucktards would have to change the law and that is not likely to happen, but if you somehow manage it, I and many others will fight.

I can barely tolerate you leftist/statists as it stands.

Hillary doesn’t stand a chance, not now. You are stuck on stupid, Sam, and you deserve whatever insults are thrown your way. You have ignored the truth and support Statism. It’s your religion. You are as bad as a Muslim in my opinion.

Diversity causes division. America was once the melting pot of the world but the leftist trumpets diversity and division, not unity. I do respect the American way of life, you’re the one that hates it and wants to change it into a socialist State. The wheels are coming off the administration and this will be the year of scandal. I’ll be pretty happy if we see some resignations and an impeachment proceeding. Hopefully we will drive a stake through the heart of statism forever. 

Don’t act like the Democrats are any better than Republicans because they have pretty much helped bring this country down. The slide has not stopped. Freedom will soon be a thing of the past.

Seems awfully familiar, doesn't it? :)

Rand Paul's Party of Justice

A very interesting speech from a man obviously trying to broaden his base in a run for the presidency in 2016. There's a lot of the usual libertarian nonsense but how much of it is just what he has to say?

Pay attention to what he says starting at about the 10 minute, 30 second mark regarding the institutional racism in the criminal justice system. More importantly, note how is trying to get a crowd of old, white people to understand that they have to change their message and broaden their appeal.

Racist or Not Racist

Question for my readers...I was recently engaged in a discussion about the racism in our judicial and criminal justice system (see this link for one of the many studies that show this to be factual) with someone who said, "Maybe black people commit more crimes."

Racist or not racist?

I ask the question because it seems that there seems to be so many bowels blown over "playing the race card" and I want to be sensitive to those folks who, like black people in this country, are under near constant attack for their inability to reflect and admit fault.

Hey, they are people too!!

We Are Less Free Than North Korea

At least that's what Mike Huckabee thinks. 

How many times can "freedom die" tonight before we stop listening to these infants?

Now That Is A Teacher!

Religious Freedom in Saudi Arabia

A very hopeful piece which I found illustrates that it's best to leave behind stereotypes.

Mr. Awda, alone among Saudi clerics, openly welcomed the Arab uprisings of 2011, and even published a book called “Questions of Revolution.” Promptly banned here but widely disseminated on the Internet, the book drew on Islamic texts and history to reach some very unorthodox conclusions: that democracy is the only legitimate form of government; that Islam does not permit theocracy; that separation of powers is required; that the worst despotism is that practiced in the name of religion.

I've come a long way with my horrible bias and prejudice towards Muslims. I let my anger over the 9-11 attacks cloud my judgment and that was very short sighted and fundamentally flawed. Most of what changed me I don't write about much on here. The general reason are the students that I have had the absolute honor to know in the last few years that are of the Islamic faith. These young men and women have showed me that there is always hope for a strong bridge between the East and the West.

Of course, the hope extends beyond me. The conservatives of the Islamic world (like our own conservatives here) aren't going to last if they don't change.

Jesus Was Married

A fragment of an ancient Egyptian papyrus known as the "Gospel of Jesus's Wife," unveiled in 2012, shows no evidence of being a modern forgery, as some critics had charged, according to an article published in the Harvard Theological Review. Certainly, this will cause millions of bowels to be blown around our nation and indeed the world but I don't see how this changes anything.

Does it make Him less of the Son of God if He was married? No. He was a rabbi and there were no priests during that time that took vows of celibacy. He and His wife would stand as shining examples of a loving, committed relationship that should be emulated. After all, He spoke frequently of the evil of adultery and how couples should stay committed to one another. It seems now that He not only talked the talk but walked the walk and that illustrates just how perfect and deep his integrity ran.

A Nation of Laws

Here's a handy chronology of the history of United States immigration laws. A few points to take note of...

Chinese Exclusion Acts / Immigration Exclusion Act (1882): prohibited citizenship for Chinese immigrants. Subsequent acts reinforcing the exclusion of Chinese immigrant were passed in 1884, 1886 and 1888. "In 1882, 1884, 1886, and 1888, Congress passed Chinese exclusion acts, suspending immigration of Chinese laborers and barring reentry of all Chinese laborers who departed and did not return before the passage of the Act" (Lowe 180-81fn14).

and...

Immigration Act of 1917: Exclusion of Asian Indians (1917) "A geographical criterion was used to exclude Asian Indians, because their racial or ethnic status was unclear" (Lowe, 180-81fn14).

I bring both of these laws to light because they were, at one time, the law of the land and then they were changed. It's not the fucking end of all that is holy if we change immigration law (or any law for that matter) that isn't working and/or not applicable to the times.

Our current system of immigration isn't working. We have over 11 million undocumented workers that are effectively being given amnesty. We are not going to deport the vast majority of them. 40% of them didn't sneak across the border. They stayed beyond their work visas which means that all the border securing mouth foaming isn't applicable. It's time for the House to pass Marco Rubio's bill so we can finally have immigration law that fits the time.

Sounds Like a Good Time!

Good Words (Bill Maher)

“The GOP has kind of become talk radio, an echo chamber where people are not interested in actually legislating or compromising or fixing America, just in screeching about how liberals have ruined it." 

---Bill Maher, 11 April 2014. 

Check out the whole video, folks, as it is an excellent summation of the Right today. There's also a mention of "voices in their heads" which I fond amusing.

Yet it was his brief mention of why conservatives bitch about people that don't work and yet still seem to have so much time during the day to listen to talk radio got me wondering. Don't they have jobs? It reminds me of this time I had to go downtown for a meeting. I parked my car in a underground ramp and when I got out, I could here Rush Limbaugh's voice blaring out of a car. Some dude was sitting in his car, staring straight ahead with an ultra angry look on his face, fervently glued to his radio and hanging on every word Rush said. What a miserable life that fellow must have had...

The End of the Benghazi Mouthfoam

GOP Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, the Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee, says he’s satisfied with how the US military and the Obama administration responded to the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans, including the US ambassador to Libya.The news also exonerates expected Democratic presidential nominee, and then-Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

“I think I’ve pretty well been satisfied that given where the troops were, how quickly the thing all happened and how quickly it dissipated, we probably couldn’t have done more than we did,” McKeon said to reporters today, as quoted by AP.

Will they finally leave it alone? Personally, I hope they keep talking about it for the next two years through both election cycles. Between their obsession with the ACA and the IRS, they are like this...

The Only Health Care Nightmare? Pure Spite

Paul Krugman's recent piece on the Affordable Care Act pretty much sums everything up to current status. Some choice cuts...

But wait: What about all the people who lost their policies thanks to Obamacare? The answer is that this looks more than ever like a relatively small issue hyped by right-wing propaganda. RAND finds that fewer than a million people who previously had individual insurance became uninsured — and many of those transitions, one guesses, had nothing to do with Obamacare. It’s worth noting that, so far, not one of the supposed horror stories touted in Koch-backed anti-reform advertisements has stood up to scrutiny, suggesting that real horror stories are rare.

Rare indeed. So much so that you really don't here about them much except for in the right wing blogsphere with the sole intention of increasing mouth foam.

Republicans clearly have no idea how to respond to these developments. They can’t offer any real alternative to Obamacare, because you can’t achieve the good stuff in the Affordable Care Act, like coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, without also including the stuff they hate, the requirement that everyone buy insurance and the subsidies that make that requirement possible. Their political strategy has been to talk vaguely about replacing reform while waiting for its inevitable collapse. And what if reform doesn’t collapse? They have no idea what to do.

This is especially true since it was their idea to begin with!

What’s amazing about this wave of rejection is that it appears to be motivated by pure spite. The federal government is prepared to pay for Medicaid expansion, so it would cost the states nothing, and would, in fact, provide an inflow of dollars. The health economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the principal architects of health reform — and normally a very mild-mannered guy — recently summed it up: The Medicaid-rejection states “are willing to sacrifice billions of dollars of injections into their economy in order to punish poor people. It really is just almost awesome in its evilness.” Indeed.

Motivated by pure spite...one could extend that to pretty much every issue the Right whines about. They really don't have any there there...

Gruber's point really drives home how this issue ties into all the other ones that will part of this year's election. Last Wednesday, in a single committee meeting, Republicans voted against the Minimum Wage, Equal Pay, LGBT Rights, and Mine Safety. Add in a decided lack of movement on the immigration issue and the Republican party is pretty much the same one that ran behind Mitt Romney in 2012. Have they learned anything?

More importantly, do they honestly think voters aren't paying attention to this?

Equal Pay?

Happy Friday

Gun Shows Are Gun Free Zones?

From Ohio Gun, Knife, and Military Shows...

LOADED FIREARMS ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THE GUN SHOW PREMISES. EXHIBITORS AND PATRONS ARE REQUIRED TO EXAMINE EACH FIREARM, REMOVE CLIPS AND BE POSITIVE THAT THE FIREARM IS NOT LOADED BEFORE ENTERING THE GUN SHOW PREMISES.

From Gunshow.net

Because attendees will be handling their weapons inside the show, we ask that for your safety, please ensure all clips and weapons are empty before entering the show. Double check inside the chamber of all weapons! Patrons who bring loaded clips or weapons into the show may be refused entry. Purchase your ticket, get your hand stamped, and then proceed to the Gun Check table. Always point your weapon in a safe direction (up or down) and never put your finger on the trigger. Remove all clips first and show the attendant that they are empty. Open the chamber on your weapons so the attendant can verify that the chambers are clear. If you do not know how to open your weapon please inform the attendant and they will assist you. Never try to operate a weapon you are not familiar with. Never try to reload your weapon while inside the show. You must be 18 or over to enter or be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. You must be 21 or older to purchase, sell or handle a handgun and 18 or older to purchase, sell or handle a rifle or shotgun inside the show. No exceptions. Class 3 weapons must be accompanied with the proper documentation.

So, gun shows are actually gun free zones? Seems to me like my prediction about someone losing it at a gun show is even more possible than I thought with all these defenseless people. I do love the part about possibly not knowing how to open your weapon, though:)

Create Law Based on the Bible?

#CancelColbert Succeeds!

A few weeks ago one of the web guys for The Colbert Report posted a dumb Asian joke that flopped. That raised calls for the cancellation of The Colbert Report.

Well, now they will get their wish. The Colbert Report will be canceled because Steven Colbert will succeed David Letterman on the Late Show.

I've never been a big fan of the Colbert persona. Sure, he does some funny bits. But I'm so tired of bloviating right-wing egocentric nitwits like Bill O'Reilly, that even watching parodies of bloviating right-wing egocentric nitwits like Bill O'Reilly is tedious.

Some people are already mourning the end of Colbert's alter ego, but I for one will be glad to see him go. The Colbert character is a dead-on imitation of everything that is wrong with the likes of O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and, yes, Bill Maher.

O'Reilly and Fox News have had a long-standing feud with with Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. Whenever the comedians make fun of them Fox News hosts like O'Reilly feel the need to respond to Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart.

Which means that Fox News' real competition isn't MSNBC or CNN. It's Comedy Central.

Yet Another Troubled Young Man

Alex Hribal went on a stabbing rampage yesterday at his high school in Murrsyville, Pennsylvania and sadly illustrated, once again, that we are failing the mental health of our nation's young men once again. I'm fairly certain that was more information comes to light we will discover that he had mental and emotional disabilities, was taking an SSRI, had divorced parents or a troubled home life, played violent video games, and had access to weapons.

Speaking of which, does anyone know if this school had a zero tolerance policy or not? I thought knives were just fine to carry around school, according to the Gun Cult. Well, at least this incident finally torpedoes the "good guy with a gun" lie as well as the "gun free zone" lie. 

Assistant Principal Sam King finally tackled the boy and disarmed him, and a Murrysville police officer who is regularly assigned to the school handcuffed him, police said. In addition to the 22 stabbed or slashed, two people suffered other injuries, authorities said. The security guard, who was wounded after intervening early in the melee, was not seriously hurt.

So, there was a good guy with a gun, it was not a gun free zone, and someone with a "lesser" weapon did all that damage. Perhaps this problem of school violence is a lot more complicated than an 8 year old boy solution...

An Act Of Love

Here is a longer version of the Jeb Bush comments on immigration which I think is more insightful.



 Interesting to note that 40 percent of illegal immigrants are simply staying past their work visas. That makes the "secure the border" mouth foamers really seem like idiots. Wait, they are idiots...what am I saying? Take a look at the description below the video (appeal to fear) and some of the comments below this video on YouTube. Voices in my head indeed...