Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
They're updating the section where Michelle Obama tells us how to get a smaller ass. Don't hate. It'll be up soon.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicants are hoping against hope they can make it all just go away. Their hatred of another program aimed at helping the middle class survive is driving them even crazier then they usually are.
ReplyDeleteFDR and Harry Truman are smiling down on us. We have finally taken our first steps into the 20th century of Industrialized civilized societies.
ReplyDeleteNow we have to guard against the the modern "know-nothing Party" run by the tea party extremists. Left up to them we would throw knowledge, compassion and science out the window. They are throwbacks to an age better left in the dark past.
Forward!
ReplyDeleteWhoops. The website is down. And, thanks to those Tea Bagger rascals, Obama's Santa Claus Government is down, as well.
Hillary would have done better, if only she could have.
poor people jinxed the system so they could cry even harder give me, give me, give me.
ReplyDeletenobama will probably have to take another vacation to figure this out
let them eat cake
It's up.
ReplyDeleteWho cares? The people that already have health insurance or the ones who choose not to have it? I think its funny how those who don't have health insurance are now FORCED to get it or be fined and become criminals!! These are generally the people that voted for Obummmer. LOL!!
ReplyDeleteStarting today, President Obama and Congress can begin signing-up for the Affordable Car Act!
ReplyDelete. . . . oh, wait, they'd rather not.
I think most of them already have affordable cars.
ReplyDeleteYou are dissing the IT people as incompetent now?
ReplyDeleteThey're updating the section where Michelle Obama tells us how to get a smaller ass. Don't hate. It'll be up soon.
ReplyDeleteThis would actually be a good thing for fatass Americans. Geezus you people are fat.
Starting today, President Obama and Congress can begin signing-up for the Affordable Car Act!
ReplyDelete. . . . oh, wait, they'd rather not.
They already have healthcare, you moron. Just like I do and presumably others with a job - unlike you. Call 1-800-OBAMA.
I'm kinda glad the enrollment period has opened. This will be the first time many Americans will even look into what Obamacare really is.
ReplyDeleteMany young adults will get to pay $2500 per year for a policy many will never really benefit from. They will now pay at least the first $6000 of their medical bills, have co-pays on top. It's a new world for many of them.
Of course, they could pay the $95 penalty and get necessary care at an emergency room.
The health care exchange is down.
ReplyDelete0947 hrs.1 Oct 2013, I went to the South Carolina page to sign up for Obamacare and guess what it was down.I am on Medicare and have a supplement plan and I want to see if Obamacare can help me out
ReplyDeleteDoes Obama's Government actually ever do ANYTHING it says its gonna do?
ReplyDeleteLet's start with closing Gitmo and carefully review the long, long list of broken promises one by one ...
Reality check.
10:54 -
ReplyDeleteWhy, yes. Fundamentally change America !
Anytime you follow a demagogue with a blind eye, sh__t can happen.
What a mess. Why is waiting a year a problem? What's the rush?
ReplyDeleteI think all anti-obama republicans should lose their healthcare and be denied any heatlhcare services. "Because they are anti-Obama and anti-American Voter" and think they are almighty and always impede and obstruct and do nothing more.
ReplyDeleteMany young adults will get to pay $2500 per year for a policy many will never really benefit from.
ReplyDeleteYou "benefit" from insurance? Please don't ever let me "benefit" from my car insurance.
What a mess. Why is waiting a year a problem? What's the rush?
ReplyDeleteUm, it was passed in 2009 and we've already waited 3 years? What the fuck were you doing?
For the last 15 years, Healthcare cost have risin 3 times the rate of inflation. Where were the righties all that time?
ReplyDeleteI want to buy into the same plan Cartwright and Dent have.
I don't know of ANY insurance company that doesn't sell itself based on the BENEFITS it provides.
ReplyDeleteLike Obamacare, or not, it is STILL not ready to roll out. The framework is not in place. A one year delay could prove to be a GOOD thing for the administration.
Don't forget, Obama has already changed the "law" at least a dozen times to accommodate special interests with delays and exemptions. Steps taken without legal statutory authority!
I'd be happy to see the law delayed. But it is irresponsible to make governmental operations contingent on it.
ReplyDeleteGive me some more free shit
ReplyDelete1238 hrs. 1 Oct. 2013 Both the Pennsylvania and South Carolina sits are down ! Could not delay implementation as that would be admitting failure
ReplyDeleteAre there no prisons? Are there no work houses?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf you think getting on the website now is hard, wait until December 31!
ReplyDeleteIt is not down, it is busy. Does that not seem be a sign that people want to see what it is about?
ReplyDeleteIf you cannot access the site, it is effectively down.
ReplyDeleteBernie-----irresponsible, 12:22---mostly anything related to government is irresponsible. Talk to people in the health care field. The stories I hear lately will curl your hair about what procedures or medications will be discontinued. Government can't and shouldn't be the end all problem solver . I was starting to lean a little left over the last year or so but with everything I have read lately I need to hold true to my original beliefs and values. Over the last five years I almost went broke along with the economy and no one helped me, except me, and now I am getting back on my feet. You have to count only on yourself and expect no help from anyone especially the government.
ReplyDeleteGovernment has to get smaller, that is the only answer
I reject the notion that government must get smaller or that it must get larger. Those are ideological responses, simplistic and knee-jerk reactions to a problem.
ReplyDeleteI prefer with a realistic approach. First, it is idiotic to shut government down. That is just incredibly stupid. Second, when it comes to medical care, it is not just insurance that needs reform. It is medical costs and even medical care. Obamacare only really addresses insurance. Third, I prefer the incremental approach proposed by Dent as opposed to a massive change that causes systems to crash. I am perfectly willing to try BOTH conservative and liberal ideas to reform insurance, cost and health care.
The government must be smaller answer is no solution. It only sounds good on AM talk radio. Tell that to the people who were suffering during the Dust Bowl. A larger government saved lives. But by the same token, it is government and greed that caused the dust bowl so the notion that government solves everything is equally ridiculous. There is no simplistic answer. There are realistic answers, but you have to drop the ideology.
Smoking crack is very detrimental to your mental state, Anon 11:34.
ReplyDeleteAlways remember, there are NO Death Panels in Obamacare.
You have the right to go bankrupt.
Every day the gubmint is shut (it's not, really shut) is a GLORIOUS day, indeed. Watch the frenzied feeders, their snouts dipping for slop and coming up empty.
ReplyDeleteJust a brief respite, of course. But, for those of us who fill that trough, it's like the 4th of July, baby!
-Clem
The exchanges sites in states that have slammed the ACA are having problems with access. Wonder why that may be.
ReplyDeleteBy the way as a young male with allergies I would have to pay $55 a month for insurance with a high co-pay. Now I am able to get insurance with a lower co-pay for $150 month, after my tax write off. Imagine that, I get a tax write off just like the guys that own jets and three homes get.
By the way I do work. I can only get part-time hours. That's all that was available long before Obamacrae. As a younger guy who likes to hunt and is pretty middle of the road, I think some of you people sound like a bunch of angry old men.
Sounds like you hate Obamna and poor people more than any law.
Bernie's blog ruins lives
ReplyDeleteAmen, Clem!
ReplyDelete"By the way as a young male with allergies I would have to pay $55 a month for insurance with a high co-pay. Now I am able to get insurance with a lower co-pay for $150 month, after my tax write off."
ReplyDeleteGee, that's wonderful. But nobody asked me if I wanted to pay for your allergy meds. Of course, if asked, I would have leaped at the opportunity.
We need more centrist politicians in office, there are groups such as Unity PAC who are actively working towards that goal. If your tired of being a forgotten middle class worker speak up with your wallet and donate today, any amount will help.
ReplyDeleteSend checks to 1502 High St. 18018 Bethlehem PA, god bless.
ReplyDelete...irresponsible to make [some] government operations contingent on it
ReplyDeleteYour argument presumes the Democrats would be willing to negotiate with Republicans and repair the faults of Obamacare if amendments were not tied to the budget, but they've shown exactly the opposite, both then and now. -nlv
Bernie,
ReplyDeleteHere's where I am confused about your earlier post (12:22PM).
Evidently, you believe keeping government fully open is of utmost importance. You also indicated you could accept a one year delay. Maybe you realize, as I do, the ACA roll-out could actually be strengthened by a delay. Sure seems like the whole thing isn't ready.
I would think you are disappointed by the behavior of Harry Reid. The latest of four (un-countered) proposal by the Republicans would have achieved a satisfactory result, to you.
But, for whatever reason, Harry didn't clean this whole thing up (as you would have) by merely accepting a relatively harmless delay. So, I suppose, for Harry, keeping the government fully functioning is NOT the primary objective. He defers from the view you expressed.
What should Harry really do here, Bernie?
There absolutely are death panels, similar to "the path" in Great Britain. This program is about managing costs by getting the young and irresponsible to pay and getting the old and irresponsible dead, fast. And no, you can't keep your doctor. He was likely a capitalist crook anyway. It's why lawyers who booze through college get to pick like vultures at newly minted doctors as they gain their medical licenses. Without hard working doctors, there'd be far more failed lawyers like Bernie trying to figure out how to screw clients.
ReplyDeleteHarry Reid should do exactly what he is doing. I disagree with Obamacare. I disagree even more with Obama's recent weakness in foreign policy. But I do not believe that two-three dozen House members should be able to hold the entire country hostage until they get their way. That is not the way government works.
ReplyDelete"Friends of Jim Gregory said...
ReplyDeleteWe need more centrist politicians in office, there are groups such as Unity PAC who are actively working towards that goal. If your tired of being a forgotten middle class worker speak up with your wallet and donate today, any amount will help."
This PAC has never been formed and has been soliciting money illegally for months. It backs hate mongers like Trica Mezzacappa, who is a mentally disturbed gun nut who has been convicted of threatening to kill a public official. It backs Jim Gregory, who was sent to state prison for repeated violations of a PFA. It doies not speak up for the forgotten middle class, but instead advocates for convicted child rapist Michael Piper and another man who was touching little girls as they slept.
Bring the budget to the table and give it a clean up or down vote!
ReplyDeleteThe tea party is holding this Country hostage.
"Bring the budget to the table and give it a clean up or down vote!
ReplyDeleteThe tea party is holding this Country hostage."
Hardly. I'll tell you who's holding this country hostage: the 2009 Democrat bastards in the Senate who rammed Obamacare down our throats in spite of the fact that at least 75% of Americans opposed it, and the 2013 Democrat bastards in the Senate who refuse to repeal it or at least delay or amend it despite the fact that at least 60% of Americans STILL don't want it. And then, of course, there's Obama himself with his lies and his veto pen. But, sure, it's the tea party ... what color is the sky in your world?
Here's what pisses me off about you liberals. You want the budget brought to the table for a "clean up or down vote". But when the House votes "down" and the Senate votes "up", and neither party gives an inch, you short-sighted a-holes can't look past your blinders to see that the Senate democrats are equally intractable. In fact, more so. At least the House is proposing options, while Harry Reid and his horde of yes-men blame the Republicans for their own refusal to compromise. Stop blaming the House -- it's doing the job it was elected to do, which is to keep 56 idiots in the Senate from imposing their tyranny on the people.
ReplyDeleteIs the country really being held hostage? Seriously? Hostage? How silly. 800,000 dead weight non-essentials are being given a few days off and the last time I checked, everything seemed fine. The country has drifted without budget leadership since we elected this lazy lying golf wannabe. This is what it took to get him off the golf course. Oh wait, he played Saturday and Sunday. At least Gingrich and Clinton negotiated until the very last. This shiftless fuck doesn't do anything. And the country is not falling any more apart than it has been since he decided not to lead on budgets when he got elected. His Senate record indicated remarkable laziness. He didn't show up at all. We were warned. Serious tactics are required when the leader doesn't lead.
ReplyDeleteAnd you can't keep your doctor. That was another of his lies.
There has never n=been a clean up and down vote on a CR, so you start off by being full of shit and then go downhill. I have no problem with liberals or conservatives, but i do have a problem with misinformed fools. That is what you are.
ReplyDelete"s the country really being held hostage? Seriously? Hostage? How silly."
ReplyDeleteWhat's silly is that uncompromising fools like you are doing everything to make LC and NC less likely to vote for Ott and NC Council Rs in the upcoming elections.
BOH 704. John Boehner has the Senate Version ( a clean bill) but refuses to bring it to a vote. The Senate has voted 4 times to reject the House version. Why won't the House vote on the Senate version?
ReplyDeleteThis is the version of the Bill that Dent and Cartwright are willing to support and there are enough votes to pass.
Clint passed away six months ago. This cruel impostors bringing grief and pain to his family and loved ones
ReplyDeleteClem ----
ReplyDeleteI prefer to get decisions decided by way of elections. Of course then there is the Supreme
ReplyDeleteCourt to ensure it is legal.
However, since 20% of the people who are extremists teabaggers and their representatives, are mad the country must pay for their anger.
One Republican congressman on Fox today said that Obamacare is the," worst law in the history of the world".
WOW! Now that is amazing, since if one were to take the time to read the history of the world, we humans have done some really f'ed up things.
Remember, just because you hear voices in your head, it doesn't mean they are right!
I want to buy into the same plan Cartwright and Dent have.
ReplyDeleteSo get a job with the Federal Government.
I want the same plan Jamie Dimon has at JPMorgan. But, wait, I don't WORK there.
Gee, that's wonderful. But nobody asked me if I wanted to pay for your allergy meds. Of course, if asked, I would have leaped at the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteDo you want to pay to repair my Mercedes when I back into a pole? Of course not, it's called insurance.
Man, some people are so lacking in basic critical thinking.
We need more centrist politicians in office, there are groups such as Unity PAC who are actively working towards that goal. If your tired of being a forgotten middle class worker speak up with your wallet and donate today, any amount will help.
ReplyDeleteI'm tired of idiots on the internet misspelling "your" and "you're".
My guess is that came from Mezzacappa, and that is the least of her many sins.
ReplyDeleteI disagree even more with Obama's recent weakness in foreign policy.
ReplyDeleteHahahahaa!! You mean brining peaceful resolution to Syria and Iran? Stop reading the wingnut blogs, O'Hare.
6:41 PM - Why would the Senate "propose options" to a law enacted 4 years ago which was argued at great length, legislated, and run through the courts? It was also voted on in the 2012 general election where the majority of people voted to keep the President and his plans? The Congress should propose legislation to change Obamacare using the normal legislative process. It's as if you rimrods never learned how basic government works.
ReplyDeleteAnd you can't keep your doctor.
ReplyDeleteI'm keeping my doctor. What's YOUR problem, professor? Here's a penny, go buy a clue.
Um, I don't have to read wing nit blogs. weakened the presidency and this country in the eyes of the world by the way he handles the Syrican crisis. He managed to make Putin look good. It is perhaps the worst performance on foreign policy I've ever seen, even worse than the mistakes Bush made. Bush at least did not make this country appear weak to the rest of the world. Allies like Israel, I am sure, are very nervous. No wonder tea party Republicans think they can push him around.
ReplyDeleteYes, America is now "weak". The most powerful military in the world times 100 and we're weak. This is the drivel of right wing stooges who have long abandoned diplomacy in the name of American Exceptionalism jingoistic nonsense.
ReplyDeleteOnly a right wing stooge would hold a diplomatic solution between the US, Russia, Syria, and Iran as a failure of weakness.
It does not matter how powerful our military is when we have a president who runs from confrontation. He drawsa line in the sand and then runs from it. The Russians made fools of us. The way he handled that matter is pathetic.
ReplyDeleteOf course it matters how powerful our military is. Every country on earth knows that we could unleash ungodly hellfire if truly provoked. This nonsense where we must run the hard line in each and every circumstance is old, cold war thinking.
ReplyDeleteI'm not seeing how Putin intervening to possibly come up with a peaceful solution is "making a fool" of us. Only those that hold onto this Dr. Strangelove ideal (like the gray hairs running the National Review and Heritage) think we capitulated in some way.
You would actually prefer that we bombed the hell out of Syria, provoked regional conflagration, and still never got Syria to give up their WMD to an international movement that ended with Syria admitting finally it had the weapons and agreeing to give them up?
No wonder our world is so fucked up.