You guys have a Dem house? Really? I thought Republicans controlled it by several hundred? (well, at least after 2010)
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PoliGAF 2013 |OT3| 1,000 Years of Darkness and Nuclear Fallout
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You guys have a Dem house? Really? I thought Republicans controlled it by several hundred? (well, at least after 2010)
I can't log into GAF or Twitter from work (a self-imposed restriction), but I watched the festivities unfold during a meeting (rather irresponsibly, I might add, but seeing the beginning of the end of the filibuster was worth it).
A touch of catching up.
I never said it would not happen, and have long predicted the demise of the filibuster along these lines (including the GOP's promise to finish the job once they re-take the majority). I just wasn't convinced it would be today, after five years and at least as many blue balls moments from Reid. Skepticism was warranted, despite mounting evidence that he'd finally do it. I was in "show me the receipts" mode, not "it's never going to happen".
The receipts are lovely. McConnell's tears were even more lovely.
Further prediction: if Dems somehow hold the Senate and re-take the House, the filibuster will go for good. Bonus second prediction: if Obama's next SCOTUS nomination comes when Dems hold the Senate, they'll demand an up or down vote and either get it or nuke the filibuster for SCOTUS judges as well.
(I knew he'd finally do it when I read his floor speech on TPM before the votes. Pretty clear he had things in order. I was grinning ear to ear.)
A touch of catching up.
Lucky for me I was on mute in my meeting or everyone would have heard me bursting out in delightful laughter.
So true. The odd sight of something passing with a mere 55 votes in the Senate. I could get used to this.
I'd like this very much. Hopefully a socialist gay Muslim is available.
Same. I'd get pretty angry if anyone tried to pull anything personal about me into GAF. I go back and forth about nuking my Twitter account on a regular basis (I made it private for that reason).
Don't do this.
I never said it would not happen, and have long predicted the demise of the filibuster along these lines (including the GOP's promise to finish the job once they re-take the majority). I just wasn't convinced it would be today, after five years and at least as many blue balls moments from Reid. Skepticism was warranted, despite mounting evidence that he'd finally do it. I was in "show me the receipts" mode, not "it's never going to happen".
The receipts are lovely. McConnell's tears were even more lovely.
Further prediction: if Dems somehow hold the Senate and re-take the House, the filibuster will go for good. Bonus second prediction: if Obama's next SCOTUS nomination comes when Dems hold the Senate, they'll demand an up or down vote and either get it or nuke the filibuster for SCOTUS judges as well.
(I knew he'd finally do it when I read his floor speech on TPM before the votes. Pretty clear he had things in order. I was grinning ear to ear.)
We need a title change to reflect current events. In the spirit of Emperor Reid's unilateral nuclear holocaust....
cooljeanius
Member
The way our districts are set up lets us vote for multiple house reps at once, so it ends up being really swingy between elections when people end up just voting straight-ticket and putting multiple people from the same party in the House at once... So yeah, it had been controlled by Republicans after 2010, but then swung back to Democratic control after 2012...
If only we had a mod in this thread!
theprodigy
Member
dat thread title change
yesssss
yesssss
New title means new OP image. I'll be back in a bit...
Very nice.
It's perfect.
uhhhLOL:
PhoenixDark
Banned
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/11/21/californias-health-exchange-gains-momentum/
Seems like nothing but good news comes from California these days.
Aaron Strife
Banned
Aren't there only like 400 people to a district too? That would result in some pretty volatile elections.
I wonder if Hillary can turn it blue!PhoenixPause said:
cooljeanius
Member
Yeah, it does, and it is kind of a problem... No one really wants to change it, though, unfortunately...
TacticalFox88
Banned
Yay my thread title was used.
NYCmetsfan
Banned
Love the OP pic. really need to play fallout 3
WayneMorse
Banned
Xbox One #LessSuccessfulThanObamacare
Very good stuff. It's humiliating that here in Oregon, we can't even get the damn site to work. It sounds like it won't be working before the March 31st deadline; only paper applications. 0_0
Hooray for the latest play from the obstruction lobby being punted down.
UN surveillance resolution goes ahead despite attempts to dilute language -
Failed attempt by US, UK and Australia shows increased isolation of 'Five-Eyes' nations amid international controversy (Ewen MacAskill, James Ball, The Guardian)
PM Harper probably too busy trying to distance himself from the Senate scandal, no idea what's keeping NZ. Anyhow, a lot of aspirational feel-good stuff in the draft resolution, but the bits calling for concrete reports and examinations might shape up into something inconvenient down the line. Would Germany and Brazil being ushered into the eyes make this disappear overnight, or does everyone now want in?
UN surveillance resolution goes ahead despite attempts to dilute language -
Failed attempt by US, UK and Australia shows increased isolation of 'Five-Eyes' nations amid international controversy (Ewen MacAskill, James Ball, The Guardian)
PM Harper probably too busy trying to distance himself from the Senate scandal, no idea what's keeping NZ. Anyhow, a lot of aspirational feel-good stuff in the draft resolution, but the bits calling for concrete reports and examinations might shape up into something inconvenient down the line. Would Germany and Brazil being ushered into the eyes make this disappear overnight, or does everyone now want in?
TacticalFox88
Banned
Wow. Once the Website is fixed the initial disaster really WILL be forgotten.
Those delicious conservative tears.
empty vessel
Member
A state website? Bizarre that websites seem so hard to build.
It's perfect. Bless you.
I'm a Fed employee, I have to use a number of systems that were built via outside contracts, they are ALL universally horrible. I don't know what metrics are used in the awarding of these things (if it's like other procurement, it's usually whoever quotes the lowest price with no consideration for track record), but they all suck. One system I use doesn't work in any browser but IE, it's utterly ridiculous.
They've enrolled exactly zero people so far.
Before I forget to mention it, one of the debates during the late stages of the healthcare law before it passed was whether we should have one unified national marketplace, or a state by state solution. This clusterfuck is a result of not having a single national exchange. :\
The one Oregon built only works with IE.
empty vessel
Member
Well, I meant state government website as in not a federal government website. It does seem like reform of the government contract procurement process at the federal level is necessary, but I was surprised in particular that a state government's website was so wretched.
WayneMorse
Banned
We'll wait and see what the November numbers for the Federal Exchange are before we claim victory.
PhoenixDark
Banned
Oregon's situation is baffling. They were all in, implementation wise. I remember seeing a preview of their site and all the grand plans they had a few months ago.
I've been reading about it tonight, and learned that 1) Oracle has the contract, 2) Oregon has paid them over $100m so far, and 3) they had a badly drafted "time and materials" contract that did not stipulate any requirements for actual functionality, just labor and time spent. So Oregon can't recoup any of the costs, nor hold Oracle liable for the shoddy work.
I can't.
I've been reading about it tonight, and learned that 1) Oracle has the contract, 2) Oregon has paid them over $100m so far, and 3) they had a badly drafted "time and materials" contract that did not stipulate any requirements for actual functionality, just labor and time spent. So Oregon can't recoup any of the costs, nor hold Oracle liable for the shoddy work.
I can't.
This seems like a good use for unnecessarily expansive readings of eminent domain.
Black Mamba
Member
Great News from the Union's greatest state.
Come August and September 2014, I welcome the GOP to run against Obamacare. Run against it hard. See how far it gets them.
it'll be hilarious when they are shell-shocked again in November.
zero shift
Banned
California's GDP is nearly ten times that of Wisconsin. Wouldn't Wisconsin's surplus be like $7 billion or something similar?
Since I'm on food stamps I got a letter telling me that I could call a specific number to get enrolled in a health plan. The problem is I have a New Mexico area code, so the system automatically nopes me out before I can do anything. Super cool. Thanks Oregon.
I've been reading about it tonight, and learned that 1) Oracle has the contract, 2) Oregon has paid them over $100m so far, and 3) they had a badly drafted "time and materials" contract that did not stipulate any requirements for actual functionality, just labor and time spent. So Oregon can't recoup any of the costs, nor hold Oracle liable for the shoddy work.
I can't.
...long live Oregoniaaaaans
I've been reading about it tonight, and learned that 1) Oracle has the contract, 2) Oregon has paid them over $100m so far, and 3) they had a badly drafted "time and materials" contract that did not stipulate any requirements for actual functionality, just labor and time spent. So Oregon can't recoup any of the costs, nor hold Oracle liable for the shoddy work.
I can't.
Contract and vendor management, how does it work? :-(
I've been reading about it tonight, and learned that 1) Oracle has the contract, 2) Oregon has paid them over $100m so far, and 3) they had a badly drafted "time and materials" contract that did not stipulate any requirements for actual functionality, just labor and time spent. So Oregon can't recoup any of the costs, nor hold Oracle liable for the shoddy work.
I can't.
Oracle is like 90% lawyers and 5% engineers, so I'd imagine why the contract was written up that way :V
The Librarian
Banned
I like it!
The Librarian
Banned
I woke up this morning, remembered that Reid went nuclear, and a huge smile swept across my face.
Glorious.
Glorious.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/11/20/democrats-begin-push-to-extend-unemployment-benefits/
Boehner's "we'll take a look" is better than his typical mantra of either a. nothing/something something Obamacare or b. "fuck off, Democrats" but who knows what will happen now.
Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a mess? Selectively picking which areas to extend benefits to probably won't end well if they seriously do that. Tell that to someone in a "good" area who still can't find a job.
Boehner's "we'll take a look" is better than his typical mantra of either a. nothing/something something Obamacare or b. "fuck off, Democrats" but who knows what will happen now.
Pai Pai Master
Banned
It was a pretty...interesting interview. Guy had balls to show up and stick to his guns on gay-hating.
NYCmetsfan
Banned
Levin and others criticism of the nuke and defense of the filibuster as some great hedge against moving too fast just annoys the hell out of me.
Its a fundamentally anti-democratic argument. They're telling people they vote too stupid and can't be trusted. I understand that was an argument in the founding of our country but then as it is now it's horribly elitist and conservative argument. The same people denied the vote to women, blacks and the youth and kept chattel slavery.
The other argument that it changes fundamentally the senate is also a poor excuse for not doing it. Of course it does. That's the point. But the Senate has changed as the times have necessitated.
As regional issue dissipated (at least from being the dominant issues in the 1800s) the Senate changed. It moved to direct elections. Later as the filibusters was used more and more it was decided having a 3/5 majority was to much and the threshold was moved down to 60. Neither changed broke the senate or made it impotent. To argue otherwise is silly. The Constitution recognized the need for these changes by saying, "Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings". Nobody is rolling in their grave levin.
Its a fundamentally anti-democratic argument. They're telling people they vote too stupid and can't be trusted. I understand that was an argument in the founding of our country but then as it is now it's horribly elitist and conservative argument. The same people denied the vote to women, blacks and the youth and kept chattel slavery.
The other argument that it changes fundamentally the senate is also a poor excuse for not doing it. Of course it does. That's the point. But the Senate has changed as the times have necessitated.
As regional issue dissipated (at least from being the dominant issues in the 1800s) the Senate changed. It moved to direct elections. Later as the filibusters was used more and more it was decided having a 3/5 majority was to much and the threshold was moved down to 60. Neither changed broke the senate or made it impotent. To argue otherwise is silly. The Constitution recognized the need for these changes by saying, "Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings". Nobody is rolling in their grave levin.
cooljeanius
Member
Well they do... Have you seen my last few posts about elections in New Hampshire? The passions of the electorate fluctuate far too rapidly.
NYCmetsfan
Banned
Who determines 'too rapidly'?
speculawyer
Member
Well he really is irrelevant. He is unelectable nationally. And he is unelectable in PA. He could probably get elected in some conservative southern district but that is not where he is from. He's just another hard-right hack that is now trying to cash in like Palin, Huckabee, etc.
cooljeanius
Member
Plato, Machiavelli, James Madison, myself, anyone who has a long-term vision for how governance should be performed and is able to refrain from being inflamed by whatever latest issue of the day that the media whips up, anyone who requires a certain degree of certainty in their lives as to how the government is going to act...
In other words, when you have the same laws being enacted every two years and then repealed during the next two years like you have here in New Hampshire, that is what I would consider "too rapidly". At least give the executive branch some time to enact your legislation before you go telling them something different.
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