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[The Librarian]

My JFK thread is being filled with conspiracy types.

 

[thezerofire]

So I wake up this morning to find that the senate majority leader has been replaced by Alec Baldwin's character from Glengarry Glen Ross.

I'm ok with this.

I literally watched this movie for the first time two days ago

 

[theprodigy]

My JFK thread is being filled with conspiracy types.

I thought you were too busy playing Super Mario 3D World to notice

 

[Oblivion]

Great news for Reince Preibus:

Enrollments have doubled since the end of October, from 106,000 to more than 200,000. That figure comes from the 14 states that have set up their own exchanges, and will be higher when the federal numbers are added in. Some of those states have experienced their own technological glitches (Oregon is only able to take paper applications at the moment) but the quickened pace of enrollment shows that demand is stronger than frustration over technology.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/22/1257664/-Obamacare-enrollments-double-in-last-three-weeks

 

[B-Dubs]

Great news for Reince Preibus:



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/22/1257664/-Obamacare-enrollments-double-in-last-three-weeks

Well we always knew the pace would increase as we got closer to the deadline. Good to know we were right.

 

[Sibylus]

My JFK thread is being filled with conspiracy types.

Can't stop a

 

[Oblivion]

More schadenfreude:

The media have been buzzing with stories — many of them wildly exaggerated — of people facing higher premiums as a result of Obamacare. But there’s a story about rates you may not have heard: According to Jonathan Gruber, a leading health care wonk at MIT, all private insurance premiums in the 25 red states that are refusing to expand their Medicaid programs will be 15 percent higher as a direct result of that decision.

http://billmoyers.com/2013/11/21/th...is-being-caused-intentionally-by-republicans/

 

[ClassyPenguin]

My JFK thread is being filled with conspiracy types.

Not surprising at all given this board's propensity for conspiracy.

I literally watched this movie for the first time two days ago

David Mamet dialogue is so enjoyable to listen to. His daughter is also a pretty good actress.

 

[Piecake]

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.

Then Madison shouldnt have created a system that will lead to two party rule where people fluctuate back and forth when people are pissed off at the government.

It'll be interesting to see if electoral reform ever happens at a national level, but there have been some positive steps at the state level. All I can say is thank fucking christ for federalism, because if we didnt have that, we would be totally fucked

 

[The Librarian]

Then Madison shouldnt have created a system that will lead to two party rule where people fluctuate back and forth when people are pissed off at the government.

It'll be interesting to see if electoral reform ever happens at a national level, but there have been some positive steps at the state level. All I can say is thank fucking christ for federalism, because if we didnt have that, we would be totally fucked

Well, it's more about who turns out to vote...but I guess that can fall into that category.

 

[WayneMorse]

I can't help but feel nostalgic about Kennedy's time in the White House today, I long for a time where the majority of Americans trusted the government and saw it as a force for good, where we have a strong social safety net, where we have no income inequality, where good, high paying jobs are plentiful, and college education is cheap...

 

[The Librarian]

I can't help but feel nostalgic about Kennedy's time in the White House today, I long for a time where the majority of Americans trusted the government and saw it as a force for good, where we have a strong social safety net, where we have no income inequality, where good, high paying jobs are plentiful, and college education is cheap...

Gosh, me too. I've always aspired to be nothing more than a secretary.

 

[ClassyPenguin]

Dylan Matthews piece on Kennedy is pretty good.
http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/w...-was-one-of-our-greatest-presidents-he-wasnt/

 

[Piecake]

I can't help but feel nostalgic about Kennedy's time in the White House today, I long for a time where the majority of Americans trusted the government and saw it as a force for good, where we have a strong social safety net, where we have no income inequality, where good, high paying jobs are plentiful, and college education is cheap...

I am assuming this is a joke?

 

[WayneMorse]

I was...I was just trying to channel my inner baby boomer.

Yeah I wrote that badly, what I was trying to say was that there were elements of life back then, like the welfare programs, the lack of income inequality, strong economic growth that wasn't based on a bubble, and people's overall feelings towards government, that I long for today. I wasn't trying to say everything was awesome back then.

 

[PhoenixDark]

I can't help but feel nostalgic about Kennedy's time in the White House today, I long for a time where the majority of Americans trusted the government and saw it as a force for good, where we have a strong social safety net, where we have no income inequality, where good, high paying jobs are plentiful, and college education is cheap...

A majority should never trust the government, nor has there been a time in US history where a majority should have trusted the government. I do understand your general point about wishing for a more hopeful time though; the early 60s were far from perfect but I suppose one could argue there was building momentum towards a better country, and perhaps it wouldn't have been as violent if Kennedy, MLK, etc lived. Who knows.

It's interesting that baby boomers who were born around 1954 tend to be more democrat whereas those born after or near JFK's death were members of the Reagan movement.

 

[RustyNails]

Here's how Oracle works: 1) Buy everything 2) Sue everyone 3)??? 4) Profit.

They are a dinosaur.

 

[zero shift]

So there is some truth in terms of blue states being more spending wreckless than red states.

 

[teiresias]

Great news for Reince Preibus:



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/22/1257664/-Obamacare-enrollments-double-in-last-three-weeks

Is that saying the total cumulative enrollments have doubled or that the amount of enrollments this month have doubled from last? Because if it's the former the pace hasn't actually increased since that's pretty much the same amount of people enrolling this month as last.

 

[Chichikov]

I was...I was just trying to channel my inner baby boomer.

Yeah I wrote that badly, what I was trying to say was that there were elements of life back then, like the welfare programs, the lack of income inequality, strong economic growth that wasn't based on a bubble, and people's overall feelings towards government, that I long for today. I wasn't trying to say everything was awesome back then.

Medicare and Medicaid were created during LBJ's presidency, as was the modern food stamp program.
The welfare and safety net programs under JFK were significantly weaker than they are today (and I'm willing to bet that had JFK stayed in office and won reelection, we wouldn't have these programs as soon as we did).

 

[ElectricThunder]

I was...I was just trying to channel my inner baby boomer.

Yeah I wrote that badly, what I was trying to say was that there were elements of life back then, like the welfare programs, the lack of income inequality, strong economic growth that wasn't based on a bubble, and people's overall feelings towards government, that I long for today. I wasn't trying to say everything was awesome back then.

I will pimp this docu series always and forever----things have been teetering if not careening towards trouble for a looong time now.

http://www.sho.com/sho/oliver-stones-untold-history-of-the-united-states/home

 

[Rhomega Beta]

To those saying that this is just like the modern GOP, I would say to you that there's one major difference-- only one word is misspelled.

Looking back at it, I find two: "Missle" and "marraige".

 

[leroidys]

So there is some truth in terms of blue states being more spending wreckless than red states.

Considering how much more federal aid red states get per capita, I wouldn't say this is the whole story.

 

[Oblivion]

My favorite thing about JFK is how he was reborn as a teabagger.

 

[Black Mamba]

I made a post on RIFS

http://www.readingisforsnobs.com/2013/11/president-obamas-if-you-like-your-plan.html

Basically, I try to use some rough math to argue that Obama's "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan" claim is true for 99% of people and that we're talking about less than 1% of people being adversely affected.

It came out of my frustration that the media is constantly talking about these cancellations.

 

[Wilsongt]

Abortioncaregate is born!

 

[remist]

I will pimp this docu series always and forever----things have been teetering if not careening towards trouble for a looong time now.

http://www.sho.com/sho/oliver-stones-untold-history-of-the-united-states/home

This series is an ahistorical joke and par for the course from Oliver Stone. His whitewashing of the Soviet Union and the whole cold war section in general are particularly embarrassing. This article lists just a few of the ways the book this series is based on twists and manipulates sources. No doubt the US has it's crimes to be remorseful about, but linking to stuff from a hack like Oliver Stone doesn't help your point.

 

[Arrowgigantic]

Looking back at it, I find two: "Missle" and "marraige".

"Marraige" was the one I found. And now looking at it again, I also notice "consistantly".

 

[Oblivion]

Is that saying the total cumulative enrollments have doubled or that the amount of enrollments this month have doubled from last? Because if it's the former the pace hasn't actually increased since that's pretty much the same amount of people enrolling this month as last.

Just pick the one that sounds more impressive, goddamn it.

I made a post on RIFS

http://www.readingisforsnobs.com/2013/11/president-obamas-if-you-like-your-plan.html


Basically, I try to use some rough math to argue that Obama's "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan" claim is true for 99% of people and that we're talking about fless than 1% of people being adversely affected.

It came out of my frustration that the media is constantly talking about these cancellations.

Nice work, yo.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Dylan Matthews piece on Kennedy is pretty good.
http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/w...-was-one-of-our-greatest-presidents-he-wasnt/

How was the Bay of Pigs Kennedy's fault when the CIA deliberately misled him and kept him in the dark on various parts of it? Not to mention it being planned well before he became president.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/the-do-nothing-congress-100274.html

The slow pace of legislating comes despite huge problems facing Washington: A $17 trillion debt, the prospects of a second government shutdown in mid-January, the bumpy rollout of the health care law and overseas threats from places like Iran. Meanwhile, congressional inaction on a new farm bill is poised to upend rural America and send milk prices soaring. Even legislation that would seem appeal to some in both parties — like an immigration overhaul — is stuck.

I like how politico pretends there are the only problems (or even the most important) facing america.

No mention of the lack of jobs, the food stamp cut, no mention of unemployment insurance expiring, no mentioning of renewing the VRA, no mention of income inequality, increasing the minimum wage, no mention of climate change. All of those problems politico describes are problems chiefly for the business class.

This is the biggest problem with DC, their problems are so out of whack with the average American.

 

[Oblivion]

So much for healthcare.gate:

Tech surge czar Jeff Zients said that HealthCare.gov will be able to handle 50,000 users at a time by the end of this month – up from 25,000 now, thanks to hardware additions and software additions the team is putting in this weekend and next week.

He said that will enable the site to handle 800,000 people a day – “a conservative estimate,” he said in a conference call with reporters.

 

[The Librarian]

"Let's say, let's take 10 people in a room and they're a group," he said on his radio show. "And the room is made up of six men and four women. OK? The group has a rule that the men cannot rape the women. The group also has a rule that says any rule that will be changed must require six votes, of the 10, to change the rule.

"Every now and then, some lunatic in the group proposes to change the rule to allow women to be raped," he added. "But they never were able to get six votes for it. There were always the four women voting against it and they always found two guys."

"Well, the guy that kept proposing that women be raped finally got tired of it, and he was in the majority and he was one that [said], 'You know what? We're going to change the rule. Now all we need is five,'" he continued. "And well, 'you can't do that.' 'Yes we are. We're the majority. We're changing the rule.' And then they vote.

"Can the women be raped? Well, all it would take then is half of the room. You can change the rule to say three," he said. "You can change the rule to say three people want it, it's going to happen. There's no rule. When the majority can change the rules there aren't any."

 

[PhoenixDark]

So much for healthcare.gate:

Honestly I expect the site to crash on November 30th/December 1st. I hope I'm wrong but everyone knows the site will be flooded with tons of traffic again. A mixture of people just interested in the site due to the news, people hoping witness schadenfreude, people looking to sign up, people looking to compare prices, etc.

 

[Piecake]

Thankfully we have a system of checks and balances where one body of the legislature can go insane and it won't doom us all. But hey, lets make a stupid inflamatory analogy that makes no sense for a crap ton of reasons

Though, now that I think about it, that was disproven during the the govt shutdown. But that goes to show you, basically every procedural rule created after our founding apparently sucks. Debt ceiling, thats a good idea! (not)

 

[speculawyer]

What the hell does rape have to do with anything? That is just arbitrarily thrown in there to evoke sympathy. An elected majority doing nondiscriminatory things is not rape.

 

[PhoenixDark]

You guys are taking Rush Limbaugh seriously? I laughed when I saw the video. The man's trolling knows no bounds.

 

[Aaron]

What the hell does rape have to do with anything? That is just arbitrarily thrown in there to evoke sympathy. An elected majority doing nondiscriminatory things is not rape.

It's used for shock value by borderline sociopaths who have no sympathy for people who have been raped.

 

[Link]

To be fair, he's probably used to almost all the men he knows saying rape is ok.

 

[Piecake]

What the hell does rape have to do with anything? That is just arbitrarily thrown in there to evoke sympathy. An elected majority doing nondiscriminatory things is not rape.

But they can rape the economy. Just think, if democrats get 51% of the seats in the house and senate and keep the white house they can shove pre-k, carbon tax, immiigration reform, expanded social security and all of these terrible things that will destroy our economy!

Though I think I just proved to myself why I like proportional democracy better. Only 51% of the people get want they want in that scenario and a good deal of those think that their reps either went too far or not far enough. We could have a much more democratic system

 

[Oblivion]

But they can rape the economy. Just think, if democrats get 51% of the seats in the house and senate and keep the white house they can shove pre-k, carbon tax, immiigration reform, expanded social security and all of these terrible things that will destroy our economy!

 

[FyreWulff]

If you follow this line of thinking to it's conclusion, basically what they're saying is the majority is never allowed to change anything, we have to go with the existing rules, so we might as well dissolve Congress and make our entire set of laws set in stone into perpetuity, because there's no purpose to a democracy when who is elected doesn't matter.

Also, if they could change the law so a minority could vote in a law change.. that'd let the Senate GOP pass laws on their own. lol

 

[leroidys]

I think this is more revealing than it initially seems.

The Teahidists feel that any form of compromise, or any legislation passing that is not 200% in line with their rigid ideology, is tantamount to being physically and spiritually defiled.



I'd also like to add that if Republican senators still want to filibuster everything, they shouldn't dress so goddamn sexy and walk around like they want it, you know what I mean?

 

[Oblivion]

Taking that line of thinking one step further, isn't Limbaugh arguing that pretty much EVERYTHING should be run by supermajority?

 

[Hitokage]

Taking that line of thinking one step further, isn't Limbaugh arguing that pretty much EVERYTHING should be run by supermajority?

And given that Republicans are the silent majority to begin with, then any legislative majority is a supermajority!

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Why do you guys take the bait?

 

[PhoenixDark]

Why do you guys take the bait?

A friend of mine always says that liberals probably make up a solid % of Rush viewers and Fox listeners, waiting to be outraged. I couldn't care less what Rush has to say, and neither does most of the country (thankfully).

 

[WayneMorse]

http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-zombie-politics-and-casino-capitalism/

Extremely good Moyers and Company episode, really emphasizes how broken our society is.

And the more I read about how our society is fucked, the more I want Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders to run for President.

 

[Diablos]

A friend of mine always says that liberals probably make up a solid % of Rush viewers and Fox listeners, waiting to be outraged. I couldn't care less what Rush has to say, and neither does most of the country (thankfully).

Good point. Liberals should pledge to stop watching right-wing news and listening to right-wing radio shows for six months. I bet the ratings would take a notable dip!

 

[WayneMorse]

I hate the word liberal, the word progressive is a lot better sounding now.