October 26, 2013
— Open Blogger
Margaritas are very simple drinks. And there is nothing difficult about making them. What is difficult is finding a good one in a bar. The problem? Most bartenders are too lazy to squeeze fresh limes; they would rather open a bottle of ersatz lime juice or squirt that neon-green, syrupy abomination out of the gun. Or the bar owner doesnÂ’t want to spend a few extra dollars on top quality ingredients. Either way, you get a lousy Margarita.
So....stop wasting your money and instead make them at home.
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October 22, 2013
— JohnE. Oh, did I say House Representatives? I'm sorry, that was too broad. What I meant to say was that Mike Hash, senior HHS official, will brief only House Democrats in a closed-door meeting about implementation of Obamacare tomorrow. This comes after Sebelius said she was "unavailable" to appear at a House hearing later this week, which they naturally, blamed on the shutdown.
I'd say "I don't know how they can get away with this", but that would be ignoring how this administration has operated over the past five years. There's no way to justify any of it.
“Far too much information about Obamacare’s rollout is being concealed from the public," Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said. "All members – as well as the American people – deserve answers for this debacle. That’s why we have asked the administration to provide the same briefing to House Republicans. This snub is all the more offensive after Secretary Sebelius declined to testify at a House hearing this week. It’s time for the Obama administration to honor its promises of transparency and face some accountability."
Thanks to @AaronBlakeWP
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— Ace Steny Hoyer wants to appropriate more taxpayer money to fix ObamaCare, whose nonfunctional website cost nearly $300 million.
Asked Tuesday how Congress could help improve the system by which millions of Americans must buy insurance by the end of the year, the House minority whip and Maryland Democrat said, "We can give them a little money.""[Republicans have] been pretty much focused in the House of Representatives on undermining the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in every which way that we possibly could," he said.
Hoyer admitted that he does not know whether the project, which has already cost more than $400 million, has faced funding problems. "I don't think that's the reason," he said. "If I know that, I'll blame it."
Note that like Obama he insinuates, without stating it forthrightly, that the Shutdown was responsible for the failure of the website.
If they don't say it, but only imply it, they can count on their media friends to ignore the clear lie.
Via @drewmtips, who's sure this whole article is just one massive typo.
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— DrewM I have a friend who used to run his own company but wanted a change of pace and went to work for a non-profit. The culture shock was pretty severe. The most shocking thing was listening to his boss, the executive director of the organization, tell the board of directors that he, "should be judged on the number of projects he starts, not the ones he completes".
That's kind of how Obama wants you to judge the roll-out of ObamaCare.
The White House (not rightwing nutjobs) provided background information on the people standing behind Obama yesterday during his infomercial.
Two have enrolled for coverage in a health insurance exchange plan, according to the background released by the White House. Janice Baker, who introduced Obama, has enrolled in Delaware through the federal HealthCare.gov site, getting coverage despite a pre-existing condition. David Hall, a self-employed resident of Washington, got coverage through the District of Columbia, which is running its own exchange.Others who stood behind Obama included two people who just started the signup process by registering an account or starting an application. Five more are exploring their choices or are “looking forward” to signing up. One of those people is Nathaniel Hojnacki, who has a job without benefits. He plans to enroll “after he explores his coverage options on the D.C. exchange,” according to the White House.
So one of the two people who have actually signed up has a pre-existing condition meaning she's likely to be a net drain on the system. The rest are working on signing up so that they can consider whether or not the want to or can buy a policy through the system.
These are the success stories.
Imagine a business model where just signing up to browse the products was a multi-day project. Want a book from Amazon? Sure. You'll just need to spend 3 or 4 days filling out forms and then you can browse the sections!
Meanwhile, Joan Walsh has a sad that liberal writers are selling out the cause by noticing that ObamaCare has been a total failure to this point.
Join me in welcoming Ezra Klein to The Vast Rightwing Conspiracy.
Oh, has anyone seen any ads from the RNC taking on the ObamaCare rollout? You know, maybe comparing Obama's promises to reality (if you like your policy you can keep it) or the number of people who lost their policy compared to the number who have gotten new ones?
One other thing...remember how the original story for the crash of healthcare.gov was, "the site is just so gosh darn popular!"? It turns out the magical level of popularity that caused it to crash was....2,000 visitors.
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— Maetenloch
Shit. I’m still in Munich. All I wanted was a goddamned decent internet connection – and for my sins they gave me one.
My mouse is dying...This morning, I found Baldy tucked in a corner of her cage, as far from her little den (and her sister) as she could possibly be. Whether her sister kicked her out or Baldly, like the elephant, went off to die, I do not know. ItÂ’s clear, though, that she has at most a few hours left. She lies perfectly still, with only the slightest movement of her chest showing that she still slowly breathes. Her rheumy eyes are half shut and unblinking. Occasionally, a slight tremor shakes her body.
I realize as I watch her that this is the first time IÂ’ve ever been in the presence of dying.
The Vaunted British NHS May Soon No Longer Be Free
Nothing is as ever expensive as something the government gives you for free.
Stagnant health spending combined with ever rising costs and demand mean the NHS is facing "the most challenging period in its 65-year existence," the NHS Confederation said ... In a frank assessment of the dangers faced by the health service, senior officials at the confederation say that the two years following the next general election will be pivotal in deciding whether the NHS can continue to provide free health care for all patients.
The Vaunted British NHS: Now Paying Doctors a £50 Bonus to Put Patients on the ‘Death Pathway’
But at least itÂ’s still free. For now.
more...
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— DrewM A short respite from ObamaCare.
Ok break's over.
There are some people who are still freaking out over the supposed damage from the shutdown to the GOP's 2014 prospects.
Question...Are there really people who think at 16 day, partial government shutdown a year prior to the elections is going to do more damage to the GOP than the total failure of the Democrats signal domestic achievement in the last half century?
If the shutdown does more harm to the GOP than ObamaCare does to Democrats, the GOP has much bigger issues than anything conservatives can say or do.
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— rdbrewer
Fox News: Ancient Egyptian secret tomb uncovered
"Excavations at Abusir Archaeological Cemetery at Giza have revealed the tomb of Shepseskaf ‘ankh, Head of the Physicians of Upper and Lower Egypt who dates to the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt." Via @DoreenHDickson. [rdbrewer]
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— Purple Avenger If they're admitting to that much...
...The IRS paid as much as $13.6 billion in bogus claims for the Earned Income Tax Credit last year, according to a report the agencyÂ’s internal auditor ...
...Over the last decade, the IRS could have paid out as much as $132.6 billion in improper payments...I'm not sure I buy the WT's simplistic 10x'ing of last years figure for a decade number though. Pre-crash when UE was in the 5% range and a lot more people had decent full time jobs it would have been a lot harder to finagle an EITC payment.
Whatever...the $13B for last year being generated by the IRS itself is probably real'ish. So how much is $13B?
$13B/360M warm bodies (more or less) = $36/warm body. That includes people in comas, iron lungs, infants, pensioners etc.
Some percentage of total US population doesn't even qualify for EITC at all. Working parents might, but their children and pets wouldn't, non-working spouses wouldn't (although a household EITC is larger than a single person's).
So how much EITC can someone legally qualify for?
2012 Tax Year
Earned Income and adjusted gross income (AGI) must each be less than:
$45,060 ($50,270 married filing jointly) with three or more qualifying children
$41,952 ($47,162 married filing jointly) with two qualifying children
$36,920 ($42,130 married filing jointly) with one qualifying child
$13,980 ($19,190 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children
Tax Year 2012 maximum credit:
$5,891 with three or more qualifying children
$5,236 with two qualifying children
$3,169 with one qualifying child
$475 with no qualifying children
From looking at those salary/payout ranges, the phat fraud cash is clearly in fabricating a couple of non-existent children. Suddenly your shitty $14k/yr part time job is paying $19k and the fridge is full of Heinies rather than jelly jars of tap water.
With the payout bump from zero kids to 2 kids being over $4,000 that's a huge incentive manufacture alternative realities.
BTW, a qualifying "child" can be up to 23yo if they're a "full time student".
So, suppose you did scam up an extra $4k/yr manufacturing a couple of faux-kids. That's over $330/mo. What kind of snazzy bling can that $300+/mo get you?
Well, you could lease a new BWM 3-series, or if you wanted to "go green", a new Chevy Volt. If you wanted some cash left over for insurance and gas, a new SmartCar is probably the way to go though at $99/mo lease.
I'm guessing this is why the Walmart parking lot is full of new cars when I roll up in my 1998 vintage Jetta.
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— Pixy Misa . . . quite a few of them, in fact. Sadly, I'm not one of them -- though, I do play the guitar rather poorly. It's actually a recently rediscovered diversion that I picked up while house-sitting for a friend of mine while he was away on a road trip to Wyoming. It seems he has a really nice Martin acoustic guitar sitting in the corner of his living room gathering dust that I just couldn't keep out of my hands. After a few days of strumming and picking, my fingers were reduced to mere stumps with exposed nerve endings at the tips. And I loved it.
By the time the house-sitting gig was over, my dreams of rock stardom had been rekindled to such an extent that I listened to a continuous loop of "Jukebox Hero" for a solid week and started scraping up pennies. I found myself checking the weather forecast to see when the next rain was expected so I could head down to the local guitar shop at night and shiver while staring through the window at the wares contained within. In the meantime, I picked up a beat-up old Yamaha F-310 from a friend, just so I could have something to bang on until I could get something a little nicer.
After a week or so of skulking about the guitar shop to the dismay and discomfort of the staff, I finally settled on a replacement -- the Lâg T66D. It's an entry-level guitar, geared toward those on a budget at $199.99 (your price may vary), but it plays and sounds way over its price point. And it's a great looking instrument with a minimalist sensibility: flat black hardware, no pickguard, no fretboard inlays, and a black rosette with an Occitan cross at the bottom -- a very nice touch, I think.
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— DrewM As I said on a recent podcast, the GOP message is going to become "fix" ObamaCare. Here's Marco "Amnesty" Rubio.
The widespread problems with the ObamaCare website are generating a new backlash in Congress, with Sen. Marco Rubio planning to introduce legislation that would delay the health law's individual mandate until the technical failures are addressed.The Florida senator discussed the plan Tuesday morning in an interview with Fox News. He said it would be "prudent" to delay the requirement on individuals to buy health insurance -- set to kick in early next year -- until users can consistently access the main website.
"How are you going to go after people next year ... if the thing you're forcing them to buy isn't available to buy?" he asked, saying the site is "not working."
This was always the problem with the "delay" strategy. Obama needs a delay. Why in the world would you give him what he needs?
Allah had a post last night saying Ted Cruz is rejecting the "let it burn" approach to ObamaCare. Watch the clip at the end of the post, I'm not sure where Cruz stands on this. Yes, he rejects the notion that the GOP should try an profit politically from the suffering ObamaCare is imposing. That's just basic politics. You don't win votes by calling people idiots for voting for this and then say, "now you must suffer". What Cruz doesn't do in that quote (though he may later) is what Rubio does...suggest an affirmative course of action to make ObamaCare "better".
There's some strategic ambiguity (at least for now) in Cruz's statement that Rubio's action lacks.
As for the individual mandate, Conn Caroll makes the case that unlike the employer mandate, the administration probably does have the legal authority to delay it unilaterally.
Delaying the mandate is more a political problem than a policy one. It was never going to be strong enough to force enough young people into the system to prevent the actuarial "death spiral" of poor and sick people signing up, while not enough young and healthy ones paid the bills.
Keep an eye on the GOP as talk will increasingly be about "fixing" ObamaCare. The question is, will they "fix" it within the current framework of the ACA or demand that the "fix" be repeal and replace?
The GOP better choose wisely. The wrong choice (fixing the ACA) will do far more damage to their chances of keeping the House and winning Senate seats in 2014 than the shutdown ever could.
Added: People are arguing in the comments that this is smart politics from Rubio because he knows the Democrats will never agree to it and it makes the GOP look like the good guys.
I disagree. The GOP already wanted to delay this but was told it was a bunch of "anarchists" and "you can't change the law of the land". Rubio's concession won't win over any converts who don't already know the GOP opposes ObamaCare and wants it delayed.
What will happen is the Democrats will come back and say, "Of course there are problems and we need to work in a bi-partisan way to improve the ACA. The GOP should help us do that".
Then the ball will bounce back to Rubio who already has admitted people are being hurt and the question will be, "You only propose delaying things, why not help fix it? By your own admission not doing so will hurt people. Why are you and the GOP putting your political goals ahead of helping people?"
Once the GOP gets involved in "fixing" or "helping" with ObamaCare the question is how and the onus goes to the GOP to "do something".
Just stay out of it.
As the saying goes, when your opponent is making a mistake, let them.
Related(ish) because I don't want to write a whole post on it:
There are some in the GOP that simply do not get the goal is not to create "a governing majority" if the policy results are going to be like they were from 2001-2006.
If Republicans think that acting like an opposition party when they are in opposition, why would anyone think they will be a truly conservative majority? Their track record isn't very good.
Unless conservatives believe there will be real changes in the GOP the next time they get control, they aren't going to get behind the idea of playing ball with Team GOP.
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