We're OK. The 13th is a Saturday next month. In October, though... Poor Donald Trump won't get his dream of dumping tens of millions of people off health insurance, at least not in time for his completely irrelevant/source of deep anxiety 100th day in office. With little ceremony, House GOP leaders decided Thursday night they didn't have the votes for their latest, cruelest version of a bill to repeal and "replace" the Affordable Care Act, so they
Instead they go "Well my granddad worked in coal and died at 40 from black lung and my dad worked in coal and died at 40 from black lung and I am going to work in coal and die from black lung" (not the die part but the rest is pretty accurate).
Yup any day now they'll come up with something and you'll just be amazed and think "wow, why didn't I just let them do whatever the fuck they wanted instead of insisting they have a concrete, vetted replacement before they took down the original, crumpled it up, set it on fire, danced on the ashes and scattered the remains to the 4 winds." That exact phrase.
While there are certainly those in Congress who really do want to completely end Government involvement in healthcare and insurance, a lot of even quite Conservative GOP Members of Congress know damn well the consequences of doing that, and only want to *appear* to oppose Government involvement in healthcare and insurance. Being able to vote against Obamacare all those many times, with no actual chance of killing it, was ideal for them. They could trumpet their noble opposition to their voters, and pretend that all would be great if only those evil Democrats didn't obstruct them.
If they actually have a chance at doing what they *claimed* they wanted, they naturally balk, having some hesitation at crashing the economy, and destroying the lives of millions financially and in many cases quite literally.
They might not *actually* give a damn beyond the political consequences -- up to and perhaps including their heads on pikes -- but that's enough to slow them down.
I suppose not being able to convince people that the risk of destroying lives and crashing the economy is *totally* worth it for the ideological purity might be the "poor messaging" they're talking about.
The problem is real investigations take time. Also, I'm seeing the stirrings of a backbone from the Democrats. They are starting to realize the difference between being the good guy and being the nice guy. They're starting to not play nice and it's getting traction from the electorate so the self reinforcing cycle can begin.
Real change takes time, we've become so accustomed to the Republican's shock and awe tactics that it's hard to embrace slow, steady progress. I only hope it builds up enough steam to roll over the midterms and force 45 into the situation Obama was in 6 years ago. He thinks presidenting is hard now, wait till congress starts drawing dicks instead of the "sign here" pointing finger.
Yeah, because they don't do leadership they just do elections. Leadership is making the hard choices that are unpopular but the right thing to do. Being a good politician is leadership and then being able to convince your electorate that it's the right thing to do even though it's unpopular or counter intuitive.
They've been letting the back seat feel like they're in control for so long, now that they're in the driver's seat they're starting to realize they'll be kicked out as soon as they start steering away from the cliff they've been saying has a bridge this whole time.
Real change also takes people getting involved. Each vote is important but we need to be volunteering, getting people registered to vote, making phone calls and knocking on doors. There is not one single candidate who can do all of the legwork by themselves. Volunteer. Talk to people. Be the change you want to see happen!
A tad.
Me too...and I've got a 5 yo and a 7 yo so I am not close to retirement.
How much worse do ya'll think it would be if we just held drawings for Congress instead of elections? Maybe I mean a draft.
Could be something like solar power that even Kentucky coal companies are switching to?
https://thinkprogress.org/k...
Instead they go "Well my granddad worked in coal and died at 40 from black lung and my dad worked in coal and died at 40 from black lung and I am going to work in coal and die from black lung" (not the die part but the rest is pretty accurate).
Yeah. And considering what seems like obvious nearly treasonous behavior with, so far, no consequences, I am not feeling like things are looking g up.
Or maybe I stand corrected. That's awesome.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c...
Yup any day now they'll come up with something and you'll just be amazed and think "wow, why didn't I just let them do whatever the fuck they wanted instead of insisting they have a concrete, vetted replacement before they took down the original, crumpled it up, set it on fire, danced on the ashes and scattered the remains to the 4 winds." That exact phrase.
Well, we're a ray of feckin sunshine tonight, aren't we?
I honestly believe that he thought that's what presidents do and he's really pissed to find out differently.
Someone should tell these idiots about inelastic demand.
Someone is fed up.
The GOP is in something of a dilemma.
While there are certainly those in Congress who really do want to completely end Government involvement in healthcare and insurance, a lot of even quite Conservative GOP Members of Congress know damn well the consequences of doing that, and only want to *appear* to oppose Government involvement in healthcare and insurance. Being able to vote against Obamacare all those many times, with no actual chance of killing it, was ideal for them. They could trumpet their noble opposition to their voters, and pretend that all would be great if only those evil Democrats didn't obstruct them.
If they actually have a chance at doing what they *claimed* they wanted, they naturally balk, having some hesitation at crashing the economy, and destroying the lives of millions financially and in many cases quite literally.
They might not *actually* give a damn beyond the political consequences -- up to and perhaps including their heads on pikes -- but that's enough to slow them down.
I suppose not being able to convince people that the risk of destroying lives and crashing the economy is *totally* worth it for the ideological purity might be the "poor messaging" they're talking about.
The problem is real investigations take time. Also, I'm seeing the stirrings of a backbone from the Democrats. They are starting to realize the difference between being the good guy and being the nice guy. They're starting to not play nice and it's getting traction from the electorate so the self reinforcing cycle can begin.
Real change takes time, we've become so accustomed to the Republican's shock and awe tactics that it's hard to embrace slow, steady progress. I only hope it builds up enough steam to roll over the midterms and force 45 into the situation Obama was in 6 years ago. He thinks presidenting is hard now, wait till congress starts drawing dicks instead of the "sign here" pointing finger.
Yeah, because they don't do leadership they just do elections. Leadership is making the hard choices that are unpopular but the right thing to do. Being a good politician is leadership and then being able to convince your electorate that it's the right thing to do even though it's unpopular or counter intuitive.
They've been letting the back seat feel like they're in control for so long, now that they're in the driver's seat they're starting to realize they'll be kicked out as soon as they start steering away from the cliff they've been saying has a bridge this whole time.
Real change also takes people getting involved. Each vote is important but we need to be volunteering, getting people registered to vote, making phone calls and knocking on doors. There is not one single candidate who can do all of the legwork by themselves. Volunteer. Talk to people. Be the change you want to see happen!