Updated: Activism: Saving the ACA: The Carrot and the Stick

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

[Ed. We’re pushing this, people, get those phone calls going. Contact information for your Senators is in the Activism tab at the masthead. Get those lines burning! Fresh(er?) posts below. — TG]

The Kochs are pulling out the big guns. They’re going to profit from the death and misery of us all, or their pocket politicians will pound dirt.

They see profits from our pain and suffering. Where we see death and illness, they see a good return on their investment.

From The Guardian…

Koch network ‘piggy banks’ closed until Republicans pass health and tax reform

Koch officials said that the network’s midterm budget for policy and politics is between $300m and $400m, but donors are demanding legislative progress.

At a weekend donor retreat attended by at least 18 elected officials, the Koch brothers warned that time is running out to push their agenda, most notably healthcare and tax reform, through Congress.

One Texas-based donor warned Republican lawmakers that his “Dallas piggy bank” was now closed, until he saw legislative progress.

“Get Obamacare repealed and replaced, get tax reform passed,” said Doug Deason. “Get it done and we’ll open it back up.”

We need to keep calling. We need to call more often. It’s our only hope of saving the ACA.

We can succeed, but only if everyone does their best. Please, make the calls today.

Phone Calls Work!

A call to action: 

The stakes are high and no one can help us. We must help ourselves.

  • Call your Senators, both D and R.
    • Support the D’s
      • We, you and I, your sister, brother, uncle, cousin, ex, SO, nieces and nephews are the backbone of the Democratic party. The politicians cannot stand without our constant support.
    • Demand the R’s vote against the Trumpcare
      • You’re not wasting your time calling the R’s. You’re “putting on the heat.”
      • Keep pushing
      • Puch harder.
  • Please make two or three calls each day this week.
    • Leave VM’s at 4:00 AM or at 11:30 PM
    • Make a call during your morning and evening commute.
37a555729312e9d1a349cee8e2bb4376283c9d48

It’s for you!

Stand up. Speak out. Speak not for yourself but for all the people who need help.

It’s up to you.

No one is going to do it for us.

O-

Update: There is hope from C&L…

This Is What Hope Looks Like

Monday night, MoveOn Washington director Ben Wikler headed to Capitol Hill. On his way, he encountered something that became magical.

Karoli Kuns

Fight back.

 

Update 2: Our oppressors fight dirty. From dKos…

Trump Threatens Blackmail If Murderous Republican “Health Care” Scam Is Not Passed.

and

Republicans have a solution to finding the votes they need for their healthcare bill—massive bribery

Make the calls, please.

Because the movement to save the ACA has no funny hats, or cute mascot DW offered this:

StanleyHealthCareOrDeath

That pretty much sums it up.

O-

Posted in activism, Affordable Care Act, snark | Tagged | 1 Comment

This Exists

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

I would so watch this show if it comes to America. This show is more exciting than anything I’ve seen on the big three networks.

Posted in snark | Leave a comment

Happy Hour News Briefs

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

News That Will Drive You to Drink

The Frosted Tips Twins Takes Out the Trash

The Frosted Tips Twins are back to explain to us that the ‘mos are not discriminated against, it’s the Xristians who are the true victims:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

That’s our First Amendment right—it’s called the freedom of religion.

This protection guarantees we’ll never have a statewide religion—like what we had in England—and it also safeguards our right to exercise, or live out, our religion freely.

Who is this “we” of whom you speak, in England? Not all Americans are of English descent, and probably most of us who have been here for a few generations are mutts. But do continue:

A recent headline last week asked the question, “Is it acceptable for Christian business owners to refuse service to gay people?” At first glance, most honest Americans would say, “Of course not!”

This was our reaction as well, because in our mind we could easily replace the words “gay people” with any number of other folks and answer the question the exact same way: “Of course not! If you’re in business you should serve everyone.”

The Frosted Tips Twins take out more trash!

OK, I’m with you now.

But this response doesn’t actually answer the real question, which should be, “Is it acceptable for Christian business owners to be forced by government to service ceremonies, events or messages that are against their beliefs?”

Full stop, there, Frosties. No one  is forcing a business owner to participate in any ceremony.  Does the baker attend all the birthday parties? Does the florist propose to your boy/girlfriend for you? No. They provide goods for the Adams and Eves, and it is no different if they provide them for the Joes and Jameses or the Suzies and the Sarahs. Get over yourselves.

You see, this conversation or debate over religious liberty has been framed to suggest Christian business owners are refusing to serve gay people in this country—when in actuality nothing could be further from the truth.

“I refuse to bake a cake for the ‘mos who want to get hitched.” Seems pretty definitive to me.

Religious objections in the marketplace have nothing to do with refusing to service people. Rather, they have everything to do with forced participation in ceremonies, messages and events that are against believers’ consciences… Discrimination against gay people simply does not exist. To say otherwise is disingenuous at best and misleading at worst.

Sweet Jeebus, this is when I have to close the tab. This is nuts.  This country reeks of discrimination against everyone who is not a white, male, cis-gendered Xristian. And the Twins are too privileged to see it.  In many places in this country, you can lose your job and your home for being gay. You also can lose your life, and if the Frosted Tips Twins had their way, every paramedic would be able to pass helping people that they disapprove of, and the mortuary wouldn’t have to accept your remains.

Posted in Frosted Tips Twins, Homophobia, marriage equality, Theocrats, We Don't Serve Your Kind | 1 Comment

Angel in the streets, Demon in the sheets

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

I must be doing something wrong:

I understand you can get a shot at the clinic for that, but that kind of STUPID is incurable.

Posted in Coach Dave, Theocrats | Leave a comment

Midday Palate Cleanser

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

“And you think all we do…”

Dogs Hilarious Moment

“…is chase our tails?”

Posted in dogs, Palate Cleansers | 1 Comment

The Death of the Media, Cont.

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

Breaking CNN!

We have long held that CNN is not a news organization any more, they just get a bunch of Villagers to yell at each other all day. You know, when they are not postulating that a black hole opened up and eated the missing Malaysian jet during their record-setting coverage of that event.

Anyway, CNN tried for some silly reason to actually commit an act of journalism and it went all CNN-ish on them:

Three CNN journalists, including the executive editor in charge of a new investigative unit, have resigned after the publication of a Russia-related article that was retracted.

Thomas Frank, who wrote the story in question; Eric Lichtblau, an editor in the unit; and Lex Haris, who oversaw the unit, have all left CNN.

“In the aftermath of the retraction of a story published on CNN.com, CNN has accepted the resignations of the employees involved in the story’s publication,” a spokesman said Monday evening.

Essentially they did some reporting with only a single, unnamed source, which turned out to be (oh sweet Jeebus, help me) fake news:

The retracted story had said the Senate intelligence committee was looking into a 16 January discussion between Scaramucci and Kirill Dmitriev, whose Russian Direct Investment Fund guides investments by US entities in Russia. Scaramucci, in the story, said he exchanged pleasantries in a restaurant with Dmitriev.

Eric Lichtblau’s reporting is kinda known for, um, not being so great. And what’s SAD! of course is that the Russian Usurper gets a scalp:

Posted in CNN, Death of the Media, media | 1 Comment

More Breath-Taking Lies From Noted Liar

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

Zombie-and-Paul-Ryan

“What they are basically saying at the Congressional Budget Office is if you are not going to force people to buy Obamacare — if you are not going to force people to buy something they don’t want — then they won’t buy it. So it’s not that people are getting pushed off a plan, it’s that people will choose not to buy something they don’t like or want.” –Speaker of the House and Zombie-eyed Granny-starver Paul Ryan

Seriously, fuck him.

Posted in Zombie Attacks, Zombie-eyed Granny-starving | 3 Comments

I’m Tired Of So Much Winning!

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

Although he has only been in office a few months, Donald Trump’s presidency has had a major impact on how the world sees the United States. Trump and many of his key policies are broadly unpopular around the globe, and ratings for the U.S. have declined steeply in many nations. According to a new Pew Research Center survey spanning 37 nations, a median of just 22% has confidence in Trump to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs. This stands in contrast to the final years of Barack Obama’s presidency, when a median of 64% expressed confidence in Trump’s predecessor to direct America’s role in the world.

But my favorite bit from this research:

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin also get poor marks, though neither is rated as negatively as the U.S. president. 

I think someone in China’s Marketing Department needs to get on this, STAT: “Sure, we’re hated, but we’re not the US.” — it has a ring to it.

Pew Research

Posted in Hung Like a Bee | 2 Comments

Who’s Punching A Nazi Today?

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

Gotta love this: Richard Spencer’s white-nationalist think tank broke Virginia nonprofit law

Richard Spencer’s white nationalist think tank broke Virginia nonprofit laws by failing to register in the state and by not telling prospective donors it had lost its tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service, according to an investigation by state regulators.

…Since Spencer took over the National Policy Institute in 2011, the group has been plagued by administrative problems. Spencer didn’t file federal tax returns for three years, leading the IRS to retroactively strip the National Policy Institute of its 501(c)3 tax-exempt status in mid-March.

The agency also said the National Policy Institute broke state law by not telling prospective donors on its website that the group had lost its tax-exempt status, potentially misinforming donors that they would be able to claim tax deductions with the IRS.

“NPI is aware of their 501c3 status being revoked … yet continues to claim 501c3 status on their donation pages,” an investigator noted in a summary of the review of Spencer’s group.

Oh, man, that’s like failing Grifting 101. Even Mike Huckabee knows you keep that tax-exempt status safe to keep the sweet, sweet Ameros flowing into your pockets, er, whatevs.

(Image from @sweartrek on the electric twitter machine.)

Posted in grifters, Richard Spencer, The New Confederacy | 8 Comments

Come Cream for Your Covfefe, Sen. Olson

Posted on June 27, 2017 by

If you don’t want to listen, here’s what notorious forced birther Sen. Pete Olson had to say:

“I have some concerns because, one thing, they still guarantee coverage for ten essential conditions,” Olson said, “and one of those conditions—this is care for all,includes you and me—it’s prenatal care. …I think we all have what we call an X chromosome. You, me, JP, Tom and Chuck have those, which means we can’t have a baby. Why do we have to pay for that coverage that we can’t use?”

Hate to break it to you, Pete, you have an X chromosome; your Y chromosome is actually an imperfect X. Science, how do it work?

But more importantly, one would think while forcing the Handmaids to have their rapist’s baby, that Republicans would want that Gawd’s Littlest Blessing to pop out healthy to grow up to be a fine psychopath Republican. And maybe, just maybe, Pete, you might want your daughter to live through the birth, but I suspect you see women more like incubators than people, and you know, replaceable.

Posted in Choice, Forced Birth, Science, sexism, Shallow graves for shallow people, War on Biology, War on Women | 4 Comments

The Morning Summary

Posted on June 27, 2017 by
Ever see a hose with 2 asses

Pence is the one on the right.

Much of the news this morning is focused on the CBO Score from the Trump/Ryan/McConnell healthcare death panel, which is to say, deadly-bad:

And remember this is the party who opposes a 6-day waiting period to buy a gun, who want a 6-month waiting period to buy a policy.

But it’s not a mandate.

Mike ‘Payola’ Allen writing the Axios morning email thingie has as a non-lead story:

We hear … that Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnnell is warning Republicans that there’ll be a political and policy price to pay if healthcare goes down — that failure would have painful implications:

  • Senators are being told it’s not possible to just let Obamacare fail — that if the Better Care bill fails, Rs will have to work with Ds (horrors!) later this year to help shore up the exchanges.
  • That would require Republicans making big concessions on important priorities.
  • An aide adds: “He’s said publicly that it’s a disaster if Better Care doesn’t pass. Obamacare exchanges are getting worse, not better; insurers are leaving the exchanges, not growing their presences; premiums are going up, not down.”

Not to be outdone, Tiger Beat on the Potomac (thanks Charlie!) leads with:

Good Tuesday morning. BUZZ IN THE CAPITOL — If Senate Republicans pass their health care bill Friday, House GOP leadership is planning to keep the chamber in session over the weekend until they pass the legislation, according to multiple sources familiar with their plans. There’s an unusual level of confidence among House Republicans that they’ll be able to pass the Senate bill. Color us much more skeptical.

The NYTimes goes with:

A REMINDER — 22 MILLION MORE UNINSURED … The CBO score, per NYT’s Tom Kaplan and Robert Pear: “[T]he report said premiums for older people would be much higher under the Senate bill than under current law. As an example, it said, for a typical 64-year-old with an annual income of $26,500, the net premium in 2026 for a midlevel silver plan, after subsidies, would average $6,500, compared with $1,700 under the Affordable Care Act. And the insurance would cover less of the consumer’s medical costs. Likewise, the report said, for a 64-year-old with an annual income of $56,800, the premium in 2026 would average $20,500 a year, or three times the amount expected under the Affordable Care Act.” http://nyti.ms/2thE8am

So, well-played, amply be-chinned Mitch McConnell: it kicks tens of millions of people off healthcare, jacks-up rates for those who remain, AND creates a market for junk policies that cover nothing.

Process is our friend in this instance. Before McConnell and the waterheads (worst band ever) can vote on this abomination, first they have to vote to even bring it to the floor “for debate.”

Take it away, Tiger Beat:

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his team are working furiously to round up 50 of the caucus’s 52 senators to even bring the bill to the floor, let alone pass it by week’s end. GOP leaders said ultimately that even lawmakers that oppose the bill in its current form could be convinced to allow the debate over the party’s long-sought Obamacare rollback to begin. ‘I would hope … our members would at least let us get on it,’ said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 3 GOP leader. ‘Everybody wants to exert whatever leverage that they can, where they can get the most leverage, but I would expect we’d be able to get on the bill.’”

So, some small number of  Wingnuts with a vestigial soul can stop it from even getting to a vote, by not letting it get to the floor. Yay! (Though this is the place where the very concerned, very concerned so-called moderates usually cave.)

But just to prove that it is always darkest before dawn, animated tree stump Mike Pence, a main who makes a termite salivate when he enters a room, is going to host a high-pressure, time-share style dinner to sell Trickle-Down Healthcare to these ghouls: UT. Sen. Mike Lee,Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, and Iran’s pen palArkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.

Don’t bring any of the harlot wimmins to this he-man woman-hater club dance, fellas, unless you want Mother Pence to harsh your mellow.

Posted in 4th Reich, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Repeal | Leave a comment