House Defunds ObamaCare, On To Senate

The House has voted to defund Obamacare. The Senate will restore funding and Senate rules don't allow for a filibuster on this, but Boehner has a plan to try again by tying a delay of Obamacare to an increase of the debt ceiling. Makes sense, but can he rally his own party behind him?

Comments

[Joan]

No, I don't think he can rally his party behind him. And, I do think the Democrats and the president will outwit them.

I've gotten cynical about my expectations regarding our political system.

[narciso]

OTOH, I congratulate him, for coming to his senses; OTOH, what was he thinking.

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/09/20/game-over-two-republicans-quit-house-gang-of-seven-on-immigration-reform/

[NK(tryin' again)]

TomM -- I haven't read you links, BUT there WILL have to be a 60 Yea Vote to allow votes on amendments to this CR--remember this is a CR , NOT the Debt Limit-- if the repubs don't vote Yea, the Gov't shutdown occurs. That's the futility agrgument against defunding under the CR.

[Jane-Rebel Alliance1]

I think he can rally the party.

[Clarice]

Andrew McCarthy in an article I cannot find the link to thinks Obama will cave.

[Clarice]

Ah, found the link: http://pjmedia.com/andrewmccarthy/2013/09/19/defund-obamacare/

[Some Guy]

I wonder if the President’s Syria clusterduck radically changes the conventional wisdom on a government shutdown…

…IOW, does the usual ‘blame the republicans for starving old people’ nonsense work this go around? Or does the President’s clueless line drawing and childish ‘won’t negotiate’ have independents blaming him instead?

Remember how the sequester was going to blow up in Republicans’ faces? It hasn’t, and I’m not sure a government shutdown will this time either.

[centralcal]

Scott Lincicome ‏@scottlincicome 3m

Little-known fact, via @baseballcrank: govt shutdowns happened every yr of the Carter era, averaging 11 days each. Somehow, we survived.

[centralcal]

Chad Pergram ‏@ChadPergram 2m

Obama calls Boehner. Tells him he won't negotiate on debt limit. Boehner spox Buck says Speaker was "disappointed" after "brief call."

[Jane-Rebel Alliance1]

I wonder if the President’s Syria clusterduck radically changes the conventional wisdom on a government shutdown…

It does for me, doesn't it for you. Bambi is all bark and no bite. On day 1 when he is blamed instead of the republicans, he will crawl into the fetal position.

Maybe I'm dreaming.

[Clarice]

From Andrew McCarthy's article:Obama is talking a brave game right now about how he won’t even entertain a budget that erases Obamacare – he vows a veto and a shutdown. But his political position is untenable, even with the media carrying his water. He will be grinding things to a halt to force Obamacare on the public even though he himself has slashed Obamacare for the benefit of big business and members of Congress. By agreeing to fund the rest of government, Republicans allow Obama a face-saving out: He can tell his base he preserved record-spending on social welfare programs, and that while Obamacare has been delayed, it is still the law and he will be back pushing for funding it in next year’s budget when the executive branch is more prepared to implement it.

That’s why I’m betting he’ll cave.

Conservatives, of course, will not pretend that we don’t want Obamacare repealed or that we would not regard defunding as a sweet, albeit transitory, victory. Nevertheless, defunding is simply not repeal. Whether one hoped defunding would merely be a delay in implementation (as the Left would) or the first step toward eradication (as conservatives would), it would actually be a concession to reality, propriety, and equal protection under the law.

[narciso]

The nazguls are out over here;

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/359114/freedom-destroys-itself-sarah-palin

[centralcal]

Twitter got ugly today over remarks made by a Calif Dem Party hack (their Communications director, no less) who wished a vile death on Amanda Carpenter's children (she is an aide to Ted Cruz). Then, supposedly the Calif Dem Party chair issued a non-apology and further made nasty comments.

And now...

Richard Grenell ‏@RichardGrenell 3m

CA Democratic Party > @LATSeema: Sacramento Dem party spokesman resigns after wishing for death of Cruz staff member's children

[Danube on iPad]

I want a shutdown not to occur, and for this emasculated Obamacare to start righton schedule. Then I just want to hide and watch, as tens of millions of Americans who have lost the insurance they were happy with flock to these cuckoo exchanges that will be unable to handle them satisfactorily. And there won't be a single Republican fingerprint on any of it.

[centralcal]

Sorry - I guess he was Sacramento Dem Spokes-weasel, not California-wide.

[peter]

what I don't understand is why Obama's numbers haven't crumbled on Rasmussen.

[MarkO]

Word of the day, from the other thread. If you missed Gowdy, it is a must watch.

Mullen: musteline

Please use liberally and with gusto.

1. A reference to weasels, polecats, and minks.
2. Of, relating to, or belonging to Mustelidae, the family of fur-bearing mammals that includes the badger, mink, otter, and the weasel.

[Ranger]

what I don't understand is why Obama's numbers haven't crumbled on Rasmussen.

Well, Ras polls Likely Voters. Likely Voters are generally higher educated and in higher income brackets. With the equation of higher education with higher levels of indoctrination, and higher income with stock market based "prosperity" it becomes clear why Obama's numbers stay high. They tanked during the Syria fandango, but now that we have "peace" and QE to infinity, the high education, high income Likely Voter is happy.

[Threadkiller]

I have heard enough of how a shutdown would cots the GOP dearly in 2014, but I have not heard anything, besides reaching across the aisle/southern border for the faux-moderate hispanic vote, that promises a healthy 2014 for the GOP.

What is their Throw Out The Vote plan that Cruz is jeopardizing?

[Threadkiller]

Unless the plan is sitting on their collective thumbs while America is destroyed.

[MarkO]

Shouldn't this fight be attached to the debt limit?

[Jane-Rebel Alliance1]

CA Democratic Party > @LATSeema: Sacramento Dem party spokesman resigns after wishing for death of Cruz staff member's children

What a nice result. So when does she start at the White House?

[centralcal]

It was a "he," Jane. A really nasty he.

[Ignatz]

--Andrew McCarthy in an article I cannot find the link to thinks Obama will cave.--

The contingency would be considerably more likely were not 3 out of 4 GOP congresscritters wetting their Depends at the mere thought of confronting the pipsqueak.

[narciso]

That was a particularly nazgul, wonder where they found him.

[pagar101]

" he won’t even entertain a budget"

It is my understanding that there is no budget.

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/01/20/1000-days-without-a-budget-facts-on-the-senates-failure/

[Steve]

CC Online Poll. Do you approve of the House voting to Defund Obamacare?

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2013/09/obamacare-poll-defund-it-or-not.html

[Ann]

Happy Birthday, Centralcal!!!♥

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I just got home and finally had time to relax and see what was going on in the world and instantly became panicked that I missed another birthday...especially yours.

Love you dear friend that I have never met.

Sorry that I have missed so many others too.

[narciso]

Hey Ann, how have you been, how are the squirrels?

[TexasIsHeaven]

"It was a "he," Jane. A really nasty he."
Posted by: centralcal | September 20, 2013 at 08:01 PM

Jane, the comments made by that man were some of the most disgusting I have ever seen anywhere. They were way beyond the bounds of all decency. It just fractures me that a man would think something like that - much less say it. But there you are - you would have to read it for yourself to believe it.

[narciso]

Well it's some kind of ghoul, maybe like the strigoi or the voordalak of Eastern Europe and Russia,

[fdcol63]

Liberals and progressives are the kind of people who advocate "choice" in family planning.

What could be any more nasty and mean-spirited than killing innocent babies because they are "inconvenient"?

They've said such despicably cruel and venal things about Republicans and Conservatives over the years, I don't think they can stoop any lower.

They are already like whale dung on the bottom of the sea floor.

[henry]

The twit (er?) is not an isolated case. The spokesman for the WI Dem state party did similar nasty statements, so many the MSM had to mention one and he got re-assigned by the Dems. He got pulled over for his 4th DUI this summer and is about to be housed in state facilities for an extended stay. Derangement is the new normal for Dems.

[Clarice]

Ann, I hope you are well. You've been missed,

[(A) nuther Bub]

And the KU professor who also wished death on the children of NRA members has been put on administrative leave for an unstated period. It's not a major victory, but occurring on the same day as the resignation of the violence-and-filth talking Allan Brauer in Sacramento, it should put a tiny spring in our step.

[Ignatz]

Yo, Ann!
I hope Mrs Iggy never finds out about us. Pretty sure she'll forgive me, but you'll be in a world of hurt.

[narciso]

My copy of the Rosetta, only had Jane's birthday on Monday, that's why I missed central and james d's

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/09/union-gangster-and-former-car-czar-to-advise-retirees-facing-benefit-cuts-in-detroit-bankruptcy-case/

[Jane-Rebel Alliance1]

I had a birthday? At this rate I'm 104.

Ann where have you been? Any place good?

Jane, the comments made by that man were some of the most disgusting I have ever seen anywhere.

That's saying something since almost every remark by a democrat is throwupable.

[Janet]

Hey Ann! How's RealAnn liking college life? & how are you doin' with her away?

[Ann]

Thanks,Clarice.
I am still one of your biggest fans.

Just cause I show up once in a while doesn't mean you have to comment or say anything but I would like to be put on the Maybee birthday list of good wishes..just in case, you know I miss one. (no way, I am to damn mean. I go when Clarice does) Got It! :)

Love you All.

(Iggy dear, those pictures of me jumping fences bareback with my Kimber (Kimberamerica.com ) were just suppose to be between us!, . LOL

[centralcal]

ANN!!!!!! I just got off the phone with a dear friend of 35 years and now I come and see another dear friend, I almost missed!!!!

Think about you daily. I will email you to have a proper conversation (if you promise to read and reply). ha ha ha ha

[centralcal]

Yes, Jane it is the fake one that fooled me last year! I got an email this week that it was your birthday (delete!) - didn't want Hit to humiliate me again. "sob"

[narciso]

How they can walk and chew gum is a medical miracle;

[narciso]

So let me get this straight, this is why France wants to get involved in Syria;

http://www.thelocal.fr/20130919/government-fears-over-scores-of-french-fighting-in-syria

[Clarice]

Never fear about Iggy, Ann. He and DoT have pictures of MayBee's Tasteful nude swimming pool artwork and never once posted it.
You are much loved here.

[MarkO]

Vivid colors, faithful shapes, incisive details. Caro is a genius.

[Frau Alptraum]

Almost as beautiful as Ann

[Danube on iPad]

"...I have not heard anything, besides reaching across the aisle/southern border for the faux-moderate hispanic vote, that promises a healthy 2014 for the GOP."

Go back and read everything in the public prints on the subject over the past three months. Maybe you've missed something.

[Danube on iPad]

Ann,I hope you can see how widely and deeply you are loved here.

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

I think when I started a Facebook account I wanted to deflect the NSA. - thus the birthday.. Why I chose this week escapes me.

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

What is a "faithful shape".

[MarkO]

Critics everywhere.

[Ignatz]

--What is a "faithful shape".--

Presumably, faithful to the subject which inspired the painting.

Don't know if that means Mark's legs, but IIRC Caro did mention them.

[Neo]

On PBS, they are claiming that Obama is remaining “above the fray” whilest taunting the Republicans.
This is like saying that Charles Whitman was remaining “above the fray” in his perch in the University of Texas clock tower.

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

Ahhhhhhh

[MarkO]

Hey. It's my best effort to produce the ambiguous affect of an art maven.

[narciso]

An interesting detail from the Nash bio, he was surprised when he received the notice of
being selected to receive an award from the Queen, turns out Peter Bocking, our own Peter UK, has sent countless letters on the subject.

[fdcol63]

Neo, or like someone sitting on a crapper, above it all, dropping turds into the bowl. LOL

[narciso]

It's worthy of a first rate satirist, a Twain a Bierce, a Mencken,

[Frau Pfeffergewehr]

MarkO aka GamsO
It was obvious even from the childhood photo that even his horse had fine legs.

[rich@gmu]

evening all.

missed james d and centralcal's birthday. happy birthday! and great to see you in the comments Ann.

and it seems Ocare has some features to be worked out: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/20/Obamacare-Software-Glitch-Giving-Wrong-Prices

oops. should make for good work as the OFA Enroll America Jeantel's go door-to-door to sign us up.

doom!

[Gus]

They BELIEVE IT. The LIBTARDS believe that Obama is above the fray, because they believe that shitting on other people is their entitled right, and that THEY ARE RIGHT and WE ARE WRONG. So it's all justified. The WAR is coming. Little Johnny Boehner is not leading he is following. The war is coming.

[rich@gmu]

in 10 days Ocare goes live. Which computer system will crash first? How long will it take for the first arrest for identity theft?

questions questions...

[1_cathyf_says_typepad_is_the_most_wonderful_software_in_the_world_2]

I think another piece of the Obamacare train wreck is the ever-expanding list of no-co-pay mandates. I think that this is half of what the contraception mandate is about -- not that it is required to be covered, but that it is required to be "free".

Take a very very very simple example... Suzy is on the pill, which she gets from the Wal-Mart pharmacy for $2.80/month as part of their dime-a-day generic plan. Her insurance covers birth control, but they have a $6/mo co-pay for generics, so the Wal-Mart only charges her the actual $2.80 cost, and the insurance company pays nothing.

So now Obamacare comes along. Suzy's new ob/gyn has been talking to pharma salescritters who have been talking up their new in-patent special-purpose BCs. At Suzy's next prescription renewal, she prescribes one of them, which costs $92/month. Now with the old insurance laws, Suzy would have balked at paying her insurance company's $27/month in-patent co-pay for a drug when she knew that she could get something that works just as well for less than $3/month, but now that it's "free" -- well, Suzy feels that she is a special person who deserves the special drugs, and she doesn't even realize that they cost a lot of money.

So here you have it -- one person wastes about $1000/yr of insurance premium money on nothing.

There are about 50 million women on the pill in the US. Suppose 98% of them are not ditzy airheads like Suzy. Well, 2% of 50 million is a million ditzy airheads each wasting $1000/year.

One Billion dollars. With a 'B'. Per year. One billion dollars that can't be spent on real health care because the Ditz Sisterhood flushed it down the toilet making themselves feel special.

What does a billion dollars buy? Currently, the cost of a new drug is between 1 and 1.5 billion dollars. If we are spending the money on the Ditz Sisterhood, then we can't spend it developing some new drug. At the Ditz's rate of stupidity, it's one drug sacrificed every 12-18 months. So what drugs are we going to give up? What about cures or treatments for up-til-now untreatable diseases like Huntington's Disease, Eclampsia of Pregnancy, or ALS? Chemo with fewer side effects? Treatments for arthritis that don't kill people with the immune suppression?

Those, like many others, are terrible scourges on humanity, causing untold misery and death to the human race. Up until "The Secretary decreed" that our insurance premium money had to be looted to make the Ditz Sisterhood feel special, we had high hopes of finding those treatments, and soon, just as our insurance premium money had funded many wonderful cures in the past, cures that tamed terrible scourges that caused suffering for all of human history until they were cured.

Everybody who isn't a total idiot knows that the "free stuff" isn't actually free -- why can't the Republicans manage to explain what this "free" stuff will cost? Ask someone who has the gene for Huntington's Disease. Who has watched relatives die from it. It's a horrible, lingering death. The natural progression is that the control over muscles slowly disappears until the victim finally dies by drowning in his or her own saliva. Often alone, because the neurological changes have caused bizarre and vicious behavior changes that have driven away anyone who ever loved the patient. Many sufferers commit suicide while they still have the muscle control to carry it out.

And the person who has the gene but has not developed symptoms or is still in the very early stages knows that all of this is coming for them, and they know that the only hope is some promising research that is being done. Nobody knows when the discovery will be made, and whether it will be soon enough, but they all have hope. Well, unless they have figured out what Obama has done to them -- he has taken the billions that should have gone to pay for a treatment for their Huntington's, and given it to the Ditz Sisterhood so that they can simply throw it away on something totally useless. Because, you know, there are a lot more ditzy women than Huntington's sufferers, and it's all about the number of votes, dude.

I have a friend who has the gene for Huntington's, and she occasionally posts stuff on her FB page. They KNOW that it will take a small miracle to find a cure or even an effective treatment. They don't expect it to be free or cheap. That is what insurance money is supposed to be for -- it's to pay for frightfully expensively things for only the few people who actually need it. What Obama has done is to steal that money designated to save people from terrible suffering, so that he can spread it out a little at a time buying the votes of people too stupid to know they are taking blood money...

[Frau Pfeffergewehr]

Good evening, Gus. Dennis Prager always points out that the progs think *we* are evil and we think the majority of them are just wrong.

I guess I need to order my Kimber Pepperblaster asap. Dang, now I really want one of those babies. Thanks, Ann.

[1_cathyf_says_typepad_is_the_most_wonderful_software_in_the_world_2]

Another alternative to defunding -- what about having the bill require that every person in the Obamacare bureaucracy who has access to a taxpayer's medical and financial data have a security clearance?

Let the Democrats explain why they are setting up identity thieves to steal money from the poor and elderly...

[Frau Pfeffergewehr]

Jeez...Someone give cathyf a 24/7 national microphone. She needs to be heard.

I just shared cathys's 12:03 via email. That isn't enough.

[Gus]

Hello Frau, I sure hope you are well. Pragar is correct, but it's worse than that. I have an intelligent, but horribly disturbed brother, who roots for anything BAD and IMMORAL, because he thinks that doing so, HARMS the RIGHT.
The LEFT, the hard left, is mentally ill. I'm serious Frau. And those who are somewhat lucid, are like looters. They see the opportunity to rape and pillage for the dysfunctional and immoral causes that they support, AND....they DO. Abortion and Gay activism are the prime examples. Libtards purposefully make IMMORALITY part of their UMBRELLA of SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS, and they SELL IMMORALITY to America. And MANY MANY MANY MANY Americans are swept up in it.

[Gus]

Cathyf!! A TOP SECRET SECURITY CLEARANCE.
Just like SNOWDEN.
Just like the Navy Yard black dude and Obama, Prius fan Alexis!!
And like Hillary Rodham!!!
The SECURITY CLEARANCE is a joke.

[narciso]

Steyn was pointing out today, while he filled in for Rush, that 4 million people with security clearances were a bit much, and he cited some of the Wikileaks content,

[Carol Herman]

RIIGHT. Congress is gonna play "chicken."

Most WORKING Americans HATE ObamaCare, already. And, they know it will cost them about 25% more than they currently outlay for insurance. Or, worse, they lose their employer's coverage. AND, they expose themselves to the intrusive government being able to learn what they once thought were private conversations with their physicians.

Of course, the lobbyists feed ALL the congress-critters ... so ObamaCare "sails" through. Will it be implemented? It's gonna get very ugly. There's nothing like the government screw ups ahead.

We're gonna need a miracle to get out from under this one.

Of course, the democrats are also nervous. They tend to discount the GOP, as not coming up with anything that looks like clear competition.

And, the way the laws are written, even if you want to be a grass roots candidate, the government requires you to hire lawyers ... to submit the paperwork. Thanks to the crappy congress critters ... who NEVER think of the People when they're passing laws.

And, it won't work to blame it all on Obama.

I'll also bet lots of democratic congress critters are trying to run away from Obama ... just as they once ran away from Jimmy Carter.

The public, by and large, is paying attention. And, there is the Internet.

[Ignatz]

cathyf,
Thank you for what is the most effective, convincing and heartbreaking piece I've read anywhere by anybody about how pernicious Obamacare is since the damned idiots enacted it in 2009.

And the same argument applies to damned near everything they do, whether economics social policy or foreign affairs.

[Carol Herman]

I Googled Andrew McCarthy, and sure enough he said IF the republicans stand together, THEN Obama will cave.

Go ahead. Bet on the GOP standing together.

Oh, and remember Harry Reid's greatest strength is NOT his personality! He's brief. He slams phones down without saying "good bye." So some people are just left talking into a dead receiver.

Reid's MASSIVE STRENGTH comes from knowing what every single senator needs. And, wants.

He's like a madam in a whore house. The "client" doesn't have to tell him, blonde, brunette, or redhead. Doesn't have to ask for big boobs, or sexy legs ... He KNOWS what his "clientele" wants. And, he delivers.

That's how Reid gets the votes. Even when members find giving him their votes is unpleasant.

LBJ? He gave you bear hugs. And, he was also known to cut off other men's testicles. Maybe, Reid's inherited his scissors?

[narciso]

They depend on the stupidity of those voters like the ones at Modesto Junior College, and Rush wasn't wrong, about Fluke,
as Lena Dunham made the point very clear,

[Caro's iPad]

What a full day. Missing JD's birthday in eastern time and an hour to spare for Cc though she is surely asleep by now. Bestest wishes.

Cathyf, that is just brilliant and should be published far and wide.

Always wonderful to have an Ann post.

And please keep this secret. MarkO is my favorite.

[Maybee]

Xoxo,Ann.

Clarice, thank you for remembering the tastefulness of my art.

Cathyf...genius.

[Cecil Turner]

The Senate will restore funding and Senate rules don't allow for a filibuster on this . . .

Yeah, an unidentified "Senate Aide" said so:

But the Senate aide says no one should be surprised. "This is not a gimmick or a scheme," says the aide. "It is Rule 22 of the U.S. Senate. Everybody knew this. This is an existing rule. It is taught in Senate class when you do your orientation. It is not a surprise. Nobody sprung it on him [Sen. Cruz]."

Dayum, that Senator Cruz guy shore is dumb fer a ivy league lawyer. Or maybe not . . . check last night's edition:

Turns out there is a way for conservatives to filibuster Majority Leader Harry Reid's, D-Nev., plan to fund Obamacare.

Hey guys, howzabout making up your minds?

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

Wow Cathy. Could someone please send that to the NY Times. I'm gonna post it at my moonbat website and watch for any sign of life.

[anonamom]

Cathyf--I knew it was your post long before I saw your name. You have a gift for clearly articulating the overwhelming disaster that 2700 page piece of legislation is.

Such a clear illustration of why we need to remain responsible for our basic health care costs, and what medical insurance should be about--catastrophic events.
The market will take care of costs when the market remains free.
Or becomes free---remove insurance from employment compensation, allow people to cross state lines to purchase it, etc.

I too am going to email that to everyone I care about, but please,
everyone with any connections--try to get that published.

[narciso]

This is what O'Bagy's mostly moderate clients wrought;

http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2013/09/report_american-supplied_arms.php

[Janet]

I'm off to a county board meeting today to continue the effort to stop the streetcar project. Ugh.

All levels of govt. are maddening.

[narciso]

I know Janet, they are doing a small version of the Big Dig, in this area, which makes traffic all that more manageable, facepalm.

[Clarice]

I'm posting Cathy's tramtks on FB. I wish one of the brainiacs on th Hil had the wit to make this argument.

[Clarice]

Cathy's remarks on FB. Ge I'm horrible without coffee,

[4JIB2]

narciso,

Are talking about the Port tunnels? We didn't use TBM's on the Big Dig, we did it the old fashioned way with shovels:) And off-duty Boston cops.

[henry]

CathyF gets to the heart of why Obamacare will fail. Remove prices from consumer decisions and a tragedy of the commons will occur. Throw in allocation by criminal syndicate government planner and availability will go to zero. Economic reality is that Free stuff = no stuff. Ask the North Koreans about free food.

[4JIB2]

Ironically, cathyf's analysis of ACA and its impacts on future health and cost is the same fight as Janet with the streetcar. All are based on unfounded optimism by politicians and not doctors or engineers.

In my experience with large mega-projects and ACA is the mother of all mega-projects, optimism at the outset is the biggest killer of cost, schedule and quality. The democrats avoided any skepticism from the medical community, the insurance world and relied totally on the political good they believed they would earn.

The same with the streetcar project. Most likely being spearheaded by developers (Janet, is that right?) who will use OPM to fund their projects on the back of all this optimism based on what Dublin, Strausbourg and Portland have done. Study after study has always found bus transit systems preferable over rail transit systems at street level. Janet may want to get her hand on some of them.

[Marlene]

CathyF,that is a wonderful post. The Bangor Daily has been running a series of *informational* articles on Ocare. The articles have been a disservice in my opinion,because the idea of free stuff is the main theme.

narciso,thanks for mentioning Peter Bocking and the letters he wrote on Nash's behalf. I wonder what PUK thought of Nash's ultra liberal politics?

[Dublindave]

"And everything seemed to be going so well"

When Reid strips the dopey "defund obamacare" aspect of the bill (or as it's becoming increasingly known 'the Mike Huckabee European vacation fund generator')he plans to make the new bill extremely Liberal friendly with tons of honey and sweet gooodies for Dems.

Nice!

Boehner has already stated behind closed doors that his reasons for bringing this bill to a vote was to take the Tea party on a tour of oblivion,check out some of the sights. Ted Cruz was to first to shit his pants and fold like a sack of potatoes and the word is that House Republicans have begun crying for their mommies and want to go home.

We've won this fight.

Now pay for my Obamacare!

[4JIB2]

Terror attack on Nairobi mall. Kills 10.

[Old Lurker test]

Cathy is a genius. The trick is to make it fail before it destroys any chance of (re)establishing a better system.

My older daughter - YL - is a research scientist with a PhD in Neuroscience. Age 31 and expecting my first grandchild in January. Being the daughter of her father, she has timed it in great detail so that her research will reach a publication stage at year end and that provides a natural stopping point of PostDoc #1 while considering PostDoc #2. As DrJ will attest, post doc jobs pay practically nothing and are not that easy to find either.

I was fascinated last week to hear her reports from discussions with her mentors concerning the risks and probabilities of future funding in her area of expertise and therefore how best to plan a career in pure research. These old salts were speaking in terms of decades of impact from actions/changes already baked into the cake, and remind us that creating a scientist starts very early in college and that requires faith that jobs will be available ten years or so in the future otherwise these kids will plot another life plan.

Daughter #2 is a second year med student who visited with two of her classmates recently. Listening to them discuss how they need to declare areas of interest today so that they can earn a living at the other end of their education pipeline was pretty eye opening. In our case she won't have debt but her two friends will have a pile of it and that was having a significant impact on what sort of doctors they thought they could become and where they might be able to afford to practice.

Wow. Allowing idiots in DC to monkey with this industry was really stupid.

Rant over.

[sbwaters]

CathyF, Your example is beautifully straightforward. I just forwarded it to Instapundit.

[Janet]

Study after study has always found bus transit systems preferable over rail transit systems at street level.

Thanks, JiB. The streetcar idea is terrible on almost all levels...it costs a lot more to build & operate, it is on set tracks so if there is a problem the entire system shuts down, it is slow, it is bad for bikers,...

I'm working with AST- http://www.sensibletransit.org/
a very bi-partisan group with lots of smart engineers & retired planners. The Green candidate supports us too.

There can be no explanation for sticking with this lousy, expensive idea except cronyism &/or blind allegiance to certain advocacy groups. All over the country cities are battling these expensive, terrible ideas.

The Greens & Dems that oppose the streetcar would spend the money on other projects...but even they can see the total wastefulness of 300 to 400 million dollars spent on less than 5 miles of track.

[matt]

The same thing has been happening in basic research for years. Even practical R&D has become limited. Much of our national R&D effort is now about bang for the buck.

And the overarching theme seems to be the encroachment of government.

Government directs a huge percentage of R&D money and thus science becomes policy just as our government now engages in industrial policy as the Europeans do.

Fit the nice government designated box or else.

[DebinNC]

I didn't like cathyf's post. It was so clear and irrefutable that even an economic illiterate like me could understand it and realize we're truly doomed. I much prefer informed posts here about the FED shenanigans, because they sound to my ears like complete gobbledygook, leaving me in blissful ignorance.

[Danube on iPad]

Many thanks to cathyf.

We are entitled to hope that, after Obamacare reaches such farcical heights that it is finally put to the sword, no congress will ever again attempt such a foolhardy, stupid and doomed exercise in central planning.

[DebinNC]

I think Obamacare passed because Dems, enraged at their treatment at town halls the previous summer and the drawn-out and ultimately futile search for any Republican with a political death wish willing to join them, absolutely could not let Republicans "win".

Exhibit A - Evan Bayh: NYT - Dec. 19, 2009
............................................
Faced with Republican opposition that many Democrats saw as driven more by politics than policy disagreements, Senate Democrats in recent days gained new determination to bridge differences among themselves and prevail over the opposition. Lawmakers who attended a private meeting between Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats at the White House on Tuesday pointed to remarks there by Senator Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana, as providing some new inspiration. Mr. Bayh said that the health care measure was the kind of public policy he had come to Washington to work on, according to officials who attended the session, and that he did not want to see the satisfied looks on the faces of Republican leaders if they succeeded in blocking the measure.
............................................
Dems destroyed the world's best healthcare system because of a "fit of pique" (irritation, annoyance, resentment, anger, displeasure, indignation, petulance, ill humor, vexation, exasperation, disgruntlement, discontent, offense, umbrage). I hope Evan Bayh's responsibility for ObamaCare is never forgotten.

[Dublindave]

"Dems destroyed the world's best health care system.."

Actually it's the world's 37th best healthcare system, but when it comes to how much we spend on healthcare per capita, we're number one (USA USA USA!!!)

Endgame: Tea party gets to show it's junk to the world, the CR get's tossed back to Boehner, Dems save the day but Republicans pay a price in terms of policy and in 2014.... but at least Tea party gets to show it's junk in the world I mean that's the main thing right?Right????

[maryrose]

Obama and the dems in tantrum mode hold the American people "hostage " their favorite word over a Healthcare plan that doesn't work on any level. DeninNC; this sounds like the first really true explanation for the determination to blindly go forth a a failing policy. I believe this emotional response is responsible for the madness.It will prove to be their undoing.Americans will never let dems anywhere near any of their basic rights again.

[maryrose]

should be on a failing policy...