Patterico's Pontifications

With the government slowed down by 17%, shouldn’t the debt ceiling limit be pushed back by ~5 days?

DejectedHead (a094a6) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:52 am

Yes, but those savings were off-set by the cost of barrycading the public parks, roads and memorials./sarc

felipe (70ff7e) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:55 am

Why is the troll considered essential?

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:57 am

I read the following and the word of the day is “schadenfreude.”

theblaze.com, October 15:

[A] community blogger on the far-left Daily Kos website has penned a blog post complaining that both he and his wife are facing a nearly 100 percent increase in their monthly premiums. He claims he is canceling his insurance and refuses to pay any “f***ing penalty.”

Blogger “Tirge Caps” explains: My wife and I just got our updates from Kaiser telling us what our 2014 rates will be. Her monthly has been $168 this year, mine $150. We have a high deductible. We are generally healthy people who don’t go to the doctor often. I barely ever go. The insurance is in case of a major catastrophe.

Well, now, because of Obamacare, my wife’s rate is gong to $302 per month and mine is jumping to $284. I am canceling insurance for us and I am not paying any f***ing penalty. What the hell kind of reform is this?

The blogger also notes he and his wife may qualify for some “government assistance,” but that it’s just “another hoop” to jump through to get assistance that he may or may not be eligible for.

“I never felt too good about how this was passed and what it entailed, but I figured if it saved Americans money, I could go along with it,” he admits. “I don’t know what to think now. This appears, in my experience, to not be a reform for the people.”

“What am I missing?”

Realizing that most of the readers on the Daily Kos are supporters of President Barack Obama, “Tirge Caps” acknowledged that “I will probably get screamed at for posting this, but I can’t imagine I am the only Californian who received a rate increase from Kaiser based on these new laws.”

And he was right about people going after him. Despite being an active blogger on the Daily Kos with 62 blog posts, many commenters accused him of being a “troll” just trying to discredit Obamacare. Others claimed it wasn’t Obamacare that was increasing his premiums, it was the insurance company, Kaiser.

“wah! wah! I hate Obamcare! You sound like Ted Cruz,” one commenter wrote. “You can’t blame Obamacare because you selected substandard insurance. And remember, those who have no insurance at all will be getting a 100% premium increase. However, the vast majority of them are grateful they can finally get insurance,” another wrote.

Now, just because the blogger is active on the far-left Daily Kos, it doesn’t necessarily means he is far-left himself. His political affiliation is unknown at this point, though he seems to have little to gain by making up a story about his health insurance on a site that has been very supportive of Obamacare.

Suggestion: Get a liberal to help pay for one’s health insurance. Since the left is so loving and generous, I’m sure it will happily comply with that request.

Mark (58ea35) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:58 am

I am starting a pool on when the first Tlaloc comment hits this thread.

I’m taking 10:45am.

Winner gets a mini-8 ball.

Disclaimer: employees, assigns, volunteers and groupies of irrational thinking not eligible. Offer void where prohibited. See prospectus for full details. Past results are no guarantee of future performance.

Although I predict his first comment will be

X. I will take xx:xx

Comment by Tlaloc (d061fc) — 10/16/2013 @ xx:xx YY

felipe (70ff7e) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:07 am

some of the comments are priceless

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/30/1242660/-Obamacare-will-double-my-monthly-premium#

i just wonder what handle our trolls use there in their natural habitat?

redc1c4 (abd49e) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:14 am

Reading comments on liberal sites will restore your faith in humanity. Psych!

DejectedHead (a094a6) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:22 am

I know, red, especially:

“In fact, studies are showing a 33% premium decline due to the ACA. So reality rebuts this poster’s claim”.

Right, a study rebuts someone’s mail.

felipe (70ff7e) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:30 am

Probably worse than that felipe. It’s probably a news outlet’s opinion of a study.

Never trust a news media opinion of any studies. They’ll turn statistical noise into hard proof.

DejectedHead (a094a6) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:01 am

“In fact, studies are showing a 33% premium decline due to the ACA. So reality rebuts this poster’s claim”.

Right, a study rebuts someone’s mail.

Studies show that 1 out of 2 people enjoy rape.

No, I don’t think it’s an inappropriate analogy to Obamacare.

nk (dbc370) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:08 am

Damn. I am so addicted to gub’mint freebies this is killing me.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/23599688/miramar-air-show-cancelled

Shutdown grounds the Miramar Air Show

Oh well. Consolation prize.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnPGfEcI4As

Espectacular exhibición de vuelo de un F-18 español

Viva! We ride!

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:13 am

Due to the government shutdown, all car bombs must exit at the check point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSKIP5DcfKU

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:29 am

We’re just not playing anymore.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 9:29 am

“I read the following and the word of the day is “schadenfreude.””

Mark – Ace would use the word “schadenboner” because that’s what you get reading the complaints about the predictable results of the policies these idiots supported.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:33 am

No biker gangs on this mornings commute ??? they must be in DC preying on the veterans waiting to visit the memorials …

JeffC (488234) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:57 am

With the government slowed down by 17%, shouldn’t the debt ceiling limit be pushed back by ~5 days?

As has been pointed out many times, shutdowns cost more than just running the government normally, not less. Which means this whole exercise not only failed miserably to achieve any of its instigator’s goals but also will ultimately rack up a slightly greater deficit.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:01 pm

I am starting a pool on when the first Tlaloc comment hits this thread.

You really should have specified a time zone.

Look on the bright side: with the total collapse of the republican efforts this is likely to be the last shutdown thread for me to post in 🙂

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:03 pm

i just wonder what handle our trolls use there in their natural habitat?

They probably troll there as conservatives. Marginal personalities and all.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:09 pm

Tlaloc, so now you’re celebrating more debt ?
In other words, you were against more debt before you were for more debt ?

But wait. You’re a Marxist. You would never be against ‘more spending’ by the federal government.

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:09 pm

Tlaloc, seriously, you are probably smart and capable enough to take care of yourself. You don’t need Uncle Sam to subsidize you.
Stand up, take personal responsibility for yourself and your family, and say, “I. Am. Not. A Victim !”

You can do it, Charlie Brown.

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:13 pm

Tlaloc, so now you’re celebrating more debt ?

Why do you say that?

But yes, during bad economic times including a contraction of spending by the private sector it absolutely makes sense to use deficit spending by the government (which of course will lead to growth in the overall debt).

That’s not to say all spending by the government is equal, obviously some does more to stimulate the economy than others.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:16 pm

Don’t know if this had been posted yet, but its damned good…
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/344204.php

Colonel Haiku (d63e9f) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:17 pm

Tlaloc, seriously, you are probably smart and capable enough to take care of yourself. You don’t need Uncle Sam to subsidize you.

There’s no way I could be going back to school right now to get a more advanced degree without government subsidizing the cost of the education…so no thanks. I’ll take the loans while getting the masters happily and pay it back once I’ve got a lucrative job. It’s a win for me and a win for the government and a win for society. Why do you then object? The only loser is your philosophy that government is only ever evil. Oh right, that’s why you hate it when government is useful.

Now, closing question, why should anyone in their right mind give government power to people who unshakably believe such power must be used for evil ends? Seems like begging for trouble…

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:20 pm

Ah, the dishonest troll returns for his afternoon shift.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:20 pm

Tlaloc, all that this spending stimulates is left wing Daily Kos kooks.
It does nothing to stimulate the economy.

The private sector economy contracts when the money that would otherwise be invested/spent in the private sector ends up in the clutches of the greedy talons of the federal government.

Are you seriously this illiterate in Econ 101 ?

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:21 pm

Don’t know if this had been posted yet, but its damned good…

Rep. David Schweikert thinks the treasury can prioritize payments. Jack Lew, the secretary of the treasury says they can’t. Which of these two men is in a position to know for sure?

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:22 pm

Stephen Green:

How it’s fared? It’s a disaster. The estimate is that about one million people successfully registered. Not bought insurance or anything, just managed to get their email and username and password into the database.

How many of the one million bought insurance? The best guess is 36,000.

47 million uninsured Americans. 36,000 got insured over the course of two weeks. At that rate, it will take only 2,611 weeks to get everybody insured. That’s 50 years, if you don’t feel like doing the math.

For this, we had to wreck insurance for millions more already-insured Americans, and destroy fulltime work as we know it.

Forward.

Obamacare has utterly collapsed already. Disasterous failure and immense damage to our economy.

Obama will be remembered as the worst president in history.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:23 pm

Ah, the dishonest troll returns for his afternoon shift.

I’ve got office hours here shortly, so enjoy while you can.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:23 pm

Tlaloc, given that Jack Lew is a political hack with no serious finance experience, that question is easy to answer.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:24 pm

The private sector economy contracts when the money that would otherwise be invested/spent in the private sector ends up in the clutches of the greedy talons of the federal government.

Problem with your thesis- private industry is both experiencing record profits and also sitting on huge cash reserves. The problem is nt that they don’t have money but they are choosing not to spend it. That being the case the only rational choice is to tax it and spend it through government.

It really doesn’t take but a second to examine the facts and find they go 100% with my argument and 100% against yours. Try it.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:25 pm

Obama will be remembered as the worst president in history.

Well, he can hope to come in above Buchanan. But he’s still got 3 good years to fail that. Starting a civil war would probably do it.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:26 pm

What Tlaloc doesn’t get about the standard Keynesian theory of deficit spending during a downturn is that he proposed it from a balanced-budget, no-deficit state.

If you had no long-term debt and no yearly deficit and then went into a downturn, it makes sense to spend more for a little while, even if the return on investment isn’t great, to cushion the downturn. This assumes that there is a normality to return to.

But Keynes would never propose doing so when you are already teetering on the edge of bankruptcy with a huge debt, a huge yearly deficit, and softening your position with money-printing. His writings make it clear that drastic money savings would be in order. In fact, that’s the whole point of money-printing. Get to a balanced budget and then print more money to weaken your debt through inflation to make it easier to pay back.

luagha (5cbe06) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:28 pm

Tlaloc, given that Jack Lew is a political hack with no serious finance experience, that question is easy to answer.

A) not true:

Lew then worked as an attorney in private practice before working as a deputy in Boston’s office of management and budget. In 1993, he began work for the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the President. In 1994 Lew served as Associate Director for Legislative Affairs and Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, where he served as Director of that agency from 1998 to 2001 and from 2010 to 2012. After leaving the Clinton Administration, Lew worked as the Executive Vice President for Operations at New York University from 2001 to 2006, and as the COO at Citigroup from 2006 to 2008. Lew then served as the first Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, from 2009 to 2010.

B) it isn’t a question of finances experience it’s a question of departmental knowledge. Can the software be configured to pay certain debts first or not? That has nothing to do with finances and everything with the nitty gritty details of implementation that only the treasury department knows for sure.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:28 pm

“…give government power to people…” ?

Tlaloc, good Allah, you really do believe that the United States is a government that has a nation rather than a nation that has a government.

And you believe that anyone who dissents is “evil.”
Funny then, how the only time left wingers use the word “evil” is when they’re describing conservatives, libertarians, Republicans, free market capitalists, Israelis, Constitutionalists—but never to describe Jihadists, Marxists, et al.

That’s why Holy Obamessiah will negotiate with Iran—but not with…John Boehner !

Classic.

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:28 pm

forgot the link, the bio info on Jack Lew from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Lew

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:29 pm

theblaze.com, October 15:

“What am I missing?”

Could be:

1) Policies are limited in how much more they can charge for older people – no more than 3 times the rate for the youngest persons.

2) Insurance companies are not allowed to discriminate any more against people with pre-existing conditions, starting January 1, 2014.

3) Most of the extra money to pay for that is to come from premiums (not Uncle Sam)

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:29 pm

What Tlaloc doesn’t get about the standard Keynesian theory of deficit spending during a downturn is that he proposed it from a balanced-budget, no-deficit state.

Why do you say I don’t understand it when I’ve made exactly that point? During good times government should spend less and run a surplus. It’s counter-cyclical spending not counter-half-cyclical.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:30 pm

The US would never have this level of recovery were it not for the $2 trillion a year the Feds print and “loan” out to Obama’s crony bankers.

What will happen when we stop mainlining? And will we do that before or after inflation erupts? At some point the dealer will cut us off.

Prediction: Debt deal passes and US debt is downgraded because we aren’t dealing with our problems.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:31 pm

Tlaloc “refutes” me by copying Jack Lew’s thin resume to only confirm my point. Hilarious.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:31 pm

33. Comment by Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:28 pm

Can the software be configured to pay certain debts first or not?

It doesn’t have to be. You can lie to the software. And work it out by hand, or on a Commodore 64.

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:31 pm

Still waiting for TaFailalot to explain Obama’s unprecedented punitive closure of Nat’l Parks and memorials, other than his response of “it’s the Republican’s shutdown”. Clinton didn’t do it, nor did any other presidents who dealt with shutdowns. Obama’s action appears to be entirely punitive – and driven by anger at those who have the temerity to disagree with him, if not ALL Americans.

Colonel Haiku (fb49f6) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:31 pm

Obama and the Democrats have created such an immense failure, that I predict that in January 2017 there will be more uninsured people in the United States than there were in January 2009.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:32 pm

Tlaloc is a member of the cult of the omniscient state. I always thought that was a Libertarian figment, but he actually bleeds government blue.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:33 pm

Why do you say I don’t understand it when I’ve made exactly that point?

@36 Comment by Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:30 pm

Oops, there it is.

Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:33 pm

Haiku, Obama’s actions were not only punitive in nature, taken in bad faith but they were illegal. Obama ordered places closed that he had no legal authority to close.

But its of a kind of the actions one would expect from a President who routinely violates Federal laws for political retaliation against his enemies.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:33 pm

TaFailalot doesn’t know that lew’s predecessor could prioritize.

Colonel Haiku (8e79c6) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:35 pm

Obama and the Democrats have created such an immense failure, that I predict that in January 2017 there will be more uninsured people in the United States than there were in January 2009.

And most doctors will be refusing to take Exchange policies.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:35 pm

And you believe that anyone who dissents is “evil.”

Did I say that? I don’t really think any such thing. I think the vast majority of people who disagree are poorly educated. There is a small minority who really do seem to relish harming others through policy decisions. The hardcore racists for instance.

That’s why Holy Obamessiah will negotiate with Iran—but not with…John Boehner !

Iran has been far more even handed and approachable than house republicans. Not to mention the Iranians have actual control of themselves unlike Boehner and the conservative delegation.

The demonization of Iran interests me because if you look at their actual history, for a theocratic regime, they’ve been amazingly practical. They’re crafty. they have interests that diverge from ours strongly. But they aren’t evil. We should be engaging them diplomatically.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:35 pm

Since Obama’s budget has historic deficits for the next decade, then obviously Democrats plan to keep America in bad economic times for a decade.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:36 pm

But… But I thought Obama was a centrist, SPQR.

Colonel Haiku (8e79c6) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:37 pm

I was at my cardiologist today for my callback. I asked them if they were going to take any exchange policies, and they said they didn’t know — they had not seen any of the new contract offers yet.

This in California which is supposed to be a bright spot for Obamacare.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:38 pm

Now, Tlaloc says that Iran is not evil.

I guess Tlaloc approves of the death penalty for homosexuals. Approves of Iran’s supply of IED’s to Iraqi insurgents and other terrorists.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:38 pm

Haiku, Obama’s actions were not only punitive in nature, taken in bad faith but they were illegal. Obama ordered places closed that he had no legal authority to close.

So sue him. Good luck with that.

TaFailalot doesn’t know that lew’s predecessor could prioritize.

Evidence please.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:38 pm

How is it that we’re on day 16 of the shutdown and any of us remain unkilled?

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:39 pm

God’s blessings on TaFailalot’s ex-wife who obviously smelled a big, fat Commie rat and got out while she could.

Colonel Haiku (8e79c6) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:40 pm

Now, Tlaloc says that Iran is not evil.

Iran is not the enemy. Iran has never been the enemy.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:40 pm

Who knew? Defund the gub’mint, and Skynet goes self aware.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:41 pm

Answer my question, TaFailalot.

Colonel Haiku (8e79c6) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:41 pm

How is it that we’re on day 16 of the shutdown and any of us remain unkilled?

I continue to be surprised that the Interstates are open.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:41 pm

The chemical weapons attacks in Syria that Obama evidently thought was evil … until Putin stole his lunch money … were launched using rockets that match Iranian manufactured rocket launchers. As we discussed here some months ago.

But Tlaloc thinks that they are not evil.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:41 pm

Kevin M., correct Eastasia is the enemy. We’ve always been at war with Eastasia.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:42 pm

Tlaloc, good grief, man, are you really this far behind the curve when it comes to Econ 101 ?
First of all, the profits earned by corporations belong to the corporations and their shareholders—not the government. The corporations don’t just stuff the money underneath their mattress or hide it in their Playboy magazine in their sock drawer, as I suspect you might do.
Rather, the corporations deposit the money in bank accounts, which banks then can loan out to other people. The money earns interest, albeit at a low percentage right now. The point is, the money is being used in the economy—just not in the way that coincides with your Marxist vision of utopia.

I suspect you have limited experience with socking money away in bank accounts, otherwise, you wouldn’t have such tunnel vision about “cash reserves.” I don’t mean to pry, but do you actually have any long term CDs ?

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:42 pm

EPIC TaFailalot…

Colonel Haiku (8e79c6) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:42 pm

Iran has been far more even handed and approachable than house republicans.

@46 Comment by Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:35 pm

Here is Iran’s even handedness on stoning women to death, genius.

Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:44 pm

ES–

Tlaloc doesn’t want to take their money. He just wants to tell them where and how to spend it. See the difference?

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:44 pm

Tlaloc thinks he’s doing us a favor, bringing us unwashed troglodytes the news from the Emerald City.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:46 pm

We’ve learned today that there is literally nothing so stupid that Tlaloc won’t write it.

Evidently “Dumber than a sack of Tlaloc” is more literal than I thought.

SPQR (9c5bd8) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:46 pm

Tlaloc believes that Iran is a rational honest negotiating partner in peace, while John Boehner and House Republicans are the “evil” ones.

That’s all we really need to know about Ward Churchill’s star pupil !

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:51 pm

I’m still waiting for Tlaloc to identify the federal budget republicans held hostage under Obama. He has only pointed to continuing resolutions, which sentient people know are not budgets and are one of the primary reasons the government is in continual crisis management mode, cowardly Democrats refusing to do the job they were elected to do.

Tlaloc also owes an explanation of why, if Obamacare was based on Romneycare, the reaction of the labor markets has been so drastically different. Did the Obama Administration just pick up a bad plan and decide to make it a whole lot worse?

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:55 pm

Comrade Tlaloc wants Obama to shut down the National Parks and Memorials, but keep Iran’s nuclear program open.

As the old Cold War era bumper sticker used to say, “One ~~Nuclear Bomb~~ National Park can ruin your whole day !”

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:59 pm

More on the prioritization charade from 2011. RTWT:

GAO Opinion

In 1985, the Government Accountability Office released a legal opinion saying the “Treasury is free to liquidate obligations in any order it finds will best serve the interest of the United States.”

Still, the Treasury has never prioritized payments, Geithner said in his letter to DeMint. Prior Treasury staff have provided logistical advice to the White House on such a move, while Justice Department officials have offered legal opinions.

“There is no explicit statutory authority for the executive branch to prioritize payments,” said Jay Powell, visiting scholar for the Bipartisan Policy Center and a Treasury undersecretary for President George H.W. Bush. “In our system of government Congress decides what to pay and orders the executive branch to carry out its wishes.”

Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, this week introduced legislation that would require the Treasury to prioritize payments for debt service, Social Security and active-duty military pay.

Fed Checks

The Fed processes the Treasury’s entitlement payments, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Most are done electronically through the reserve banks’ automated clearing house. In 2010, the Fed’s reserve banks processed 1.2 billion automated clearinghouse payments and 185 million Treasury checks, according to the Fed’s 2010 annual report.

The administration has also been reluctant to discuss prioritization because it wants to keep the onus on Congress to raise the debt ceiling before Aug. 2, said Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute in Washington.

“Once you start saying that certain things can be paid without raising the limit, you reduce pressure to raise the limit,” he said. “This is all about keeping the pressure on Congress.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-29/treasury-may-have-to-adopt-risky-payment-plan-as-u-s-deadline-looms.html

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:03 pm

There is a small minority who really do seem to relish harming others through policy decisions. The hardcore racists for instance.

Reid, Obama, Pelosi, Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson…

just to name a few racists out to hurt the average person.

redc1c4 (abd49e) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:04 pm

How- how- how DARE they?

—> time.gov is offline.

HOW CAN I SET MY WATCH, PEOPLE??

The House/ those GOP hostage-takers with bombs strapped to their chests / simply must-must-MUST totally cave, right now!!@!1!

/heh

A_Nonny_Mouse (57cacf) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:05 pm

Problem with your thesis- private industry is both experiencing record profits and also sitting on huge cash reserves. The problem is nt that they don’t have money but they are choosing not to spend it. That being the case the only rational choice is to tax it and spend it through government.

i agree and, in the same vein, it is apparent you have money, yet aren’t giving me any. i expect you to forward 15% of your take home pay to me, through Patterico, so that i too can benefit from your ever so wise world view. think of the benefit to the economy!

redc1c4 (abd49e) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:07 pm

President Deadbeat Hugamullah is a study in style over substance.

Colonel Haiku (358fb1) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:18 pm

#73 ..and form without function.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:23 pm

Rain god’s mad computing skills missed this detail;

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/14/jack-lew-obamas-omb-pick_n_645093.html

narciso (3fec35) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:24 pm

I stand corrected, felipe, thx.

Colonel Haiku (b924f9) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:26 pm

When last seen, TaFailalot was off in a corner practicing his new Victory Mince…

Colonel Haiku (b924f9) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:30 pm

I understand that Flailoc is so smart that he is a member of Mince-a

And to improve himself, he chews breath mince.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:38 pm

And he collects coins from the Franklin mince.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:40 pm

Along similar lines;

http://www.niallferguson.com/blog/inflated-claims

narciso (3fec35) — 10/16/2013 @ 1:50 pm

Tlaloc didn’t stay around long to put us in our places today. Maybe he’s running out of moral superiority.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:03 pm

Iran has been far more even handed and approachable than house republicans. Not to mention the Iranians have actual control of themselves unlike Boehner and the conservative delegation.

The demonization of Iran interests me because if you look at their actual history, for a theocratic regime, they’ve been amazingly practical. They’re crafty. they have interests that diverge from ours strongly. But they aren’t evil. We should be engaging them diplomatically.

Stop it , tlaloc, just stop it . You are making a complete and utter fool of yourself. This is an asinine statement from beginning to end, and you evidence a density that makes me cringe in sorriness for you. Just stop. You do yourself and yor side of the aisle no good. You just keep giving us assurances that we are on solid ground with our thinking and conservative principles…so thank you for that , I guess.

If you insist on commenting, at least think before you hit the submit button. That is if you wish to be taken seriously.

Dana (64d0a8) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:03 pm

Maybe Daleyrocks comment @69 to Tlalocs comment@51 was the stake in the heart?

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:16 pm

Dana, I think you are beating a dead Tlaloc.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:18 pm

The chemical weapons attacks in Syria that Obama evidently thought was evil … until Putin stole his lunch money … were launched using rockets that match Iranian manufactured rocket launchers. As we discussed here some months ago.

But Tlaloc thinks that they are not evil.

Tlaloc has serious doubts about your ability to know such things.

That said I do believe that Iran sponsors terrorist groups. On the other hand I fail to see how that’s any more evil than the US sponsoring lots of third world dictators. Nations do stupid evil things out of short sighted self interest. That doesn’t mean the entire nation or even the entire government is evil. If I believed as you do I’d be forced to qualify all mankind as irredeemably evil

…which now that I think about it explains a lot of how you choose to relate to people.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:19 pm

Since Obama’s budget has historic deficits for the next decade, then obviously Democrats plan to keep America in bad economic times for a decade.

Actually the CBO projects Obama’s deficits to hit a pretty low level in the next couple years. We just established that yesterday, remember?

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:20 pm

Still, if I were writing an off-Broadway play entitled “death of a tlaloc”, comment #82 would be the part of the climactic scene in the third act to be said with a charming southern drawl – an East Texas accent in particular.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:23 pm

HAH! he playing opossum!

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:24 pm

First of all, the profits earned by corporations belong to the corporations and their shareholders—not the government. The corporations don’t just stuff the money underneath their mattress or hide it in their Playboy magazine in their sock drawer, as I suspect you might do.
Rather, the corporations deposit the money in bank accounts, which banks then can loan out to other people. The money earns interest, albeit at a low percentage right now. The point is, the money is being used in the economy—just not in the way that coincides with your Marxist vision of utopia.

Here’s an alternate scenario. Instead of the cash sitting in reserve at company A, A could spend the money on employee B, infrastructure constructed by firm C, and inventory bought from company D. That means that employee B deposits money in his bank account. Similarly Firm C and company D do likewise. So the bank has the same amount of cash to loan out and yet the economy in total is enriched by the value of B, C, and D’s productivity.

Or the money can sit useless in an account.

Why you continue to attack my economic knowledge while you insist on also thoroughly embarrassing yourself, well that is a much bigger question.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:26 pm

I’m still waiting for Tlaloc to identify the federal budget republicans held hostage under Obama. He has only pointed to continuing resolutions, which sentient people know are not budgets

Uh, no. For all intents and purposes the CR is the budget. Notice that when the CR was not passed the government shut down. That really should have clued you in.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:28 pm

How- how- how DARE they?

—> time.gov is offline.

HOW CAN I SET MY WATCH, PEOPLE??

If obama had really wanted to be punitive he could have shuttered the GPS system.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:30 pm

Tlaloc is now getting his talking points from a UPS commercial. Logistics!

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:32 pm

Oh, that’s hilarious. Tlaloc is really demonstrating his utter stupidity today.

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:32 pm

Rain god’s mad computing skills missed this detail;

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/14/jack-lew-obamas-omb-pick_n_645093.html

And what am I supposed to get from that? It seems t have no relation at all to anything I’ve argued.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:32 pm

Indeed, Tlaloc’s belief that among Obama’s legitimate options was turning off the GPS system shows just what an utter moronic troll Tlaloc is.

Unless he’s serious in which case Tlaloc is a f’ing fascist wannabe.

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:34 pm

92. Comment by Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:28 pm

Uh, no. For all intents and purposes the CR is the budget. Notice that when the CR was not passed the government shut down. That really should have clued you in.

A continuing resolution is a substitute for an appropropriation bill, not for a budget.

Sammy Finkelman (07f19d) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:34 pm

Uh, no. For all intents and purposes the CR is the budget. Notice that when the CR was ~~not passed~~ tabled by the senate the government shut down. That really should have clued ~~you~~ me in.

FIFY!

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:35 pm

http://www.niallferguson.com/blog/inflated-claims

Niall is a joke among economists. His attacks on Krugman are widely viewed as the equivalent of a small yappy dog nipping at the heels of an elephant.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:35 pm

A budget is, at most, a series of instructions to appropriations committees.

Sammy Finkelman (07f19d) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:35 pm

Tlaloc didn’t stay around long to put us in our places today. Maybe he’s running out of moral superiority.

What part of I only have half an hour until I hold office hours was too hard for you to parse?

If you guys ever get tired of embarrassing yourselves like this you could actually read what I write before reacting…

Up to you.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:37 pm

“And what am I supposed to get from that?”

Indeed, sounds like a “YP” not a “MP”.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:37 pm

Stop it , tlaloc, just stop it . You are making a complete and utter fool of yourself. This is an asinine statement from beginning to end, and you evidence a density that makes me cringe in sorriness for you. Just stop. You do yourself and yor side of the aisle no good. You just keep giving us assurances that we are on solid ground with our thinking and conservative principles…so thank you for that , I guess.

Feel free to correct me, but I really doubt you can.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:38 pm

Unless he’s serious in which case Tlaloc is a f’ing fascist wannabe.

Look yet another example of the conservatives heart freebies club! You don’t want to pay for the GPS system but if anyone turns it off they are fascists. Neat. How many other things do you feel entitled to?

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:40 pm

A continuing resolution is a substitute for an appropropriation bill, not for a budget.

Again for practical purposes the distinction is without difference.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:41 pm

You’ve “argued” nothing, Tlaloc. You’ve just shown in multiple comment threads that you like dictators.

==Or the money can sit useless in an account.==

Of course if you had put aside money sitting “useless” in an account, you wouldn’t need to get a government loan to go to school as you claim you had to.

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:42 pm

“I’ve got office hours here shortly, so enjoy while you can”.

“What part of I only have half an hour until I hold office hours was too hard for you to parse?”

Riiight, Tlaloc.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:42 pm

The problem is nt that they don’t have money but they are choosing not to spend it. That being the case the only rational choice is to tax it and spend it through government.

If that is the only rational choice that you can come up with, you better find a better gov than a TA with office hours.

JD (420c19) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:43 pm

Of course if you had put aside money sitting “useless” in an account, you wouldn’t need to get a government loan to go to school as you claim you had to.

You clearly have no idea how much grad school costs. Barring being independently wealthy there’s no way I could have simply put that money aside.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:43 pm

“What part of I only have half an hour until I hold office hours was too hard for you to parse?”

Tlaloc – Wut? Now you expect me to keep track of your hours? Sorry, but you’re not that important.

Just answer the leftover questions from yesterday or unconditionally surrender again.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:44 pm

“Feel free to ~~correct~~ educate me, but I really doubt you can”.

FIFY!

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:44 pm

Riiight, Tlaloc.

Um, you just quoted me saying something, then saying that I said it, then it seems like you think you won a point. Are you really fixing on the difference between “in a little while” and “in a half hour”?

Please tell me you aren’t that desperate to try and score a point on me.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:45 pm

Niall is a joke among economists. His attacks on Krugman are widely viewed as the equivalent of a small yappy dog nipping at the heels of an elephant.

Among you and your friends, no doubt. But you should know that Krugman’s reputation outside of the shrillest corners of the left isn’t all that impressive for a Nobel Laureate. I would wager to bet that Ferguson is at least as palatable to legitimate economists as the Whiny Bard of Princeton is (have I mentioned that Krugman made consulting fees in the six figures consulting for Enron?).

JVW (93c84b) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:46 pm

Tlaloc – Wut? Now you expect me to keep track of your hours? Sorry, but you’re not that important.

I’m important enough that you thought it necessary to pretend you had run me off. Not my fault that such preening was undercut by my previous announcement I’d be gone for a while.

Look if you enjoy embarrassing yourself, by all means continue. My advice is based entirely on the assumption that you prefer not to look like an idiot.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:47 pm

Just answer the leftover questions from yesterday or unconditionally surrender again.

What question was that?

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:48 pm

==You clearly have no idea how much grad school costs. Barring being independently wealthy there’s no way I could have simply put that money aside.==

Of course I do. I know because I paid my own way through one of the most expensive grad schools in the country. And I worked full time and did without other things while I did so. Oh please. Go on. Whine some more, poor misunderstood baby.

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:48 pm

“Again for practical purposes the distinction is without difference.”

Tlaloc – Again – For practical purposes and in reality, a continuing resolution is not a budget. People who understand how the federal government works can comprehend this. Your denial of facts to defend Obama’s lies is not my problem.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:49 pm

“Barring being independently wealthy there’s no way I could have simply put that money aside”.

Of course there is, it’s called saving.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:49 pm

“Um”

this is the most intelligent part of your comment, Tlaloc. Congratulations.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:52 pm

Of course I do. I know because I paid my own way through one of the most expensive grad schools in the country. And I worked full time and did without other things while I did so. Oh please. Go on. Whine some more, poor misunderstood baby.

And what year was this elissa?

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:53 pm

elissa – Tlaloc is such a special snowflake nobody can possibly understand him.

gigglesnort

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:53 pm

“Barring being independently wealthy there’s no way I could have simply put that money aside”.

Tlaloc – You should have been selling more of that weed you smoke.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:55 pm

Tlaloc – Again – For practical purposes and in reality, a continuing resolution is not a budget.

You are still wrong. Look think about it in practical terms. What has the last 3 weeks been about? A budget shutdown. What do people want passed? A budget. What is the sticking point between the right and left? Details of the budget.

Yes if we want to get into the actual detail it’s the appropriations of a CR that is the issue, but for all practical purposes it is the budget. Budget is simply a shorthand way of saying “when and how we pay and how much.” That’s what the CR does. It determines the how much.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:55 pm

“in a little while” and “in a half hour”?

My friend, it is you who cannot remember what you said. Here, let me just give you some points, I have no use for them. after all this is what is important to you, not me.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:56 pm

Tlaloc – You should have been selling more of that weed you smoke.

I shouldn’t tell you this but every time you guys descend into baseless ad hominem it makes me giggle. I mean I know I’m kicking your a$$es rhetorically but to have you basically beg for me to stop… day-amn 🙂

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:58 pm

“What has the last 3 weeks been about? A budget shutdown. What do people want passed? A budget. What is the sticking point between the right and left? Details of the budget”.

Wow, three wrong in a row! He makes “clueless” look so easy.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:59 pm

My friend, it is you who cannot remember what you said. Here, let me just give you some points, I have no use for them. after all this is what is important to you, not me.

You’re right I didn’t remember the exact wording, what I remembered was I had explicitly mentioned I would be leaving soon, which is the point when a number of posters start puffing out their chests the second I leave. Classic beta male behavior.

I’m sorry I so intimidate you guys, really I never meant to make you feel so inadequate.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:00 pm

“What do people want passed?”

Tlaloc – Words mean nothing when liberals want them to mean something else.

What was Congress trying to pass? A continuing resolution.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:00 pm

google
https://www.google.com/#q=budget+shutdown+2013

865,000,000 hits

Yeah you are right, nobody calls this a budget shutdown.

::eyeroll::

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:02 pm

Congratulations tlaloc you have ~~rhetorically~~ figuratively made a fool of yourself.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:03 pm

Tlaloc – Words mean nothing when liberals want them to mean something else.

It’s the same thing as a physicist insisting on using only the physics meaning of energy, force, work, etc. Yes those terms have very precise meanings in physics, but in everyday life they are used differently. In every day life budget is used much more generally.

If you don’t like it…well frankly I don’t really care. I hate that inflammable means really flammable when it should by all rights mean not flammable. But I have to suck it up as I’m not going to be able to change the language. You get to suck up this one. Try big boy pants, it may give you the confidence to weather the trauma.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:05 pm

Actually the CBO projects Obama’s deficits to hit a pretty low level in the next couple years. We just established that yesterday, remember?

We established no such thing, liar. They are only small in comparison to his record setting deficits.

JD (62c1eb) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:06 pm

Congratulations tlaloc you have rhetorically figuratively made a fool of yourself.

*giggle*

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:06 pm

I truly feel sorry for you, tlaloc. you want so badly to gain our approval, it is obvious that you envy us. Not unlike the little boy that punches his cute little class mate for want of affection, you lash out at the very people with whom you desire fraternity.

Come, tlaloc, sit here at our table, drink our wine, and sleep safely in our clover.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:09 pm

If you are pursuing a legitimate graduate degree which holds the prospect of gainful employment down the road, any reputable bank will be willing to loan you money to pursue this goal. Yeah, you might not get the highly-subsidized interest rate, but I can’t get too worked up about that. I took out loans for my undergraduate degree back in the 1980s when the interest rate was something like 9%, and I somehow managed to pay them back.

But if you are getting a more questionable graduate degree — an MFA in puppeteering for example — then of course no bank worth their salt is going to think you are a likely candidate to pay back the loans. The tips at Starbucks aren’t that good, after all. That being the case, why in the world should the government spend taxpayer dollars to support this kind of lunacy, other than as payback to the academic complex which provides both foot-soldiers and command officers for the progressive army?

JVW (93c84b) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:10 pm

How may people are shocked that falalala is an ivory tower beta?

JD (62c1eb) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:11 pm

We established no such thing, liar. They are only small in comparison to his record setting deficits.

I’m starting to wonder if you have memory problems:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/26/the-falling-deficit-has-been-a-disaster-for-the-gop/

This year deficits are expected to be on par with 2003-2004. By 2015 it is expected to be on par with the average of the bush years.

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:15 pm

This is me hugging you Tlaloc. Can you feel the love?

Happyfeet, come join in the group hug. JD to tlaloc’s right and Elissa, on his left. Now everybody hug! Let the healing begin.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:15 pm

Shutdown. Day Sixteen.

Managed to fight off the last attack even though the ranch hands were away picking up supplies.

Adapted. Overcame. If you use a bow, you can reuse their own arrows. Shoot ’em back at them.

Between nazgul attacks I managed to get the truck back together.

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/93/8e/97/938e97f82d738c3730cfead0dd10e181.jpg

Went out and got gas for the generator.

http://diehardonline.com/mad-max-2-the-road-warrior/cars-and-vehicles/f100-trucks/f100-cobra-tow-truck-filming.jpg

So far it looks like a good day. Still a couple of hours to sundown, though. Knock wood.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:17 pm

Well, if Ezra Klein says it has been a disaster for the GOP, we have no choice but to believe him. After all, he is no partisan hack and he would never slant his blog posts in favor of progressives.

[the above message was written with extreme sarcasm, for the record]

JVW (93c84b) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:17 pm

Projected by who? Ezra Klein? Remember when everyone noted how dishonest you are?

JD (62c1eb) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:18 pm

I think the upcoming g.o.p. primaries have been fixed. The democrats in the g.o.p. control all the dough. They be laughing at me, knowing my candidates are toast.

mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:18 pm

I truly feel sorry for you, tlaloc. you want so badly to gain our approval, it is obvious that you envy us. Not unlike the little boy that punches his cute little class mate for want of affection, you lash out at the very people with whom you desire fraternity.

Really? Here I thought I just liked educating people who are for all intents and purposes completely detached from reality. If it helps the sting of your ego to think it’s because I really like you guys, fell free, just so long as you learn.

That’s what really needs to happen.

In addition to the stellar example of the 2012 election we can now point to the 2013 shutdown as a good example of how detached from reality you guys have been. Notice how nothing the conservatives said would happen actually did, while everything the left said would happen did. You guys got nothing. Obama was never forced to negotiate. Public opinion turned decisively against you very quickly. The popularity of Obamacare went up, not down. Conservatives marginalized themselves by demanding things they were never going to get and refusing to budge.

All as the left predicted and told you repeatedly before you started. But you guys knew Cruz could win the issue through sheer willpower. Strangely his green lantern ring never managed to work.

So with all that are you still saying you refuse to learn a thing? You just are set on continuing on your current self destructive path? what was that definition of insanity again?

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:21 pm

I guess I should let you all know:

I’M GOING TO A CLASS NOW SO I’M UNLIKELY TO BE AVAILABLE TO REFUTE YOUR ARGUMENTS FOR SOME TIME. FEEL FREE TO ACT LIKE YOU OWN THE PLACE MEANWHILE, I’LL CLEAN UP YOUR MESS LATER.

Was that unsubtle enough for you guys to actually comprehend?

Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:24 pm

“Yeah you are right, nobody calls this a budget shutdown.”

Tlaloc – It really must hurt to be so stupid.

Surely you understand why Congress resorts to using a Continuing Resolution for spending appropriations?

It does so because legislative work on spending is not complete by October 1 of each year.

Under Obama, the Senate had not produced a budget since fiscal 2009 to reconcile with the House budget so there has been no possibility of avoiding the continuing resolution process.

You lose again.

QED

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:24 pm

“Really? Here I thought ….”

It’s ok, Tlaloc. No one is going to hurt you ever again. Your safe, now. Let it all out. There’s a good chap.

You just need more hugging!

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:25 pm

I really do not enjoy wading through Tlaloc dominated threads.

MD in Philly (f9371b) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:27 pm

Self important self absorbed invincibly ignorant leftists asshats are so utterly predictable. Reminds me of Yelverton.

JD (62c1eb) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:28 pm

Well, Tlaloc went ALL CAPS which is the very definition of failure. I blame myself _ I should have been more loving and tolerant.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:28 pm

I know, MD. I am going to shower now to get this swine sweat off of myself. -Hugg- What was I thinking?

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:30 pm

It’s derivative drivel, but you start from Krugman, as Professor Ferguson points out, and Josh Barro, and then it’s turtles all the way,

narciso (3fec35) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:30 pm

Tlaloc – You should thank me. I could charge a lot of money for the education I am providing you, but here I am out of the kindness of my heart, throwing it out there for free.

Ima giver.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:32 pm

Pearls before swine as it were.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:34 pm

Daley, Tlaloc is having a good cry right now. He’ll be back after he kicks his dog a few times.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:34 pm

Re: discussion around budgets and CRs… Y’all should realize by now that the Left has a million and one excuses why they won’t do their jobs.

They submit ridiculous attempts at budgets they know no one will agree to, so that the grotesquely high spending that takes us off into oblivion can continue.

Colonel Haiku (01ad4d) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:39 pm

Well if the House caves to the Senate, I will remain an independent until the House demonstrates unflinching resolve.

Iknow – like I’ll be missed.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:51 pm

I am actually quite happy that no one called for a banning of the prize troll. It shows great tolerance. I, for one, am done pig-wrestling.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:55 pm

“Y’all should realize by now that the Left has a million and one excuses why they won’t do their jobs.”

Colonel – I don’t know how you can hold hostage something that never existed, like a budget.

Obama loves to say “words mean something.”

If he would be more precise and say Republicasns are holding “continuing resolutions we use in place of budgets because Democrats in the Senate will not do the job people elected them to do” then I would have a little, but not much more sympathy for his position.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:56 pm

Shutdown. Day Sixteen.

Ranch hands got killed on the way back from town.

Got the mayday just too late. Nazguls made off with some of the supplies. Looks like I’ll be low on coffee and artichoke hearts this winter.

Managed to save most of the essentials. Bacon. Flour. Sugar. Lava lamp. Mail order Ukrainian bride. Massage oils. Hennessey.

After I made her haul all that crap back to the homestead, I put her to work on the fortifications.

Must. Prepare. For. Day. Seventeen.

Things seem to be shaping up nicely.

Went down to the crick and caught some perch with fishing tackle I improvised from a car antenna and piano wire. I’ll run them through the dishwasher at the same time I do the guns. Should steam nicely. Thank G-d I acquired that gas for the generator.

Looks like I’ll live through day sixteen after all.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:56 pm

It’s not a very nuanced point, but somehow Tlaloc seems unable to grasp it.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:57 pm

“Ranch hands”

This became a euphemism in my poker group for poker hands that seemed better than they were. A low pair with a high kicker. Three suited low-cards that would never make a straight (e.g. 2,4,7) or a flush.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:04 pm

Steve57 – Reminds me I need to restock some provisions for the bunker.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:05 pm

“Mop Squeezers”
What we call Queens, in my poker group.

mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:07 pm

You should do what I do; supply the bunker with food you hate (beets in my case) so you don’t consume it quickly.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:07 pm

I don’t know how I’d make it through a gub’mint shutdown without this.

http://weaponland.ru/images/snaiper_1/usa/LAR_Grizzly_Big_Boar-3.jpg

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:09 pm

“There is no explicit statutory authority for the executive branch to prioritize payments”

No but a president who considered using the 14th Amendment language on debts to issue his own bonds might consider using the same language to honor existing bonds. Considering that is pretty much why it is there — Congress was prevented from disavowing existing debt by commission or omission. Even though creating new debt isn’t covered, old debt clearly is.

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:10 pm

You have Queens in your poker group? Royalty, niiiice!

Anyway, I don’t understand your term. Too nuanced.;-)

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:10 pm

Now there’s a thought. Somewhere around here I have some old pre-Mao Chinese railway bonds my dad brought home from WW2. I wonder if I can sue China in federal court and demand payment against their Treasury bonds. I mean if they are going to lecture the US on defaults…

Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:14 pm

==Mail order Ukrainian bride.==

A blow up doll would be cheaper for the long haul. Don’t have to feed it. Just trying to be helpful here.

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:17 pm

161. Steve57 – Reminds me I need to restock some provisions for the bunker.

Comment by daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:05 pm

If you have a lot of heavy lifting to do, I can always send over the Ukrainian mail order bride to give you a hand.

Once she puts the final touches on the battlements.

Anya is as strong as a horse. Which is good because my horse got killed along with the ranch hands, and the llama pulled up lame.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:20 pm

Blow up dolls are just no use when you need help operating the trebuchet, elissa.

Ask me how I know.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:23 pm

I thought the mail was down to Kevin Costner, in the Postman, due to the shutdown,

narciso (3fec35) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:28 pm

Is that weird kid gone? I’m not allowed to be on the playground when he is.

nk (dbc370) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:30 pm

No good as ballast

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:30 pm

Bumper sticker or a button:

Use blowup dolls – ask me how

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:32 pm

#172 Funny!

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:33 pm

On my college campus those catapult thingies were the source of annual springtime water balloon fights. So I can see your point, Steve57.

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:35 pm

Elissa! You are a genius! -fill the doll with water.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:38 pm

Doll?

Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:44 pm

well, at least he wasn’t a big enough liar to say “i have class now…”

redc1c4 (abd49e) — 10/16/2013 @ 4:45 pm

Shutdown. Day Sixteen.

Sundown.

Anya’s down at the crick filling the blow-up dolls with water.

The antipasto is barely edible. D*** those nazguls, stealing the artichoke hearts.

Sun’s sinking fast. Already I can hear the orphans howling in the hills to the west.

Hope the camouflage works. I had Anya disguise the battlements as the county probation office. That should keep the little ****ers away.

Running low on cheese whiz. Looks like it may be a long night.

Music is what we need!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KZjnFZvCNc

Smells like Teen Spirit – The Ukulele Orchestra

Steve57, out.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:07 pm

Thanks Steve, that was great!

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:18 pm

Just because the gub’mint’s shut down and consequently Orcs are roaming freely across the land doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy the finer things in life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLgJ7pk0X-s

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw8ZDwdyHJQ

Teenage Dirtbag – The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain – BBC Proms

Soldier on, people.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:20 pm

felipe, I was inspired by you and elissa.

And Tlaloc.

No matter how I try I’ll never be able to equal the comedy he comes up with.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:22 pm

We’ll soon see if the Comedian-in-Chief uses his odd, mincing strut in prep for some victory mincing on the dais, or takes the high road and fakes a magnanimous pose…

Colonel Haiku (d238c6) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:28 pm

He says we “can lift this cloud that’s been hanging over our businesses and the American people”… he’s going to resign!

Colonel Haiku (d238c6) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:30 pm

Obama had no statutory suthority to spend funds on subsidizing exchanges that were not state exchanges, nor authority to subsidize congresses’ exchange.

No authority to delay the employer mandate. But prioritize Treasury psyments? Whoa, can’t do that dude.

Most lawless President in modern history.

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:34 pm

#184 Be still, my heart!

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:39 pm

felipe, you sure do get excited, bud !

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:43 pm

felipe, I may be beating a dead Tlaloc indeed (and I feel a little dirty about it), however, I can’t ignore this little treasure re Iran:

But they aren’t evil.

Statistical summary of stoning sentences in Iran: The number of people stoned to death during1980–2010

The total number of women and men who have been stoned is more than 150. We have collected a list of 136. It is important to note though that Amnesty International has reported that until 1989 the total number of people who have been stoned to death in Iran was 76. If we add to this the 74 others who were have gathered information on from 1989 until 2010, the total number is therefore 150. The real number is higher.

However, this information is not available for the following reasons:
1-Iranian authorities have not released any official figures of stonings.
2 –A large number of stonings have been carried out secretly.
3-Human rights organisations in most cases have been forced to record the numbers of stonings published in pro-government newspapers, given the absence of official statistics.
4-The news of all stonings that have taken place have not been published in newspapers, and sometimes they have been prohibited from publishing this news.
5-It is most difficult to collect information about those stoned to death in small cities and villages.
6-There is very little information in the early years after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Tlaloc, I get the distinct impression you have not spent much time outside of the comfy U.S.A. It would be a good experience to do so. While grad school will certainly be an accomplishment, it is almost holistically beneficial to spent some real time in a hard place where one doesn’t have the opportunity to spout off high and lofty sentiments. That can change greatly when those idealistic views and company lines are slapped in the face by real life.

Dana (6178d5) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:50 pm

143. Comment by mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 3:18 pm

I think the upcoming g.o.p. primaries have been fixed. The democrats in the g.o.p. control all the dough.

I’m kind of wondering if the Democrats control the Heritage Foundation.

So far no hard evidence of that.

Sammy Finkelman (6b5229) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:52 pm

Shutdown. Day Sixteen.

Nightfall.

Bagged an armadillo on the way back from the old Fitzroy place with the lemons.

I miss the Fitzroys.

So it looks like fajitas tonight.

I’ll save the perch for later. If you haven’t eaten fermented perch, you haven’t lived.

By I time I got back with the armadillo, Anya just about had the scented oils heated to body temperature. For later. If you know what I mean, and I think you do.

Good news. The pack of orphans passed by the homestead. They saw the Crown Vic with “Juvenile Probation Officer” painted on it.

I had Anya camo the Hoopty of Hell’s Canyon, not just the battlements. Good move.

Not so good news. The Beaujolais has turned to vinegar. And I don’t have an appropriate wine to go with the armadillo.

Anybody knows what goes with Haggis? It’s on the menu for tomorrow, shutdown day seventeen.

I’m thinking a fifth of scotch, downed hastily about an hour ahead of time. But the Scotch didn’t make it through the ambush. Just the Hennessey.

Steve57, out.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:54 pm

47. Comment by Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:35 pm

And most doctors will be refusing to take Exchange policies.

More like the opposite. The exchange policies won’t have them.

Those policies would mostly have a limited number of doctors, pay them a low fee per patient, but more or less guarantee them a large number of patients.

If you let too many doctors join your network, you lose the ability to direct a large number of patients to a small number of doctors, which is how they would get doctors to accept a low per patient fee.

Sammy Finkelman (6b5229) — 10/16/2013 @ 5:58 pm

Patients should choose the doctors they like, trust, feel comfortable with, and who can speak a language they can understand. The doctor should be geographically convenient. This does not sound much like what you have described, Sammy.

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:08 pm

Shutdown. Day Sixteen.

Final log entry.

Me and Anya fought off the nazguls, again

She was fine on the trebuchet. Worlds better than the blow up dolls.

But the sandstone I’m quarrying near the house really sticks out against the night sky. Nazguls could spot those things and some of them managed to get out of the way.

Note to self: Paint ’em Black.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=53n92rNXaYM

Paint It Black Uke

Anya says the body oils are just right.

Steve57, out.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:08 pm

Gosh. I sound so innocently old-fashioned about this doctor thing, don’t I?

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:09 pm

Not at all, Elissa. You never mentioned them going to your house.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:16 pm

easy, boy.

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:18 pm

48. Comment by Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:35 pm

Iran has been far more even handed and approachable than house republicans.

What Obama claimed in an interview excerpt I saqw this morning, was that Boehner could not get the extremists – he used the word extremist, or a similar word, very calmly and matter-of-factly – to go along with what he negotiated.

Now all this is a lie too. It is probably harder to get Senators to agree. If Boehner doesn’t represent the majorty opinion in his caucus, you get people in the room who have other opinions.

Sammy Finkelman (6b5229) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:19 pm

I need to ask you this important question, Sammy, and please think about it carefully before you respond. Does anything Tlaloc says make sense to you?

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:26 pm

And it still wouldn’t do much to make medical costs lower, because they would be driving down the cost of what used to be called genersal practioners, but not so much specialists, and certainly not hospitals or prescription medicines.

And because Obamacare limits the percentage of premiums that can go for other purposes than benefits, they won’t have too much of an ability to do bargaining, quality control, advertising, and attempts to control waste and fraud, if any of that eats up money.

And also the more the policies cost, the more they can spend on salaries.

Sammy Finkelman (6b5229) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:27 pm

This is what the Iranians did, 20 years ago thereabouts in Buenos Aires;

http://wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/kathyschiffer/files/2013/03/AMIA-Bombing-site.jpg

top officials in the outgoing and current Iranian govt were responsible,

narciso (3fec35) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:27 pm

Damnit narciso, I was saving that for Tlaloc’s next visit. 😉

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:28 pm

If I understand CR deal, further sequester cuts still on schedule for Jan. Democrats may have “won” but they may have overplayed their hand.

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:30 pm

The Iranians merely wish to wipe Israel off the map. Why is that so offensive to you guys ?

Meanwhile, the House Republicans merely wish to reduce federal spending.
That. Is. Evil.

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:31 pm

Now even though they don’t formally admit it, the excuse was the Israelis took out one of the Hezbollah bigwigs, so naturally they attacked the Jewish cultural center, all the way across the Atlantic, but as the President has said ;it’s just a small country;

narciso (3fec35) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:33 pm

The Iranians merely wish to wipe Israel off the map.

Oh, that’s all???

It leaves me speechless that Tlaloc can actually compare Republicans with the Iranians. I just have to believe he has lived in a very small, limited myopic world. Or takes drugs.

Dana (6178d5) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:35 pm

202. By January Obamacare’s lies and myriad failures will be front and center, SPQR. The lapdogs will still try but too many Americans will have had first hand experience with it and assuming it’s even marginally operational they will have endured sticker shock. How much longer can they hide it?

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:38 pm

And maybe he considers burquas to be fashion statements, Dana.

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:40 pm

196.easy, boy.

If that was directed at me, I was referring to the house calls that doctors made in the old days. That would be old-fashioned.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:43 pm

Yeah, it’s funny how the left wingers claim to be supportive of the rights of women, religious minorities, gays, children, et al, yet they don’t even flinch regarding the Islamic abuse of women, children, homosexuals, or religious minorities as part of the mainstream Islamic culture.
Hello, ‘honor’ killings !

Here in Judeo-Christian America, sports arenas have monster truck rallies. In your more religious Islamic societies, sports arenas are host to stonings of human beings.

But I suppose the left wingers in the West can swallow that since the stonings are facillitated by…the government !
Or something !

Good Allah.

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:44 pm

I just have to believe he has lived in a very small, limited myopic world. Or takes drugs.

No, he just knows on which side his bread is buttered. Isn’t selfishness a virtue? The Democrats promise him they will steal from you and give to him. What’s wrong with that?

nk (dbc370) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:45 pm

#188.

You drive you point home, very well, Dana. I hold my manhood cheap in your presence.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:47 pm

felipe, you don’t need to applaud every single comment that amuses you. That’s all I was saying, bud. 🙂

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:49 pm

206. …The lapdogs will still try but too many Americans will have had first hand experience with it and assuming it’s even marginally operational they will have endured sticker shock. How much longer can they hide it?

Comment by elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:38 pm

Remember the DNC convention? When Debbie Wasserman Schultz just lied to the CNN reporter, and told the reporter she DID NOT see any discord on the floor of the convention. Villagairosa had to take three voice votes before somebody from the DNC walked out to tell him to stop. As the Democrats were booing G-d and Israel.

OK. Or maybe the process.

But then DWS went on TV and told a reporter that she didn’t just see what she just saw. Leaving Anderson Cooper to shake his head and note she lives in an alternate universe.

You’ve gotta know, elissa, as you’re living Obamacare the Democrats will lie to you about it.

That’s their plan. That’s their only plan.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:51 pm

# 212 Oh, o.k. I thought my comment was viewed as nasty or something.

I cannot help it, I am so thankful for civilization. Comes from visiting liberal sites.

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:56 pm

I remember the DNC convention. I could not believe what I saw and heard concerning that vote. I thought to myself “How can any Christian remain in that party after that”?

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:02 pm

201. Comment by elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 6:26 pm

I need to ask you this important question, Sammy, and please think about it carefully before you respond. Does anything Tlaloc says make sense to you?

Some of it would, if I didn’t know his facts were wrong.

Sometimes his argument is no argument at all. It’s not an argument, it’s just an argument from authority, which he is really fond of, (usually an authority that’s not really an authority anyway) and I suppose that could be said not to make sense.

The most that’s happened, is that people here sometimes have the wrong refutation.

Sometimes a sentence or two can make sense, but I don’t think he’s ever posted a whole post where I would agree.

He loves to cite or claim some conservative said something which is wrong, many times maybe really wrong that nobody would argue about, and thereby undermine anyone arguing the same thing, as he sees it.

He was going around saying conservatives said they wanted to stop Obamacare before it began because they said once it was in place it could never be repealed, and people were saying no.

Well, Ted Cruz really did say that. But you see, that didn’t make his whole post make sense.

Sammy Finkelman (982d84) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:08 pm

189 – Sammy, I would not be surprised if the Heritage Foundation was fixed.
The U. S. Military certainly is.

mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:09 pm

JD is right, we need a Like button for comments.

nk (dbc370) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:12 pm

Elephant Stone, the Left revels in the death cults like militant Islam because the fundamental attraction of Leftism is not the inherent merits of any particular issue, nor the actual expansion of freedom. The attraction is hating the correct class enemies.

Even if those class enemies are doing you more good than your “allies”.

Its all about hatred. Not principles.

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:13 pm

I could not believe what I saw and heard…

That’s what DWS was counting on. Sometimes it works.

True story. A buddy of mine was a navigator on a frigate back in the ’80s. When we still had nuclear ASROCs.

So the inspection team is out to run them through a weapons handling drill.

And the guy on the kill switch picks that moment to have a Vietnam acid flashback. He looks down at the cable he’s got in his hands and yells, “SNAKE!”

Throws the kill switch as far as he can.

But he recovers quickly. He walks over and picks up the kill switch and starts examining it for damage. “I am looking at the kill switch now. The casing is in good condition…”

They passed the inspection. Nobody believed they had seen what they had just seen. Nobody even mentioned it, for fear everyone else would think they were crazy.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:16 pm

Until now Obamacare was an abstraction–a promise–an ideal. They could say anything, and lie about everything. They’ll continue to lie and make excuses and place blame. But now, with the rubber hitting the road it’s divulged some serious roughness, some shoddy workmanship, not to mention a faux product that is nothing at all like low info people were expecting (because of the lies). More than a few peeps are noticing and it’s going to get noisier.

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:16 pm

Steve57, Debbie Wasserman-Schulz (still sounds like a lab test for STDs) is in a continual acid flashback.

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:17 pm

Ted Cruz, and Rush Limbaugh some time ago, did argue that, but not all that many people said that, and I think by late September Ted Cruz had stopped saying that.

Let me give you an example of where he goes right for approximately one sentence:

Comment 16 here in this thread is a case where he has one sentence that’s actually correct but the whole thrust of his comment is wrong:

As has been pointed out many times, shutdowns cost more than just running the government normally, not less.

so far so good, except for the fact that it hadn’t been pointed out many times, but it doesn’t rebut the comment he was responding to, which was:

1.With the government slowed down by 17%, shouldn’t the debt ceiling limit be pushed back by ~5 days?

What Tlalac somehow didn’t understand is that shutdowns cost more buit only aftwer they over!

Aftere they are over, the furloughed workers get back pay. But while they are still going on, the government saves money. Of course not all the money that would normally be disbursed is salary,
(or is that where the 17% comes from?) and not payroll is eliminated, so the shutdown would postpone the drop dead date by something less than 5 days, but it would postpone it somewhat. Or maybe not, because expenditures are irregular, and there is a big one coming November 1.

Sammy Finkelman (982d84) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:19 pm

Yeah, SPQR, that’s what made me think of the story.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:19 pm

Tlaloc %16:

Which means this whole exercise not only failed miserably to achieve any of its instigator’s goals but also will ultimately rack up a slightly greater deficit

This could make sense, if the instigator wanted to actually stop Obamacare.

But it doesn’t respond to the point in the quoted comment, which was that the shutdown extended the debt ceiling deadline. Not that the shutdown was a good idea.

DejectedHead wasn’t arguing that at all.

So, do I count that as something making sense, or something not making sense?

Sammy Finkelman (982d84) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:21 pm

Wow, that’s like the opening scene in War Games, where the missile crew in the Dakotas goes nuts.

narciso (3fec35) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:23 pm

Sammy, thanks. I didn’t mean that you should critique or fisk all of Tlaloc’s comments. I was just curious if you found him to be as ineffective and illogical, and unpersuasive, and as off base as most of us do, and it appears that you agree! Good.

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:26 pm

Obama will be remembered as the worst president in history.

In terms of his personal history and background, he is easily the most disreputable, execrable, extremist person to have ever occupied the White House. There is almost nothing noble or uplifting about his resume, and whatever may be laudable comes with odd or peculiar undertones.

Perhaps certain other presidents of the past had equally sleazy slices to their life story too, but probably nothing as overwhelming as Obama’s and, most crucially, nothing as fairly well publicized before and during such a president’s time in office. Even the trappings of Bill Clinton’s past didn’t seem quite as banana republic-ish as Obama’s.

America really jumped the shark back in November 2008 and doubled down on that last year. That’s a “scarlet letter” this nation will be stuck with forever and ever.

Mark (58ea35) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:27 pm

220. (on my computer)

Comment by mg (31009b) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:09 pm

220.189 – Sammy, I would not be surprised if the Heritage Foundation was fixed.
The U. S. Military certainly is.

I have my comment as number 192.

I never liked Jim DiMint. and I don’t think his reasons for leaving the Senate sounded very honest.

Technically, this is not the Heritage Foundation, but the related (different IRS category) Heritage Action, but it’s all the same place.

I don’t know what you mean by the U.S. military, except that at the uppermost levels, it has become political.

Sammy Finkelman (982d84) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:28 pm

I remember the DNC convention. I could not believe what I saw and heard concerning that vote. I thought to myself “How can any Christian remain in that party after that”?

I recall the moment when the cameras were flashing on the various Democrat Party’s delegates who were responding to the question of whether the party’s platform should mention God. A good portion of people in the arena were either hooting at that amendment or indifferent at best. What really nailed it for me was when some delegates wearing pro-Islamic paraphernalia appeared to express hostility to what LA’s former mayor (who was at the podium in charge of the amendment) was trying to get approved with a voice vote.

The phrase that came to me — and acknowledging it may sound melodramatic, but it really did seem to fit the occasion — was “something evil comes this way.”

Mark (58ea35) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:39 pm

226. Wow, that’s like the opening scene in War Games, where the missile crew in the Dakotas goes nuts.

Comment by narciso (3fec35) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:23 pm

I’m not making this up. I couldn’t make it up.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:42 pm

“Missplaced” Medal of Honor nomination “found” and “apology” and medal given. Right.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-medal-swenson-20131016,0,3198702.story

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 7:57 pm

“Until now Obamacare was an abstraction–a promise–an ideal.”

elissa – Also now known as The Unaffordable Care Act.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:05 pm

It’s all going to get better. It’ll probably get worse before it gets better, but it will get better.

Colonel Haiku (fdf771) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:06 pm

Hey, did Sammy’s comments get 86ed? I keep seeing references to him but I don’t see his comments.

JVW (93c84b) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:07 pm

Also, when people refer to comments by number, the reference numbers are all out of whack.

JVW (93c84b) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:08 pm

Yep, daleyrocks. Here’s another article pointing out the horrendous deceit and the genuine pain that’s starting to become documented. Good Job Barry, Kathleen, Nancy and Harry!

http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2537200

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:10 pm

Captain Swenson is probably the first guy to earn the MoH while being videod.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57603788/medal-of-honor-recipient-shows-bravery-tenderness/

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:11 pm

These guys are the standard. http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/somalia.html

nk (dbc370) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:14 pm

Or should be.

nk (dbc370) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:14 pm

It’s wonderful and amazing that Swenson is alive to receive this honor.

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:15 pm

And lookie here. Interesting when you consider who the senators from KY are, huh?

http://washingtonexaminer.com/deal-to-avert-default-provides-3-billion-for-kentucky-dam/article/2537334

elissa (3961c8) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:21 pm

I noticed that the more intelligent commenters used the time stamp instead of the numbers to reference other comments. Now I know why. I will start. Too bad my comments won’t be any more intelligent.

I wonder if having a “like” or a “thumbs up” button would have the effect of reducing the number of comments?

felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:23 pm

Not to take anything away from Shughart and Gordon, but Roy Benavidez set the standard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ7968BbMnU

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:23 pm

http://homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1960_vn/benavidez_roy.html

BENAVIDEZ, ROY P.
Rank and Organization: Master Sergeant, Detachment B-56, 5th Special Forces Group, Republic of Vietnam. Place and Date: West of Loc Ninh on 2 May 1968. Entered Service at: Houston, Texas June 1955. Date and Place of Birth: 5 August 1935, DeWitt County, Cuero, Texas.
Citation: Master Sergeant (then Staff Sergeant) Roy P. Benavidez United States Army, who distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely valorous actions on 2 May 1968 while assigned to Detachment B56, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam. On the morning of 2 May 1968, a 12-man Special Forces Reconnaissance Team was inserted by helicopters in a dense jungle area west of Loc Ninh, Vietnam to gather intelligence information about confirmed large-scale enemy activity. This area was controlled and routinely patrolled by the North Vietnamese Army. After a short period of time on the ground, the team met heavy enemy resistance, and requested emergency extraction. Three helicopters attempted extraction, but were unable to land due to intense enemy small arms and anti-aircraft fire. Sergeant Benavidez was at the Forward Operating Base in Loc Ninh monitoring the operation by radio when these helicopters returned to off-load wounded crewmembers and to assess aircraft damage. Sergeant Benavidez voluntarily boarded a returning aircraft to assist in another extraction attempt. Realizing that all the team members were either dead or wounded and unable to move to the pickup zone, he directed the aircraft to a nearby clearing where he jumped from the hovering helicopter, and ran approximately 75 meters under withering small arms fire to the crippled team. Prior to reaching the team’s position he was wounded in his right leg, face, and head. Despite these painful injuries, he took charge, repositioning the team members and directing their fire to facilitate the landing of an extraction aircraft, and the loading of wounded and dead team members. He then threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team’s position. Despite his severe wounds and under intense enemy fire, he carried and dragged half of the wounded team members to the awaiting aircraft. He then provided protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved to pick up the remaining team members. As the enemy’s fire intensified, he hurried to recover the body and classified documents on the dead team leader. When he reached the leader’s body, Sergeant Benavidez was severely wounded by small arms fire in the abdomen and grenade fragments in his back. At nearly the same moment, the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded, and his helicopter crashed. Although in extremely critical condition due to his multiple wounds, Sergeant Benavidez secured the classified documents and made his way back to the wreckage, where he aided the wounded out of the overturned aircraft, and gathered the stunned survivors into a defensive perimeter. Under increasing enemy automatic weapons and grenade fire, he moved around the perimeter distributing water and ammunition to his weary men, reinstilling in them a will to live and fight. Facing a buildup of enemy opposition with a beleaguered team, Sergeant Benavidez mustered his strength, began calling in tactical air strikes and directed the fire from supporting gunships to suppress the enemy’s fire and so permit another extraction attempt. He was wounded again in his thigh by small arms fire while administering first aid to a wounded team member just before another extraction helicopter was able to land. His indomitable spirit kept him going as he began to ferry his comrades to the craft. On his second trip with the wounded, he was clubbed from additional wounds to his head and arms before killing his adversary. He then continued under devastating fire to carry the wounded to the helicopter. Upon reaching the aircraft, he spotted and killed two enemy soldiers who were rushing the craft from an angle that prevented the aircraft door gunner from firing upon them. With little strength remaining, he made one last trip to the perimeter to ensure that all classified material had been collected or destroyed, and to bring in the remaining wounded. Only then, in extremely serious condition from numerous wounds and loss of blood, did he allow himself to be pulled into the extraction aircraft. Sergeant Benavidez’ gallant choice to join voluntarily his comrades who were in critical straits, to expose himself constantly to withering enemy fire, and his refusal to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds, saved the lives of at least eight men. His fearless personal leadership, tenacious devotion to duty, and extremely valorous actions in the face of overwhelming odds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army.

The citation doesn’t do him justice.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:29 pm

Steve57, that story is still inspiring to me, decades after I first read it.

SPQR (768505) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:33 pm

246. Comment by felipe (6100bc) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:23 pm

I noticed that the more intelligent commenters used the time stamp instead of the numbers to reference other comments. Now I know why.

It’s just the history. People who ave been here awhile know about this. Sometimes the nyumber varies – when comments might be held for a while, or, in rare cases, especially in he case of comment spam, which haooens, deleted.

It had been more stable for a while.

I will start. Too bad my comments won’t be any more intelligent.

I wonder if having a “like” or a “thumbs up” button would have the effect of reducing the number of comments?

Sammy Finkelman (982d84) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:35 pm

I feel the same way, too, SPQR.

G*****n!

Not a MoH winner but friend of my dad’s. I used to drive moving trucks for this guy.

http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?79371-Jack-Macy-Korean-War-vet-dies

Jack Macy, Korean War vet, dies

John Koopman, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, February 20, 2009

As a Marine, Jack Macy took that “leave no man behind” thing very seriously.

In the first days of the Korean War, he ran through withering fire to pull wounded comrades to safety, and he tried unsuccessfully to retrieve the body of a dead Marine.

For that he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor, behind only the Medal of Honor.

Mr. Macy died Feb. 11 at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, from complications due to pneumonia. He was 79.

Mr. Macy was born in Oakland in 1929 and went to St. Mary’s College High School in Berkeley. In August 1948, just after graduating, he enlisted in the Marine Corps.

His son, Matthew Macy, said his father had considered making a career of the military. After basic training, he was stationed in Guam for about 15 months before fighting broke out on the Korean Peninsula in 1950.

Mr. Macy, by this time a sergeant, was with the 5th Marine Regiment when it was sent to help shore up defensive positions in the Pusan Perimeter.

On Aug. 8, 1950, his first day of combat, Mr. Macy’s unit got into a fierce firefight with North Korean troops and had to fall back. Mr. Macy discovered that three of his men were missing in the melee, and he went back under enemy fire to find them. He discovered the men wounded and unable to move, so he bandaged their wounds and carried them individually to safety.

In a newspaper article from the time, Mr. Macy was quoted as saying, “It was very simple. I’d been training with those men for two years. They were just like members of my family. I just went in and got them.”

Later, Mr. Macy was among the first Marines to land at the decisive battle of Inchon, and later in the fighting for the capital, Seoul. In street-to-street fighting in Seoul, Mr. Macy held off an attacking unit of North Koreans as his unit retreated. He was shot in the hip and the leg.

His wounds were severe enough that Mr. Macy was removed from the battle and eventually brought to Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland for treatment.

For his actions in Seoul, Mr. Macy was awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest award for valor, and the Purple Heart for his wounds. While recovering at Oak Knoll, he was given the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at the Pusan Perimeter.

His wounds caused Mr. Macy to be discharged from the Marines. He returned to Oakland and took over the family business his father had started in 1915, Macy Movers.

He worked there the rest of his life, his son said, right up until he contracted pneumonia recently.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Jean; a sister, Bobbie Reginato of Madera; daughters Anna Crvarich of Pleasant Hill and Nancy Levey of Oakland; sons Matthew Macy of San Leandro, Kevin Macy of Walnut Creek and Mark Macy of Castro Valley; and 11 grandchildren.

Services are today at 11 a.m. at St. Lawrence O’Toole parish, at 3725 High St. in Oakland.

Donations may be made to a charity of choice, or the Hannah Boys Center of Sonoma. The address is 17000 Arnold Drive, P.O. Box 100, Sonoma, CA 95476-0100, or e-mail info@hannacenter.org.

E-mail John Koopman at jkoopman@sfchronicle.com.

I’ll never get a write up like that. Every time I start feeling the sin of pride, I just remember my parish priest captured 11 NORKs at the point of his .45.

That’ll humble you.

Steve57 (1cc639) — 10/16/2013 @ 8:53 pm

Comment by Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 12:20 pm
It’s a win for me and a win for the government and a win for society.
— The jury’s still out on that last part.

Now, closing question, why should anyone in their right mind give government power to people who unshakably believe such power must be used for evil ends? Seems like begging for trouble…
— WHO ever said that Democratic Party voters in 2008 & 2012 were in their right minds?

Icy (934744) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:07 pm

On the other hand I fail to see how that’s any more evil than the US sponsoring lots of third world dictators.

@85 Comment by Tlaloc (3e5244) — 10/16/2013 @ 2:19 pm

You fail to see how a nation in the 21st century allows, as a matter of law, the stoning to death of women within its borders, with a nation that must craft allies and proxies against enemies in an imperfect world.

Yeah, I believe you. You really can’t figure it out.

@85: That said I do believe that Iran sponsors terrorist groups. != @46: Iran has been far more even handed and approachable than house republicans.

Genius.

—

Tlaloc, a moral code that is not rationally consistent is in fact, not a moral code — no matter how much you want it to be.

Pons Asinorum (8ce71a) — 10/16/2013 @ 10:19 pm

10/16/2013

GOVERNMENT SLOWDOWN, DAY SIXTEEN

253 Responses to “GOVERNMENT SLOWDOWN, DAY SIXTEEN”

Favorite Sites

Links

Patterico Sells Out