Another Rethug Myth On Obamacare Explodes

A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that health insurance premiums in states with insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act have come down in 15 out of 18 regions studied.  That's bad news for wingnut Rethugs, who have been lying about the impact of "Obamacare" from the beginning, particularly on insurance rates "skyrocketing."  That would also explain why they're frantic to "defund" Obamacare before the public feels the positive effects of the law on their insurance costs.

Photo of the Day, Distinguished Senator Edition

The National Security Agency  Bezos Bugle brings us this photo of Sen. John "Poker Face" McCain (R- Green Room) at yesterday's Senate hearing on Syria (with accompanying commentary by Diane Sweet at "Crooks and Liars"):

(Photo:  Washington Post)

A Washington Post reporter caught Senator John McCain (R-AZ) “passing the time by playing poker on his iPhone during the hearing.”

Later Tuesday, McCain joked about the "bust" on Twitter:

"Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing - worst of all I lost!"

Haha. It's not like bombing a foreign nation is a serious big deal or anything.

Well, when you think you have all the answers ...

House Republican Crackpots Haz A Theory

South Carolina has two -- count 'em two -- Republican crackpots (are there any other kind?) on the House Foreign Affairs committee who wanted to advance their theory about Why Syria Now?  First, Rep. Joe "You Lie!" Wilson:

"With the president's red line, why was there no call for military response in April? Was it delayed to divert attention today from the Benghazi, IRS, NSA scandals, the failure of Obamacare enforcement, the tragedy of the White House-drafted sequestration or the upcoming debt limit vote? Again, why was there no call for a military response four months ago when the president's red line was crossed?"

Got that?  Nefarious Kenyan socialist President Obama wanted to distract attention from the non-scandals and failures of his Administration that nobody is paying attention to anymore!  Genius!  Not Wilson - he's a dolt.  Obama's a  genius to have masterminded all that attention diversion!

What does fellow South Carolina nut bag birther Rep. Jeff "Donut" Duncan have to say?  (Spoiler alert:  "BENGHAZI!!!!)

"I cannot discuss the possibility of the U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war without talking about Benghazi," Duncan said, questioning Kerry at a Wednesday hearing.

"The administration has a serious credibility issue with the American people, due to the unanswered questions surrounding the terrorist attack in Benghazi almost a year ago. When you factor in the IRS targeting of conservative groups, the AP and James Rosen issues, Fast and Furious and NSA spying programs, the bottom line is that there is a need for accountability and trust-building from the administration," he said. "The American people deserve answers about Benghazi before we move forward in Syria's civil war."

 Go to the link above to see video of Secretary Kerry's response to Donut.  Our response would simply be: you dumb jackasses had your chance to inflate these into something big and you failed, miserably.  Now would you please have the decency at this time when serious people are debating serious matters to STFU?!

Quote of the Day

"I guess for some people in Ohio, unless you are a card-carrying Nazi you can’t be a Republican.” -- Rethuglican lobbyist Neil Clark, referring to Ohio's teabagger contingent who are furious at Rethug Gov. John Kasich for accepting the expansion of Medicaid in his state (essentially money that his constituents have paid in taxes).  The teatards are vowing not to support Kasich in 2014 for reelection due to his "heresy."

Ohio's teabagger radicals are led by one Tom "Burn It Down" Zawiskowski,  a true nut bag who seems impervious to facts but not to bigotry.  Burn It Down had this lovely comment on Kasich's reference to the Bible in accepting Medicaid expansion:

“In our Bible, compassion means the money comes from you. Medicaid is for single women with children and for the elderly, for people who can’t work. What they are calling Medicaid expansion is health insurance for people who don’t want to work. You are not expanding Medicaid. This is a whole new program and it is with borrowed money.” 

Translation:  "'Our Bible' sez forget 'compassion' -- we don't want to give the ni**ers our money. Oh, and by the way, we're not racist!"

Mid-Week September Song

Daughtry sings this song from two years ago.  Enjoy the first week of September.

Today's Cartoon: Options On Syria

(click to enlarge)

As we note below, Republicans are divided on what should be the U.S. response on Syria, but they're always united in trying to find some way to stick it to the man President Obama.

(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press, via gocomics.com)

Fuxers Schooled On Their Islamophobia

We rarely commend Sen. John "Grumpypants" McCain for anything, since he turned bitter after his 2008 defeat.  But we have to give him credit for schooling the Islamophobic morons at the execrable "Fux and Friends".  When one of the program's three stooges, Brian "Kill Me" Kilmeade complained about some Syrian rebels shouting "Allahu Akhbar" after downing a Syrian military jet, Grumpypants stepped up and asked, 

"You have a problem with that? Would you have a problem with an American Christian saying ‘thank God, thank God’? That’s what they’re saying. Come on."

Come on, indeed.  For over a decade, the Fuxers have been pushing hatred of Muslims, no matter what their views.  Time to push back, and kudos to the Senator for doing it.

(image:  Yup.)

Boehner Backs President On Syria

After a meeting of Congressional leaders from both parties, Weeper Speaker of the House John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner lent his support to President Obama's plan to punish Syrian dictator Assad for using chemical weapons against his people.  This signals that the national security wing of the Rethuglican House membership (including Majority Leader Eric "Cancer" Cantor) will go along with a vote to approve action against Syria, depending on the language in the final resolution.  The Rethuglican isolationist/teabagger wing is not expected to support the President, if only to stick a finger -- again -- in his eye.  There is also concern among Dems who remember the "intelligence" that was concocted by Dumbya, The Dick & Co. for Iraq.

Obama had the following remarks following the session with Congressional leaders:

"This is a limited, proportional step that will send a clear message, not only to the Assad regime, but also to other countries that may be interested in testing some of these international norms, that there are consequences. It gives us the ability to degrade Assad's capability when it comes to chemical weapons."

Historic Swim

Long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, emerges from the water this afternoon at Key West, FL after swimming 110 miles without a shark cage from Havana, Cuba.  Spending 53 hours in the water, Nyad completed the swim after several tries over 30 + years, sunburned and exhausted.

The Other Humanitarian Crisis Regarding Syria

The brutal civil war in Syria which has been raging for over two years took an ominous turn when the Assad regime apparently decided to use chemical weapons -- sarin specifically -- against rebel-held areas near Damascus.  Over 1,400 civilians were killed, including hundreds of children.  The Administration and Congress will be engaging in a back-and-forth over whether to punish Assad for using chemical weapons.

Another, less visible, humanitarian crisis stemming from the civil war has been the outflow of refugees into neighboring Jordan and Turkey.  There are estimates of 5 million refugees living in primitive conditions just beyond the Syrian border, waiting for a resolution to the conflict there.  Five million.  That's an enormous burden to bear, particularly in the Middle East, which suffers from economic decline.  There is only so much that non-governmental organizations like the Red Crescent, institutions like the U.N., or nations can do given such an influx of humanity.  Allies like Turkey and Jordan risk being destabilized with such a overload on their ability to provide shelter, food and medical care -- yet another factor to consider in the complex dilemma that has presented itself.

Reflections On Labor Day 2013

From Paul Krugman:

... the fact is that economic inequality has soared over the past few decades, and while a handful of people have stratospheric incomes, a far larger number of Americans find that no matter how hard they work, they can’t afford the basics of a middle-class existence — health insurance in particular, but even putting food on the table can be a problem. Saying that they can use some help shouldn’t make us think any less of them, and it certainly shouldn’t reduce the respect we grant to anyone who works hard and plays by the rules.

But obviously that’s not the way everyone sees it. In particular, there are evidently a lot of wealthy people in America who consider anyone who isn’t wealthy a loser — an attitude that has clearly gotten stronger as the gap between the 1 percent and everyone else has widened. And such people have a lot of friends in Washington.

From Christine Owens:

For millions of workers, ground down by the daily grind, work takes more than it gives. One in four workers toils at wages too low to lift their families from poverty. Forty million get no paid leave. The share of workers with job-based health and retirement benefits declined 12.9 and 7.0 percentage points, respectively, between 1979 and 2010, while wage growth for the bottom 60 percent resulted roughly as much from increased hours as from higher pay.

Workers have had more than enough of far too little for way too long. That's why, across America, in cities large and small and states of every hue, workers are demanding the most basic workplace bargain -- the right to economic opportunity and security through their labor.

And from David Sirota (who provides 5 things Labor Day is really about - read them):

Though we all know when this holiday is and often use it to structure our yearly calendars, the modern version of this occasion has been almost completely divorced from its official meaning. Indeed, the most prominent and pervasive Labor Day iconography usually has nothing to do with the holiday’s actual point and everything to do with discount sales events, the beginning of big-time sports seasons and the last hurrah of summer. Even in the political sphere, much of the rhetoric around this day ends up being generalized platitudes about the economy and jobs, not specific discussions about the importance of organized labor. This, despite the fact that, as the Los Angeles Times notes, “The holiday is the creation of the labor movement, which wanted a holiday to honor workers — and highlight the need for labor reform laws.”

Above all, remember they built it.

Showing Proper Respect For Fux & Friends...

....silver spooner and right-wing bloviator Tucker "Mothertucker" Carlson dozes off between segments and doesn't wake up in time.  Maybe their audience snoozes to the drone of the Fuxers, too.

On The Eve Of Labor Day

Tomorrow is Labor Day in the U.S., which makes it an appropriate time to reflect on the American workforce, income inequality and the resulting erosion of the middle class.  The New York Times editorial this morning is worth a read.  Here's a snippet:

On its own, however, growth will not raise wages. What’s missing are policies to ensure that a large and growing share of rising labor productivity flows to workers in the form of wages and salaries, rather than to executives and shareholders. Start with an adequate minimum wage. Provide increased protections for workers to unionize, in order to strengthen their bargaining power. Provide protections for undocumented workers that would limit exploitation. Add to the mix regulations to prevent financial bubbles, thereby protecting jobs and wages from ruinous busts. Adopt expansionary fiscal and monetary policies in troubled times to sustain jobs and wages.

Or, put in simpler, visual form (click to enlarge):

 (Signe Wilkinson, via gocomics.com)

Sunday Funnies

(click to enlarge)

President Obama and his team will have to muster all of their persuasive skills to counter the lies being spread by the right about "Obamacare."  Once new elements of the law are in place October 1, and the public realizes that the Rethugs have been lying to them, it will be far more difficult to block implementation.

BONUS:  A hopeful sign - the "young invincibles" sector of the population is looking like it's "into" Obamacare.

(cartoon:  Tom Toles, via Gocomics.com)

Wang Dang Fool

The sad spouse of has-been, third-tier headbanger Ted "Crap My Pants" Nugent -- who bravely avoided the draft during the Vietnam War by defecating in his pants for days -- was arrested at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport for carrying a handgun in her carry-on luggage (!!).  Shemane "She-Man" Nugent had a loaded .38 with several rounds in a gym bag that she was planning to take on a flight to Ft. Lauderdale.  Wow, brains aren't plentiful in the Nugent household, are they?

(photo:  Mugshot of She-Man Nugent.  And we thought Crap My Pants was only into underage teens)