Government Shutdown/Obamacare Thread II

[Draggingtree]

Ted Cruz is Doing the Right Thing

By: Erick Erickson (Diary) | October 16th, 2013 at 12:43 PM

 

Some conservatives are complaining that Ted Cruz will not filibuster the debt ceiling increase in the Senate.

 

He is doing the right thing.

 

While you and I and he and everyone else knows the debt ceiling issue will not actually throw us into default, we must remember low information voters and the media. The media will report that Ted Cruz has single handedly thrown the nation into default. Senate Republicans have been positively giddy at the prospects of Cruz filibustering the debt ceiling increase because they want nothing more than to blame him for everything and ignore their own capitulation.

 

Cruz rightly has pointed out that the Senate Republicans refused to stand shoulder to shoulder with House Republicans. The Senate GOP made it its mission to undermine conservatives every step of the way. For the past two weeks, the Senate GOP has leaked as much as possible to damage Cruz, Mike Lee, and conservatives.

 

The debt ceiling will be raised whether Cruz filibusters or not. It was not worth giving the media another bullet to use against Cruz in this fight. http://www.redstate.com/2013/10/16/ted-cruz-is-doing-the-right-thing/

[SrWoodchuck]

Via Wirecutter:

 

Monday, October 14, 2013

Polygonal Battlespace

 

At the front door of the White House, Vets & other Patriots returned a few misplaced barricades they found littering the Mall. Another pile was deposited at the back door. The message is clear, and direct. The optics suck for the regime. Once Vets and other Patriots began marching on the White House with Barry-cades in hand, every option on the table sucked from the regime perspective. They chose the least-damaging political resolution. It became clear to us that the regime never once considered that the Vets and other Patriots scheduled for the WWII Memorial would come to the White House.

 

They were flat-footed, under-staffed, and nervous.

 

Military Vets are not a Tea Party gathering of old blue-hairs sitting in lawn chairs at a small community park.

 

Tacti-Cool geared cops who suffer from over-nourishment (thanks Jeremiah!) and an extra X chromosome learned yesterday that they are not the hardest Team in the polygonal battlespace. Not even close. As tensions peaked, they stood down when faced with passionate Vets and other Patriots who dared challenge their diktats. There was a deliberate tactical decision taken somewhere in their ranks for a strategic purpose - because they came to understand that if things escalated much more and things were to grow sporty - they were too few with too little.

That was a moment to behold. The crowd cheered as the King's Men left the field.

 

Even Kings bleed.

 

And make no mistake, if you continue to work for the machine that is grinding Americans, you have chosen your team - and we are watching. We will remember. Making lists is not a one-way street. "Just following orders..." will not be accepted. Apologizing is futile. You will be judged for the injury you have inflicted as you "...just did your job..." and infringed the Rightful Liberty of your Countrymen.

 

Jim Miller and I watched the events with a wide view of the field. Alan and CA and JX (a friend of CA's who I will not name, not sure how out he is online) were in the front ranks, pressing the message of the day. They were shoulder-to-shoulder with several hundred others who have grown agitated with the oppression coming from Washington. Yes, 'agitation' is the proper word. Had this group of Vets and Patriots been 'Pissed off', there would have been a much different discussion yesterday. You must understand this group of Vets and Patriots know how to shoot, move and communicate. Many of them understand incoming hostile fire, and close-quarters interpersonal disagreement resolution. They do not rattle when a thug in a riot helmet makes a mean face or uses his big-boy voice.

Yesterday was a necessary step in the fight for Liberty.

 

Yesterday the rattlesnake signaled its only warning.

 

We were in DC, but remember the fight for each Patriot is in his own AO. Local, local, local. You will not need to travel far from your front door to find Evil and engage. Making noise in DC offers important images and words needed for the fighters who seek Restoration of Liberty. As it did yesterday, it also offered a morale boost and a bit more open recognition of the illegitimacy that covers the Enemies of Liberty. But images of Americans kicking orange cones aside and hiking on 'closed' trails across the country are just as important.

 

Resist.

 

Everywhere.

 

Kerodin

III http://iiipercent.blogspot.com/2013/10/polygonal-battlespace.html

 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************

 

Not a militia.....but not your average bears either...

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Conservatives say Boehner's job is safe

 

The representative leading the ObamaCare defunding fight in the House said Wednesday that nobody "questions (Boehner's) leadership."

 

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told The Hill, "Conservatives feel like he's fought the good fight. ... You can quote me on that."

 

The House is now expected to accept a Senate agreement, but the bill could pass without the support of a majority of Republicans.

 

Other conservatives confirmed that they expected no attempt to oust Boehner.

 

“There is absolutely no talk of anything along those lines. No talk,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a former chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee who frequently opposes leadership proposals.

 

Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said Boehner had enhanced his standing in the last month and predicted that conservative clout would not diminish in the fallout from the shutdown fight.

 

“I have been so pleased and proud of John Boehner during the course of the last month that I have renewed confidence that conservatives will have an opportunity to influence what happens in our conference,” Lummis said.

 

Labrador placed the blame elsewhere in the GOP.

 

“I don’t think he should be ashamed of anything he has done,” he said. “I’m more upset at my Republican conference colleagues. There are Republicans here who apparently always want to fight but they always want to fight the next fight, which has given Speaker Boehner the inability to be successful in this fight. So if anybody should be kicked out, it’s all those Republicans and not Speaker Boehner.”

[SrWoodchuck]

More Here: http://iiipercent.blogspot.com/2013/10/american-patriotism-proof-of-life.html

 

Monday, October 14, 2013

American Patriotism: Proof of Life

 

 

Gary Hunt writes of a turning point.

 

I agree.

 

For the first time a large number of Americans did not simply sit and grow angry.

 

They did not simply write letters or send emails or make phone calls. They've already done that, many times.

 

They did not simply head to their local rally point or voting booth. They've already done that, too.

 

Vets and other Patriots from across the country showed up to say their words in person. If that is where it had stopped, yesterday would not have been significant.

 

"To the White House!" the cry climbed on the misty, cool DC air from very near my shoulder, and a long train of Americans began snaking from the Memorials toward the home of the President. They picked up the symbols of .Govs animus and decided to return them to sender, and seek a discussion about our current long train of abuses. Yes, those inside the White House were invited outside to talk, many times, by Vets and other Patriots in attendance. Those invitations died on the air.

But that simple act, the courage given to those who heard the cry to head to the White House, the tall stacks of Barry-cades dropped at both sides of the property, represent action. Tangible, real action.

 

The rattlesnake rattled her tail.

[Rheo]

Details of budget/debt limit deal

by Jamie Dupree

 

One provision that caught my eye - simply because there was so little information was this:

SEC. 123. Section 3(a)(6) of Public Law 100–676 is amended by striking both occurrences of ‘‘$775,000,000’’ and inserting in lieu thereof, ‘‘$2,918,000,000’’.

 

So, what's that?

You can find the original law referred to here.

 

And when you dig down into that section, you find a lock and dam project on the Ohio River, part in Illinois and part in Kentucky.

 

The Kentucky part quickly raised questions, since Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is from Kentucky, as the Senate Conservatives Fund quickly attacked McConnell, labeling the plan, the "Kentucky Kickback."

 

"In exchange for funding Obamacare and raising the debt limit, Mitch McConnell has secured a $2 billion earmark," the group charged in a press release.

A spokesman for McConnell rejected the attack, saying "it's not our project," and pointing instead at the Office of Management and Budget and the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that deals with water projects.

 

"It did not come from here," the McConnell aide said.

 

No matter who asked for it, the $2.9 billion is not funded by this bill - it is just authorized. Separate legislation would be needed to actually fund the extra money for that water project.

[Valin]

Details of budget/debt limit deal

by Jamie Dupree

 

 

"It did not come from here," the McConnell aide said.

Hit piece from the Atlanta urinal and constipation?

[Valin]

Video: The Affordable Care Act is looking pretty darned unafforable

Ed Morrissey

10/16/13

 

Remember when the proponents of the Affordable Care Act promised that ObamaCare would save most Americans $2,500 in premium costs a year? And perhaps you remember when Barack Obama claimed If you like your plan, you can keep your plan so often that it became a mantra, too. Oregon television station KATU discovers that both of those promises turn out to be empty, and the Affordable in the bills title a case of bitter irony.

(Snip)

 

Lets get back to the direction deductibles actually take in a moment and address the idea that there is a balance in this. In the two examples shown by KATU, which we have seen repeatedly is the norm rather than the exception across the country, prices have jumped $300 a month for KATUs viewers (and they have been pushed out of their preferred plans, too). That comes to $3,600 a year more for health insurance. Even if the plans now have lower annual deductibles, they would have to have decreased more than the $3,600 to make up for the difference. After all, premiums come out of your pocket first, and then the deductibles. Even if deductibles dropped to zero, that $3600 extra gets paid up front.

 

Unfortunately for KATU viewers and everyone else, deductibles arent going down, theyre going up. The Chicago Tribune reported on rising deductibles this week, and I explain why that matters in my column at The Week:

 

(Snip)

 

 

______________________________________________________________

 

Maternity coverage? As a 65year old male I think I can do with out that. Substance abuse coverage? I will have a (1...single) drink a month, and the last time I did Drugs Richard Nixon had just resigned, so I'll take a gamble on that.

[pollyannaish]

Ok. We have a deal.

 

My one and only question:

 

What progress did we make toward our goals of smaller government?

 

Thanks in advance.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Ok. We have a deal.

 

My one and only question:

 

What progress did we make toward our goals of smaller government?

 

Thanks in advance.

Not much...

[clearvision]

Substance abuse coverage? I will have a (1...single) drink a month, and the last time I did Drugs Richard Nixon had just resigned, so I'll take a gamble on that.

 

You have obviously missed two effects of O'care. It is going to cause more to start drinking and turn to "medication" to relieve the suffering it brings about.

[Valin]

 

Details of budget/debt limit deal

by Jamie Dupree

 

 

"It did not come from here," the McConnell aide said.

Hit piece from the Atlanta urinal and constipation?

 

 

Senate Conservatives Fund Slams Kentucky Kickback in Senate Bill

Andrew Stiles

October 16, 2013 7:40 PM

 

UPDATE: The Washington Post reports that McConnell wasnt responsible for inserting the funding; it was actually requested by President Obama.

 

(Snip)

 

The language was inserted by Senators Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) and Dianne Fienstein (D., Calif.), but McConnell has championed the project in the past. Alexander told BuzzFeed the provision has already been approved this year by the House and Senate and is needed to ensure that $160 million in existing funding is not wasted due to cancelled contracts.

 

(Snip)

 

 

__________________________________________________________________

 

Here is the problem, some people on the right seem to confuse Mitch McConnell with Harry Reid.

[Valin]

Ok. We have a deal.

 

My one and only question:

 

What progress did we make toward our goals of smaller government?

 

Thanks in advance.

In answer to your question, 2 words come to mind....Slim....None.

Reasons being the GOP was (and still is) divided. Divided not as to the goal (kill the ACA) but as to the tactic. I could never figure out what was going to be accomplished with the shutdown.

 

Now.....

 

Temporarily at Sea

WILLIAM KRISTOL

Oct 17, 2013

 

(Snip)

 

But are Republicans still going mostly in the right direction? Conventional wisdom and current snap polling may suggest no, but I think the answer is yes. It's true that there have been unforced Republican tactical errors and that there will now be unnecessary intra-Republican recriminations. Still, Republican efforts over the last weeks have reminded the electorate that it is the Democrats who are the party of 1) the nightmare of Obamacare, 2) the burden of the ever-increasing public debt, and 3) the arrogance of Washington, D.C. Those reminders are worth a lot. So while the GOP has paid some price in the recent skirmishes, the greater price, I suspect, will end up being borne by Democrats.

 

Now, with the skirmishing over and a tactical retreat accomplished, the GOP has a chance to regroup and rethink, so as to be better prepared for the next encounter in the new year. The higher ground is there to be taken. If Republicans can focus over the next few months on the real-world failures of Obamacare (rather than engaging in a wholly theoretical "defunding" campaign conducted entirely within the conservative echo chamber), while holding the line on immigration (rather than doing truly disastrous damage to the party by one way or the other acceding to or compromising with the Senate bill), and unveiling new elements of a limited government/Main Street-and-family-friendly positive reform agenda (rather than embracing various corporatist wish lists), the GOP should enter the next skirmish better positioned than it was this time. Today's tactical retreat can be the precursor to the new year's victory.

 

(Snip)

 

_____________________________________________________--

 

I for one am going to take a great deal of pleasure in watching Obamacare collapse.

[Valin]

 

Substance abuse coverage? I will have a (1...single) drink a month, and the last time I did Drugs Richard Nixon had just resigned, so I'll take a gamble on that.

You have obviously missed two effects of O'care. It is going to cause more to start drinking and turn to "medication" to relieve the suffering it brings about.

 

 

I'm thinking it might be time to invest in...Diageo

[clearvision]

 

 

Substance abuse coverage? I will have a (1...single) drink a month, and the last time I did Drugs Richard Nixon had just resigned, so I'll take a gamble on that.

You have obviously missed two effects of O'care. It is going to cause more to start drinking and turn to "medication" to relieve the suffering it brings about.

 

 

I'm thinking it might be time to invest in...Diageo

Some how I think we are going to be left with this choice http://www.bumwine.com/

[Valin]

 

 

 

Substance abuse coverage? I will have a (1...single) drink a month, and the last time I did Drugs Richard Nixon had just resigned, so I'll take a gamble on that.

You have obviously missed two effects of O'care. It is going to cause more to start drinking and turn to "medication" to relieve the suffering it brings about.

 

 

I'm thinking it might be time to invest in...Diageo

 

Some how I think we are going to be left with this choice http://www.bumwine.com/

 

What's The Price? 40 twice!

[Rheo]

 

Details of budget/debt limit deal

by Jamie Dupree

 

 

"It did not come from here," the McConnell aide said.

Hit piece from the Atlanta urinal and constipation?

 

Jamie Dupree is usually pretty unbiased, I think.

 

What I asked on that thread on FB was why blame McConnell and not Dick Durbin as they both are on the Water and Energy subcommittee and both served by the Ohio project....was it just to blame McConnell? No answer yet

[Valin]

 

 

Details of budget/debt limit deal

by Jamie Dupree

 

 

"It did not come from here," the McConnell aide said.

Hit piece from the Atlanta urinal and constipation?

 

Jamie Dupree is usually pretty unbiased, I think.

 

What I asked on that thread on FB was why blame McConnell and not Dick Durbin as they both are on the Water and Energy subcommittee and both served by the Ohio project....was it just to blame McConnell? No answer yet

 

Because he it an evil RINO. At least according to some. Of course to them anything less than total complete unswerving fidelity to to their ideology means you are a RINO.

 

I really do understand (and share) the frustration.....But.....

[Draggingtree]

Details of budget/debt limit deal

by Jamie Dupree

 

One provision that caught my eye - simply because there was so little information was this:

SEC. 123. Section 3(a)(6) of Public Law 100–676 is amended by striking both occurrences of ‘‘$775,000,000’’ and inserting in lieu thereof, ‘‘$2,918,000,000’’.

 

So, what's that?

You can find the original law referred to here.

 

And when you dig down into that section, you find a lock and dam project on the Ohio River, part in Illinois and part in Kentucky.

 

The Kentucky part quickly raised questions, since Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is from Kentucky, as the Senate Conservatives Fund quickly attacked McConnell, labeling the plan, the "Kentucky Kickback."

 

"In exchange for funding Obamacare and raising the debt limit, Mitch McConnell has secured a $2 billion earmark," the group charged in a press release.

A spokesman for McConnell rejected the attack, saying "it's not our project," and pointing instead at the Office of Management and Budget and the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that deals with water projects.

 

"It did not come from here," the McConnell aide said.

 

No matter who asked for it, the $2.9 billion is not funded by this bill - it is just authorized. Separate legislation would be needed to actually fund the extra money for that water project.

McConnell Debt Plan: Press Release Conservatism

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary) | October 17th, 2013 at 11:00 AM |

The $2 billion Kentucky Kickback is not the only treat in McConnell’s bag of Halloween tricks. The final deal to sell out the American people with Obamacare and perennial debt includes a hallmark of the 2011 McConnell debt ceiling plan.

Section 1002 of the bill provides for McConnell’s infamous resolution of disapproval. Basically, within three weeks of the President’s official request for a debt limit increase (until Feb 7, 2014 in this case), Congress can force a vote to disapprove of the request. There’s one problem, though. That resolution must pass with 2/3ds majorities in both houses.

So why slip in a vacuous resolution of disapproval if they are granting Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling?

It’s what we call press release conservatism. In three weeks from now, when snip

http://www.redstate.com/2013/10/17/mcconnell-debt-plan-press-release-conservatism/

[SrWoodchuck]

 

 

 

Substance abuse coverage? I will have a (1...single) drink a month, and the last time I did Drugs Richard Nixon had just resigned, so I'll take a gamble on that.

You have obviously missed two effects of O'care. It is going to cause more to start drinking and turn to "medication" to relieve the suffering it brings about.

 

 

I'm thinking it might be time to invest in...Diageo

Some how I think we are going to be left with this choice http://www.bumwine.com/

 

 

Thanks for this @clearvision!

 

I have a special bottle of T-Bird in my "cellar" with a couple of bottles of more expensive wines [maybe4-5] from my collection [once] of over a hunnert. I've been saving it for the day when salvation comes....or slightly before.....

[SrWoodchuck]

I'm depressed by the con-swerve-ative capitulation.

 

We get less than nothing....because it requires 2/3 of Congress to challenge Oblunders spending & debt increases.

 

 

Pic via TheLonelyLibertarian

[SrWoodchuck]

 

Via TheoSpark

[SrWoodchuck]

 

Via TheoSpark

[Rheo]

Not sure if this got posted yet, am behind a page or two in reading.

 

Bill Whittle
AFTERBURNER! NON-ESSENTIAL. During the so-called government shutdown, 17% of the federal workforce was furloughed… and no one noticed. So we had to be MADE to notice. Find out what it is the big-state control freaks really fear in this edition of Afterburner.

Also, get the written transcript here: https://www.billwhittle.com/afterburner/non-essential

 

[Draggingtree]

Complete list of 114 RINOs Who Voted to End Government Shutdown

 

photo: neolibertariandotcom

 

A lot of people are asking for this list so I am going to publish it courtesy of CNS News. Please be advised that I am also putting up some links to what I feel is a better list. It has the same names but if you really want to get to the bottom of the story you will find patterns that were obviously politically based. For instance, we have all likely heard about the money for the dam in Kentucky but what did Nebraska get out of this? Nebraska has 2 senators and 3 representatives who are ALL republicans and they ALL voted to sell their constituents out last night. Amazing. There are stories of pork to be found aplenty with this vote. We have only scratched the surface. http://dcclothesline.com/2013/10/17/complete-list-114-rinos-voted-end-government-shutdown/http://dcclothesline.com/2013/10/17/complete-list-114-rinos-voted-end-government-shutdown/

[Draggingtree]

17Oct

 

McConnell’s 30 pieces of silver

 

“Then one of the 12, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, ‘What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?’ And they covenanted with him for 30 pieces of silver.”

 

 

Matthew 26:14-15.

 

A conservative group is accusing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of including an earmark for a water project in the deal to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.

 

The Senate Conservatives Fund tagged the provision the “Kentucky Kickback,” and said it would benefit the Olmsted Locks and Dam, which is under construction on the Ohio River between Kentucky and Illinois.

 

“In exchange for funding ObamaCare and raising the debt limit, Mitch McConnell has secured a $2 billion earmark,”

http://floppingaces.net/most_wanted/mcconnells-30-pieces-of-silver/