Thursday, July 18, 2013

July 18

Obamacare is projected to cut New Yorkers' insurance premiums by 50%. The reason? The dreaded individual mandate. And that's not good news for the GOP, which explains their panic. 

I wish something would happen with MY insurance. No refunds, no nothing except increases in premiums all the time.

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File under "Things that are a really terrible idea": a CNBC hack decided he was going to "school" Elizabeth Warren on the subject of financial regualtion. It went about as well as you'd expect.

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A winning platform

In the world of modern conservatism, there's calling for the reinstatement of Don't Ask Don't Tell, there's calling for the reinstatement of the Defense of Marriage Act, and then there'sthis.

In an unusual move, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R), his party's nominee for governor, launched a new campaign website Wednesday highlighting his efforts to reinstate Virginia's unconstitutional Crimes Against Nature law. The rule, which makes felons out of even consenting married couples who engage in oral or anal sex in the privacy of their own homes, was struck down by federal courts after Cuccinelli blocked efforts to bring it in line with the Supreme Court's 2003 Lawrence v. Texas ruling.

Vote for me because I'll revive an unconstitutional law that would make you a criminal for having sex with your husband or wife in your own bedroom?

Why stop there? Why not make it a felony to sleep in the same bed? I bet you could still scare up 30 or 40 percent of the vote on that platform by simultaneously accusing your opponent of seeking to dole out welfare checks. Because obviously that's just as bad if not worse than people freely having sex.

If you can get blown without fear of being prosecuted for it, is this still America?

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Josh Marshall's reader from Wyoming said pretty much everything that needs saying about Liz Cheney's stupid run for Senate in Wyoming, so over to him or her:

FWIW, I think Liz Cheney just made a fatal career move. Having lived in WY for 35 years, I do not believe that Liz can beat Enzi. I think this is going to cause all kinds of hard feelings in Wyoming because this kind of disrespect to a man who has done nothing to deserve being disrespected in this way will simply not sit well. It's a very east coast kind of move (think Cory Booker) and will only serve to remind people that Liz Cheney has absolutely no real history in Wyoming.

She also seems to have forgotten a very basic element of the WY electoral process, i.e., we have same day voter registration and Democrats routinely turn into Republicans when they walk into the polling place for the primary and then switch back to Democrat on their way out. Personally, I've done this at least 4 or 5 times and I will surely do it again next year. Democrats often do this simply to meddle in the Republican primary, often to vote for the most conservative crazy in the field. But this time, I am sure a lot of Dems will happily switch just for the joy of voting against Liz Cheney.

That would be a sweet feeling. However, his reader is wrong about one thing. I know a few Wyoming residents who have been around as long as s/he has who don't like Pete Simpson, Alan's brother.

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Schools Across The Country Are Considering Education Bills Crafted By Corporate Front Group

Treasury Inspector General Blocked IRS From Releasing Documents That Show Agency Targeted Progressive Groups

Finally… Justice.

The other George Zimmerman trial ending with actual justice for the victim of a gun-toting racist:

John Henry Spooner, a 76-year-old Milwaukee man, was found guilty Wednesday of fatally shooting his 13-year-old neighbor whom he suspected had broken into his home and stolen weapons. The trial now shifts into a second phase in which the defense will try to prove the defendant was mentally ill at the time of the shooting.

A jury convicted Spooner of first-degree intentional homicide in the May 2012 killing of Darius Simmons. Surveillance video taken from Spooner's own security cameras showed him confronting the teen that morning, pointing a gun at him from about 6 feet away and shooting him in the chest.

If you want to watch the heartbreaking video go here. The kid was just bringing in the garbage cans from the curb when Spooner confronted and shot him in the chest. As I said on the podcast, this never would've happened if Spooner wasn't entitled to a handgun and lived in a culture that encourages him to use it.

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