Job Discussion Forums

[Sashadroogie]

ho ho ho! Why do you assume this? On what grounds? apart from the pre-formed prejudiced ones?

[johnslat]

Dear Sasha,

Oh come on - it's obvious that your sourer grapes are because you don't have access to the 37 best health-care service in the world.

Of course, even if you DID have access, you couldn't afford it as you're a mere EFL teacher, but that's irrelevant.

So, take your sourer grapes and make some wine (not whine.)

Regards,
John

[Trips]

[johnslat]

Dear Trip,

The CATO Institute??? It's part of the problem.

HA!!!

"Tea Party Patriots: The Second American Revolution
(Henry Holt, 2012)
BOOK FORUM
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Noon

http://www.cato.org/events/tea-party-patriots-second-american-revolution

Regards,
John

[Trips]

[johnslat]

Dear Trip,

So, is the title "Tea Party Patriots" an ironic oxymoron? If not, I'd say the title it quite enough.

Regards,
John

[Trips]

[johnslat]

Dear Trips,

Mama mia - we (almost) agree. The Tea Party may have started out as you wrote, but I think it has turned on its creators, now, too.

Even Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce are cautioning the Tea Party:

http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/10/wall-street-and-chamber-of-commerce.html

Regards,
John

[Trips]

[johnslat]

Dear Trips,

You're welcome. It reminds me of Dr, Frankenstein. He created a monster, too. It did not end well.

"In the original book by Mary Shelley, the monster becomes a murderer. His maker, Dr Frankenstein, hunts him down with the intention of killing him, but it is the doctor who gets mortally wounded by the monster. They are at the North Pole at the time, and the story ends with the monster being borne away in the Arctic Sea on an ice raft."

Regards,
John

[johnslat]

Is the monster going to kill the doctor?

"A new PPP poll looked at 24 House districts held by Republicans, and since the government shutdown 21 of them now have generic Democratic candidates leading.

PPP found that, “The surveys, commissioned and paid for by MoveOn.org Political Action, show Republican incumbents behind among registered voters in head-to-head contests with generic Democratic challengers in 17 districts. In four other districts, the incumbent Republican falls behind a generic Democratic candidate after respondents are told that the Republican incumbent supported the government shutdown. In only three districts do Republican incumbents best generic Democratic challengers after voters are told the incumbent supported the government shutdown.”

The districts, with the exception of one, all had something in common. They were seats held by Republicans in states that were won by President Obama in 2012. This poll strikes right at the heart of the conventional wisdom that gerrymandering will keep House Republicans safe no matter what they do.

As Robert Costa pointed out in The Washington Post, there are more centrist Republicans in the House than you might think. Costa wrote, “They may sometimes be silent and fearful of stirring conservative ire, but more than 100 members of the House GOP are much more centrist than you’d imagine. These are the members from purple and light-red districts, who rarely go on television and, unlike their more unruly colleagues, stick with the leadership. They are critical to sustaining Boehner’s power, and, should the GOP find a way to extend the debt limit and once again fund the government, they’ll deserve credit”

Those 100 House Republicans in blue or purple states all are their seats put in jeopardy by the behavior of their Republican colleagues who reside in safe red districts. House Republicans are being widely blamed for the shutdown. John Boehner continues to refuse to open the government, and raise the debt limit. Boehner and the extremists that he is listening to are still making demands as if they are in charge of the situation.

The House Republicans who are following Ted Cruz have put themselves in a position for defeat by not facing reality. They think that they will “win” by getting the president and Senate Democrats to cave to their threats. Cruz and his House Republicans really believe that they can get the country to blame President Obama for the shutdown and any potential default.

What they don’t understand is that the country has been watching House Republicans threaten and obstruct for years. They already know who is to blame. The moderate House Republicans are trying to save their own hides by floating anonymous proposals in the media for a short term funding and raising of the debt ceiling.

John Boehner’s refusal to hold a clean vote on a CR and the debt limit could hand Democrats back control of the House of Representatives. Obamacare isn’t going anywhere, but scores of House Republicans could find themselves out of a job after November 2014."

http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/06/poll-finds-republicans-danger-losing-house-government-shutdown.html

Regards,
John

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Johnslat

What do you think will happen? I know it is hard to make predictions, but how do you think this will all end? Proper healthcare in the US? Or will this attempt to derail it be successful?


Best wishes

Sasha

[johnslat]

Dear Sasha,

I suspect that the shutdown and the debt ceiling messes will be resolved fairly soon. The Republican leadership can see that the majority are blaming them for both problems and that Big Business and Wall Strreet most definitely do NOT want any "default" to take place (and probably lower the US credit rating again.)

Right now, I think they're frantically trying to find a "graceful" way out of this no-win situation they've let the Tea Party extremists box them into.

But hey, what do I know? They may be even dumber than I believe.

Regards,
John

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Johnslat

Cheers for your insight. I suppose your predictions will be borne out in one form or other. There must be a limit to this madness somwhere.

Best wishes

Sasha

[johnslat]

And this guy agrees (well, of course he would; he's quite bright )

"Apart from the alternate reality, the shutdown is going terribly for the GOP

Monday, October 07, 2013

The Tea Partiers live in an alternate reality, in which up is down, the south is right and the shutdown is good for the Republicans, politically. Tea Party Republicans, now firmly in control of their Congressional caucuses, believe that if they can just carry on the insanity long enough, the American people will begin to look kindly on them.

Well, so far, there are only indications to the contrary. Despite Speaker Boehner's pronouncement that the Republicans are "locked in an epic battle" to deny health care to Americans, things are not going well for the Speaker and his caucus. Not only do Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of the Republican tactic of shutting down the government because they don't get their way on a law they do not like, new polling has begun to hit specific GOP districts.

A poll from Public Policy Polling, sponsored by MoveOn, shows that in 21 of the 24 districts surveyed, incumbent Republicans would lose to a generic Democrat thanks to the GOP shutdown. In 17 districts, incumbent Republicans are trailing a generic Democratic opponent as is, and in four others, they fall behind when voters are told that they voted to shut down the government. Democrats will need to pick up 17 seats in next year's midterms to win back the House. Just as the GOP shutdown began, a Quinnipiac poll showed Democrats gaining the advantage in national generic ballot they would need to take over the House even in the current gerrymandered climate. Late last month, the Democrat in Virginia's gubernatorial race catapulted to the top, causing the Republican to beg his national colleagues to end the shutdown.

With the usual caveat about this being thirteen months before the midterms and GOP's hopes and dreams about the American people forgetting about the shutdown by the time the election gets here, the current posture of the Republican party is backfiring in more ways than one. In midterm elections, the president's party usually loses seats, whereas here, the reversal is significant enough to perhaps flip control of the House. Same story in Virginia - the president's party tends to lose the governorship in Virginia, and this time, at least partly due to the insurgence of the Tea Party, the Republicans seem to be on a path to lose, and perhaps lose big.

The Republican hostage taking isn't working out well. As more and more people are hurting - and as more and more stories are emerging of people being able to sign up for affordable health care with the Affordable Care Act exchanges - the Republican political front is growing more and more untenable. Next week, Republicans will be in a position of withholding veterans' checks just so they can continue their futile attempt to deny affordable health insurance to Americans, just as John Boehner doubles down by promising a default of the government if Republican ransom demands are not met.

The shutdown, despite Rand Paul's pronouncements, isn't good for the Republicans. I suspect the GOP leadership knows that. But what they can't decide, I think, is what is worse for them politically - the shutdown or ending it in a way that ticks off the teabaggers. Ted Cruz has led them over the cliff, and the same conservative right wing that gave Ted Cruz his wings is also holding the rest of the Republican party under its guns.

Republicans don't know what will hurt them more - the moderate backlash and the energized liberal base thanks to their shutdown, or the Tea Party primary challenges and general election GOP voter depression. What's more, now that they have jumped off the cliff, they have no guarantee that the moderate and liberal backlash won't happen even if they give up. But giving up will definitely bring them Tea Party's wrath.

Ultimately though, Republicans must cut off the Tea Party's wings. They cannot continue the shutdown forever - resistance within the party will intensify as we get closer and closer to the debt ceiling - from non-insane Republicans both within Congress and outside. They have no endgame, and they have no one to blame but themselves. There is going to be bloodbath within the Republican party. The sooner they get it over with, the better for them - and probably the better for American democracy in the long term."

http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/10/apart-from-alternate-reality-shutdown.html

Regards,
John