In flamenco a tango (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtaŋgo]) is one of the flamenco palos closely related in form and feeling to the Flamenco Rumba. It is often performed as a finale to a flamenco tiento. Its compas and llamada are the same as that of the Farruca and share the Farruca’s lively nature. However, the tango is normally performed in the A Phrygian mode. In some English sources the flamenco tango is written with an -s; “the tangos is…”
The flamenco tango is distinct from the flamenco rumba primarily through the guitar playing. In Rumba the guitar flows more freely, whereas in Tangos the accents on beats 2, 3 & 4 are marked clearly with heavy strumming.
Hey Chicas!
Check out Yahtc’s drawing. Very good! I like! I like!
Friendship!
You got it!
:)
Now here’s true artistry. Yahtc, your drawings of SG@ and you ROCK OUT!!! :-)))
Thanks, Ametia!
*Laughing and having a good, fun time!*
I had a late nap and am awake and dancing!
Yahtc, that’s very good!
:) Hee Hee!
If you click on the song video and then wiggle the scrolling up and down, you get animation and we are then really rockin’ and rollin’ LOL!
“SCOTUS shields generic drug manufacturers from Liability”
http://frederickleatherman.com/2013/09/25/scotus-shields-generic-drug-manufacturers-from-liability/
http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/09/25/3-african-americans-among-recipients-prestigious-macarthur-genius-grants/
http://youtu.be/oDkI7JEyNh8
SG2, you are a gem. THAT is the look that made me LMBAO
Rev. Al was not taking his foolishness
and look at the look on TeaBaggers face that is captured at the same freeze moment :)
“uh”
and
“gulp”
Did you see how much his brother and parents got in farm subsidies and they want to make poor people jump for foodstamps?
I sure did!
And, Shirley Sherrod’s group did not get ANY until she sued!
Think what the mega farm companies must be receiving!
This is a subject that we should have an article on because the wrong growers are getting all the money!
How can these politicians cut children off from foodstamps!!?
They don’t care about the poor, just themselves. Damn everyone else.
Someone, with artistic talent, should paint a picture of children at the empty dinner table with the parents quietly reading the letter informing them that they will no longer be receiving food stamps.
I wish I had artistic talent to paint such a picture.
Sometimes, I just gotta LOL while watching Rev. Al, because ever so often, the BLACK just slips out with Rev. Al….and it slips out with his facial expressions. He’s been having these Tea Baggers on, asking them about Obamacare and today’s nutjob is one of those mofos who voted to cut 40 billion from foodstamps, all the while he and his whole fucking family are Agri-business welfare queens and kings. I freeze framed the look on Rev. Al’s face after he revealed the farm subisidy stuff..
HILARIOUS
here’s the segment…..freeze frame it everytime after Rev, Al asks a question…. you will be LYAO
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45755884/#53107786
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkfmYG1DHkA
Obamacare: A Fact or Fifty
By utaustinliberal
1. Starting now and on October 1st you can go to healthcare.gov or call (1-800-318-2596; TTY: 1-855-889-4325) to compare options and select health coverage.
2. Thanks to ObamaCare, insurance companies must cover mental health, substance-use disorder, alcohol misuse screening, domestic violence screening, depression screening, etc. under “essential health benefits.”
3. ObamaCare will increase the need for doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, medical assistants, health information specialists, medical billers, medical sonography, home-care aides, lab technicians, etc. Now, that’s job creation!
4. 360,000 Small Businesses have taken advantage of the Small Business Healthcare Tax Credit to insure 2 million workers.
5. ObamaCare will change work and retirement by tilting power from employers to employees.
6. Young Americans (18-34) are eager to purchase health insurance through ObamaCare.
7. ObamaCare saved 6.8 million consumers $1.2 billion on health insurance premiums in 2012.
8. An easy and informative Twitter list of ObamaCare health insurance exchanges.
9. 63% of young adults who identify as Republicans enrolled in their parents health plans under ObamaCare.
10. Health insurance premiums will cost dramatically less under the ObamaCare exchange marketplace.
for the other 40 facts about OBAMACARE, go here:
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/09/25/obamacare-a-fact-or-fifty/#comment-837932
Cruz you lose
I do not like cruz, the snooze
I do not like cruz with booze
I do not like him on the mic
I do not like him on a bike
I do not like his filibuster
I do not like his phoney bluster
I do not like cruz the grifter
I do not like him or Palin
I do not like their schitck or Wailin’
Cruz you lose! Loves it!
Republican Says 2014 Will Be Great Because Minorities and Young People Won’t Vote
By: Jason EasleySep. 25th, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIZD0NAxPmQ
Hickey said, “We have some real opportunities in 2014. This is a great year in an off presidential election. Seemingly no Democrat at the top of the ticket against Sandoval.No Harry Reid. Probably where we had a million voters turnout in 2012, we’ll have like 700,000. A lot of minorities, a lot of younger people will not turn out in a non-presidential year. It’s a great year for Republicans.”
Republicans know that when minorities and younger people show up to vote, they lose. This knowledge is behind everything from voter suppression efforts to their optimism about 2014. It is a little stunning to hear an elected Republican admit that if the full electorate shows up, the GOP expects to lose, but it’s the truth. The only chance that Republicans have of winning elections outside of their red state base is if Democrats don’t show up.
The backwards thinking in the GOP is amazing. Instead of trying to expand the size of the Republican Party by courting minorities and young people, Republicans are perfectly happy to only win off year elections. Actually, the lesson that the Republican Party has learned is that they should try to shrink the size of the electorate, and turn every year into an off year election. Republicans are more interested in preventing Democrats from voting than they are in convincing Democratic supporters to vote Republican.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/09/25/republican-2014-great-year-minorities-young-people-vote.html
All of you just gotta see this photo!
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-frog-tries-to-eat-bat-photo-20130925,0,6802976.story
I’ll bet that was nasty.
EWWWWWWWWWWWW
I love toads….and just about any animal that is not poisonous.
I hope the park ranger in peru pulled that bat out so the toad could be comfortable again and stick to crickets and the likes in the future.
http://newsone.com/2725342/bank-of-america-fined-racial-discrimination-against-black-job-applicants/
http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/african-american-artists-find-a-home-at-emanuel-ame-church/Content?oid=4747957
Look what Sandy wrote on her page today.
Sandyabolitionist Tetnowski
I want it made clear, I don’t hate my own white ppl. Some of my children are white.
However….I will not go silently into the dark ages of our past, to stand by silently while we rape and pillage the world through white supremacy/racism.
Good for her!
She is a strong, no nonsense person demanding a better world.
Sandy is dedicated to the cause.
BAM! LOL@” Some of my children are white.”
LOL!
Sandy ROCKS!
JOBoomr @JOBoomr
@davidplouffe Ted falls flat on his face. Carting him out of this place. Leaves the Senate floor in disgrace. Tea Party dies by God’s grace.
9:59 AM – 25 Sep 2013
Legendary filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles makes visual art debut at Harlem gallery
by Demetria Irwin | September 25, 2013 at 12:41 PM
At the recent opening of eMerge 2.0, an exhibition currently on view at the Strivers Garden Gallery in Harlem, the legendary filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles added yet another title to his impressive list of accomplishments — that of professional visual artist.
Van Peebles is the writer, producer, director and star (and he also composed the score!) of the seminal ’70s hit film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, which ushered in a new era of movies based on inner city black life that came to be known as the “blaxploitation” period.
The 81-year-old film trailblazer is also a noted composer, author and musician.
http://thegrio.com/2013/09/25/legendary-filmmaker-melvin-van-peebles-makes-visual-art-debut-at-harlem-gallery/#s:co-curator-lisa-d-hayes-esq_exhibiting-artist-melvin-van-peebles_co-curator-souleo
Michelle Obama Visits Studio Museum in Harlem
As President Obama attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, the first lady, Michelle Obama, hosted an event for dozens of the spouses of chiefs of state and heads of government at the Studio Museum in Harlem.
The event included her own tour of the museum, performances by Audra McDonald, the Dance Theater of Harlem and students from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, as well as a luncheon at which Mrs. Obama spoke. Her remarks focused on the importance of the arts in Harlem in expressing the complexity and struggle of African-Americans; she also spoke of the importance of education everywhere.
“There’s a reason why I wanted to bring you all to Harlem today and that is because this community is infused with the kind of energy and passion that is quintessentially American but that has also touched so many people around the world,” she said, citing artists including Louis Armstrong, Langston Hughes, Aaron Douglas, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ella Fitzgerald. She read from the Hughes poem “Dreams”: “Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/michelle-obama-visits-studio-museum-in-harlem/?_r=0
Charles Pierce on Ted Cruz:
“This is like taking a history class from Abbott and Costello.”
HOLLERING
Elizabeth Plank @feministabulous
Funny that all major news outlets aired Cruz’s filibuster today while when it was @WendyDavisTexas’s turn, CNN aired a segment on muffins.
5:03 PM – 24 Sep 2013
comment by JAPA over at TOD:
How much will Obamacare premiums cost? Depends on where you live.
By Sandhya Somashekhar and Sarah Kliff, Updated: September 25, 2013
Booklets outlining health insurance options for Californians is seen at a Senior Information & Resource Fair in South Gate, Calif., Sept. 10, 2013.(Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)
A 27-year-old in Austin who earns $25,000 could pay $85 per month for health insurance next year, and a family of four in St. Louis with income of $50,000 might face a $32 monthly premium, according to new federal data on health insurance rates under the Affordable Care Act.
The report, released Wednesday by the Department of Health and Human Services, showed significant variation in the insurance premiums that Americans shopping on the individual market could pay under the president’s health-care overhaul. Across the 48 states for which data were available, the unsubsidized monthly premiums could be as low as $70 for an individual and as high as $1,200 for a moderate plan for a family of four.
The average national premium for an individual policy will be $328 in 2014, before including any of the tax credits that will be available to low- and middle-income Americans to help them purchase coverage.
Officials say these prices will be affordable for people buying insurance through the government marketplaces slated to open next week.
“For millions of Americans, these new options will finally make health insurance work within their budgets,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.
Information about how much insurance plans will cost under the law, sometimes called Obamacare, has been dribbling out for months on a state-by-state basis.
But the report from the administration, which has been collecting rate information since the spring, offers the first comprehensive look at the effect of the law on many Americans — specifically those who buy coverage privately and not through their employers, as well as low-income uninsured people who are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.
Beginning Tuesday, those people will be able to log on to government Web sites called marketplaces to peruse their plan options, apply for government subsidies and sign up for coverage effective next year. That is when the requirement kicks in that virtually every American carry health insurance or face a fine.
The report also includes information for more than two dozen states that declined to set up their own marketplaces, leaving at least part of the job up to the federal government.
Premiums will vary significantly depending on an individual’s income, where she lives and what type of coverage she buys. A 27-year-old in Fairfax County, for example, could spend between $124 and $258 on a health plan, depending on how robust she wants it to be.
A family of four in Fairfax County that earns $50,000 could get a health insurance plan with no premium at all, because the federal tax credit would cover the bill.
Most people using the marketplaces will have incomes low enough to qualify for a government subsidy. A recent administration report found that 56 percent of the roughly 41 million uninsured people eligible for the marketplaces could pay monthly premiums of $100 or less.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/25/how-much-will-obamacare-premiums-cost-depends-on-where-you-live/?print=1
New Report: For 95% Of Americans, Obamacare Will Cost Much Less Than Expected
By Igor Volsky on September 25, 2013 at 12:01 am
When uninsured Americans begin enrolling in Obamacare’s new health care exchanges on Oct. 1, the overwhelming majority — 95 percent — will face health care premiums that are 16 percent lower, on average, than the government had previously projected, according to a new report released on Wednesday by the Obama administration.
In the 36 states where the federal government supports or fully runs the Health Insurance Marketplace, a 27-year old who does not qualify for tax credits will pay, on average, $163 for a plan that covers approximately 60 percent of health care expenses (a so-called bronze-level plan), while a 27-year-old with an income of $25,000 could pay $83 dollars per-month after subsidies. Individuals up to 30 years old will also have the option of buying cheaper catastrophic coverage outside of the marketplaces, though they will not qualify for subsidies. A family of four in Texas with an income of $50,000 would pay as little as “$57 per month for the lowest bronze plan after tax credits,” the report finds.
Premiums vary across the country, however. While states like Wyoming and Indiana will experience some of the highest premiums, Tennessee and Kansas will see lower costs. The uninsured in Florida and Texas — two states where Republican lawmakers have staunchly refused to implement the law — will see premiums “roughly in line or lower than health insurance costs in many other exchanges across the nation.” The national average for a midlevel policy is $328 a month before subsidies.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/25/2675821/95-of-uninsured-will-pay-less-than-expected-for-obamacare-coverage/
Hatch reflects on a ‘pretty darn fine president’
By Steve Benen
Wed Sep 25, 2013 12:48 PM EDT
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) spoke recently at a National Journal event and heaped unexpected praise on a former president
Robert Schlesinger, marveling at Hatch’s “Clinton Nostalgia Syndrome,” noted that the Utah Republican raised these observations as part of a larger argument: if Republicans controlled both the House and Senate, it would “help President Obama” by forcing him to “work with” GOP lawmakers and accept more far-right policy proposals.
That’s right, “help.”
There are a few interesting angles this. For example, Hatch now believes Clinton was a “pretty darn fine president,” but when Clinton was actually in office, Hatch called Clinton a “jerk” and voted — twice — to remove him from office as part of the impeachment proceedings.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/25/20693669-hatch-reflects-on-a-pretty-darn-fine-president?lite
The Filibuster is Not a Unicorn
by BooMan
Wed Sep 25th, 2013 at 12:37:25 PM EST
No, Chris Cillizza, the filibuster is not a unicorn. It is not mythological. It is not impossible to define. You have a job at the Washington Post where you are expected to explain politics to the American people, and you are failing at it.
So, what is the filibuster? At it’s most basic, 99% of the time, the filibuster is simply the lack of unanimous consent for any motion proposed by the Majority Leader of the Senate. Any time even a single senator objects to a motion, the Majority Leader must decide whether to drop the matter (which means that the filibuster succeeded) or to file for cloture. If he has to file for cloture, it imposes a one day (plus one hour) delay followed by 30 hours of debate before a vote on cloture can be held. Therefore, withholding consent is dilatory, even if you ultimately lose on the cloture vote and the Majority Leader gets to proceed as he intended to three days prior. If you succeed on the cloture vote, you have successfully filibustered. If you fail on the cloture vote then you have unsuccessfully filibustered.
So, how should we treat Ted Cruz’s long speech?
It’s fairly simple. Harry Reid asked for and was denied unanimous consent to proceed to the House’s continuing resolution. That’s a filibuster. It’s a silent filibuster because it delays things automatically under Rule XXII of the Senate rules. No one needs to speak to cause the delay. The Senate is currently operating within the 30 hour rule for post-cloture debate [ed. note, I got this wrong. The Senate is currently voting to begin the 30 hours of debate], but Harry Reid granted Ted Cruz the right to talk his head off during this time. Sen. Cruz isn’t delaying anything, so he isn’t technically filibustering, but the Senate is undergoing a filibuster nonetheless.
To fully understand the filibuster, you need to understand not only the silent filibuster but the more understandable Mr. Smith-Goes-to-Washington talking filibuster.
When a senator goes to the floor to speak, he or she reserves the right to speak for as long as they want. The other ninety-nine senators cannot shut them up. So, it is possible to delay action in the Senate simply by talking for a long time. This isn’t ordinarily very effective for a couple of reasons. First of all, most of the time the Senate considers bills under what is called a “consent agreement” that limits the time for debate, meaning that all 100 senators have agreed that the talking filibuster will not be allowed. So, normally, the talking filibuster can only work before bills are under consideration. Secondly, because the cloture rule automatically causes a 55-hour delay, it is more dilatory than even the most talkative senator can hope to be. For these reasons, the old-fashioned talking filibuster has basically disappeared.
Because Cruz received special permission from the Majority Leader to talk for a long, but still time-limited, amount of time, and because his speech did not actually delay any Senate business, he cannot be considered to have filibustered anything. What he did was talk during a filibuster that will fail as soon the post-cloture debate time expires.
How could Ted Cruz have filibustered?
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/9/25/123725/805
I really like the positive message outreach that Mary Procter creates with her artwork.
Yes!
The Wendy Davis difference
By Steve Benen
Wed Sep 25, 2013 11:48 AM EDT.
If you’re ignoring conservative media this morning, you’re (a) saving yourself a great deal of aggravation; and (b) missing a curious new argument about the media and Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) Senate spectacle.
For conservatives, we’re witnessing a clear example of media “bias” — Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) generated national attention with her filibuster in Austin earlier in the summer, but the right believes Cruz is garnering less attention now. Therefore, the argument goes, it’s clear that Cruz is being treated unfairly by the “liberal” media.
Dylan Byers finds the comparison compelling.
Fair-minded observers can certainly draw their own conclusions, but let’s note some of the pertinent differences between the two.
Davis was waging a filibuster; Cruz is delivering a long and inconsequential speech. Davis succeeded in blocking progress on a measure she opposed; Cruz isn’t actually having any kind of legislative impact whatsoever. Davis was fighting against a proposal that was not yet law; Cruz doesn’t like a measure that’s already law.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/25/20692986-the-wendy-davis-difference?lite
OMG! I got goosebumps reading this.
Church Members Mistreat Homeless Man in Church Unaware It Is Their Pastor in Disguise
http://the-wopr.newsvine.com/_news/2013/09/19/20572264-church-members-mistreat-homeless-man-in-church-unaware-it-is-their-pastor-in-disguise
“Pastor Jeremiah Steepek transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning.
“
He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service, only 3 people out of the 7-10,000 people said hello to him.
“
He asked people for change to buy food – no one in the church gave him change.
“
He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit in the back.
“
He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.
“
As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such.
“
When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation.
“
“We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek.” The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation.
“
The homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking down the aisle. The clapping stopped with all eyes on him.
“
He walked up the altar and took the microphone from the elders (who were in on this) and paused for a moment then he recited,
“
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
“
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“
‘The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“
After he recited this, he looked towards the congregation and told them all what he had experienced that morning. Many began to cry and many heads were bowed in shame.
“
He then said, “Today I see a gathering of people, not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples. When will YOU decide to become disciples?”
“
He then dismissed service until next week.
“
Following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ should be more than just talk. It ought to be a lifestyle that others around you can love about you and share in.
Wow!
The message brought home!
Indeed!
too deep for words
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cs4JOgcSQCk
Published on Sep 17, 2013
THE 44th ANNUAL AFRICAN AMERICAN DAY PARADE
I’m going to finish viewing the entire video later. Thanks!
Thanks for this.
What Republicans don’t understand about the politics of Obamacare
By Ezra Klein, Updated: September 24, 2013
The GOP’s strategy right now is entirely aimed at getting Democrats to begin dismantling Obamacare.
Not Ted Cruz’s base. (Mark Wilson / GETTY IMAGES)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) hopes that by shutting down the government he can convince Democrats to defund it. Speaker John Boehner hopes that by threatening to breach the debt ceiling he can convince Democrats to delay it. If that fails, top Republicans quietly think they may be able to get Democrats to compromise on delaying the individual mandate.
Republicans do have a theory as to why Democrats will ultimately agree to some of this. Obamacare is unpopular. A lot of Democrats are up for reelection in 2014. In the end, they’ll see a delay of the whole thing, or at least of the individual mandate, as a gift. The Obama administration may complain, but when vulnerable Senate Democrats begin voting with the Republicans, they’ll quickly cave.
Senate Democrats find this logic baffling. “We’re dumb,” says an aide to a moderate Senate Democrat. “But we’re not that dumb.”
Congressional Democrats are realists on Obamacare. It’s not popular now. They don’t expect it to be popular by the 2014 election. But they know they own it.
“Our members are not going to become clean on Obamacare if they take one different vote now and they won’t become culpable on Obamacare if they take one different now.,” says a senior aide to the Senate Democratic leadership. “I don’t see us having a Saul on the road to Damascus change of mind on health-care reform.”
But it’s the specifics of the GOP’s pitch that really amuse Democrats. The argument they’re making might make sense for repeal, but a one-year delay in Obamacare would just mean that implementation begins in October 2014 — which is to say, one month before the 2014 election. That’s supposed to help Democrats in the election?
Democrats point out that Obamacare’s implementation schedule wasn’t an accident. It was purposefully designed to begin in an off-year. That way there would be a year to work out the worst kinks, and by the time of the actual election, Democrats could point to millions of people getting insurance, running ad after ad highlighting constituents who now have coverage. If implementation didn’t begin until October 2014, all voters would know about Obamacare would be the early glitches, as insurance coverage wouldn’t begin until January 1, 2015.
In other words, the GOP is trying to sell Democrats on a political nightmare they specifically wrote the law to avoid — and they’re doing so on the grounds that it would actually be a political boon!
The individual mandate “compromise” is also looked on with some derision. Republicans assume that it will be attractive to Democrats because the policy is unpopular. But they haven’t thought through the way the law works. “If you were to delay just the individual mandate, the premiums would jump much higher,” says Rep. Chris Van Hollen. “That would sabotage the entire purpose of the exchange.”
Democrats would be left trying to protect a law where premiums are skyrocketing and insurers are pulling out. They would’ve traded an unpopular policy that won’t actually impose any penalties until 2015 for a complete disaster in 2014.
“They think Obamacare is in play,” says the Democratic leadership aide. “We don’t. We just take it for granted we’re not going to fundamentally change Obamacare.”
Moreover, Democrats see a real silver lining in the GOP’s obstruction. The American people don’t like Obamacare. But they dislike the Republican Party’s kill-it-at-all-costs strategy even more.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/24/what-republicans-dont-understand-about-the-politics-of-obamacare/?print=1
U.S. to Contact Borrowers With New Options for Repaying Student Loans
By TAMAR LEWIN
Published: September 24, 2013
When President Obama last month announced proposals to make college more affordable, many critics focused on his plan to rate colleges based on measures like tuition, graduation rates, and the debt and earnings of graduates, and eventually to link financial aid to those ratings.
Largely overlooked was a more immediate change that could make a dent in the rising number of student-loan borrowers going into default. Starting next month, the Department of Education will contact borrowers who are struggling to repay their federal loans to make sure they know all the options available to them.
“We think there are lots of people who could benefit from our income-based repayment programs but haven’t signed up, and we want to get to them before they default,” said Arne Duncan, the education secretary. “The challenge is getting the word out.”
To do that, the department is planning to send e-mails to those who seem most likely to benefit from the programs, explaining debt-relief plans based on the borrower’s income.
Efforts to rein in student debt, now at more than $1.1 trillion, and make college more affordable have been central issues for the Obama administration. It has expanded debt relief for low-income borrowers with a Pay as You Earn program for recent graduates, and simplified enrollment by putting the application online and allowing applicants to import information from their tax return.
Once enrolled in a program, low-income borrowers with high debt pay a percentage of their discretionary income every month, and after a certain time period — 20 years in the new program, 25 years in older plans and 10 years for those in public service jobs — the remaining federal debt is forgiven.
Of course, income-based programs have a downside: because the repayment period is longer than the standard 10 years, except for those in public service jobs, interest costs are higher.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/education/us-to-contact-borrowers-with-new-options-for-repaying-student-loans.html
From Team No.Fucks.To.Give:
David Plouffe @davidplouffe 2m
Ted would not go to bed. Hoping to strengthen Tea Party cred. To Iowa he soon fled. But Obamacare will never be dead.
Yesterday at 10:52 AM
Why Obama Can’t Pay a Debt-Ceiling Ransom This Time
By Jonathan Chait
The debt-ceiling showdowns of 2011 and last spring both resolved themselves without triggering an economic meltdown, and so most people have come to assume the same will happen again this fall. I have been sounding the tocsins of doom for months. One cause for my alarm is that the Republican Party has grown even more rabid. Just as it responded to John McCain’s 2008 loss by moving right, it responded to Mitt Romney’s 2012 loss by moving right again. Republicans in Washington have completely abandoned any thought of pursuing their goals through compromise or other normal political channels, instead redoubling their tactic of extracting concessions by fomenting crises. Incredibly, in the face of a reelected Obama and a plunging deficit, the GOP’s demands for raising the debt ceiling are now more extravagant than the ones it issued in 2011.
There’s a second reason why a debt default crisis has grown far more likely: President Obama cannot negotiate the debt ceiling this time.
This reality is starting to dawn on the Republicans only very slowly. Republican leaders have spent the last few months trying to avoid a different, and far less severe, crisis, a government shutdown, by promising their members to hold the debt ceiling hostage. They shared the complacent, this-time-won’t-be-different conventional wisdom that has permeated Washington. It is slowly beginning to dawn on them that Obama may not submit this time around.
David Drucker reports that House Republicans are “intent on forcing President Obama to the negotiating table” over the debt ceiling. Republican senator Orrin Hatch writes a Wall Street Journal op-ed today imploring Obama to fork over a ransom to lift the debt ceiling:
………………………
Since Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, Congress has lifted the debt ceiling 45 times. Only a handful of those debt-ceiling hikes included any changes to budget policy. The historic rule has always been that, when the debt ceiling needs to be raised, Congress raises it without extracting concessions in return. If the two parties happen to be negotiating budget policy, they do it on a separate track and append the debt-ceiling increase to the final vote.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/09/why-obama-cant-pay-a-debt-ceiling-ransom.html
Mainstream Republicans in worse shape than Ted Cruz
By Jonathan Bernstein, Updated: September 24, 2013
Senator Ted Cruz Speaks At The Heritage Action Defund Obamacare Town HallTed Cruz is engaged this afternoon in a faux-libuster — he’s taken the Senate floor and threatened to speak for as long as he’s physically able, but it’s totally irrelevant to the parliamentary situation. He’s not delaying the next Senate procedural vote on the continuing resolution, which is scheduled for tomorrow whether or not Cruz is still standing by then. He’s just using the Republican allotted time.
Meanwhile, while Cruz has presumably been preparing for his extended remarks, he’s been steadily losing votes. His “outside” strategy may get him plenty of press coverage, but he’s proving terrible at actually doing the job of lining up votes.
But the truth is that Cruz’s faux-libuster — not actually a filibuster at all, but just a pointless speech in support of a losing strategy that will do exactly zero about the issue — perfectly typifies the GOP position on health care.
The truth is that it’s totally legitimate to bring up problems with health care reform on a budget bill, and use it to pressure the White House to make changes to improve the system. Republican constituents really are complaining about problems with the Affordable Care Act, which like every government program ever won’t be perfect.
But Republican politicians aren’t (contrary to what Cruz says) listening to those constituents. They’re not preparing fixes for real problems with Obamacare; indeed, they’re mostly trying to undermine the program.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/09/24/mainstream-republicans-in-worse-shape-than-ted-cruz/?print=1
Sep 24, 4:13 PM EDT
99-year-old Iowa woman gets high school diploma
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A 99-year-old Iowa woman who dropped out of a high school more than 80 years ago despite needing only one credit to graduate has finally received her diploma.
Audrey Crabtree, of Cedar Falls, smiled Monday as she received an honorary diploma for her time at Waterloo East High School.
“And I feel so much smarter,” Crabtree quipped.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DELAYED_DEGREE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-09-24-16-13-41
Aww….that is such a good story.
I love her humor in saying that the diploma has made her feel so much smarter :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0Ya4GTp15uk
Visionary Leon Kennedy outsider folk art.
Health insurance ‘for less than the cost of your cellphone bill’
By Steve Benen
Wed Sep 25, 2013 8:47 AM EDT
The timing could have been better for the right. On the one hand, the political world marveled at the spectacle on the Senate floor, where far-right senators condemned a federal law that brings health care security to millions of Americans.
And on the other, while the pointless political theater played out, the political world also learned that the maligned law continues to work even more effectively than expected.
The political bookends were almost amusing: Republican senators were talking about higher-than-expected premiums while the Obama administration was boasting about lower-than-expected premiums. Only one side of the divide knew what it was talking about, and it wasn’t the former.
The information was published in this HHS report, which comes less than a week before the open-enrollment period begins through exchange marketplaces. On the whole, for silver-level health care plans, the Obama administration found that premiums will, on average, be 16% more affordable than the original estimates published by the Congressional Budget Office
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/25/20691232-health-insurance-for-less-than-the-cost-of-your-cellphone-bill?lite
The Morning Plum: Ted Cruz’s stance on Obamacare is the GOP’s stance on Obamacare
By Greg Sargent, Updated: September 25, 2013
As Ted Cruz’s filibuster continues to drone on this morning, two new pieces of news illustrate yet again the degree to which the GOP’s continuing crusade against Obamacare is unmoored from basic constructive governing norms and is completely disconnected with the American people’s conception of the same.
First, there’s the news that the Obama administration has released a new report showing premium prices are estimated to be lower than expected in three dozen states (more on that soon). And second, a new New York Times/CBS News poll signals Republicans are now on very dangerous ground as the shutdown fight proceeds. It finds:
* Eighty percent of Americans, including 83 percent of independents and 75 percent of Republicans, say threatening a government shutdown is not an acceptable way to negotiate.
* Americans say overwhelmingly that Republicans are not trying to work with Obama by 70-23. By contrast, 51 percent say Obama is trying to work with Republicans.
Republicans are rapidly distancing themselves from Cruz’s tactics. But it needs to be reiterated, as Jonathan Bernstein spelled out yesterday, that in broad terms, Cruz’s stance on Obamacare is not fundamentally different from the overall GOP stance on Obamacare. House Republicans have endorsed defunding Obamacare and have even voted only to keep the government open if Obama and Dems unwind the Affordable Care Act. It remains to be seen whether House Republicans will actually pass something funding the government that doesn’t include a defunding of Obamacare.
Which is to say that, for all the criticism of Cruz, the Republican posture is opposed by 80 percent of Americans, who don’t see it as a fundamentally acceptable way of governing.
What’s more, Republicans are actively committed to undermining Obamacare through a tactic that risks wreaking far more destruction and havoc than anything Cruz is doing. They are currently drawing up a wish list of demands they will make in exchange for raising the debt limit — including the delay of Obamcare — which is to say, they are going to demand extensive concessions in exchange for not destroying the economy. If Americans don’t view threatening a government shutdown as a legitimate way to negotiate, imagine how they will react if we breach the debt ceiling and the economy crashes, all because of the GOP drive to delay a law that has survived a national election and a Supreme Court challenge?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/09/25/the-morning-plum-ted-cruzs-stance-on-obamacare-is-the-gops-stance-on-obamacare/?print=1
At the intersection of self-defeating and self-aggrandizing
By Steve Benen
Wed Sep 25, 2013 8:00 AM EDT.
The last time I checked, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was still on the Senate floor, taking his pointless talk-a-thon past the 16-hour mark. I don’t doubt that the far-right Texan is pleased with himself — Cruz loves both attention and the sound of his own voice, and this spectacle offers both — though I can’t help but wonder if the Republican realizes the extent to which he’s undermining his own supposed cause.
Even on the surface, Cruz’s marathon session is without meaningful purpose. Is he blocking a vote on a bill? No. Is he persuading skeptics to reconsider their position? No. Is he making a powerful policy argument? No, he’s barely talking about policy at all. Rather, this is about Ted Cruz hosting a lengthy and high-profile celebration of Ted Cruz — the far-right senator scripted some political theater and cast himself as his star, giving himself lines that position him as the Last Honest Man in Washington. I can only assume the senator ordered roses for himself, and left them waiting on his desk for his return, at which time he’ll take a long bow in front of the largest mirror he can find.
As a New York Times editorial noted, Cruz’s “combination of grandiosity and pure nastiness helps explain why the senator has become the least popular man in Washington
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/25/20690351-at-the-intersection-of-self-defeating-and-self-aggrandizing?lite
Jamming the President on Keystone XL
by BooMan
Wed Sep 25th, 2013 at 09:23:18 AM EST
Smart people understand that Ted Cruz’s antics are working against the Republicans by allowing Harry Reid to delay the passage of a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government to the very last moment, leaving John Boehner with a take-it-or-leave-it dilemma. But there is also a potential downside to letting everything go to the last minute. If the House Republicans are smart and somewhat restrained, they could approve the Senate’s CR but attach approval of the Keystone XL pipeline to it and force the Senate into a take-it-or-leave-it situation. There are enough pro-energy Democrats, like Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Tim Johnson of South Dakota, that such a provision could pass the Senate. And then the president would be in the position of having to veto the CR and allow a government shutdown or acceding to the Keystone demand and cutting the State Department’s deliberative process off at the knees.
The president might not mind a brief government shutdown that is unambiguously the Republicans’ responsibility and that is understood to be about their opposition to the Affordable Care Act. He’d be much less happy with a shutdown that is understood to be about his refusal to approve the Keystone pipeline.
But I said that the Republicans would have to be restrained in order for this plan to work. If they limited their demands to the pipeline, they might be able to jam up the president. But the rumors that have been circulating have said that they want to attach the Keystone demand to the debt ceiling, and that they want Medicare and tax reforms as part of the package. Boehner is fishing for votes, and the Keystone provision may be insufficient, by itself, to get Boehner the majority he needs. In any case, he’d have to attach it to the CR, not the debt ceiling, in order for this gambit to work.
Still, it’s something to be mindful of as we come down to the wire.
http://www.boomantribune.com/
Timing is Everything: How Ted Cruz’s Government Shutdown Gambit is Helping Democrats
Tuesday, September 24, 2013 | Posted by Spandan C at 3:10 PM
Ted Cruz is conducting a talk-a-thon on the Senate floor, hoping to force his colleagues to defund Affordable Care Act as condition to keep the government running beyond September 30. But Republicans in the Senate are abandoning Ted Cruz and the Tea Party like the plague. And Ted Cruz’s tactics are actually playing out in the Democrats’ favor.
House Republicans last week passed a bill that actively takes funding away from implementing the Affordable Care Act, a measure they attached to the Continuing Resolution, the bill to keep the government funded and running. They did so all the while knowing, of course, that Senate Democrats will strip the Obamacare defunding provision from the bill, keep the government funding, and send it back to the House. Then, Speaker Boehner would have the choice to put the Senate-passed bill to a vote and pass it or conference with the Senate.
The question isn’t whether these things will happen, but when. Timing is all important here, and Ted Cruz’s move is moving the timing in favor of Democrats. Unless both houses of Congress act, the government shuts down on Tuesday, October 1. The closer to that date the Senate passes its bill, the less time House Republicans have to either posture or to negotiate, increasingly leaving them with the lone choice of voting on the Senate bill as is.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/09/timing-is-everything-how-ted-cruzs.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JoE2MriS4qo
Uploaded on Oct 23, 2009 by andantetv
Good Morning 3Chics,
Watching these flamenco videos. All I can say is damn, that’s hot. Have a good day all.
Morning, Tyren! I love love watching flamenco dancing. Glad you’re enjoying too.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130925/WILSON/309250028/2046
http://www.bustle.com/articles/5580-study-explores-differences-between-facebook-twitter-other-social-media-user-profiles
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-book-ban-nc-20130925,0,1887650.story
it’s the deliberate racism of the advertising industry. they’ve been doing this for years – neglecting Black media.
http://grist.org/cities/changing-lanes-black-women-band-together-in-the-d-c-bike-scene/
https://twitter.com/Goatyeah/status/382263822704078848/photo/1
Why a Single Trader Was Willing to Lose Millions Betting on a Romney Win
By Josh Voorhees
new academic paper suggests that during the home stretch of the 2012 presidential election a single trader lost between $4 million and $7 million placing Intrade bets on Mitt Romney—most likely in a bid to make the presidential race appear closer than it really was.
The paper from Columbia University’s Rajiv Sethi and Microsoft Research’s David Rothschild found that the single anonymous trader accounted for about one-third of all bets made on Romney during the final two weeks of the campaign. So, regardless of motivation, it’s clear the trader played an out-sized role in determining an Intrade line that was all too often used by pundits and political journalists to suggest the presidential race remained a toss-up until the very end.
The more interesting question is why Trader X would wager so heavily on the GOP nominee at a point when publicly available data increasingly pointed toward an Obama victory. Of course, interesting questions often come with obvious answers. Here’s the three possible reasons the authors examined before largely settling on the one that makes the most sense in the world of politics:
(i) the trader was convinced that Romney was underpriced throughout the period and was expressing a price view, (ii) he was hedging an exposure held elsewhere, or (iii) he was attempting to distort prices in the market for some purpose.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/09/24/_2012_intrade_paper_suggests_a_single_intrade_trader_spent_millions_to_make.html
September 24, 2013 3:57 PM
Higher Ed’s Mysterious Tipping Point
By Daniel Luzer
A common background worry many education policy analysts have is that college costs are rising so rapidly that the country may be reaching a “tipping point.” Students and their families may conclude that college just isn’t worth it anymore. They haven’t, but they may also not realize how much they’re paying.
As Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology President Bill Path wrote earlier this year:
We’re not there, but a lot of the problem may have to do with just how complicated its become for students to discern how much education really costs, and how they might pay for it.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/blog/higher_eds_mysterious_tipping.php
September 24, 2013 5:07 PM
Bibi Wrestles With Himself
By Ed Kilgore
As though Barack Obama doesn’t have enough on his plate in dealing with Syria, Iran and the U.S. Republican Party, he’s scheduled to meet with another unfriendly force-to-be-reckoned-with next week: Bibi Netanyahu. TAP’s intrepid Israeli correspondent Gershom Gorenberg takes a look at this encounter, and suggests Bibi’s actually the one who should be worried since the threads of his own foreign policies are getting very tangled:
…………………
All in all, Netanyahu is in an unfamiliar position of weakness himself as he meets with Obama:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_09/bibi_wrestles_with_himself047030.php
Here’s why Obama won’t delay the individual mandate
By Sarah Kliff, Published: September 24 at 3:19 pm
The White House is no stranger to Obamacare delays. Over the last three years, it has held off on multiple health law provisions as it races to get the Affordable Care Act off the ground.
Don’t expect it to happen during this round of budget negotiations.
Congress needs to pass a new continuing resolution to fund the government by Oct. 1 in order to avert a government shutdown. Republicans want to include a one-year delay of Obamacare in that legislation. There’s also some discussion of delaying the individual mandate by one year and still allowing the rest of the health care law to go forward. They figure that the Obamacare has already delayed significant parts of the legislation — why not delay a few more?
But all the delays so far do have one thing in common: They erased political headaches for the law while barely denting the number of people that the health overhaul will cover in 2014. The delays Republicans are asking for now would cause major political and substantive headaches for the law while sharply reducing the number of people it covers.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, without an individual mandate, 11 million fewer people would gain coverage next year.
That would happen for two reasons. First, fewer people would buy health insurance coverage without a federal law requiring them to do so. Second, the people who signed up would likely be sicker people, who really thought they would use the coverage. That would cause premiums to spike, making the market a tougher sell for healthy people.
“Clearly the individual mandate is much more of a cornerstone, holding the individual market together,” Linda Blumberg, an economist at the Urban Institute, says.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/24/heres-why-obama-wont-delay-the-individual-mandate/?wpisrc=nl_wnkpm
I’m totally DIGGING the Flamenco dancing series, SG2. And I’d buy that black and red dance dress in a heartbeat. It’s stunning.
I’m glad you’re enjoying! That dress is ROCKING!
Good Morning, Everyone :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3ItZLTRcJ4
Beauregaurd Jefferson Sessions is as dumb as a box a ROCKS.
Thanks for posting this, Ametia!
So sad our DC Media thinks covering Congress is a political game. Congress is making life and death decisions as representatives for We The People. 😢
UH OH! GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS! Godd Morning, Everyone. :-))
Good Morning!
I am enjoying your flamenco videos, SG2. Thank you for your articles!
I am going to keep pushing for that “new day” AND stand up AGAINST the racist agenda to turn the clock back.
Good morning, everyone! Guess what day it is? Whoo Hoo! :)