More of his purpleness – Prince
The Revolution and Purple Rain: 1984–87
During this period Prince referred to his band as the Revolution. The band’s name was also printed, in reverse, on the cover of 1999 inside the letter “I” of the word “Prince”. The band consisted of Lisa Coleman and Doctor Fink on keyboards, Bobby Z. on drums, Brown Mark on bass, and Dez Dickerson on guitar. Jill Jones, a backing singer, was also part of The Revolution line up for the 1999 album and tour. Following the 1999 Tour, Dickerson left the group for religious reasons. In the 2003 book Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince, author Alex Hahn says that Dickerson was reluctant to sign a three-year contract and wanted to pursue other musical ventures. Dickerson was replaced by Wendy Melvoin, a childhood friend of Coleman. At first the band was used sparsely in the studio but this gradually changed during the mid-1980s.[citation needed]
Prince’s 1984 album Purple Rain sold more than thirteen million copies in the U.S. and spent twenty-four consecutive weeks at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The film of the same name won an Academy Award and grossed more than $80 million in the U.S.[31]
Songs from the film were hits on pop charts around the world, while “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy” reached No.1 and the title track reached No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100. At one point in 1984, Prince simultaneously had the number one album, single, and film in the U.S.; it was the first time a singer had achieved this feat.[32] Prince won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for Purple Rain, and the album is ranked 72nd Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[33] The album is included on the list of Time magazine’s All-Time 100 Albums.[34]
After Tipper Gore heard her 12-year-old daughter Karenna listening to Prince’s song “Darling Nikki”, she founded the Parents Music Resource Center.[35] The center advocates the mandatory use of a warning label (“Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics”) on the covers of records that have been judged to contain language or lyrical content unsuitable for minors. The recording industry later voluntarily complied with this request.[36] Of what is considered the Filthy Fifteen Prince’s compositions appear no. 1 and no. 2, with the fourth position occupied by his protégée Vanity.[37]
In 1985 Prince announced that he would discontinue live performances and music videos after the release of his next album. His subsequent recording Around the World in a Day held the No.1 spot on the Billboard 200 for three weeks.
In 1986 his album Parade reached No.3 on the Billboard 200 and No.2 on the R&B charts. The first single, “Kiss”, with the video choreographed by Louis Falco, reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was originally written for a side project called Mazarati. That same year the song “Manic Monday”, which was written by Prince and recorded by The Bangles, reached No.2 on the Hot 100 chart.
The album Parade served as the soundtrack for Prince’s second film, Under the Cherry Moon. Prince directed and starred in the movie, which also featured Kristin Scott Thomas. He received the Golden Raspberry Award for his efforts in acting and directing.[38] In 1986, Prince began a series of sporadic live performances called the Hit n Run – Parade Tour. The European tour went to Europe in the summer and ended that September in Japan.
After the tour Prince abolished The Revolution, fired Wendy & Lisa and replaced Bobby Z. with Sheila E. Brown Mark quit the band while keyboardist Doctor Fink remained. Prince then recruited new band members Miko Weaver on guitar, Atlanta Bliss on trumpet, Eric Leeds on saxophone, Boni Boyer on keyboards, Levi Seacer, Jr. on bass and dancer Cat Glover.
“Ten Thousand Walruses Gather on Island As Sea Ice Shrinks”
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131002-walruses-arctic-haulout-science-animals-alaska-global-warming/
“NASA grounded by government shutdown”
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/01/tech/social-media/nasa-government-shutdown/
http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/22928149-761/mayor-emanuel-offers-fiery-defense-of-obama-in-wake-of-shutdown.html
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/a-poet-reckons-with-her-inheritance/?_r=0
http://www.latinpost.com/articles/2567/20131001/austin-fire-department-hiring-minorities-eeoc-finds-discrimination-against-black.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/10/02/michael-jackson-verdict/2883367/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/02/politics/government-shutdown/
Meet Butch Matthews, A Republican Who Came To Love Obamacare After Realizing It Will Save Him $13,000
By Sy Mukherjee on October 2, 2013 at 4:52 pm
Butch Matthews is a 61-year-old former small business owner from Little Rock, Arkansas who used to wake up every morning at 4 A.M. to deliver canned beverages to retailers before retiring in 2010. A lifelong Republican, he was heavily skeptical of the Affordable Care Act when it first passed. “I did not think that Obamacare was going to be a good plan, I did not think that it was going to help me at all,” he told ThinkProgress over the phone.
But after doing a little research, Matthews eventually realized how much the law could help him. And on Tuesday, his local Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) provider confirmed that he would be able to buy a far better plan than his current policy while saving at least $13,000 per year through Arkansas’ Obamacare marketplace.
………………….
The mid-level “Silver” policy that he picked out also offers a significantly better benefits package. “It’s a lot better plan,” Matthews said. His old plan was considered to be “Bronze” and had much higher co-pays. Under Obamacare, when Matthews visits a doctor, it will no longer cost him around $150. It will cost $8.
quotes-19So what would Matthews tell other Americans who are skeptical about Obamacare? “I would tell them to learn more about it before they start talking bad about it,” he noted. “Be more informed, get more information, take your time and study and not just go by just what you hear on one side or the other. Actually check the facts on it.”
“I still am a very strong Republican, but this… I’m so happy that this came along,” he continued. “Our home is paid for, vehicle’s paid for, this is our expense that we have. We have more expense on medical care than everything else put together, so this is going to be a great help for us.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/02/2721501/butch-matthews-obamacare-convert/
Garrett Peck @garrettpeck
Cab driver told me he signed up on exchange yesterday – first time in his life he’s had health insurance. #Obamacare matters.
3:25 PM – 2 Oct 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uudQxo2KlPo
lyingn thugging bitch
What a rewrite of the facts!!
Tom Clancy and Wife Alexandra Llewellyn Clancy Picture, Children Info
By Deena Bustillo on October 2, 2013
Author Tom Clancy passed away Tuesday at the age of 66, leaving behind his wife Alexandra Llewellyn Clancy. Few details have been revealed about The Hunt for Red October author’s death, so far at least. LLewellyn, who was 21 when she married Clancy back in 1999 (he was 53), has yet to comment on her husband’s death.
http://www.zimbio.com/Tom+Clancy/articles/PjzE6inM_SF/Tom+Clancy+Wife+Alexandra+Llewellyn+Clancy
Obama Rules Out Negotiations With Congress on Budget Until Government Reopened
By REUTERS
Published: October 2, 2013 at 4:29 PM ET
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama ruled out negotiations on budget issues with Congress on Wednesday until lawmakers end a U.S. government shutdown by approving spending measures.
In a CNBC interview, Obama described himself as exasperated that Republicans refused to drop demands that led to the government shutting down on Tuesday.
“Am I exasperated? Absolutely I’m exasperated,” he said, because the shutdown was totally unnecessary.
Obama said Wall Street should be concerned that a faction of Republicans in the House of Representatives seemed willing to allow the United States to default on its debt in order to push their demand that funding be cut for Obama’s signature healthcare l
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/10/02/us/politics/02reuters-usa-fiscal-obama-cnbc.html?hp
John Harwood asked PBO why is it that the majority of black America favor ACA, Hispanics somewhat more, and white don’t like it.
SHORT: NIGGAS WANT FREE HEALTHCARE!
I’m waiting for the vide, so ya’ll can hear PBO’s brilliant answer.
Harwood can kiss my ENTIRE BLACK ASS!
I have been missing this some of your great posting today. I plan to catch up.
Ametia, I think I am going to address some symbolism in one of the Episodes and post it sometime tonight. Just giving you a heads up to look for it.
Ok; I’m looking forward to it, Yahtc. I’m watching the Forsyte Saga
I just posted it. Please read the 3rd on where I got my quotation marks in the correct place. You can erase the other two.
John Boehner is Using Veterans As Human Shields in Government Shutdown Fight
By: Jason Easley
Oct. 2nd, 2013
With every strategy that he is trying failing, Speaker John Boehner is trying to deflect blame for the government shutdown by using America’s veterans as political human shields.
In a statement, Speaker Boehner argued that President Obama is hurting our vets:
The White House and congressional Democrats aren’t satisfied with simply shutting the government down. Today the president reiterated his threat to veto a simple, common-sense measure to stand with our nation’s veterans and ensure that veterans’ programs are funded during the shutdown. This comes after the president and Democrats supported the Pay Our Military Act to take care of our men and women in uniform during this time (though they are still playing political games).
With the backlog of disability claims continuing to pile up and veterans having to wait longer and longer to receive their benefits, it is unconscionable that Democrats voted against the Honoring our Promise to America’s Veterans Act (H.J. Res. 72) yesterday to ensure that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs had the resources necessary to address this claims backlog. A small group of House Democrats voted for the measure, acknowledging their party’s strategy is indefensible. Every House Democrat will have the opportunity to do the right thing today.
The president can’t continue to complain about the impact of his government shutdown on veterans while pledging to veto a bill to help them.
Speaker Boehner left out a small, but essential fact. The piecemeal funding for veterans that House Republicans are trying to pass is actually 6.6 billion dollars less than what the budget calls for. Last night, Nancy Pelosi called out this scam on the House floor, “So, let’s not leave our veterans behind by leaving their children, their grandchildren, [and] their families – what they need. And just to go into it, this bill is billions of dollars less than what over 420 Members in this House [of Representatives] passed in June.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/02/john-boehner-veterans-human-shields-government-shutdown-fight.html
Media Alert:
Blair Underwood as Ironside preimieres tonight on NBC, 10 pm EST
Looking forward to watching. USA Today write up on this series was awful. Whoever write it, panned it. Michael J. Fox gets a glowing review of his new series. Ummm, nothing against MJF, but I’m not interested in seeing the same folks get sitcoms over and over, get glowing reviews, before the show airs, and when new faces (BLACK) actors/actresses get a series…. it’s thrown in the crapper. YEAH, I SAID IT.
Judd Legum @JuddLegum
Can I burn down your house?
No
Just the 2nd floor?
No
Garage?
No
Let’s talk about what I can burn down.
No
YOU AREN’T COMPROMISING!
1:18 PM – 2 Oct 2013
If 30 or 40 black men shut down the government & were holding the country hostage, they’d be charged with treason & executed.
who you telling?
It defies comprehension, it really does. And, what is even worse, is that every one of these fools was democratically elected (more or less.)
Somethings gotta change, folks.
TRUTH
Republicans in Disarray as Democrats Move to Take Away All GOP Leverage on Debt Ceiling
By: Jason Easley
Oct. 2nd, 2013
Senate Democrats believe that they can use their leverage in the government shutdown to force House Republicans to solve the shutdown and the debt ceiling together.
According to The Hill, Democrats are demanding that the government shutdown and the debt ceiling be solved together:
Senate Democrats believe the longer the government remains shut down, the more leverage they will wield in the debt-limit debate later this month.
There is growing sentiment among Democrats that the short-term funding resolution and debt-limit increase should be combined. They claim the issues should be merged to take advantage of Republicans, who are pided and off balance trying to fend off blame for the shutdown.
…
Previously, Democrats were resistant to such an idea. That was at least in part because President Obama is refusing to negotiate on the debt limit. But a Democratic senator told The Hill this week that is no longer a concern, saying the White House can effectively deal with the GOP’s tactics.
Democrats are eager to deal with the debt limit now, when polls show most of the public blames Republicans for the shutdown. They contend it would be difficult for the GOP to make additional demands linked to the debt limit while they’re embroiled in a crisis over a six-weekend spending stopgap.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/02/republicans-disarray-democrats-move-gop-leverage-debt-ceiling.html
Americans Want Their ObamaCare So Badly That They Flooded the Servers
By: Sarah Jones
Oct. 2nd, 2013
Healthcare.Gov was trending off and on yesterday. This caused “glitches”. Naturally Republicans jumped on this as proof that ObamaCare was a total failure that fell “flat”.
GOP News echoed Republicans and the RNC, claiming that ObamaCare fell “flat” on launch day due to the glitches, “ObamaCare Exchanges Fall Flat On Launch Day. Users Are Experiencing Multiple Technical Glitches Trying To Enroll In The ObamaCare Exchanges.”
If you take a “Romney surge” narrative, you get an Obama landslide reality. Take an ObamaCare falling “flat” on its rollout and you get servers crashed by traffic.
While it’s not always apparent what caused the problems, millions rushed the exchanges yesterday, and based on the CBO’s estimate that 7 million people would sign up this year, I’d say they might not have been expecting the surge.
The CBO anticipated 7 million people signing up for exchanges this year, but on the first day, more than 2 million hits came in on just the federal site. New York and California brought in another 15 million alone on the first day. Another 9 million are expected to enroll in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/02/americans-obamacare-badly-flooded-servers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politicus+USA+%29
Our Democracy Is at Stake
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
This time is different. What is at stake in this government shutdown forced by a radical Tea Party minority is nothing less than the principle upon which our democracy is based: majority rule. President Obama must not give in to this hostage taking — not just because Obamacare is at stake, but because the future of how we govern ourselves is at stake.
What we’re seeing here is how three structural changes that have been building in American politics have now, together, reached a tipping point — creating a world in which a small minority in Congress can not only hold up their own party but the whole government. And this is the really scary part: The lawmakers doing this can do so with high confidence that they personally will not be politically punished, and may, in fact, be rewarded. When extremists feel that insulated from playing by the traditional rules of our system, if we do not defend those rules — namely majority rule and the fact that if you don’t like a policy passed by Congress, signed by the president and affirmed by the Supreme Court then you have to go out and win an election to overturn it; you can’t just put a fiscal gun to the country’s head — then our democracy is imperiled.
This danger was neatly captured by Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, when he wrote on Tuesday about the 11th-hour debate in Congress to avert the shutdown. Noting a shameful statement by Speaker John Boehner, Milbank wrote: “Democrats howled about ‘extortion’ and ‘hostage taking,’ which Boehner seemed to confirm when he came to the floor and offered: ‘All the Senate has to do is say ‘yes,’ and the government is funded tomorrow.’ It was the legislative equivalent of saying, ‘Give me the money and nobody gets hurt.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/opinion/friedman-our-democracy-is-at-stake.html?smid=tw-share
What History Will Say About Obamacare and the Government Shutdown
On October 1, 2013, Democrats opened up a program to bring health care to all, while Republicans peacocked around trying to stop history. It’s obvious which side will be judged more kindly years from now, says Michael Tomasky.
by Michael Tomasky Oct 2, 2013 5:45 AM EDT
We sometimes don’t notice history as it’s unfolding right before us, so let’s stop and take note of what a historically momentous day Tuesday was. Twenty, 50 years from now, when historians or college professors are trying to describe to their readers and students what the difference was between the two political parties in our time, they will direct them to October 1, 2013. That one day says it all.
The Democratic Party was opening up its historic program to bring health care to all citizens, and the Republican Party was closing down the federal government, a fanatical minority manipulating the rules of our democracy and holding a gun to the country’s head, all because it wants to deny all citizens health care and is furious that it failed three times in that effort.
Tuesday perfectly expressed what these two parties have come to be about. The Democrats have many flaws, and money has corrupted them at certain times on certain issues almost as much as it has corrupted Republicans. And yes, sometimes some Democrats behave divisively, too. But at least they have had good moments, even great ones. The passage of Social Security. Medicare and Medicaid. Civil rights (and please, you cynical Everett Dirksen-invokers, give it a rest and go away; you would have long since drummed Dirksen out of your party today). Women’s rights. And most recently gay rights, including same-sex marriage; history will recall Barack Obama with admiration as the first sitting president willing to voice his support for that.
This is where you might expect me to say the evil Republicans were implacably opposed to every one of these great advances at every turn. But that isn’t the case. In 1935, majorities of Republicans backed Social Security—not by anywhere near the percentages Democrats did, but they supported it. Thirty years later, about half of Republicans in both houses of Congress backed Medicare and Medicaid. And yes, Dirksen and other Republicans were important allies for Lyndon Johnson on civil rights against the racist and reactionary Southern wing of his own party.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/02/what-history-will-say-about-obamacare-and-the-government-shutdown.html
I have a question about religious folk art and I thought maybe SG2 or Yahtc might know something about this. I saw an art exhibit of religious folk art in San Antonio at least 20 years ago. There was a book about the exhibit that I could have bought and I have kicked myself ten thousand times for not buying it. The artists were African American and they were from rural Texas, possibly the early to mid 20th century, maybe even the late 19th century. The art might be described as “pentecostal” but I’m not really sure what that is. I have not been able to identify any of the African American artists. Are either of you familiar with religious art from rural Texas?
I wish I were, Liza. It sounds as if it was a wonderful exhibit!
I tried to google search under “images” using some key words that I thought of, but I was unsuccessful.
In the process I turned up this site for present day art:
http://www.blackartdepot.com/blackchurch.htm
Thanks, Yahtc, I like that website and I think I will ask those folks the same question. I hadn’t thought of that before. I called the museum a few years ago and they vaguely remembered the exhibit but had no further information, strangely enough. I’ve googled a zillion times and can’t find any of those artists. This art was very different, but I don’t think “pentecostal” is the right word to describe it. I’ll know it when I see it.
Stand up For Lakota Children.
NPR’s Ombudsman DEFENDS South Dakota’s illegal seizures of Lakota Children
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2013/09/06/219743687/open-forum
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141662357/incentives-and-cultural-bias-fuel-foster-system
they are SELLING Native Children to the highest bidder.
plain and simple.
Letitia James wins NYC Democratic public advocate runoff
by NBC New York | October 2, 2013 at 9:36 AM
Councilwoman Letitia James won the Democratic public advocate runoff on Tuesday, becoming the party’s nominee and all but assuring she will become the city’s elected watchdog, and the first black woman to hold citywide office.
James defeated state Sen. Daniel Squadron in incomplete and unofficial returns and faces a general election next month without a Republican opponent.
James and Squadron were the top two finishers in the Sept. 10 primary, but neither eclipsed the 40 percent threshold that would have avoided the costly runoff. The winners of the higher-profile mayoral and comptroller primary contests stayed above that mark, meaning the race to fill the little-understood public advocate position was the only one on the ballot.
“Over the weeks and months this has been an intense journey but one worth taking,” James said in her victory speech. “There’s so much more work to do because the next generation of New Yorkers are at risk of losing the opportunities that allowed us to make it in this city.”
The public advocate position has little real power and an annual budget of just $2.1 million, a small fraction of the $13 million it cost the city to hold the runoff, which was required by law.
But the post has become a springboard to higher office. The current public advocate, Bill de Blasio, is the Democratic nominee for mayor. He did not endorse anyone in the runoff.
http://thegrio.com/2013/10/02/letitia-james-wins-nyc-democratic-public-advocate-runoff/
So Chris Matthews pines for Tip O’neil and the good ole days when he and Ray-gun got along to get things done. And he thinks PBO’s met his match with Ted Cruz. GTFOH. Mr. Slurpy!
dead @ Mr. Slurpy!
************************
The stupid burns!
LOL Ask Steve King if he has health insurance. Ask all these MOFOs if they and their families have health insurance. and they’ll say we work for it.
DUH! So do other folks, you’re trying to prevent from getting it.
WINNING!
Author Tom Clancy has died at the age 0f 66, sources with his publisher and family tell CNN.
Clancy’s first international military and espionage thriller was “The Hunt for Red October,” published in 1984. Other best-sellers included “Red Storm Rising,” “Patriot Games” and “Rainbow Six.”
RIP Mr. Clancy. I enjoyed his books and the movies made from his books. He lived in my hometown.
Once Alienated, and Now a Force in Her Husband’s Bid for Mayor
By MICHAEL BARBARO
Published: October 1, 2013
She was the seventh-grader too frightened to stand in front of the room because her white classmates would mock her, contorting their mouths to make their lips look big. She was the smoldering teenager who took to writing poems every day to wrestle with her isolation and anger. She was the eldest daughter of one of the only black families in Longmeadow, Mass., who arrived home to see their new house scrawled with racist graffiti.
“I had never had a deep sense of belonging anywhere,” recalled Chirlane McCray, whose husband, Bill de Blasio, is now the front-runner to become the next mayor of New York. “I always felt I was an outsider.”
Now, this onetime student of powerlessness, a woman whose early identity was profoundly shaped by feelings of alienation — because of her race, her gender and her evolving sexuality — is emerging as the ultimate insider: a mastermind behind the biggest political upset of the year and a sought-after voice as the city re-evaluates what it most wants from its first family.
New York has begun to digest the jarring contrasts that Mr. de Blasio, an avowedly activist, tax-the-rich liberal, would provide should he capture City Hall after 12 years of rule by a data-driven billionaire.
Less understood is the role his wife, a 58-year-old poet, has played in molding his political vision and propelling his ascent toward the mayor’s office.
As much as anyone on his staff, Ms. McCray has built and guided her husband’s campaign, thoroughly erasing the line between spouse and strategist.
Political meetings are planned around her schedule. She sits in on job interviews for top advisers. She edits all key speeches (aides are known to e-mail drafts straight to her).
Her encounters with city life directly influenced Mr. de Blasio’s approach in the campaign. Ms. McCray was horrified when St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village was razed to make way for luxury condominiums: 30 years ago, despite the fact that she had no health insurance, doctors there kept her alive after an acute asthma attack. So at her urging, the closing of city hospitals became a central theme of her husband’s candidacy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/nyregion/once-alienated-and-now-a-force-in-her-husbands-bid-for-mayor.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp&
Why the shutdown looks so bad for the GOP
By John Dickerson /
CBS News/ October 2, 2013, 5:28 AM
During the Great Polling Disconnect of 2012, the Obama campaign, the press, and a number of pollsters thought that Barack Obama would win his second presidential election. Republicans and the Romney campaign were equally convinced the polls were flawed: The electorate would behave differently on Election Day.
There was a clear loser in that experiment. We’re facing a similar test now with the government shutdown. Public opinion polls show overwhelming opposition to the GOP strategy. Republican Sen. John McCain tweeted a Quinnipiac poll Tuesday morning that shows 72 percent of Americans oppose Congress “shutting down major activities of the federal government” as a way to stop the Affordable Care Act from going into effect.
For the conservatives pushing the showdown over the president’s health care plan, those numbers are either wrong or changeable. We’re about to find out which side is right.
In the first hours of the shutdown, the terrain looks very bad for Republicans. It’s amazing how consistent the polls have been about linking a confrontation over the Affordable Care Act to funding of the government. While polls show the public disapproves of the law, it has consistently told pollsters it is not in favor of tying government operations to defunding the health care plan. In addition to the Quinnipiac poll, the polls from CBS News, CNN, CNBC, National Journal, and Kaiser show this. As GOP Sen. Jeff Flake said, Republicans have found the one gambit less popular than Obamacare.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57605557/why-the-shutdown-looks-so-bad-for-the-gop/?tag=nl.e875&s_cid=e875&ttag=e875&ftag=TRE497675b
Republican tea party thugs are no different than Hamas, Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Only difference is they’re located inside the US Government. They’re the enemy within to dismantle democracy.
Don’t Blame the Tea Party for the Shutdown. Blame Boehner.
For a few brief moments on Monday evening, it looked like House Republicans might finally come to their senses.
At a little past 6 p.m., CNN and National Review reported that Peter King, the congressman from New York, was organizing an insurrection among a group of fellow moderate Republicans. It happened just as the House was preparing to vote on yet another “continuing resolution” that would shut down the government if Senate Democrats and President Obama wouldn’t agree to undermine Obamacare. For weeks, high Senate Republicans like Bob Corker and Lindsey Graham had warned their House counterparts not to insist on such a strategy: Obama and the Democrats would never agree to it and, in a shutdown, Republicans would take the blame. Now King, who had already suggested he agreed with that critique, decided to do something about it. He started working the phones, hoping to rally enough votes to stop the spending bill from passing.
All he needed were 17 votes. He got six. And nobody should be surprised.
At midnight, the government shut down. Nobody knows when it will open back up. And outside of Washington, many people will probably think it’s business as usual in capital—in other words, that both parties are to blame. But nothing could be farther from the truth. This is a serious break with governing norms—a temper tantrum, by one faction of one party. But as with most temper tantrums, you can’t simply blame the kids acting out. You also need to blame the grown-up letting it happen. That means House Speaker John Boehner
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114934/government-shutdown-2013-blame-boehner-not-tea-party
Any & everyone involved in voting against keeping America’s government open IS TO BLAME. 5oo or more words are NOT needed to make this fact CRYSTAL clear.
House Republicans suggest government a la carte
By Steve Benen
Tue Oct 1, 2013 4:56 PM EDT
Plan A was for the House to pass a spending measure that gutted the Affordable Care Act, which the Senate could then clean up and send on to the White House. Plan B was the House bill to go ahead and defund the health care law and dare the Senate to pass it. Plan C was the House bill to delay health care benefits for a year and dare the Senate again.
Plan D was a half-hearted House Republican effort to embrace budget talks that House Republicans spent six months avoiding. And Plan E is, well, kind of silly.
Regardless, this new plan is hilarious. Republicans could pass a center-right spending bill and end the shutdown, but what they’d prefer to do is break up the federal spending bill into chunks, and slowly turn the lights on piecemeal. Staffers were referring today to “mini-CRs.”
The idea, apparently, is to identify the parts of the Republicans’ shutdown that make the public upset, then pass a spending measure that resolves just that part of the crisis while leaving the rest of the government shut down. Americans are annoyed by closed federal parks? No sweat, Republicans say, they’ll pass a mini-CR that provides funding to reopen the parks — and nothing else.
And then when some other part of the shutdown creates public pressure, presumably Republicans would consider flipping the switch on that, too. The goal, apparently, is to shut down the government without feeling the political repercussions of a wildly unpopular government shutdown.
Sigh.
——————————————————————————–
It didn’t take long for Democratic policymakers to dismiss the nonsense.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/01/20776192-house-republicans-suggest-government-a-la-carte?lite
The consequences of callousness
By Steve Benen
Wed Oct 2, 2013 8:48 AM EDT
Republican messaging surrounding their decision to shut down the government is a bit of a mess, burdened by an unhealthy amount of cognitive dissonance. The party wants Americans to believe that Democrats should be blamed for the shutdown, but and that the shutdown is a conservative triumph that Republicans were right to embrace. The GOP argues that conservatives fought for this shutdown — and now boast about it — but really didn’t want it.
And Republicans would have the public believe that the shutdown doesn’t much matter, since the federal government is an inherently awful burden that Americans neither wants nor needs. The problem, of course, is that the GOP’s shutdown is causing real harm to real people, and every tragic consequence is a reminder, not only of the far-right’s party’s callous indifference, but of the importance of government itself.
Ned Resnikoff reported yesterday, for example, on several hundred preschool-aged children who can no longer go to a Head Start center in Alabama because its 240 employees have been furloughed without pay.
The Wall Street Journal had a related item on the shutdown’s real-world effects:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/02/20785375-the-consequences-of-callousness?lite
Mini CRs =CRAZIES!
October 02, 2013 8:44 AM
The Big Blink
By Ed Kilgore
So with just sixteen days left before the Treasury Department’s October 17 deadline for raising the debt limit, the possibility of separate dispositions of two separate Republican hostage-taking incidents has faded significantly, per this report from Politico’s Raju, Sherman and Brown:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_10/the_big_blink047148.php
Wingnuts Roasting On An Open Fire
by BooMan
Tue Oct 1st, 2013 at 08:08:06 PM EST
As I have pointed out repeatedly, the following is not technically true.
The Speaker of the House is elected by the whole chamber and, by the rules, does not even need to be an actual elected member of Congress. The Republicans could make Clint Eastwood or Rob Schneider the Speaker if they wanted to. And the Democrats could assure that Boehner keeps his job either by voting for him or by abstaining from the vote, or by some combination of both.
What this means is that Boehner can, at any time, decide that he can’t effectively lead the Republican Party but he can lead the House. The Democrats would have every reason to agree to that arrangement, because there are enough reasonable Republicans in the House to pass immigration reform and to restore the old system of using the appropriations committees to make sensible investments for the future, and to raise the debt ceiling, and perhaps even to do some (very) minor gun violence control legislation.
If Ryan Lizza is correct that Boehner can’t maintain support from the Republican caucus if he doesn’t win some concession from the president, then his career is over as leader of the House Republicans. If he makes a deal anyway, to avoid a financial armageddon, for example, then the division of the Republican Party will be completed whether or not Boehner stays on as Speaker because a rump of moderate Republicans will have already joined with the whole of the Democratic caucus to break the back of the Tea Party. That coalition might as well have a leader, and if Boehner doesn’t want the job then maybe someone else does.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/10/1/2086/86758
Rachel Maddow: GOP always planning to shutdown the government
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26315908/vp/53162117#53151808
Time Stops for No One
by BooMan
Wed Oct 2nd, 2013 at 08:20:54 AM EST
David Drucker, writing in the right-wing Washington Examiner, chooses to emphasize the divisions in the Republican Party and to amplify the message of the dissenters who never wanted a fight over ObamaCare that could lead to a government shutdown. He uses some math that is becoming familiar:
The “few dozen” number puts the size of the Tea Party suicide brigade at somewhere between 36 and 60, which corresponds to the other number I keep seeing (180) for the dissenting faction. With 233 members, perhaps 53 are in favor of the shutdown and 180 are against it.
If the numbers are indeed that lopsided, it doesn’t bode well for the long-term cohesiveness of the House GOP. Yet, so far, almost of all the House Republicans who have been willing to go on the record are from culturally blue states or are representing a lot of government employees. I wouldn’t describe all these members as politically vulnerable, as most of their districts are drawn to be safe. But they are culturally alienated. You can be fairly invulnerable in your gerrymandered district in the Philly suburbs, but that doesn’t mean you can explain yourself or your party at the supermarket. As for the Virginia lawmakers with a lot of government employees, they are completely freaking out.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/10/2/82054/7007
The man without a plan
By Steve Benen
Wed Oct 2, 2013 8:00 AM EDT
As Day 2 of the government shutdown gets underway, the congressional Republicans who thought this would be a good idea find themselves lacking something important: a plan.
Late yesterday, House GOP leaders decided they’d try piecemeal funding — a Ted Cruz strategy built around “mini CRs” — providing funds to the parts of the government Republicans kind of like, while leaving everything else shut down. Democrats balked, but the House voted on the idea last night anyway. As expected, it failed, but Republicans intend to bring the same measure to the floor today, because … well, they don’t really have anything else to do.
There is, of course, the Senate bill, which is a center-right proposal embraced by Senate Democrats and the White House, and which enjoys bipartisan support in the House. If House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) brought it to the floor for a vote, it would very likely pass and the shutdown would be over.
So why doesn’t the flailing Speaker just end this misery that enjoys the support of a Senate majority, a House majority, and President Obama? Because as Robert Costa reported last night, Boehner would prefer to see the shutdown continue.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/02/20784860-the-man-without-a-plan?lite
October 01, 2013 3:55 PM
Democratic Plan B
By Ed Kilgore
After worrying about the impact of false equivalence reporting of the government shutdown saga this morning (which I more succinctly described in a tweet as “false equivalence promoted by high-exposure pundits to low-information voters”), I’ve been hearing all day from friends fretting about the same thing.
So let’s game-plan this out and imagine that Republicans hang tough and begin to gain public traction from fatigue with “Washington partisanship” and a desire for “negotiations.” Is there a Plan B for Democrats other than continuing to point out what is actually going on?
Well, I’m normally not a fan of meeting asymmetrical polarization with counter-polarization, but this may be an exception. What if Obama and/or congressional Democrats say, “okay, we’ll broaden the negotations to consider your demand to delay or change Obamacare, but only if you consider our demands for an immediate House vote on the Senate-passed immigration bill and the Manchin/Toomey gun background check bill and a major minimum wage increase!” If the public’s going to view every dispute in Washington as political wrangling, maybe Democrats should politically wrangle over high-stakes policy disputes that don’t amount to degrees of the conservative agenda.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_10/democratic_plan_b047135.php
How GOP’s Desperate Anti-Obamacare Push Backfired and Helped Spread the Word
Tuesday, October 01, 2013 | Posted by Spandan C at 5:02 PM
As Americans rush to check out their options and sign up for their piece of Obamacare, right wingers are desperate to find any straw to grasp. To that end, they have all been hilariously complaining that Obamacare is “not ready for prime time” because – get this – Healthcare.gov and state exchanges have had glitches due to overwhelming traffic. To follow their logic, the Affordable Care Act is a failure because people overwhelmingly want it. The GOP’s main TV propaganda outlet, Fox News, is helping out with a running tally of these glitches, although as far as I can tell, they have no interest in actually getting people signed up.
But the Republicans may have helped the rush of people going to the exchanges, looking up their options, and signing up. For 3.5 years constantly since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Republicans have consistently and continuously bashed the law, tried to repeal it some 45 times, and blamed it for everything but your kid’s bad grades in school.
At some point, if you raise enough stink, people get curious. They want to know what all the freakout and the hoopla is about. When they are constantly being told that the sky is going to fall, you can’t blame them for peaking outside to see if the heavens are actually collapsing. The Republicans may have generated bad buzz about Obamacare, but they still generated buzz. And this buzz isn’t the kind that can be covered up with the propaganda forever. This is actually about real things happening to real people, and these real people have an actual way to find out what is going to happen to them. There’s this thing called the Internet, and there’s this central site called Healthcare.gov that allows people to actually see what they’re going to get.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/10/how-gops-desperate-anti-obamacare-push.html
King: 30 to 40 GOP lawmakers refuse to admit legitimacy of Obama’s presidency
By Jonathan Easley – 10/01/13 09:14 PM ET
People are willing to demonize Obama because he’s from a different party, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said.
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said Tuesday that there are about 30 to 40 Republicans in Congress who refuse to recognize the legitimacy of Obama’s presidency and are seeking to erase everything that’s happened during his administration.
King made the remarks in a discussion with Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, after the host asked how many Republicans would like to “erase [Obama’s] record as if he was never here.”
“I’ve had members, they know who they are, they say – ‘I really can’t say with these lips that this man, Barack Obama, was elected president’,” Matthews said. “They choke on that. How many are there in Congress on your side that represent that rejectionist front?”
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/326017-king-30-to-40-gop-lawmakers-refuse-to-admit-legitimacy-of-obamas-presidency#ixzz2gZLx0AJU
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook
UH OH1 Guess what day it is, guess what DAY.IT.IS.
George Will Going to Fox News
Say goodbye to George Stephanopolous, and hello to Bret Baier. George Will, called the “most powerful journalist in America” by The Wall Street Journal, is heading to Fox News after three decades at ABC, Fox News confirmed on Tuesday. Will has been a panelist on This Week since the show premiered in the early 1980s, but the show’s taping in New York the majority of the time had become too much of a strain for Will, who lives in Washington. He also writes a syndicated column that appears in 475 newspapers, and once served as a contributing editor to Newsweek magazine. He has also written several books
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/10/01/george-will-joins-fox-news-team/
Are House Republicans looking for a way out?
By Greg Sargent, Updated: October 1, 2013
One thing that’s gotten lost in the noise over the government shutdown is an inconvenient bit of history: Before House GOP leaders decided to placate the hard liners by using a shutdown threat to chip away at Obamacare, people close to them let it be known they thought this was politically dangerous to the GOP.
Remember that? It happened. In August, GOP pollster David Winston — who has been close to the House GOP leadership for years — let it be known that his polling showed broad public opposition to a shutdown. Winston also told Robert Costa that House Republicans needed to produce their own alternative to Obamacare, because “the electorate expects Congress to govern.”
And yet, House GOP leaders — after internally advocating against a shutdown/defund Obamacare fight, and then reversing course and deciding to placate conservatives by waging one – have gone all the way to closing the government.
I asked Winston whether he still thought this was a dangerous course for the GOP.
“At some point in time, Senator Cruz and his allies are going to have to define an endgame that’s successful,” Winston told me. “And they haven’t done that yet. If they don’t, then this is going to have to be resolved some other way.”
“A long term shutdown is not a tenable solution in the eyes of Americans,” Winston continued. “They expect the President and Congress to govern. All the parties involved had better realize there are repercussions here. The biggest concern people should have is the level of uncertainty this injects as voters think about who they are going to choose in 2014. People should be concerned about what that will look like.”
If you look closely at what Winston is saying, it suggests House Republicans will have to find a way out of this battle that isn’t going to involve giving conservatives what they want on Obamacare. As Winston puts it, conservatives have not figured out how to get to the “endgame” they want. Translation: They can’t get what they want. And as Winston notes, a long term shutdown is not tenable. So what’s left as an option?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/10/01/are-house-republicans-looking-for-a-way-out/?print=1
http://youtu.be/bFZuzsfy-j4
Good Morning Everyone
Good Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone!
Good morning, everyone!
Good Morning, 3Chics!
The moment I wake up
….Before I put on my make up; I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER FOR YOU.