Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

Reality always wins in the end.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Consistently wrong since 2002

Not all heroes wear capes.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

‘Forty-two’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

Just a few bad apples.

The willow is too close to the house.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

COVID childhood vaccine passes FDA hurdle

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Now I need to tell my nine year old that he needs to make a very important decision — ice cream or pancakes after vaccination?

My daughter went double pancakes.

There is another meeting next week that will be required before kids start getting vaccinated. But right now, my son will be mostly vaccinated by Thanksgiving and fully vaccinated before he sees his grandparents in December.

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Busting the Filibuster (Open Thread)

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TPM’s David Kurtz and Zainab Shah noted that as the BBB bill negotiations wind down, talk about the next big topic on the horizon — passing legislation to protect voting rights — is increasing. Passing a voting rights bill will require at least reforming the filibuster because the likelihood of finding 10 Republican votes is about on par with the chance that I’ll become a billionaire because my dogs start pooping Unobtainium. Here’s how Kurtz and Shah lay out the stakes:

It’s hard to maintain a hair-on-fire sense of urgency for years on end, but coming out of the Trump first term breaking the back of the filibuster remains the single most urgent piece of business for Congress. It will enable passage of the democracy reforms that will blunt the entrenchment of minority white rule. And, depending on how far-reaching the filibuster reforms are, it could also unleash myriad possibilities for new legislative initiatives and has a decent chance of changing the incentive structure for Mitch McConnell’s brand of burn-it-all-down conservatism.

That sounds about right to me, and I also agree that if Dems can’t take away the authoritarian cult party’s legislative veto power, there will be a “generations-long reckoning for the failure to tackle it.” That said, I just don’t see how the president plus the 95% or so of the Democratic Party caucus in Congress that supports filibuster reform can budge the fringe outliers who oppose it, even on an existential issue like voting rights.  Do you think it’s doable?

Open thread!

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ACA subsidies for 2022

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In yesterday’s post, Mai Naem Mobile made the following comment:

I believe my plan is about the same price. Anyway, what surprised me is I supposedly qualify for a subsidy. Did they change the income levels for a subsidy? I’ve never qualified for a subsidy and nothing has changed except for my age. I even increased the income to see if that would get rid of the subsidy and it didn’t.

This is the American Rescue Plan in action.

There were two major temporary policy changes in the ARP that passed in March.  The first was to decrease the expected percentage a household earning between 100% to 400% Federal Poverty Level would have to pay for the benchmark premium.  This varied by income, but for someone earning 150% FPL (~$19,000 for a single individual) they went from paying 2% of household income to 0% for the benchmark plan.  Higher earners saw between 1.4% to 2% reduction in expected income contribution.

The second and more relevant fix for Mai Naem is that the ARP eliminated the income cap for subsidy eligibility.  Under the original ACA, individuals who earn over 400% FPL (single individual ~$50,000) were completely ineligible for subsidies.  The ARP removed that income cap.  Individuals earning over 400% FPL now pay 8.5% of their income for premiums.  As incomes increase and ages decrease, some people will still not qualify for subsidies, but as people get older, they are more likely to qualify for some subsidy which will make their current plan cheaper and potentially increase the value proposition of lower cost plans as well.

Both of these provisions are for the 2021 and 2022 plan years.  Extending or making these provisions permanent are part of the reconciliation package currently under construction.  Call your senators if you want these policies to continue.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Onward

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread 1

(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)

From last week’s town hall broadcast:

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COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Monday / Tuesday, Oct. 25-26

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show full post on front page

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On The Road – Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes – In the COVID time in Crete

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Le Comte de Monte Cristo

We’ve been lucky over the years to experience some wonderful travel opportunities around the world. With COVID, our wings were clipped not only financially, but also logistically, constraining our choices due to budget, time, medical requirements and availability of everything from flight routes to restaurant to entertainment.

After a long set of discussions, we ended up planning one big trip this year, to Crete. It’s a large Greek island, reaching down to become the southernmost point in Europe, about halfway between Peloponnesus and Libya. We had mikes to fly for free. We had initially considered confining our stay to Chania, Rethimno, Iraklio and Elounda in the north (with a lot of museum calls), but on reflection, that seemed kind of sedentary for our physical condition and desire to mentally check out.  

We ended up deciding on an itinerary that included Chania with some private touring of food/wineries/culture, various landmarks and beaches, and a seldom used (in Greece, anyway) Orthodox marriage blessing. Following that was the lucky find of a really nice, fun and inexpensive naturist resort for four nights in the southern city of Chora Sfakion, a few nights in the adorable port of Loutro (Phoenix) and a final night in Old City Chania before an overnight in Athens and then to home.

On The Road - Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes - In the COVID time in Crete 7
Prophet Elias Orthodox Church, Chania September 7, 2021

Our guide was kind enough to arrange this with his parish priest at a pretty famous spot – the priest is his personal friend and the one who married him. The church was the headquarters of the Cretan Revolution against the Turks and the home parish of Eleftherios Venizelos (a Revolution commander instrumental in Union with Greece and several time Greek Prime Minister).

While I am no longer dogmatic at all, I do still respect my own family religious tradition, and it was a really important thing for us as a couple. Turns out that the Greeks generally don’t do these sorts of vow renewal/blessings, but there is a service for it and the priest was aware of the fact that a number of Americans want this sort of thing and is willing to accommodate that.  We brought the crowns with us, and bought new linen clothing (along with Euros and good bourbon for the priest).

It was really special.

While in Chania those days, we did everything from wine tasting and restaurant walks (all inexpensive) to treks to Falassarna and Balos beaches, where I climbed up a hillside that the goats avoided, all to scramble on rocks for a great view while nursing my still-recovering leg.

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I Feel Personally Attacked

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By the title “Cold, wet, and no energy.” That is all.

In a post the other day, someone asked if Steve was still using the wool cat cave, the round ball with a hole for him to climb into. All I can say is he still loves it and is all over it.

I Feel Personally Attacked

I mean I will call him an idiot, but the dude pays no bills, always has the best seat in the house, eats when he demands, grooms himself but if he doesn’t get it done well enough gets a free spa trip, and shits in a box and it magically disappears, so who is really the idiot in this relationship.

I’m watching a show on Hulu called Y: The Last Man, the premise of which is every male of every species dies except one dude, which sounds like a dream until when you realize you are the only person with any sperm, you’re not on the top of the world, you’re a commodity. I’m only three episodes in, hear it has already been cancelled, but am going to finish it anyway. The Agent is a top notch character.

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