I tried to find this on YouTube with no luck. This is Trae Crowder at his best.
ON DAVID PECKER AND THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER AND ALL THAT pic.twitter.com/230FG0Iam7
— Trae Crowder (@traecrowder) April 23, 2024
Open thread.
This post is in: Open Threads
I tried to find this on YouTube with no luck. This is Trae Crowder at his best.
ON DAVID PECKER AND THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER AND ALL THAT pic.twitter.com/230FG0Iam7
— Trae Crowder (@traecrowder) April 23, 2024
Open thread.
by Adam L Silverman| 25 Comments
This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine
Just two quick housekeeping notes. First, tonight and tomorrow night’s updates will be brief. Just a couple of long days so I’ve got less time to do deep dives. Second, several of you have asked after Rosa, aka Rosie, aka the Flooferina. She has now had two chemo treatments. When we took her in for the second one the oncology vet did an exam before she got the second treatment. The oncology vet was very pleasantly surprised to find that her lymph nodes had shrunk so much after one treatment that they were almost back to normal sized. We’re all taking that as a good sign. So thank you all again for the good thoughts.
The Senate cleared the threshold to move the aid package to the floor. Which is a good sign.
BREAKING: The Senate has cleared a major procedural hurdle, by a vote of 81-19, to advance a $95 billion foreign aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
The final vote and the bill’s passage is expected later tonight, ending a grueling 6 month political battle
— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) April 23, 2024
We are, however, dealing with the US Senate, the world’s greatest deliberative country club for otherwise unclubable geriatrics, members of the young fogeys club, and a few dozen normal people. So let’s not jinx anything by taking premature victory laps.
Here’s the no votes:
The NO votes on advancing the aid package pic.twitter.com/j577v5aOTz
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 23, 2024
Rand Paul (R-Profile in Courage of One’s Convictions).
Here’s the full text of McConnell’s statement:
Mitch McConnell, a staunch backer of Ukraine aid, says the anti-Ukraine movement began with Tucker Carlson, “who, in my opinion, ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin.”
The Senate just voted 80-19 to break a filibuster on $95B aid package. Final passage expected tonight
Speaking of useless idiots:
Where…was this … MONTHS ago?!?!
— Adam (@ackwhacker) April 23, 2024
And the full text of Graham’s (R-Brownnose) statement:
US-Senator Lindsay Graham is currently having the floor and he is making the case in favor of Ukraine as well as Israel and Taiwan. He is comparing the isolationists in the US with Charles Lindbergh, who back then in the 1940s claimed that it is useless to fight Hitler.
Graham further encourages using ATACMS against the Kerch Bridge.
Also Linday Graham:
There will be no money for Ukraine, Israel, or even our own needs until we STOP the abuse of parole at our Southern Border. pic.twitter.com/w6HlDfv1ps
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 18, 2024
And it just passed:
The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday night to give final approval to a $95.3 bil package of aid to Ukraine, Israel $ Taiwan, sending it to President Biden & ending months of uncertainty about whether the US would continue to back Kyiv https://t.co/nTvMhk7FCB
— Vivian Salama (@vmsalama) April 24, 2024
But it came at a price:
Thank you, Senate!
Thank you, people of the USA!My city just experienced not one but three missile attacks while I listened to debates. The situation here is critical, and we desperately need help. That's why I'm struggling to hold back tears.
Thank you so much
— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) April 24, 2024
Here’s President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
Ukraine Withstands Terrorists’ Attacks Because There is Always Someone Willing to Become a Pillar of Life – Address by the President
23 April 2024 – 19:55
Dear Ukrainians!
For this day I’d like to thank all those who really do their best to keep lives going.
I thank our warriors, each one of those who are at the front now, on combat missions, in positions, at posts, and all those who train our warriors and prepare Ukrainian brigades. I thank all the volunteers who support our defense, our active actions, all our combat medics, and each doctor who saves the wounded. I thank everyone who implements new technologies in the Ukrainian army, who makes our strikes more accurate and who fights for Ukraine exactly as one should fight for one’s home. Today I spoke with Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi, among other things, about how to strengthen our warriors in key areas of the frontline. And special attention is now being paid to the Donetsk region. I am grateful to all those who are truly resilient and who support the warriors in their positions nearby with their courage.
I thank all those who work at our defense production facilities – at hundreds of companies that do their best to make our country stronger. Ukrainian artillery, Ukrainian missiles, our drones, Ukrainian equipment, Ukrainian ammunition, Ukrainian electronic warfare systems, Ukrainian defense software – I thank everyone whose contribution helps Ukraine fight. This is at least 300,000 employees at the enterprises that are directly related to the defense industry. I also thank every company that cooperates with them and helps them. I am grateful to all the partners who help and implement agreements on joint defense projects. Our production should increasingly supplement the supply of weapons from our partners each month, and this is the goal we set: more Ukrainian weapons every month.
Today, we also have some much-needed good news about military packages from our partners – a new package from the UK. Half a billion pounds. We have discussed the details with Prime Minister Sunak, and the main thing is to deliver the weapons to Ukraine on time. The kind of missiles that we need. Armored vehicles that are expected at the front. Air defense systems. As well as boats to ensure our economic security in the Black Sea. Thank you, Great Britain!
We have also discussed with Prime Minister Sunak the preparation of the first Global Peace Summit. It is important that as many countries as possible participate in it. The Summit – the Peace Summit – can and must prove that it will be not one person’s decision on how everyone else in the world should live, not someone’s malign power that will determine this, but the world majority – together, on the basis of international law, on the basis of the UN Charter, on the basis of our Peace Formula, which restores the effectiveness of international law. I thank every leader, all political and public figures who are helping us organize the first summit. Today I have held several meetings on this issue – I am grateful to our entire team that is working to ensure that our Peace Formula is fully implemented. We will be engaged in a lot of relevant activities in the coming days and weeks. Together, the world must force Russia to peace.
One more thing. Today, Russian terrorists attacked our lives again. Odesa, cities, towns and communities of Dnipropetrovsk region, Donetsk region, our Kostyantynivka, Kharkiv region, Mykolaiv, Kherson region… Every time there is someone to save lives, extinguish fires, demine, help our people, our communities – in all the regions of Ukraine, in every city, in all districts, no matter how close they are to the frontline or the border with Russia. I thank the entire staff of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, all the officers of the National Police who care about people, everyone who works in emergency medical teams. Today, Ukrainian psychologists celebrate their professional holiday, and I thank everyone who helps our people to overcome all the emotional and psychological challenges of this time of war. I am also grateful to all those who are already rebuilding life in Ukraine. Ukraine can withstand the attacks of terrorists because there is always someone willing to become a pillar of life. We also appreciate every country that helps us with the rebuilding process. Today, I had the opportunity to thank Denmark, as the Danish Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs was on his visit to Ukraine. We discussed, among other things, Danish patronage of our Mykolaiv region, joint projects that have already been implemented and are still planned. We also talked about working together to restore our energy sector, which was destroyed by Russian strikes. It was a productive visit, thank you for the additional support of €380 million.
I thank all who are with Ukraine and in Ukraine! I thank everyone who contributes to the strength of the Ukrainian defense every day! Everyone should now find their own way to be part of the nation that is fighting and will definitely win.
Glory to Ukraine!
While we wait for the Master Debaters of the Senate to finish doing what they do best, wasting hot air and tax payer’s dollars, the United Kingdom has stepped up.
Read the full announcement: https://t.co/R7Dze3W8BK
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) April 23, 2024
Here’s the relevant bits from His Majesty’s government:
Delivering a speech alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Poland, a country at the vanguard of the continent’s defence, the Prime Minister said we are at a turning point in European security and urged allies to step up.
An axis of autocratic states like Russia, Iran and China are increasingly working together to undermine democracies and reshape the world order. They are also investing heavily in their own militaries and in cyber capabilities and in low-cost technology, like the Shahed attack drones Iran fired towards Israel last weekend.
This poses a direct threat to the lives and livelihoods of people in the UK, as well as across Europe and the wider world. The Government has already committed record investment in defence and the UK armed forces are world-leading – but the Prime Minister has said that we must take further action now to deter these growing threats.
- Backing Ukraine’s defence: Ukraine’s security is our security. As part of this plan, the Government will commit an additional £500 million this year for the ammunition, air defence and drones Ukraine needs; the largest-ever single delivery of military equipment to Ukraine’s frontlines; and a cast-iron commitment to maintain existing levels of support to Ukraine for as long as it Is needed.
Britain's largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine: £500 million boost including 60 ships, air defenses, and Storm Shadows. Thank you, Britain! 💪🏻🇺🇦 🇬🇧 Russia, get ready. pic.twitter.com/x3BIIEzsHl
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) April 23, 2024
The UK is providing £500m in additional military funding to support Ukraine and its largest-ever package of equipment, which includes:
•60 boats including offshore raiding craft, rigid raiding craft and dive boats as well as maritime guns.
•More than 1,600 strike and air… pic.twitter.com/hyM0Fhx5x9— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 23, 2024
The UK is providing £500m in additional military funding to support Ukraine and its largest-ever package of equipment, which includes:
•60 boats including offshore raiding craft, rigid raiding craft and dive boats as well as maritime guns.
•More than 1,600 strike and air defense missiles, as well as additional Storm Shadow long-range precision-guided missiles.
•More than 400 vehicles, including 160 protected mobility ‘Husky’ vehicles, 162 armored vehicles and 78 all-terrain vehicles.
•Nearly 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition.We are grateful to the UK for its unwavering support.
The solidarity of the free world will ensure the victory of democracy over tyranny.
Together, we will win!
I don’t think the protected mobility vehicles should be body shamed. They’re just big boned.
Lithuania continues to contribute as well:
Lithuania has handed over M577 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. Also, Lithuania delivered a disassembled L-39ZA "Albatros" light attack aircraft.
We are grateful to our Lithuanian friends for their unwavering support. The power of unity brings victory closer.
🇺🇦🤝🇱🇹… pic.twitter.com/PpuVmej8f4— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 23, 2024
Lithuania has handed over M577 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. Also, Lithuania delivered a disassembled L-39ZA “Albatros” light attack aircraft.
We are grateful to our Lithuanian friends for their unwavering support. The power of unity brings victory closer.
🇺🇦🤝🇱🇹
#WhateverVictoryTakes
@Lithuanian_MoD @LKasciunas
Denmark:
Since this is getting a lot of retweets:
For any Danes reading, while we can be proud of what we are doing, we can do better:https://t.co/ox3DJzevuu— Troels Just (@Tsuroerusu) April 23, 2024
Czechia:
It’s the third year of the war and the Czech president has to reiterate points that should’ve become obvious to everyone a long time ago.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) April 23, 2024
Tohohle chlapíka jste tady nemohli minout. Nejsledovanější ukrajinský novinář @IAPonomarenko děkoval Česku za pomoc a popisoval, že Petr Pavel je na Ukrajině zdaleka nejoblíbenější zahraniční státník. Velmi otevřený a osobní rozhovor brzy na @Aktualnecz. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/NOD5rQwWm9
— Jan Hejl🇨🇿 (@janhejl) April 23, 2024
Here’s the machine translation into English:
You couldn’t miss this guy here. The most watched Ukrainian journalist @IAPonomarenko thanked the Czech Republic for its help and described that Petr Pavel is by far the most popular foreign statesman in Ukraine. Very open and personal interview coming soon on @Aktualnecz. Stay tuned.
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) April 23, 2024
Here’s the full video:
The enemy always gets a vote:
With the passage of US military aid for Kyiv imminent, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says his army will step up attacks on Ukraine and won't let up until the goal of Moscow's brutal invasion is achieved: “We will increase the intensity of attacks on logistics centers and…
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) April 23, 2024
With the passage of US military aid for Kyiv imminent, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says his army will step up attacks on Ukraine and won’t let up until the goal of Moscow’s brutal invasion is achieved: “We will increase the intensity of attacks on logistics centers and storage bases for Western weapons. The Russian Armed Forces will continue to carry out assigned tasks until the goals of the special operation are fully achieved,” Shoigu said. – RIA Novosti
Kyiv:
Protecting the rights and interests of Ukrainian citizens abroad has always been and remains a priority for the MFA. At the same time, under the circumstances of Russia’s full-scale aggression, the main priority is to protect our Homeland from destruction.
How it looks like now:…
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 23, 2024
Protecting the rights and interests of Ukrainian citizens abroad has always been and remains a priority for the MFA. At the same time, under the circumstances of Russia’s full-scale aggression, the main priority is to protect our Homeland from destruction.
How it looks like now: a man of conscription age went abroad, showed his state that he does not care about its survival, and then comes and wants to receive services from this state. It does not work this way. Our country is at war.
Besides, the obligation to update one’s documents with the conscription centers existed even before the new law on mobilization was passed. If anyone believes that while someone is fighting far away at the frontline and risking his or her life for this state, someone else is staying abroad but receiving services from this state, then this is not how it works.
Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the Homeland. That is why yesterday I ordered measures to restore fair attitudes toward men of conscription age in Ukraine and abroad. This will be fair.
Soon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide further clarifications on the procedure for obtaining consular services within the legal framework for men of conscription age in foreign diplomatic missions as we approach the entry into force of the law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Certain Issues of Military Service, Mobilization and Military Registration”, as well as after it comes into force.
Kharkiv:
These photos of the TV tower destroyed yesterday by the Russians were taken by my colleagues from the Kharkiv Journalists' Solidarity Center. Denying access to independent information is a Russian tactic in this war. @EFJEUROPE @IFJGlobal @nsju_org pic.twitter.com/GIZeAKef7o
— Sergiy Tomilenko (@Stommedia) April 23, 2024
Odesa Oblast:
Odesa region. Defenders of the sky destroy russian Shahed drones.
📹: South Air Command pic.twitter.com/mxqHIl2Fzv
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 23, 2024
Novopavlivka:
Novopavlivka direction. russian armored equipment is being blown up day and night.
📹: Presidential Brigade pic.twitter.com/u9e8chYxeD
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 23, 2024
Russian occupied Donetsk Oblast:
/2. The radars on the video above and on the one attached were identified as 9S32M1 radar systems of the S-300V4 air defense systems. https://t.co/IEIcoUpp0a https://t.co/bKsPku2gDE pic.twitter.com/AdUy1IR4mr
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 23, 2024
/4. Strike location on one of the S-300V4 radars is located approximately 45km from the frontline.
47.393133,37.654928https://t.co/Y0sorMEYue pic.twitter.com/CKG2luCL4B— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 23, 2024
Here’s the full text of tweet 3:
/3. With these published strikes on Russian S-300V4 radars it’s also interesting that a bit earlier in April it became known about the death of the commander of the anti-aircraft missile battery of the Russian 38th anti-aircraft missile brigade, which is armed with S-300V4 air defense systems.
Left bank of the Dnipro, Russian occupied Kherson Oblast:
HIMARS strike on the Russian Grad MLRS. Left bank Kherson region. https://t.co/9rLU5Z2IbE
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 23, 2024
Obligatory:
Russian occupied Donbas:
Detonation of Russian 2S5 Giatsint-S self-propelled howitzer. Filmed by Russians. https://t.co/27fIkb6KS3
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 23, 2024
Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia:
Fallen Ukrainian kamikaze drone “Lyutyi”. Ulyanovsk region of Russia, at least 730km from the frontline. pic.twitter.com/x5YKiZzXus
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 23, 2024
Moscow:
Evan's appeal has been rejected again. He will remain in the high-security Lefortovo prison till at least June 30. Evan has now spent almost 400 days in a tiny cell. insufferable https://t.co/sXox0ilN5z
— Pjotr Sauer (@PjotrSauer) April 23, 2024
Russia:
Here is a link to the report: https://t.co/CYBSPk1IkQ
— Max Bergmann (@maxbergmann) April 23, 2024
Here is the summary from the Center for Strategic and International Studies:
This report examines Russia’s evolving defense industrial capabilities and limitations during the second year of the Russia-Ukraine war and analyzes how these changes have affected and will continue to affect battlefield outcomes in Ukraine. The report starts with an overview of Russia’s domestic arms production efforts throughout 2023, followed by a detailed examination of key Russian weapons systems (such as tanks, artillery, drones, missiles, and electronic warfare systems) and their changing roles on the battlefield. The report then analyzes Russia’s general procurement dynamics and identifies the imported components and weapons categories that Russia’s defense industry has particularly relied on in the second year of the war. This part includes a case study on China to illuminate Russia’s evolving procurement patterns. The report then dives into analysis of the Kremlin’s remaining weaknesses, which have been aggravated by a long war of attrition and which can have both short- and long-term effects on its military. The final part of the report assesses how Russia’s performance throughout 2023 and its evolving defense capabilities might be translated into its offensive posture in Ukraine in 2024. This part of the report is followed by recommendations to Western policymakers on how to counter the Kremlin’s war effort by capitalizing on the Russian military’s existing vulnerabilities.
Here’s the link to the full report.
That’s enough for tonight.
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Open thread!
War for Ukraine Day 791: Ukraine Waits as the Senate DebatesPost + Comments (25)
by John Cole| 66 Comments
This post is in: John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House"
You know, it’s been a little over a year since Max came home with me, and it’s kind of amazing how much the two of us have bonded over that time. He’s really an interesting beast, and so unlike all the other cats I have known. He’s stubborn and willful but also desperate for attention always, he’s independent, yet needs significant amount of petting and love. He’s ornery as all hell, but mostly in a playful sense.
He has a ton of really weird idiosyncracies- one of which is that if I call him, he comes RACING in and I can hear his little bell jingling the whole way, and as soon as he has sight of me, he starts chirping and then chirps with every step.
Another really funny thing he does is that showering is no longer a private affair. When I get into the shower, he will come into the bathroom and sit outside the shower the entire time I am in there, he will sit there quietly. When I finish and pull open the curtain, it always startles him, and he starts chatting up a storm and doing the figure eight between my legs getting hair stuck all over them. He then follows me to the bedroom, and as I am sitting on the bed putting my socks on, he chatters non stop and attacks the socks as I try to put them on.
He’s really turned out to be a first rate companion, and I am so glad he is here.
This post is in: Excellent Links, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Vice-President Harris
who run the world? https://t.co/Kp8nap7dZN
— Kirsten Allen (@knicole_a) April 17, 2024
This week's @VP schedule:
Tues- Host Passover Seder at VP residence with @SecondGentleman.
Wed- NY bound to tape interview with @DrewBarrymoreTV.
Thurs- WH remarks for Take Your Child to Work Day.
Saturday- Attend with SG for annual @whca Correspondents Dinner.— KAMALA NATION (@KamalaNation) April 22, 2024
The Kamala Harris moment has arrived, by @CharlesMBlow.
Read: https://t.co/8NfgrUsNwH
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) April 18, 2024
Charles Blow, in the NYTimes — “The Kamala Harris Moment Has Arrived”: [gift link]
… Vice President Harris has served nearly a full term alongside President Biden, and she is moving into another moment when the political stars are aligned for her as the perfect messenger on a subject that has fixed Americans’ attention and is central in the 2024 presidential campaign: reproductive rights.
This time, her target is Donald Trump. And being in a position to go on the offensive is something of a reversal of fortune for a vice president who has endured withering — often unfair — attacks and who struggled to define herself in the role…
Criticisms of Harris have been relentless, ranging from legitimate challenges to her policy statements to ridiculous commentary about her laugh. Much of it has seemed tinged with gender bias.
And she remains a source of concern, a perceived vulnerability to Biden’s re-election. In March, the Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker wrote that Harris should bow out for the sake of the country, absurdly comparing her to Sarah Palin in 2008.
Over and over in her failed run for this year’s Republican nomination, Nikki Haley pointed to the possibility of a future Harris presidency as a scare tactic, saying in an August interview on “Good Morning America”: “There is no way Joe Biden is going to finish his term. I think Kamala Harris is going to be the next president, and that should send a chill up every American’s spine.”
But the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and Republicans’ lust to enact increasingly regressive policies to restrict reproductive rights in states across the country have made Harris’s voice an essential one in the campaign.
In December, Harris announced her nationwide Fight for Reproductive Freedoms tour.
In March, she became what is believed to be the first vice president to pay an official visit to an abortion clinic (no president has done so), when she visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul, Minn.
No matter how sensitive and knowledgeable men try to be on the issue of reproductive rights, there are still things that we cannot fully connect to. Harris transcends that barrier not only because she’s a woman but also because of her background as a prosecutor…
Harris may never be duly recognized for her contributions to the administration on a broad range of issues, but in the end that may not be her calling.
According to her office, since Roe was overturned, the vice president has held “more than 80 convenings in 20 states.” Being a trusted voice in favor of reproductive rights and against Republicans determined to restrict or eliminate them may be the greater contribution she can make to Biden’s re-election bid and to maintaining national stability.
With this issue, she has hit her stride. With it, the talk of her as a liability has been hushed, for some, by the clear realization of what she brings to the campaign. With it, Harris has a mission, and she’s on it.
.@VP is such a key — and effective — messenger on top issues pic.twitter.com/sPd3W8KJGB
— Jim Messina (@Messina2012) April 21, 2024
NEW from me: Sitting in Las Vegas last week, Kamala Harris told me she is finding these days on the campaign trail “very liberating.”
After her infamously rocky first few years, here’s how she got there: https://t.co/goIaDCdEx1
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) April 21, 2024
Kamala Harris hadn’t even started building up to her ending when the crowd in Las Vegas — more fired up than any poll would suggest — started chanting, “Four more years!” But she made sure everyone heard the line she’s come up with: “Trump abortion bans.”
And not one pro-Palestinian protester interrupted her that day, or, for that matter, over her four-day campaign swing West.
The vice president is clearly feeling energized these days. She is more engaged. She is looser. Aides say she was the one who pushed to explicitly call out former President Donald Trump as responsible for every rollback in abortion rights, and she is clearly feeding on the old prosecutorial rush of tearing apart the opposition’s argument…
“She has been front and center on so many of the most politically potent issues right now,” said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who was a top aide to Harris for years before becoming the Biden reelection campaign manager, calling these “new opportunities to speak to the coalitions we know she already has a deep affinity to, but on issues that are top of mind for those voters.”
“As a former prosecutor, she can prosecute the case on so much,” Rodriguez said.
It means getting to talk about gun control and reaching out to younger voters like the gym full of high schoolers in Vegas who cheered even more loudly for her than they did when Marvel actress Xochitl Gomez took the stage first. (“She’s killing it!” an excited 15-year-old in a Barbie-pink denim jacket exclaimed after pushing up to take a photo with Harris as Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” played on the speakers.)…
Watch till the end:
Talked to hundreds of high schoolers in Las Vegas who are passionate about gun violence prevention.
Everybody deserves to be safe from gun violence.
Together, we can make that happen. pic.twitter.com/qZWZEiJmrt
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) April 18, 2024
Whenever our @VP interacts with kids, you can feel the genuine happy emotions from these children that can not be denied. ?? ?? https://t.co/ydEuGwBCZ3
— KAMALA NATION (@KamalaNation) April 19, 2024
It was an honor to meet you, Madam Vice President. pic.twitter.com/KhydNtKC8o
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) April 21, 2024
It was great meeting with Lavon and his family in Charlotte, North Carolina and chatting about the legacy of Shirley Chisholm, small businesses, and what our administration is doing to reduce energy bills. pic.twitter.com/jcY3pogm0K
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) April 21, 2024
BREAKING: Donald Trump just canceled his rally in North Carolina because it was raining.
Anyways, here is a video of Kamala Harris dancing at a campaign rally for no reason whatsoever. pic.twitter.com/dHDPF31thL
— Dream for America (@DreamAmerica_) April 22, 2024
Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Vice-President Harris, Doing the WorkPost + Comments (98)
by David Anderson| 39 Comments
This post is in: Anderson On Health Insurance
Tomorrow afternoon, my co-author Dr. Alex Hoagland of the University of Toronto will be presenting our paper Medical Bill Shock and Imperfect Moral Hazard to the Electronic Health Economics Colloquium (EHEC) at 14:00 ET on Zoom. It is an open presentation.
We want to know how does the provision of accurate billing information change the consumption of medical services. We live in a society where we make policy with the assumption that people are reasonably rationale and forward looking so patients are intended to act as consumers. We know from other research that people are really bad at responding to clean incentives from deductibles but we wonder how good are people at guessing what they owe and does this matter?
PEOPLE ARE REALLY BAD AT GUESSING WHAT THEY OWE
AND IT MATTERS A LOT!
We use a triple difference design to estimate changes in consumption before and after the arrival of a bill for Household Member A for everyone else in the household.
Below is a bunch of economic-speak from our abstract:
Consumers are sensitive to medical prices when consuming care, but delays in price information may distort moral hazard. We study how medical bills affect household spillover spending following utilization, leveraging variation in insurer claim processing times. Households increase spending by 45% after a scheduled service, but this is curtailed by 15% after the bill arrives. Bill effects are driven by learning about prices from particularly informative bills, and affect the type and location of care received. A model of household belief formation with delayed information suggests households overestimate expenditures by 10%, ultimately over-consuming an average (median) of $842.80 ($480.59) annually.
This is, I think a BFD… and I would love for some of the econy and academic Jackals to join us tomorrow.
Guessing cost-sharing wrong matters a lotPost + Comments (39)
This post is in: Open Threads, War in Ukraine
The Senate is voting right now to limit debate. It needs 60 votes to pass, and we are way past that, but apparently everyone has the opportunity to vote even if the threshold has been reached.
McConnell had a press conference scheduled for 2:30, which was moved back to 2:45.
Link to McConnell. (spit)
McConnell leads off his press conference by saying there were no DEMOCRATIC “no” votes on aid to Ukraine, and he expects that to be true in the Senate as well.
But of course, from there, McConnell leads off with what a terrible mistake it was for Biden to leave Afghanistan! WTF?
McConnell seems to be blaming the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Biden because we left Afghanistan.
On the plus side, McConnell is blaming Tucker Carlson for supporting Putin, so there’s that!
Update: Leader Schumer speaking right now. If you choose “start at the beginning’ go to 4 hrs : 49 minutes to see Schumer’s announcement that this has essentially passed! But waiting for the final vote either tonight or tomorrow. But the outcome is clear.
Link to the Senate sesion and Chuck Schumer (Schumer starts around 4;49)
The Senate on Tuesday advanced the House-passed supplemental funding package to provide long-awaited aid to Ukraine, Israel and other allies, teeing up the legislation for final passage.
Senators voted 80-19 to limit debate on the $95 billion foreign aid package, which includes $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid, $8 billion for Taiwan, and a smorgasbord of national security items that includes a possible ban on TikTok.
“The time has come to finish the job to help our friends abroad once and for all,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday morning on the floor. “I ask my colleagues to join together to pass the supplemental today as expeditiously as possible, send our friends abroad the aid they have long been waiting for. Let us not delay this. Let us not prolong this.”
“Let us not keep our friends around the world waiting for a moment longer,” he added.
A final vote could take place as early as Tuesday night if both parties yield back enough of the 30 hours required between cloture and final passage. If no time is yielded back, a final passage vote would be set for Wednesday night.
Senators are continuing to work toward a possible amendment agreement to speed up a final vote on the four-bill package, but those talks hit a snag over the weekend.
Meanwhile, in the Senate… They Are Getting it Done!Post + Comments (192)
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Indictments, Trump’s NY Criminal Trial
It’s Day 2 of the actual trial! Day 6, if you include jury selection.
Best sources of live blogging that I have found.
Josh Kovensky at TPM – Live Blogging
*Mark Sumner at Daily Kos – Live Blogging
Tyler McBrien at Lawfare – Live Blogging on Twitter
*Mark Sumner at Daily Kos includes live blogging of the contempt hearing that started at 9 am.
Emotional support pup and kitty for the occasion.