Category: Quick Hits

Let me see if I have conservatives' views straight here: It's a disaster of epic proportions if someone has to wait 20 minutes for a government website to load but no big deal if people have to wait in line for 8 hours to vote.

Makes sense to me.

And for the record, I went through the whole process of getting estimate from the insurance exchanges on healthcare.

gov and it took, from clicking on the first link to getting a list of options, a little over seven minutes. That's not to say that the website works that quickly and efficiently for everyone who has ever tried to use it, but let's just say I did not consider the experience to be taxing.

I pulled through.

The late, anything but great Jesse Helms was one of the nation's foremost crusaders against pornography, which he called "poe-nah-gra-fuh". This prompted Bill Hicks to make the accurate observation, "I don't think you should be against something until you can pronounce it."

An enterprising Slate writer tracked down six guests who recently appeared on Sean Hannity's Fox News program to explain how Obamacare was causing them grievous harm. Showing that no lessons have been learned since 2008, when the McCain campaign decided to make a mascot out of an unemployed, unlicensed plumber who couldn't tell the same story twice, it appears that Hannity thought it best to choose a group of people who were either flat-out lying or just completely ignorant of the new law and its requirements. My favorites:

First I spoke with Paul Cox of Leicester, N.C. He and his wife Michelle had lamented to Hannity that because of Obamacare, they can't grow their construction business and they have kept their employees below a certain number of hours, so that they are part-timers. Obamacare has no effect on businesses with 49 employees or less. But in our brief conversation on the phone, Paul revealed that he has only four employees. Why the cutback on his workforce? "Well," he said, "I haven't been forced to do so, it's just that I've chosen to do so. I have to deal with increased costs." What costs? And how, I asked him, is any of it due to Obamacare?
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There was a long pause, after which he said he'd call me back. He never did.

For someone with four employees (JOB CREATOR! HURR!) the sole requirement is that the employer inform them of the government website for exchanges. That could be done in an email in 10 seconds. And then there's:

When I spoke to Robbie, he said he and Tina have been paying a little over $800 a month for their plan, about $10,000 a year. And the ACA-compliant policy that will cost 50-75 percent more? They said this information was related to them by their insurance agent. Had they shopped on the exchange yet, I asked?
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No, Tina said, nor would they. They oppose Obamacare and want nothing to do with it. Fair enough, but they should know that I found a plan for them for, at most, $3,700 a year, 63 percent less than their current bill.

It's not amazing that people are horribly misinformed about the law given how easy it is to be horribly misinformed – more accurately, how it is impossible not to – when living inside the Beck – Fox News – Limbaugh conservative media bubble. It is amazing that there are people who refuse to even look at the website. To refuse to buy On Principle is silly, in my opinion, but one's choice. To form those principles based on fourth-hand information that was incorrect when it was first-hand is a symptom of two things.

First, it shows how willingly the Teabagging rubes allow themselves to be screwed by their masters.

Second, it emphasizes that for all their talk of freedom and demands to know The Truth, what these people really appear to want is to be force-fed information by their chosen mouthpieces like geese being fattened up for foie gras.

Having just driven 1000-plus miles in three days, I can't work up the sap for the post planned for Monday.
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Trust me though, whenever I spent 15-20 hours alone in a car on empty rural roads, a handful of epic posts usually follows.
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In the meantime, I have two new nominees for the Worst Place in America: Joplin, MO and Fort Smith, AR. Don't give me the tornado excuse for Joplin. And Fort Smith would be vastly improved by a few EF4s. I continue to maintain that the worst actual city (not tiny rural pile of rubble) in the country is Fresno, though God knows there are plenty of contenders (everything in upstate NY, Reading PA, Worcester MA, Peoria IL, South Bend IN, Houston, and a handful of other Rust Belt atrocities in Ohio and Michigan). Nonetheless, both Joplin and "The Fort" merit strong consideration.
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On the plus side, if you want to feel thin and smart, you'll be king of the world in either place.

One of the most impressive aspects of modern conservatism is how completely a-historical the movement and its ideology have become. Most humans tend to remember things that happened in the past; some even learn from the experience.
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American conservatives, conversely, not only prove staggeringly ignorant of historical details but they also have a habit of proposing ideas that have failed spectacularly in the past as though they are new and untested.

Let's deregulate capitalism and let the free market govern us! We tried that during the Industrial Revolution; try Googling "robber barons." Let's engage in regime change and nation-building! We won the Vietnam War, didn't we?
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Tax cuts produce runaway economic growth!
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Except for when they don't. And now we're hearing the backbenchers who are morons even by the standards of House Republicans proposing that defaulting on debt obligations really won't be such a big deal. As shocking as this will be for a group of people with the long-term memory of goldfish, we tried that once as well. It ended up being expensive. Really, really expensive.

It would be overly optimistic to think that the nation, or at least a small group of people with considerable political power, could analyze a historical event, draw conclusions about its consequences, and perhaps learn something useful from it. You know, the kind of things we ask high school students to do with a history textbook. You may claim that the GOP remembers this incident but simply does not care or they welcome its destructive consequences.
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I am more pessimistic. If the over-under on the number of House Republicans who have heard of and can explain something about the 1979 default was set at 50, I'd take the under. All in.

Since our entire country has been on this Randian-Libertarian-Nihilist streak for the recent past and foreseeable future, I have a question about something that has been bothering me: why do these Objectivist-Superman-Job Creator types oppose inheritance taxes? In fact, why do they believe in inheritance of assets at all? I mean, if every man should have to make it in the world on his own mettle without outside interference, then the children of the rich should have to hack it without a financial booster seat.

Furthermore, since they're so qualified to succeed in life of their own accord, they should have no need for dad's and granddad's millions.
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I may be a simpleton, but it would appear to me that once you accept a system of hereditary wealth the whole "level playing field" thing goes out the window. Maybe I just need to get out my picture of Milton Friedman and pray harder.

Many years ago I read a study of people who had survived falls from great heights – including a WWII paratrooper who fell 22,000 feet with no parachute – and I was struck by the nearly universal reports of a calm, serene feeling while it was happening. There comes a point at which you become so thoroughly screwed that your body and brain team up to decide that there is no point in freaking out about it. You'd likely be panicked if you had to jump out of a third-story window or if you fell down a long flight of stairs, but when falling from 22,000 feet it isn't even worth it to scream or be scared. I'd have to imagine, as the survivors reported, that the most likely response would be along the lines of "Well I guess this is it."

On a smaller scale we all experience the same phenomenon. We routinely get bent out of shape about matters that are trivial at best, yet when we are faced with an actual serious problem – even insurmountable ones against which we can do nothing – we do a better job of taking it in stride. I have a friend who was evicted from his house in 2010 when it was foreclosed; I recall speaking to him a few days beforehand and asking him what he was going to do. "Well, the bank's going to take the house and I guess I'll stay somewhere else." It blew my mind. Objectively, that's a great way to handle it.

Watching – at least to the extent that I can stomach watching this – John Boehner during this congressional kabuki theater makes me feel like I'm seeing the same thing in the beleaguered speaker. I don't feel bad for him; when you sign up to be the captain of the U.S.S. Batshit you get what you deserve. But man does he look calm for a guy who is totally powerless to stop this trainwreck. He can't control the House GOP any more than he can control the weather, and he knows it. He's just…placid. Here is an orange-skinned man who no longer knows fear.

He knows how screwed he is and at this point he looks like he's considering getting hammered on Wild Turkey and riding the wave until it's over.
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He's pushing for a six week continuing resolution with the apparent hope that he'll come up with an idea in that time or fake his own death.
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However this is resolved – the usual last minute "compromise", a temporary shutdown, or a protracted battle – the common thread is that Boehner is a passenger in the process. He knows he is supposed to be in control, and nominally he is. He may not be a rocket scientist but he is smart enough to realize that the laws of physics have taken over and he's along for the ride. If I'm ever as screwed as he is at this moment, I hope I can experience the same kind of serenity.

Godspeed, Mr. Speaker.

In a move that surprises no one – certainly not the regular Gin and Tacos reader – all of those surplus Mine Resistant-Ambush Protected Vehicles that Congress bought are finding their way into the hands of domestic police departments.

In a rather crass effort to score political points by showing how much they Support the Troops^tm, the folks in Congress went on something of an MRAP binge in the Aughts. Like so much surplus Department of Defense gear, it was only a matter of time until the Pentagon started handing them out to local governments in desperation to get rid of the goddamn things. Alternatives include shipping them to the US for (expensive) storage, giving them to other governments, and cutting them apart for scrap at four cents per pound.

The Dallas County Sheriff has taken possession of an International MaxxPro, pictured here:

That Dallas County has the vehicle is indisputable, leaving only the question of why. Why? Why in god's name would county sheriffs need something so heavy that it's barely functional for street use?

Well…

The underlying reason seems to be that military trucks are fucking cool, but no one's actually saying that. The sheriff's office is touting it as a tool that will help them better serve warrants.
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"Having a tactical vehicle will not only provide warrants execution with the equipment to assist in performing their jobs but will provide an overall safety arch," Chief Deputy Marlin Suell wrote to commissioners.
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The world makes more sense to me knowing that the sheriff of Dallas County, Texas is named "Marlin Suell."

At least this kind of bald, pointless, hyper-overkill militarization will start to make Americans think twice about the changes in police in this country since 1980, right?

Oh for fuck's sake.

Based on a totally unscientific survey – meaning I asked a class of 25 for a show of hands – I learned that The Grapes of Wrath is not assigned as broadly as I assumed. I didn't think it was possible to go to high school in the United States without reading it (or at least being assigned to read it). It turns out that in my non-random sample of 25, no more than three or four had read it previously. Don't worry, I'm fixing that. For this small group, anyway.

What exactly were they assigned, I asked? According to the Center for Learning and Teaching Literature, the ten most assigned books do not include The Grapes. The list also omits some of the other more socially- or politically-oriented classics like 1984, Brave New World, The Jungle, and a bunch of other things that I assumed were read commonly. What is well represented is relatively inoffensive fare (Romeo & Juliet, To Kill a Mockingbird, Hamlet, etc.) These are of course excellent choices. They are somewhat light on heavier social and political themes, though.

States and school districts vary widely in how they choose required readings. And for all I know, The Grapes of Wrath could be somewhere in the top 20-30 assigned books and therefore still pretty popular. Groups like school boards tend toward the least offensive choices when making decisions; it's a product of committee thinking. Perhaps the novel just isn't as worthy and popular as I thought. I could just be biased or delusional. Is is difficult, however, to imagine that the exclusion of a book about how our economy systematically generates and thrives on a new form of serfdom is a complete coincidence.

I suppose it wouldn't do to have the kids learn that if you can create a large enough class of desperately poor people and 10,000 show up for 100 job openings, you can get people to work for peanuts. Or that it's necessary to denigrate the underclass by calling them dirty, shiftless, thieving degenerates in order to maintain social power. Or that any man who wants thirty cents when they're paying twenty-five is a goddamn Red. No, that won't do at all.

Admittedly I don't know anything about the process of choosing curricular materials at the K-12 level. Our homework – and this includes me – is to research and determine how reading lists are chosen in our local school district. It's something well worth weighing in on if possible.

Mike Konczal brought this brief Ezra Klein piece to my attention earlier this week. In it, Klein claims that all of the financial advice you will ever need can fit on a 4×6 index card.

The advice is as follows:

1. Max out your 401(k) or other employer contribution plan
2. Buy inexpensive, well-diversified mutual funds
3. Never buy or sell individual stocks
4. Save 20% of your money
5. Pay credit card balances in full monthly
6. Take advantage of tax-advantaged accounts like Roth IRA and 529s
7. Pay attention to fees
8. Make your financial advisor commit to a fiduciary strategy
9. Support social insurance programs

Certainly this is all sound advice. So why does it just add fuel to my "God I want to punch Ezra Klein" fire?

Like most Beltway insiders, he is a mouthpiece for the politics of consensus and Reasonable People.
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He is a younger, hipper David (Gergen or Brooks, take your pick). This sounds like exactly the kind of financial advice we would hear from someone who would be shocked to learn that, what, maybe a third of Americans have 401(k)-type plans? That most people barely make enough to live paycheck-to-paycheck and saving 20% (is that in addition to or including the 401k?) isn't feasible? That there is an entire universe of Americans outside of DC and Manhattan who don't have a financial advisor?

This is great advice for people who don't need this advice.
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Honestly, if you have a job that pays you well enough to save a fifth of your income and take advantage of an employer contribution plan, you have to try pretty hard to fail to save money and have relatively solid finances. So thanks, Beltway journalists and Ivy League academics – we have solved a problem that didn't really exist. To the extent that there are people who earn enough to do all of these things but instead blow all of their money on shopping and a McMansion, I guess this could help.

But are they going to start taking financial advice now if they haven't yet?

The index card needs one additional line at the top; "Step one – get a high paying job with excellent benefits." Without that, the rest is as useful as Esperanto.

Forget about the final three months of the year; competition for the 2013 Unintentional Hilarity award is all but over thanks to Robert Costa over at America's Shittiest Website^TM.

Leadership sources tell me the House GOP will soon vote on a continuing resolution that simultaneously funds the federal government and defunds Obamacare. Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor are expected to announce the decision at Wednesday's closed-door conference meeting.

This means the conservatives who have been urging Boehner to back a defunding effort as part of the CR have won a victory, at least in terms of getting the leadership to go along with their strategy. But getting such a CR through the Democratic Senate and signed into law will be very difficult — and many House Republican insiders say a "Plan B" may be needed.

Here’s how my sources expect the gambit to unfold: The House passes a "defund CR," throws it to the Senate, and waits to see what Senator Ted Cruz and his allies can do. Maybe they can get it through, maybe they can’t.
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Boehner and Cantor will be supportive, and conservative activists will rally.

But if Cruz and company can't round up the votes, the House leadership will likely urge Republicans to turn their focus to the debt limit, avoid a shutdown, and pass a revised CR — one that doesn't defund Obamacare.

For the moment, though, the leadership is officially undecided. "No decisions have been made, or will be made, until House Republican members meet and talk tomorrow," says Michael Steel, Boehner’s spokesman.
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Where to start.

Yes, Bob. It may in fact be somewhat difficult to get the Democratic Senate to hop on board with the pet project of unreconstructed Teatards. Informed Sources also speculate that it could maybe, possibly be a little difficult to get the President, who does not have to run for office again, to repeal his signature legislative accomplishment, however underwhelming or flawed it may be.

Indeed, "many House Republican insiders" believe that some sort of backup plan may be necessary.

The only flaw with that statement is its implication that the scenario described here constitutes a "plan" in any sense of the term.

Meanwhile, well-liked Senator and noted bipartisan Ted Cruz will get to work on getting fourteen Democrats to board the FreedomWorks Express. I wonder who will jump ship first, Chuck Schumer or Dianne Feinstein? Maybe Dick Durbin. Sources hear that Bernie Sanders is already a lock to defect. Thirteen more to go, Ted!

We close out this journalistic abortion with a casual reference to destroying the global economy if by some miracle this brilliant plan happens to fail. It's beautiful to see that modern conservatism has reached a point where "and then we engineer the failure of the economy" doesn't even require an explanation. It can be mentioned in passing as though it is too obvious and mundane to explain in any detail.

For someone who is paid to talk about political science, I read and watch a shockingly small quantity of political commentary and news. This is why.