October 14, 2013

Good Old Days

October 14, 2013 Buck Banks

Those were the days before to hell the country went,
Those were days when we had a functioning government.
Those halcyon days of yore,
Those days that are no more —
Those days when we had a white Republican president.

Plumber Joe Wants a White Republican President Because He’s an American

October 14, 2013 Buck Banks

Admit it. You want a white Republican president again. Now before you start feeling like you’re a racist, understand you are not. Wanting a white Republican president doesn’t make you racist, it just makes you American.

— Joe “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher, the everyman used by John McCain in the 2008 presidential campaign, in a new post on his website.

In Praise of Kentuckians

October 14, 2013 Buck Banks

My junior colleague has become a national figure in record time. I don’t think there’s a time in the history of our state we’ve had two more influential senators than we do right now. And I think that’s good for Kentucky.

— Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by the Lexington Herald-Leader, on Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).

Even Its Chaplain Says Senate is Insane

October 14, 2013 Buck Banks

Any objective observer would see a certain insanity in some of the things that have happened in this government shutdown.

— Senate Chaplain Barry Black, quoted by Politico.

Number of Americans with ‘High Deductible’ Health Plans on the Rise

October 14, 2013 Buck Banks

15.5 million

Number of Americans with high-deductible health plans in 2013, Bloomberg reports. That’s up from 1 million in 2005. A “high deductible” is defined as $1,250 or more for individual coverage per year.

Day: October 14, 2013

Good Old Days

Plumber Joe Wants a White Republican President Because He’s an American

Admit it. You want a white Republican president again. Now before you start feeling like you’re a racist, understand you are not. Wanting a white Republican president doesn’t make you racist, it just makes you American.

— Joe “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher, the everyman used by John McCain in the 2008 presidential campaign, in a new post on his website.

In Praise of Kentuckians

My junior colleague has become a national figure in record time. I don’t think there’s a time in the history of our state we’ve had two more influential senators than we do right now. And I think that’s good for Kentucky.

— Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by the Lexington Herald-Leader, on Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).

Even Its Chaplain Says Senate is Insane

Any objective observer would see a certain insanity in some of the things that have happened in this government shutdown.

— Senate Chaplain Barry Black, quoted by Politico.

Number of Americans with ‘High Deductible’ Health Plans on the Rise

15.5 million

Number of Americans with high-deductible health plans in 2013, Bloomberg reports. That’s up from 1 million in 2005. A “high deductible” is defined as $1,250 or more for individual coverage per year.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“They’ve invested heavily in AI labs. They’ve invested heavily in data centers. So, the first family has a financial stake in this industry, and as a result, the president of the United States is compromised.”

— “Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) on Monday said President Trump will likely not heed calls from technology leaders to implement guardrails on the development of artificial intelligence because of his family’s investments in the industry,” NewsNation reports.

— Jane Haman

“We’re working through some political issues in Israel. I think we agree with them on the end state. They just have a crazy election, and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards.”

— Jared Kushner, quoted by CBS News, on the lack of progress in Gaza.

Numerati

470

Reuters has documented at least 470 targets of retribution under Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. The list illuminates the sweeping effort by the president and his administration to punish dissent and reshape the government.

$184 million

50%

38%

31%