Day: October 16, 2013
Ted Cruz: Democratic Sleeper Agent?
Ezra Klein has a wonderful piece on Washington Post’s Wonkblog that lays the blame for the shutdown and subsequent Republican loss of favorability, credibility and viability at the feet of “Tailgunner” Ted Cruz. Here are some of Klein’s points, but read the full article for the full affect:
It is tough to appreciate just how much good Ted Cruz has done the Democrats over these last few weeks.
- He convinced Republicans to shut down the government rather than wait and fight over the debt ceiling, where they would have had more — and more dangerous — leverage.
- He splintered the Republican Party such that, from day one, it was clear that the GOP leadership opposed the strategy they were executing, and GOP senators were publicly blasting House Republicans. That also cut the GOP’s leverage.
- He made this a fight over defunding Obamacare, which polls showed was a wildly unpopular reason to shut down the government, and which united Democrats against him.
- He shut the government down on Oct. 1, the same day Obamacare began, thus distracting the American people from the law’s catastrophic rollout.
If It Defaults, the Government Won’t Run Out of Money Tomorrow
$36.5 billion
Amount the Federal Treasury will have on hand to pay its bills if the debt ceiling isn’t lifted by Oct. 17. Revenues and cash reserves will probably cover the $12 billion of social security payments due Oct. 23 and the $3 billion of Federal salaries due on Oct. 25. But they may not cover the $6 billion of debt interest payments due on Oct. 31 and almost certainly won’t cover the $57 billion of social security, Medicare, military and income support payments due on Nov. 1, according to FT Alphaville.
McCain Concedes Defeat (Again)
Republicans have to understand we have lost this battle, as I predicted weeks ago, that we would not be able to win because we were demanding something that was not achievable.
— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), quoted by the New York Times, on the debt ceiling standoff.
Let the Democrats Take Back the House
Yes. I cannot believe I’m saying this, but I hope the House flips to the Democrats in 2014, so we can be rid of these nuts. Let Ted Cruz sit in the Senate stewing in his precious bodily fluids, and let Washington get back to the business of governing.
— Rod Dreher, in the American Conservative.
It’s Better to Preserve Than Try to Restore Credit
Credit worthiness is like virginity, it can be preserved but not restored very easily, so it is crazy to play around with it.
— Warren Buffett, in an interview on CNBC.
For Tea Partyists Who Still Don’t Believe Obamacare Is a Republican Invention, Here Is Ultimate Proof
Transcript:
MITT ROMNEY: When [the uninsured] show up at the hospital, they get care. They get free care, paid for by you and me. If that’s not a form of socialism, I don’t know what is. So my plan [Romneycare] did something quite different. It said, you know what?, if people can afford to buy insurance, if they can afford to buy insurance, or if they can pay their own way, then they either buy that insurance or pay their own way, but they no longer look to government to hand out free care. And that, in my opinion, is the ultimate conservatism.
That’s why the Heritage Foundation worked with us and was at the celebration of the signing — the Heritage Foundation, as you know, a quintessentially conservative group, recognized that the principles of free enterprise and personal responsibility were at work. You know, I’m proud to talk about what we did. We did not need to raise taxes. We did not need to have the government take over healthcare. Instead we rely on private market dynamics to get people in our state insured and for individuals to finally take responsibility for some portion of their healthcare rather than expecting government to give ’em a free ride.
From a report by Michael Issikoff, NBC News, on Oct. 11, 2011:
To the Rest of the World, the U.S, Government Looks Insane and Weak
To the rest of the world, the United States looks insane right now. They’re dealing with real problems that their political systems are struggling to solve. The United States’ political system is creating fake problems that it may choose to leave unsolved…At best, the United States is slowing its recovery — and that of the rest of the world. At worst, it’s going to trigger another global crisis.
— Ezra Klein, in The Washington Post.
Americans Signed Up in State Insurance Exchanges Exceeds 100k
35,000 and 100,000
The numbers of people who have signed up and completed applications for health plans in state insurance exchanges, respectively.
GOP-Controlled North Carolina Becomes First State to Suspend Welfare Payments Because of Republican Shutdown
The North Carolina Republican Party’s war on the state’s poor people got a boost from the congressional GOP’s shutdown of the federal government on Monday. The shutdown gave the tea partyists who run North Carolina an excuse for suspending welfare payments in November:
North Carolina on Monday suspended its Work First program, formerly known as welfare, because of the federal shutdown in Washington.
County social service agencies stopped processing new applications for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families because federal monies are expected to dry up by November unless Congress can reach a deal for funding the federal government.
The Department of Health and Human Services sent out a letter Thursday to county social service directors telling them to stop processing new applications as well as re-certifications for November.
