December 4, 2013

War Drones On

December 4, 2013 Buck Banks

The CIA and military are using drones more and more,
In Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia we’re giving ’em what-for.
Inevitably, civilians die
When we target some bad guy.
So is this really a legitimate way to wage a war?

A Quarter of Under-30 Uninsured Americans Plan to Pay Obamacare Fine

December 4, 2013 Buck Banks

26%

Of the uninsured under age 30 say they are more likely to pay the fine, compared with 30% of those aged 30 and older, Gallup finds. The biggest differences appear by party identification — 45% of uninsured Republicans plan to pay the fine, compared with 31% of independents and 15% of Democrats.

’12 Years a Slave’ Film Illuminates Racial Subtext of Obama Era

December 4, 2013 Buck Banks

This last weekend, I finally saw ’12 Years a Slave.’ It was the most powerful movie I’ve ever seen in my life, an event so gripping and terrifying that, when I went to bed ten hours later — it was a morning matinee — I lay awake for five hours turning it over in my mind before I could fall asleep. I understand it not merely as the greatest film about slavery ever made, as it has been widely hailed, but a film more broadly about race. Its sublimated themes, as I understand them, identify the core social and political fissures that define the American racial divide to this day. To identify ’12 Years a Slave’ as merely a story about slavery is to miss what makes race the furious and often pathological subtext of American politics in the Obama era.

— Jonathan Chait, writing in New York Magazine.

House Still Considering Impeachment of Obama

December 4, 2013 Buck Banks

We’ve also talked about the I-word, impeachment, which I don’t think would get past the Senate in the current climate … Is there anything else we can do?

— Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX), quoted by the Washington Post, noting there are enough votes in the House to impeach President Obama.

Bevin Admits He’s a Longshot to Unseat McConnell

December 4, 2013 Buck Banks

I’m David, and he’s Goliath. That’s just the reality of it. However, the path to victory just gets wider and wider.

— Matt Bevin (R), quoted by the Wall Street Journal, on his long-shot bid to unseat Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Democrats Leading GOP in Fundraising

December 4, 2013 Buck Banks

$65 million

Amount the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised through October, with $25 million in the bank for the 2014 cycle. By contrast, the National Republican Congressional Committee raised $52 million during that same period and had $18 million in the bank.

Half of Young Voters Would Vote to Recall Obama

December 4, 2013 Buck Banks

Day: December 4, 2013

War Drones On

A Quarter of Under-30 Uninsured Americans Plan to Pay Obamacare Fine

26%

Of the uninsured under age 30 say they are more likely to pay the fine, compared with 30% of those aged 30 and older, Gallup finds. The biggest differences appear by party identification — 45% of uninsured Republicans plan to pay the fine, compared with 31% of independents and 15% of Democrats.

’12 Years a Slave’ Film Illuminates Racial Subtext of Obama Era

— Jonathan Chait, writing in New York Magazine.

House Still Considering Impeachment of Obama

We’ve also talked about the I-word, impeachment, which I don’t think would get past the Senate in the current climate … Is there anything else we can do?

— Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX), quoted by the Washington Post, noting there are enough votes in the House to impeach President Obama.

Bevin Admits He’s a Longshot to Unseat McConnell

I’m David, and he’s Goliath. That’s just the reality of it. However, the path to victory just gets wider and wider.

— Matt Bevin (R), quoted by the Wall Street Journal, on his long-shot bid to unseat Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Democrats Leading GOP in Fundraising

$65 million

Amount the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised through October, with $25 million in the bank for the 2014 cycle. By contrast, the National Republican Congressional Committee raised $52 million during that same period and had $18 million in the bank.

Half of Young Voters Would Vote to Recall Obama

52%

Of voters aged 18 to 29 years old would vote to recall President Obama, a new Harvard Institute of Politics survey finds.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”