40+ years ago I was going to work in the government as the first step to changing the world (okay now stop laughing!! I was naive I admit it).
I got a job with the Social Security Administration. At that time it was touted as one of, if not the, best run arms of the government.
After one year I ran screaming into the wilderness and became a nail banger, turning an avocation into a vocation. Why leave? The incompetence, wastefulness and casual cruelty was too much to bear....and they were the good guys, some of them actually cared and fought against the system. Shoveling sand against the tide is more effective.
#3
The error here is that you assume that anything the government does is intended to work. It's actually just meant to give somebody something to do, so that they can collect their official paycheck twice a month.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
10/20/2015 19:47 Comments ||
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#2
These guys know they can simply defund it, right?
And it'll pass in the House, Raj. But there are only 54 Republicans in the Senate, not enough to overcome a Democratic filibuster or a presidential veto.
#3
That's the problem with omnibus continuing resolutions. If the House took the time to pass a real budget in multiple parts then Champ wouldn't even have the option of shutting down the government.
What the house and senate are doing is theater. They make it look like they are doing something by passing doomed-to-fail resolutions, then cave 110% to Champ and pass whatever he wants.
Boehner and McConnell have real tools available to fight back. They just choose not to use them.
#4
Neither party want to be known as Indian-givers when it comes to redistributing tax payer money. Obamacare will stick like gum to the bottom of our collective shoe.
Posted by: regular joe ||
10/20/2015 13:44 Comments ||
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#5
Boehner and McConnell have real tools available to fight back. They just choose not to use them.
Which is exactly why "establishment" pubs have to go.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
10/20/2015 14:53 Comments ||
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#1
News of something like this taking place would have quickly resulted in the 'buddy system' for latrine and shower calls. Not saying it didn't happen, but hot water is usually found at Forward Operations Bases (FOB). Smaller, Combat Outposts (COP) generally have more austere facilities. Soldiers are constantly coming and going from latrines and shower facilities. Latrines and showers are generally located near the Containerized Housing Units (CHU) or sleeping areas, and are situated side-by-side, oftentimes using same water tank. The word would have gotten around very quickly.
Again, not saying it didn't happen, but I'm a bit skeptical.
#2
Strikes as bull. Soldiers in war zone have a worldview considerably different from that of civilians. I suspect an incident like this would've resulted in several dead Afghans---the entire Afghan complement of the base, if the cooler heads prevailed.
[Breitbart] Now that ObamaCare is failing in the exact way its critics predicted more than 5 years ago, the White House is preparing to use threats to increase ObamaCare enrollment numbers next year. The threat, of course, is the ObamaCare tax.
Next year the annual fine for not buying President Obama's overpriced health insurance will jump to $695 or 2.5% of your income, whichever is greater. The White House intends to use the hefty fines as leverage in the upcoming 2016 enrollment period, which starts in November:
Administration officials are looking for a balance.
"We need to be make sure that we are very clear and explicit about that $695 penalty so people understand the choice they are making," said spokeswoman Lori Lodes. But she said the main emphasis will stay on the benefits of having health insurance and how the law's subsidies can dramatically lower the cost of monthly premiums.
It is no secret as to why no one is buying ObamaCare -- ObamaCare sucks.
Already, a third of the co-ops have shut down, further undermining enrollee options; the cost of premiums are skyrocketing, primarily because only the sick are signing up, and you're paying for a ton of Cadillac services you will never use: Men are paying for maternity care. We are all forced to pay for drug rehab. Worst of all, the deductibles are sky high -- in the thousands. The result is that a guy like me looking for single-person coverage ends up paying three hundred dollars-plus a month for a plan that offers no real benefits.
#2
There are so many exemptions available for the tax that just about anyone should qualify for at least one of them. Also, documentation requirements are minimal. No one should be paying this tax who doesn't want to.
#3
Please share, since two weeks after receiving notice of another payment increase - bringing to about double the amount I originally signed up for - I received notice my policy will be cancelled.
If I had been putting away even 2/3 of what I have been paying, I would have quite a nest. Fortunately I lose no sleep, knowing that interest is so low and productive investment so scarce, that it would have grown.
#4
The penalty is only $695? That's nothing compared to the cost of premiums. That's about two month's worth of premiums. They're gonna have to jack it up considerably to get the compliance they want...unless all they really want is another tax.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/20/2015 13:46 Comments ||
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#5
It supposedly goes up in subsequent years.
By 2016, the fine is expected to be 2.5% of your annual income or $695 per adult annually, whichever is greater. For future years 2017 and above, the penalty will be determined by cost of living, inflation, and other financial factors.
[Breitbart] President Barack Obama is refusing to meet with Hillary Clinton while he and his allies are urging Vice President Joe Biden to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, according to author Ed Klein.
On Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot channel 125, Klein told guest-host and Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow that Obama and his allies--Michelle Obama and Valerie Jarrett--have "been searching for months for an alternative to Hillary." According to Klein, they first approached Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)14% to challenge Clinton. When she declined, they approached former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and realized that "he didn't have the stuff."
"Now, they have been urging, promoting, cajoling, pressuring, pushing Joe Biden to get into the race," Klein said.
Klein mentioned that in his newest book about Hillary Clinton--Unlikeable: The Problem with Hillary--there is a scene in which "Hillary confronts Obama and demands in no uncertain terms" that Obama "do something about the leaks coming out of the White House regarding her emails."
Klein said that meeting took place "several months ago and they have not met since, despite the fact that Hillary has asked for more meetings, and they have all been rejected."
"That alone tells you a lot," Klein said. "This White House doesn't want to have anything to do with her if they can avoid it." If he's doing his job and keeping the boss updated, FBI Director Comey will have kept the Champ informed on potential outcomes regarding the current email scandal. This is likely confirmed by the 'she made a mistake' rhetoric recently released by the Champ, which by the way, distressed the Bureau greatly. 'She made a mistake' however, is more than a simple statement, it's an entire legal defense. She cannot be pardoned unless she is first 'under the bus.'
#1
The desperation in the Clinton camp is due to the Donk program to take the election by millions of illegals voting merely to cover the Party's coup. The Inner Party is now jockeying for who gets the crown. See the leadership brawl after Lenin's death.
#3
If the Beest wants a meeting with Champ she should learn to play golf. Bubba never had this kind of problem.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/20/2015 13:51 Comments ||
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#4
As #1 + #2 on the National Command Authority, only POTUS Obama + VPOTUS Biden can order, or NOT order, any rescue attempt ala Benghazi - among other, the main inference or implication by seemingly "throwing Hillary under the Bus" is that the Hillary acted wholly independently from the Bammer andor Biden vee Benghazi, + that the Bammer is NOT in charge or in control of his own Admin, WHICH IS CONTRARY TO HIS CHARACTER + POL HISTOIRE'.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.