Monday, April 22, 2019

Here Comes Spring!


18 comments:

  1. Physicians Get Addicted Too [Click] Long, but the best opioid epidemic story I have read.

    Sanders W[ell] Ahead In New Hampshire [Click] with 30%—but he got 60% in 2016.

    Medicare projected insolvency 2026, Social Security 2035. [Click] Wonder if that assumes nonpayment of the money “borrowed” from the SS trust fund. In any event, the cure is obvious: remove the income cap for contributions.

    Buttigieg’s campaign very underdeveloped, AP says. [Click]

    Top Adviser to Beto O’Rourke Quits [Click]

    Buttigieg Draws Comparison Between Trump And Bernie Supporters [Click] The kid isn’t ready for the big time, IMO.

    CNN to hold a quintuple-header Democratic “town hall” [Click]

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    1. Re SS, Medicare, et al.: There is no question about "repayment." The Treasury bonds in which the trust funds have invested their money are not basically different from the bonds in which you and I and Chase and Saudi Arabia have invested their money. Any default on these bonds would fundamentally impeach the US government's financial stability throughout the world. (The budgetary flim-flam involved in counting SS income and expenses as part of the general budget is totally different and totally irrelevant.)

      But the projections do involve assumptions about immigration and economic growth that, the last time I looked, appeared unduly conservative over that period. The Medicare projections also include assumptions about the cost of medical care that are almost beyond anyone's guess. These projections need to be taken with a small grain of salt.

      On raising the income cap of SS taxes, there is a point I would strongly emphasize: The income used to calculate SS benefits is similarly capped. If you raise the tax cap, I think it would also be only fair to raise the benefit cap. Because of the way benefits are calculated, this would still improve SS's financial situation, but not as much as many people expect.

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    1. The destruction of the Citizens United brand of Republicans isn't happening fast enough to make it worth not impeaching. And anyway, let's do both.

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  3. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign released new internal polling that shows him leading President Trump in hypothetical matchups in Michigan (by 11 points), Wisconsin (by 10 points) and Pennsylvania (by 8 points).

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  4. susan davidson4/22/2019 08:57:00 PM

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/opinion/trump-republican-party.html?smid=fb-nytopinion&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR1oAgDyfM4zHFgv-YCHNdLNXwHvfANx-mB-9ggazg75yzWDto_D2C40mms

    "First, anyone expecting bipartisanship in dealing with the aftermath of the Mueller report — in particular, anyone suggesting that Democrats should wait for G.O.P. support before proceeding with investigations that might lead to impeachment — is being deluded. Trump is giving the Republican establishment what it wants, and it will stick with him no matter what.

    Second, it’s later than you think for American democracy. Before 2016 you could have wondered whether Republicans would, in extremis, be willing to take a stand in defense of freedom and rule of law. At this point, however, they’ve already taken that test, and failed with flying colors."

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    1. Susan Davidson4/22/2019 08:58:00 PM

      The title of the piece I just shared is "The Great Republican Abdication"

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  5. Sanders dares Democrats to stop him – but is he the man to beat Trump? [Click] Three observations: (1) the reporter confuses the Democratic Party with the Democratic Party mandarins, (2) Mayor Pete steps in it again, and (3) the concluding quotation seems right on target.

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  6. I seem, at long last, to have developed an exercise regimen that has cured the lower back pain that has plagued me since 2007; no sign of it for the past three mornings and days. Great stuff!

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  7. Immigration detention centers nearly empty as Trump claims border crisis [Click] “Facilities for parents and children had nearly 2,000 empty beds last week while the administration says the border is at ‘breaking point.’

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  8. Tuesday morning dump:

    Biden’s Hamlet act continues—campaign launch schedule and location up in the air again. [Click]

    Biden's battle plan [Click] Sounds like a good plan for twenty years ago; small-dollar donors don’t seem to figure into it, but party mandarins do.

    Donald Trump's state visit to the UK set for 3 June [Click] Plenty of time for our friends across the pond to organize a warm welcome.

    Will Trump sow chaos in US and world oil markets before the election? [Click] The potential for mischief is huge.

    Poll: Diversity Not a Priority for Democratic Voters [Click]

    In Their Own Words: How Ross And His Cronies Sought To Rig The Census [Click] Damning evidence. Letter: The Census Citizenship Question Is a ‘Nonissue’ [Click] It is already being asked in the American Community Survey, and there is no significant evidence that people hesitate to answer it.

    What the Press Is Missing About Pete Buttigieg [Click] A fair criticism, methinks.

    Fire poppies: rare golden flowers rise from the ashes in California [Click] Wow—beautiful, and germination is triggered by smoke, rather than heat!

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  9. Susan Davidson4/23/2019 01:05:00 PM

    Biden's indecisiveness is a big NO for me. The next President will have a lot of fixing and mending to do. We don't need a waffler. We need someone who can make a plan, articulate it and carry it to completion. And Biden is making it pretty clear that he is NOT THE ONE.

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  10. No argument there from me, Susan.

    Biden’s Toughest Opponent Is Himself [Click]

    The Washington Examiner [Click] reports Biden abandoned plans to kick of his campaign in Charlottesville, VA amid opposition from residents who were “unhappy about the scene of a tragedy the city would prefer to forget being used as a campaign launch backdrop.”

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  11. I'm for impeachment. If the House were to impeach DT, it means that he doesn't just plain get away with it. And if the Senate doesn't concur, let them do it by roll call vote, so the people will know whom to oust. I don't care if it's considered a crime or not, we know that what they did was wrong. It was his Campaign that shared polling data with the Russians and welcomed their contacts. Let the buck stop with him. If we don't impeach him and he gets reelected. Then what?

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  12. My mother, who considers herself extremely astute, informed me the other day that Biden must be the Democratic nominee because, and I quote, "He would be more acceptable to mainline Republicans" than anyone else in the field. It takes a lot to leave me speechless, but that pronouncement did.

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    1. That is the mistake Democrats keep making. Instead of wooing their BASE they woo moderate Republicans.

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    2. That might, perhaps, make some convoluted kind of sense, except there aren't any moderate Republicans anymore!

      And, I agree it is galling how consistently the party mandarins (Thanks for that phrase, Alan!) ignore and denigrate their base, and any candidate who tries to appeal to them.

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  13. If you didn't know better, you might think I'm terribly busy. For instance, take quiz writing. I currently have three quizzes on the go; "The Black Cauldron" for The Great Disney Long Haul, a quiz in the Blues subcategory of Music for the Find Your Niche challenge, both in the Author's Lounge, and yet another Engelbert quiz for my current stage in Adventures in Authoring, a multi-stage game. The Blues quiz is the only one that's actually urgent, since Kyle said any title that wasn't finished in sixty days will be thrown back into the hat; so, that's the priority. The Disney movie quiz needs to be completed with some dispatch as well, since the titles are assigned in a first come, first served basis, and I've already missed out on a couple I was interested in by my slothfulness. There's no great rush on Adventures in Authoring. I would, though, like to get on and see what the next sage is. Also, these will be my fifty-seventh, fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth quizzes. I'd like to mark the sixtieth in a low key way by writing one on the radio show Richard Diamond, Private Detective. I got a bit of a start on that one over the weekend too.

    After watching The Black Cauldron, which I'd never seen before, it occurred to me to wonder if it was based on a book. Lo and behold, it is in fact based quite loosely on the first two books of The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, a series aimed at roughly the same demographic as The Chronicles of Narnia. Already finished the first volume, The Book of Three and am moving right along in the second, The Black Cauldron, enjoying them very much. I need to download the rest of the series.

    But, don't be fooled. I'm really not busy at all. Quite the contrary. I'm so tired that I spend a good part of my time sleeping. Also downhearted and unhappy, but mostly I'm tired. While no doubt this has something to do with the ongoing bladder infection (Don't even ask!), it's probably more complicated than that. Sis' doctor called today to say that her blood work shows serious anemia. No great surprise there, as she shows most of the symptoms, including fatigue. But it did startle me out of my stupor for a moment. While I did suggest anemia to her at one point and hint that taking iron might be a good idea, a suggestion she scoffed at, of course, it didn't enter my thick skull that a little iron might do me some good. Must look and see if I have any about.

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