Wednesday Open Thread [1.8.14]
Dana Milbank wants to know where the outrage is from Democrats over the cuts to unemployment benefits. He notes that this kind of thing used to be real red meat for OG Democrats to beat up the GOP over. And I agree with him — you can’t effectively launch an effort to critique income inequality in the US without starting to wrap the problem around the GOP’s neck. Even though there is plenty of Democratic policy that has been complicit in this. But the GOP has been wringing its hands over paying for these extended benefits, so where are the Dems offering to eliminate the subsidies to oil companies as a way to pay for this?
And this tops a full list of similar gestures: curtailing preschool for poor kids; cutting nutrition assistance for pregnant women and babies; and opposing an increase in the minimum wage, which has lost 6 percent of its purchasing power in the past four years. House Republicans sought last year to reduce food stamp benefits by $40 billion, but they may be persuaded by Senate Democrats to accept only $9 billion in cuts.
You don’t have to be a Huey Long to recognize that there’s an opening for populist outrage here: The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and Republicans seem content to widen the divide.
Rush Limbaugh thinks that the polar vortex is a liberal hoax:
“Because they’ve got to find a way to attach this to the global warming agenda, and they have. It’s called the ‘polar vortex.’ The dreaded polar vortex […]”
“Do you know what the polar vortex is? Have you ever heard of it? Well, they just created it for this week,” he said. “They’re in the middle of a hoax, they’re perpetrating a hoax, but they’re relying on their total dominance of the media to lie to you each and every day about climate change and global warming.”
Right? I guess it is alot easier to be this stupid when you are paid as much as he is.
More Hillary News! The ready for Hillary PAC raised $4M in 2013. And it looks like they are using the money to do more fundraising. Oy.
Delaware gets a small feature (with gorgeous, but too few, pictures) in the BBC.
“so where are the Dems offering to eliminate the subsidies to oil companies as a way to pay for this? ”
Good question. Democrats have forgotten how to mix up a good poison pill. I guess they fear losing support from their patrons too.
Wheels and Sarge are gone from Phillies’ broadcasts:
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20140108_ap_cc1da3425c724e91a45bc1bc901a3bd7.html
In other news, Markell nominates Leo Strine to serve as Chief Justice of Delaware Supreme Court. But enough about that.
I, for one , will not miss either announcer. And, with Wheels gone, maybe they can bring in Harry the K’s son…
“Democrats have forgotten how to mix up a good poison pill.”
CNN, Fox News and MSNBC are playing on TVs in every congressional office all day. I think these things are related related.