Thursday Open Thread [1.2.14]

This is interesting and presents a possible paradox of conservative ideology that will destroy it once and for all. From Haaretz:
"Israel will pay for abortions for women aged 20 to 33 regardless of circumstance starting next year, health officials said Monday, adding that they hope to make eligibilty for state funding universal in the future."
Conservatives, especially the theocons and neocons, place utmost importance on Israel. For the theocons, the reason is obvious, it is the Holy Land. For the neocons, it is the protection of Israel is almost the sole purpose of the existence of the United States. The conservative Likkud government of Israel is now going to provide not only free abortions, but they are going to do it through evil socialist universal healthcare.
New Years Day Open Thread [1.1.14]

New Years Day Open Thread [1.1.14]

Happy New Year to all. A new year, new hopes, new opportunities. But right now, we have the same old politics, which are hopefully changing for the better. Paul Krugman on whether our fiscal politics are changing:
The intransigence of the right wasn’t the only disease troubling America’s body politic in 2012. We were also suffering from fiscal fever: the insistence by virtually the entire political and media establishment that budget deficits were our most important and urgent economic problem, even though the federal government could borrow at incredibly low interest rates. Instead of talking about mass unemployment and soaring inequality, Washington was almost exclusively focused on the alleged need to slash spending (which would worsen the jobs crisis) and hack away at the social safety net (which would worsen inequality). So the good news is that this fever, unlike the fever of the Tea Party, has finally broken.

Carney The Craven

Our congressman, you know, the one who refused to push for Congress to stay in session until benefits to the long-term unemployed were restored, nevertheless found the time to send…