Or at least, I'm sure that's what Chris Matthews and company will say if they ever report on this. (Actually, unions do have a long history of bad race relations, but that's another story.) In the interests of making us feel better at the end of a grueling week, here's another case of liberals turning on each other.So when ObamaCare was passed three years ago, unions were among its loudest cheerleaders. And why wouldn't they? It was supposed to be the legislation that would ensure health care for all, make it affordable, lead America into a new Golden Era, blah blah blah. Besides, there's party loyalty to consider. So they backed TOTUS all the way.
Well, it's no secret to any of us that ObamaCare hasn't been delivering the flying unicorns it promised us. And the unions have slowly been figuring that out too. Even though many of the leaders spend their time ripping off the rank-and-file members, they still have to pay attention to those underlings' grievances. And what do a lot of union members see happening? Health insurance premiums continuing to go up, myriad other costs following suit--this is putting the squeeze on unions' own health plans, leading many to consider whether it wouldn't just be easier to go directly onto the government's plan. Which is not good--like any other organized group, the first law of a labor union is self-preservation, and one of their chief attractions has been their health insurance. If that's no longer a draw, then what?
So for the past few months or so, a lot of folks from Big Labor have been getting on the White House's case to adjust some of the requirements to make the legislation more palatable for unions. These haven't really gotten anywhere, and the frustration has risen to the point where one of them, at least, has decided to bolt. The United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers (I honestly didn't know waterproofing was its own profession) issued a press release this week announcing that, their prior support for Obama and friends notwithstanding, their concerns about the consequences of the health-care bill were completely ignored, their health insurance has now been endangered, etc., they are therefore "calling for repeal or complete reform of the Affordable Care Act to protect...our members and their families," plus puppies and kittens and so on.
Now, this is the only union which has as an organization abandoned ObamaCare (so far). But there are plenty of rumblings below the surface in others, too. Many local chapters have likewise demanded repeal, including those in the United Federation of Teachers, the Social Service Employees Union, the Teamsters, and even the SEIU (!). And it's not just the unions. Even Montana's Democratic Senator Max Baucus, who was crucial in writing this monstrosity in the first place, has begun voicing criticisms, complaining about delays in setting up the necessary programs and warning that it has the potential to become a "train wreck." Er, thanks for that news flash, Senator.
It would appear that the groundwork is in place for a large-scale defection from support of ObamaCare. Now, don't hold out any hope of Obama giving up and repealing or drastically reforming the legislation. We've already talked about how this may be practically the entirety of his legacy; that's even more true now, with the recent failure of the gun control legislation and immigration reform anything but a certainty. He's going to hang all his hopes on this one, that's for sure. But it does provide a little bit of Schadenfreude, at least, to see Obama's coalition falling apart, even if it won't have any concrete results in the near future.
Racial identity groups, class identity groups, gender identity groups--they're all at odds with each other, and then they all attack the government when they don't get what they want. If we didn't get caught in the political consequences so often, it would just be a barrel of laughs.
64 comments:
Apparently, the unicorns got crushed in the mail.
I'm not 100% sure what to make of all of this yet. Baucus is clearly just trying to have it both ways by saying (1) I passed the perfect bill and (2) all your problems are because they aren't following my bill. But there seem to be a LOT of reports about how horrible the law is and people do seem to be getting upset. And I have read that a lot of Democrats are really nervous.
I think the current strategy is to blame the Republicans for not fixing it, but that's not going to work with the public. You can't really win the public by saying, "Hey, they didn't fix my mistake!"
What's kind of ironic about that is that the Democrats seem to have assumed the Republicans would have fixed their mistakes because they always have in the past... but not this time.
Andrew, fictional creatures have a reputation for being very fragile.
Andrew, as far as I can tell, Baucus is falling back on the tried-and-true excuses of "it's not being messaged properly" and "there are problems of implementation." Nothing wrong with the bill itself, of course.
Like you, I can't really predict what's going to come of all this. This roofers union may turn out to be an anomaly, or now that one's come out against ObamaCare, it may open up some kind of floodgate. As with the gun control fiasco, it may come down to the red-state Dems. If they get enough heat to turn against the bill, Obama will probably have a total defeat on his hands.
T-Rav.....If, as the SC ruled, O'Care is a "tax" in order to make it constitutional, then it seems to me the House can take up a measure to "repeal" the O'Care tax. Then what? Will Congress start borrowing even more money to fund this b.s.?
I think we will get back to addressing particular healthcare concerns, like the 26 year olds on your policy, portability,...pre-existing conditions, etc..... and the monstrosity that Obama tried to foist off on the people will die off.
We will be back to a piecemeal approach of reforming healthcare, and not the over-arching program to take over our healthcare that O and the dems thought they had with this bill.
I'm glad some are starting to toss it right back at the architects of this bill. Won't be enough, as these slimy bastards will spin everything so that they end up doing god's work, and "others" can't seem to get it right.
I'm starting to really lower my opinion of politicians as a result of this (sarcasm off now)
OT**- From what I have read this morning, the alleged Boston bombers are/were Chechnyan MIT students. One dead, the other on run. MA is in full lockdown. The one on the run is armed and very dangerous.
I was looking at a less than appropriate blog last night. Wed night many were scouring pictures looking for backpacks and I believe these two were identified then as well prior to the official release.
Last night people were blogging live updates from the police scanner and it seemed surreal. Car jacking, high speed car chase, shoot outs, bombing, ect. Nothing was on the news blogs such as Drudge, Boston Globe, etc so I wasn't sure if it was real or not.
Although they may have been Chechnyan, their actions act and look more like a Columbine shooting than an organized terror network.
Koshcat - We will have to see the why of it all. I hope they can take this kid alive, if for no other reason than to get the answer. Who knows. I just pray that no other police or others get hurt...
Oh, I was wrong about the MIT student part at least for now.
So nice, you had to post it twice, Patriot? ;-)
Constitutionally speaking, I'm not entirely sure what the House could do to effectively repeal this, and it doesn't really matter, because the administration has a whole army of lawyers ready to argue that it doesn't have the power to do X. If they could convince the Supreme Court, they can convince anyone.
That said, I have no doubt that ObamaCare will eventually collapse under its own weight and internal contradictions, and we will see this disaster replaced with piecemeal reforms like you say.
Do you mean to say you still had a substantial opinion of politicians before all this? Hmmmmmm....
Bev, I was catching up on all that for a little while this morning. It seemed at first, listening last night, that it was going to be a false alarm, but I guess not. It must be nuts to be in Boston right now.
Kosh, Drudge has been an utter failure staying on top of these stories. It hasn't been very good at breaking news late at night. Fox hasn't been much better.
It certainly hasn't smelled like organized terror to me from the get-go. If they knew what they were doing, they'd have picked a time or place for their bombs more capable of creating mass death. It sounds like they cooked this up in their own heads.
T-Rav.....Darn techno crap. No idea why it posted twice.
OT.....I think this shows the power of mass communication from the public. We are getting almost live video feeds of the cops and the area...tweets from people involved in the area...research on the internet about the perps, tweets from people who knew them, facebook info and much more on a timely basis. More than any talking head in front of a camera on site can provide.
I think it's an effective use of the ubiquitous communications devices that are in ordinary peoples hands, and possibly the herald of a new age in reporting "public use" happenings. Just as we can't rely on the police to protect us in real time, we can't rely on the usual media (including some new media outlets..Drudge) to be able to provide as much information as from "reporters" involved in the event.
I've been following this Boston tweet blog this morning and it is always ahead of everyone else in providing updates.
http://live.boston.com/Event/Live_blog_Explosion_in_Copley_Square
I read a stupid article the other day, I believe Wednesday, criticizing law enforcement and the government for taking too long to find the perps. He used Britain as an example of how fast they swooped in after the subway bombings. Two statements I have. One, this guy is an idiot and they had the perps id'd within three days. Two, unlike those attacks I am getting the feeling that these are lone wolves (is that an oxymoron?). Much more difficult to find than a terrorist organization or group.
Patriot, that's certainly true, and I don't know why the cable news outlets haven't adapted to this. If nothing else, have someone just scanning all the Twitter feeds and blog comment sections. I've learned almost everything of substance about this from those outlets alone. Fox, for one, doesn't seem able to do anything but report trivia as "breaking news" once or twice an hour and spend the rest of the time speculating with "experts." Even if you caught a lot of rumor from perusing social media, would that really be a worse way to fill the time? (No.)
Oh, and here's your link: LINK
Koshcat - It takes as long as it takes. However, in the defense of the naysayers, the Feds did zero in pretty quickly on the ricin-laced letter sending Elvis impersonator...
Kosh, also, the UK is a far denser country, population-wise, and a lot harder to hide out in indefinitely. Generally speaking, I don't see a lot of wisdom in following Britain's example where law enforcement is concerned.
Bev, well--yeah, but he's an Elvis impersonator. That's kinda the antithesis of "keep a low profile."
T-Rav & Patriot - It is not just Fox or Drudge. It is ALL of our "real" news outlets. They have all utterly failed by trying to out-scoop each other. If it weren't so tragic, it would be comical - The Keystone Newsies...
BTW - T-Rav, I did not mean to hijack your article. I will make it up to you.
good old organized labor. proof positive people look out for number one. Having grown up near Philadelphia, I have a particular vitriol for O.L. The Building & Trade Council was a great example of brown shirted union thugs intimidating everybody else. Any organization trying to justify non-secret ballots has a problem. Of course, we always knew Obamacare was so good, all the important supporter groups needed waivers, but hey, maybe that was just coincidence. Anyway, nice report, Rav (kind of like how that rolls off the tongue!)
I think we should make "Schadenfreude Friday" a weekly feature! Or maybe shorten it to "SchadenFreuday" LOL!
Though I think it was completely inadvertent, the Republicans have done themselves a great favor by consistently refusing to tangle with ObamaCare and stick to their guns on repeal. Even one union dropping support will steel their resolve to maintain that position, making it impossible to blame GOP meddling for problems with the bill. It's pretty obvious that's what the Democrats had in mind to do. Oops! It really couldn't be any better for the Republicans on this issue.
A couple more big names (Unions, Dems, etc.) to drop and the GOP would be in a good position to talk about repeal and replace. Problem is that they don't have anything worthwhile replacing it. If they did and they timed it right...
"To dream the impossible dream. To fight the impossible foe..." and of course "...to right the unrightable wrong..."
I love the idea of SchadenFreuday!
Eh, don't worry about it Bev. It's breaking news stuff, and we'd probably all be talking about it anyway. Although if you wanted to pay me in kittens, I wouldn't object.
Maybe I should make that my new moniker, Jed--"Report-Rav"? :-)
Not living in a very industrial area, I haven't had a lot of experience with unions and don't really begrudge their existence. However, I do know one guy in the Teamsters who constantly shills for the Democrats and gets on my last nerve; and an unfortunate number of union members do seem to have bought into the "class warfare" line. We'd be better off without them.
I don't know, tryanmax--I don't think there's enough to laugh about in the world to make the Schadenfreude a regular feature. But I'll put some up as often as possible.
And it just goes to show, as often as the Republicans manage to shoot themselves in the foot, the Democrats manage to do it plenty as well.
Kosh, as tryanmax's comment above suggests, trying to replace ObamaCare right away might create too much confusion and contrary messaging, so maybe it's a good thing that we're still just talking about straight-up repeal. However, if you're interested in replacements, may I recommend Commentarama-Care? (Totally different from the Invisible Commentarama T-Shirts.)
+1 on SchadenFreuday. Well done tmax.
I wonder if conservatives are, once again, drinking their own bath water on this. Obama can wave his magic executive order wand and keep the unicorns flying, at least until enough people are dependent on Obamacare that it would be more difficult to remove it than keep it.
What depresses me is that the left dominance of the press has swept the most damaging aspect of the monstrosity under the rug, namely that it has kept the recession in place far longer than otherwise and the cost in human misery of that is enormous. Of course, the Republicans won't be pointing that out because the same press has pinned the blame between their shoulders.
You know, I never really wanted to know the actual process by which a free country becomes a squalid police state, but I'm getting an education on that.
T-Rav, I'll settle for a monthly installment. Besides, you've gotta keep those history lessons coming.
K, that is a consideration. But one would think that if Obama was going to do that again, he would have already done so. Frankly, I think he's afraid to make any more "adjustments," lest the whole house of cards comes crashing down--in which case, not even the media cartel can save him. But I guess we'll see.
tryanmax, I promise to give you all the SchadenFreudays and all the history lessons I can. :-)
Koshcat and T-Rav, Ann Coulter wanted us to put up surveillance cameras everywhere "to stop terrorism." I think that's ridiculous.
As for catching these guys, I suspect the FBI knew who they were long before the public knew. By the time they told us, I suspect they were simply looked to have people help identify their location and to know they should stay away from them.
tryanmax, Though I think it was completely inadvertent, the Republicans have done themselves a great favor by consistently refusing to tangle with ObamaCare and stick to their guns on repeal.
I think that's right. The Republican instinct is to do things that lessen the pain and that's exactly the worst thing to do when you want to expose Democratic laws for what they are. Don't make them better, let the Democrats hang themselves and then repeal them and do it right.
Andrew, I just read that one of the people injured in the bombing told the cops right after he woke up from surgery that he'd seen one of the guys. If so, that would suggest they did know--though they've certainly done their best to make us think otherwise.
Putting up surveillance cameras everywhere does seem a bit wacky; although I suppose you could say the same about imposing total lockdown on a population center as large as Boston.
It has been a heckuva week...
For the US: Boston, MA (bombs, manhunts), West, TX (explosions, rescue/recovery).
For TOTUS: no gun bill, temper tantrums, unions griping about LegacyOCare, Baucus backing down from the monstrosity he helped create...
TGIF!
T-Rav, I think Coulter has lost her mind lately. I've seen several real obnoxious ideas from her and a lot of her articles are packed with bizarre distortions, hypocrisy and huge gaps in logic in them.
In my experience, the cops/FBI don't get the public involved unless they are just looking to add evidence to what they already have.
Not sure if the FBI knew who they were yet especially if they didn't have a criminal record or part of a "network." It sure didn't take long for someone to recognize them. Looking at the blogs like Reddit and 4chan, it was fascinating how many people where combing pictures from the race looking for suspicious characters. I need to go back but I remember another that looked odd and may have been around these two as well but the blogs had picked these two out due to looking out of place. Carrying large packs and not really paying attention to the race. The most disturbing picture is of the suspect with the white hat just after dropping the pack and little behind and the left of the young boy who was killed. His sister is next to him; she lost a leg. They were there cheering for their dad in the race. They could have been my children. Sick pricks.
RE: Coulter, Since when did the right become in favor of the police state? They really are becoming a mirror image of the left.
Righties tend to have a knee-jerk response toward security.
rla, a heckuva week indeed. And I like that you differentiated between TOTUS and the US. Very appropriate.
Andrew, I was never a huge fan of Coulter; I thought she could be brilliant when she wrote but was and is far too prickly in person to be the public face of the Right. I haven't read anything from her lately, though. Maybe she's suffering belated PTSD from dating Bill Maher?
Kosh, if it makes you feel better, there's now a picture circulating on Reddit of White Hat's dead brother laid out on a slab. In the interests of taste, I'm not going to link it, but you could probably find it if that would provide some catharsis.
rla and tryanmax, you have to remember that "Left" and "Right" are really umbrella terms for an array of groups with some common interests. As a result, both go through authoritarian and libertarian phases, and occasionally show the same tendencies at once. It's really not that new, or surprising, when you think about it.
Seeing them burn in hell would be better.
Eh, I think the only way you're going to see that is if you're also in that wing of the afterlife, and that wouldn't quite be worth the trade-off for me.
Maybe on a tour with Dante as my guide?
Technically, that would be Virgil. Or hey, now it looks like what's-his-face may be available pretty soon. Give him a few years to get acquainted and he could take you.
I'll just take it on faith... (the occupants of Hell)
If you can believe the press, the guy is now in custody and 3 others have been arrested in connection with the bombings. I fully expect this story to change at least 3 more times before tomorrow morning...
tryanmax, rlaWTX and T-Rav, First, I agree with T-Rav that we should remember that right and left are umbrellas for multiple ideas and, thus, there may be conflicts even within the left or the right.
Secondly, I agree with rlaWTX that when it comes to security issues, conservatives knee-jerk toward totalitarianism... unfettered government power. That's really ironic if you ask me, but that's the way it is. Apparently, government is evil and incompetent except we should give it nearly unlimited power when it comes to police and military power.
Thirdly, I agree with tryanmax that right and left are starting to behave very much the same. :(
Bev, We should start a bidding war. "I heard they arrested 8 suspects."
In all seriousness, I read that the FBI actually looked at these guys two years ago because they went to some terrorist camp in southern ex-Russia. So I would not be surprised if they rounded up more people in whatever group these two were with.
Well....dang. To be perfectly honest, I think the suspect being shot to death would have been the best outcome here.
On seeing them burn in hell, I am a firm believer that people who do this sort of thing need to be taken apart joint by joint and left to die... and then buried inside a pigs body in an unmarked grave so they can't get their virgins.
Andrew, it would seem that the Russian government actually tipped off the feds some time ago that they might want to look at these guys. What amazes me is that this creep actually went to a campus party Wednesday night, with word already out that the police had a description.
T-Rav, If you think you got away with it, there's no reason not to act normally.
Okay by me, Andrew--although I would also be satisfied if their experience of the 71 virgins turned out like this.
So they had warnings from the Russians, they interviewed them two years ago...is any of this sounding familiar? Let's see who gets blamed...I'm guessing Bush.
BTW, has anyone felt this was kind of like watching an episode of "24"?
T-Rav, I am a firm believer in denying them the benefit of their misbehavior and jacking up the cost. And when someone is a superstitious as Muslims are, then you need to use that against them.
Personally, I suspect the virgins are all boys.
Bev, I think we're going to hear a lot about that in the coming days. Even Politico said, "Obama will need to answer for this."
As for "24", I spent my day expressing my road rage, so I haven't watched television. BUT, I did piss off a liberal who said, "I hope they make sure to remember he has rights." To which I responded, "I hope they torture the sick fuck and then let him get ass raped to death in prison. I'd offer a $1,000 to whoever got him."
That drew a rather odd stare. :D
Oh, my! I'd kick another $1000! Well, at least Obama can't get around calling THIS an Islamic terrorist attack.
Yeah, I may have been a bit over the top in my choice of words, but I wasn't in any mood to let that smug liberal bastard think anyone agreed with him.
I wouldn't give a thousand bucks to the guy who "probes" this terrorist, but I would give it to the guards who agree to turn off the surveillance cameras for a little while. I bet there's more than one inmate ready to sodomize this f***er just on general principle.
Bev, if you mean the part of "24" where the terrorist always makes it through their perimeter, then yes.
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