Government Shutdown: The World Reacts


Since the latest partial government shutdown began the reaction across the world has included a mixture of surprise, caution, and derision.
From CNN:
(CNN) -- For the reigning super power and the largest economy in the world, it's an egg-on-your-face moment.
For the first time in 17 years, the U.S. government shut down as its democratically-elected politicians could not come to an agreement over a spending bill. This stalemate closed non-essential services, sending 800,000 federal workers home without pay as lawmakers bickered about who was to blame. The shutdown could cost the economy about $1 billion a week.
In Asia, the markets reacted with caution.
From Voice of America:
BANGKOK — Asian markets saw a modest selloff of stocks and dollars in Tuesday trading upon the partial shutdown of the United States government.
Market players say news of the first U.S. government shutdown in 17 years did trim early gains on the Tokyo stock exchange, but the benchmark Nikkei managed to close 29 points higher, a gain of a fifth of a percent. Markets in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland were closed for a holiday, and South Korea's KOSPI rose one tenth of a percent.
More from Reason.com on the partial government shutdown and Obamacare here and here.
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My stocks are up today. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Could someone explain how this is costing the economy so much money? Is it the loss of the magical multiplier or something? I don't get it.
Notice the qualifier "could".
It could also add to the economy; we'll see how dependent the country is on government spending.
Crazy talk. Nothing happens without government. Especially economic activity.
Whatever the economy does during the shutdown, expect Tony to say "imagine how much better it could have been if the shutdown didn't happen!"
Yes, and we would expect the same from Joe from Lowell.
Off topic: yesterday, I posted that I had never seen a better 4 game stretch for a quarterback than Peyton Manning's first four games this season.
You posted that Joe Flacco had the best four game stretch for a quarterback while Peyton's performance was the best 4 game start to a season.
By the numbers?
TD passes: Peyton 16 to Flacco's 11.
Interceptions: Zero for both
Passing yards: Peyton has 1,470 to Flacco's 1,140.
Completion %: Manning 75% to Flacco's 60%
QB rating: Manning 138 to Joe's 117.2.
What's better? Just by the numbers and no phony baloney accounting for "playoffs" which, in professional sports, amount to do-overs these days.
My brother backed the Luck scouting and ditching Manning one hundred percent. I said from the start that they will screw themselves over in terms of exploiting dynasty value for generations to come. Love being proven right.
Peyton was just going to continue having epic meltdowns in the playoffs.
The key word here is 'epic.'
Throwing a pick-six and a brutal OT interception is epic. And yet there are a lot of people who didn't want to blame Peyton.
He's had some playoff losses that weren't his fault... But last year's was.
You can't be proven right yet. You've got to see what Luck does over his career first.
Nope. The dynasty is dead, any given team has only one chance per generation to make that possible. Luck's great, but he isn't going to be a legend.
It was never supposed to be a dynasty year one. Indy's team besides the QB wasn't good enough for that anyway. Luck's got a decade or more of a career in front of him. If he turns out to be even top 5 over that, it's worth it to lose 2-3 years of Manning (especially when you wouldn't have been good enough to win with him at least the first year).
When you make the value judgement to trade a short term gain for a long term gain, you can't judge the results of that tradeoff in the short term.
I never take my eyes off of the Big Picture. Even Dallas squandered their dynasty when they brought in a damn good coach to replace a Legend. They have never been the same since in spite of a successful run with Aikman. That's is the entropic nature of the game. You don't just bring in a kid with good stats and build a dynasty that you have already squandered by being petty and cheap to the man who got you there. That's soulless and mercenary. Dynasties are built on sentiments and human frailties as much as they are on wins and losses.
So basically you can't stop loving Manning?
LOL! I have little affection for Manning. Have you seen the mug on that guy? It's Tom Brady that gets my heart aflutter.
Jeez. This isn't personal, accept in an inter brother rivalry, it's about the long term psychology of the game, and how this will always play out. Epochs turning. That is what interest me, not the current week's what the Hell's wrong with the NFL.
Flacco's is better. He did it against teams that don't suck, and in a situation where it matter more, and mostly on the road. All four of his opponents were at least .6875. The four Manning has faced in this stretch (3 of them at home) combine for a record of 4/16, with only 1 of them being 0.500.
If that's "phoney baloney", then I guess we might as well have Tebow go play against your local high school, put up 8 TDs and call it better than Manning's opening game. Being great against great opponents is better than being great against crappy ones.
I really don't think you've ever been right about anything.
Just looked at the Donkey's remaining schedule. They must have the easiest schedule in the NFL. Other than 2 games vs. the Chiefs, and one with the Pats, it's a cake walk. I predict an early playoff exit for Denver when they finally meet a good team in a must-win situation.
Why resort to hyperbole and the ad hominem?
There is a huge difference between completing just under 60% and connecting upon 75%. There is also a big difference between throwing for 16 TDs in four games compared to throwing 11. There is also a significant difference in passing yards, about 80 per game.
I did not posit that playoff performance counts for more; you, on the other hand, appear to have responded as if it is some kind of accepted, absolute that playoff performance must be weighed more heavily in any assessment of which quarterback has had the best 4 games ever.
This season, Manning shredded the world champs. Has Flacco ever thrown for 7 TDs against any other NFL team, much less the defending world champions? Note how you conveniently left out that detail in your analysis.
Why did you leave out the fact that the Patriots were without the services of both Rob Gronkowski and after being hurt early in the game, Aquib Talib? Why did you fail to note that, before he got hurt, Talib was just shutting down the Ravens' receivers?
This year, Peyton Manning lost the services of his center, the former pro-bowler and Patriot, and his all-pro left tackle, Ryan Clady, the Bosie State product.
Funny, all of the foregoing did not make the cut of your post.
BTW, the Tebow analogy is just puerile. Tony level.
Dan Kopen went down in the pre-season. Tom Brady has said that Dan was the best center from whom he had taken snaps.
So, Manning has had to work with a new starting center as well as a new starting left tackle.
Check and mate.
This is so retarded I am now trying to decide if you a sockpuppet, or you are the person who controls the tony sockpuppet.
I hate Flacco. Well, that might be a little too strong, but I do think he had the flukiest run ever and is massively overrated and overpaid. I'm not a Manning fanboy, but I do think he's clearly one of the best QBs ever and has a case for #1.
That said, this isn't even close. Manning has put up these stats against a Ravens team that's a shell of what they were last year, a horrible Giants team, the freaking Raiders, and an Eagles team with a bad defense. Three of those games at home. Even discounting the playoffs factor, what Flacco did against Indianapolis, Denver, New England, and San Francisco, the latter three all the road, is more impressive. Not even close
Calissident: See my previous post. Opponent winning percentage of .250 compared to .742. Argument over.
If people absolutely must discuss football on H&R, it would be nice to relocate to one of the threads that no one comments on. Just a thought.
I didn't break it up here. Mr "Contracts are evil" did.
I believe that's who I replied to.
My best guess is government spending.
But the seen government spending comes with the unseen taxation, borrowing, and currency devaluation.
But so much capital has been allocated to taking maximum advantage of this tax and spend system. It's a bubble with no equal in the history of the US. Total US government spending occupies almost 40% of every dollar in the GDP. Any retraction is going to be felt as the invested capital has to be reallocated to other pursuits.
Cue the bitching of all the government contractors...
BECAUSE QEFINITY........
The more gridlock the more the FED will stay "active" or ease. The markets see it as likely to encourage to FED to continue on with QE.
This
That's not net. They're ignoring how much we're saving with the shutdown.
To be saved, it has to not be spent later. I'm not optimistic.
Could someone explain how this is costing the economy so much money?
No agency will be able to loan $500mil to any renewable energy companies under impending bankruptcy during the shutdown (I would hope), so, that's like, market failure, or something, man. We'll all suffer, surely.
Government expenditures are counted in the GDP.
Government could double the GDP by minting a $16T coin and selling it to itself. That should tell you something.
Government spending is included in GDP ergo any reductions in government spending by definition reduce GDP.
Now whether those reductions in GDP would result in an actual net reduction in *productive* output is a separate question entirely
The shutdown could cost the economy about $1 billion a week.
Considering that the federal govt. spends around $70 billion in a week, that's around a 1.5% "shutdown".
I see it as $69 billion in savings.
"sending 800,000 federal workers home without pay"
It's a start.
A guy I went to high school with has been whining on facebook about how he doesn't know when he going to go back to work.
I don't understand, how is facebook recording wall posts during a shutdown?
Spying on citizens is essential to the operation of the United States.
Thread winner.
Did you tell him to look for a part time job? A lot of places are hiring part timers to meet the gap from all the full-timers they had to demote because of Obamacare.
Practical advice? To a progressive? About a job?
"A guy I went to high school with has been whining on facebook about how he doesn't know when he going to go back to work."
Maybe he'll go find a job.
Never mind that all the furloughed Feds will get back pay when they come back.
Which is why some are even declaring out loud "my job isn't essential" which should be translated into " I would like an extra paid vacation".
There's no guarantee of that, KK. But if Congress follows the precedent set in '95, then yes.
Um, why did they put this descriptor in there?
Because Dictatorships never have budget squabbles that shut them down. It was a dig at voters.
In Europe, it's a required descriptive qualifier.
You shut down one little government, and everyone loses their alt-text.
I'm also noticing the women and minorities dying in the streets.
And their orphaned children scavenging on them.
I'll buy any orphaned children you guys come across.
Even if they're Irish?
Well, sure.
At half-price, of course.
No such thing as a "little government"
What about a wafer-thin government?
Commenting from my underground bunker. Let me know when it's safe to come out.
Bad news: Somebody just plagiarized both Kirk and Khan AND Firefly: TNG, and we have no government to save us.
I had an idea for Star Trek: The Odd Couple: The guys, through yet another time travel accident, get a pet--Nomad. They repair Nomad so that he doesn't kill or blow up stuff, but he still gives electric shocks when "errors" occur. Hijinks ensue as Kirk uses Nomad (who thinks Kirk is his Creator) to torment Khan.
DON'T SAY IT SO LOUD! FIST IS GONNA STEAL IT AND GET IT OUT FIRST!
Nah, he'll fuck up and use Abrams Kirk.
Did I miss some brainstorming on new show ideas? I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.
Kirk, Khan, time-traveling accident, forced to live together in 1970s New York. Kirk is a slob, Khan is a neat-freak. Hijinks ensue. Lots of cameos.
Sorry, Khan is a slob, Kirk is the neat-freak.
Also there was talk of ensign what's his name somehow being involved as the most interesting man in the world.
And at least one episode ends with "To be Khan-tinued".
Sounds terrible. I won't watch.
Now I know he is plotting to steal it for sure.
Of course. It's what he does. We'll buy him off with a nonspeaking cameo.
I think he should be forced to wear a red shirt, to symbolize the blood money, of course.
And to make it easier to kill his character in some horrific manner. I wonder if AFTRA counts an inarticulate scream as a speaking role?
Nonspeaking cameo is an oxymoron. Not only would I have to have lines, they would have to be the best lines. And include a makeout session with a green broad.
Although I could top Spock's [SPOILER ALERT] death scene.
Which Spock? Real Spock or Teen Spock?
What the hell is Teen Spock? Anyway it's all moot because I'm developing a rival series called Hooker 911: Shat My Captain Says.
Okay, here's the offer--Nonspeaking redshirt role with Orion Slave Girl makeout session until she turns out to be a salt monster. . .and you know the rest. But we'll cast a very attractive woman for the Orion Slave Girl.
...and Nancy Pelosi as the salt monster.
-jcr
If this is for fist, you should probably make that a man.
Orion Slave Man? What the fuck is that?
The type of thing Fist is into.
I think they had them on Enterprise but I don't think they were technically slaves.
And there will be "very superior episodes."
Oh, right. Love that factoid.
Not a time-travel accident. Sub-space anomaly.
It's my treatment. Network executives like time-travel accidents.
From hell's heart, I aim to misbehave.
There's a government shutdown, it's now safe to come out.
Since the latest partial government shutdown began the reaction across the world has included a mixture of surprise, caution, and derision.
Ooooooooooooo, all the near-broke European countries have something new to sneer at America for.
Keep laughing dickheads, everyone will see how you're all doing in around 10-15 years or so.
We could wreck their economy completely by simply telling them that we're no longer providing free military services. Let's put that on the table for the budget negotiations, shall we?
We're really not providing free military services to them anymore, as there is no way an enemy of "Europe" has the ability to attack them whether or not we're there.
What we are providing is a well-paid group of perpetual tourists to piss away our tax dollars to live there and employ many of their own people in ancillary roles.
There's no "defense" in what our Defense Department is doing over there. But that's just an opinion.
Actually, they do rely on our continued involvement. The second we stop protecting them is the second they start remilitarizing. Guaranteed.
Good, then we can watch The Hundred Years' War II.
Sean Bean will play the head of the British Army, who gets killed at the end of the first season.
The The Bean were the head of the British Army, Britain would become a new world empire.
Well, no, when he's with the British army, he's practically unkillable. Sharpe gets shot, stabbed, and shot again and never, ever dies. I think he used up all of his movie lives on that show.
Fine, then. Bean leads a group of Irish separatists on a mission to kill the Queen newly crowned king George the VII.
The French are blamed, the Germans invade Belgium, and we're off to the races.
Bean is English.
Bean isn't English and his name isn't Bean. He's Boromir and he's Gondorian.
Sean Bean is English, and even in fiction, he's more Richard Sharpe than anything else. Even the author said so.
I can see it now, Putin deciding that he needs lebensraum, and attacking the 4th Reich with a surprise tac-nuke strike on Brussels.
-jcr
"We could wreck their economy completely by simply telling them that we're no longer providing free military services. Let's put that on the table for the budget negotiations, shall we?"
We should also close down the bases and return the empty land to the various nations.
What? No. Give the land to Disney.
I love how ridiculous certain FB liberals are:
OK, I love WWII vets as much as the next guy, but having Michelle Bachman vow to be there everyday to let them into the memorial as opposed to DOING HER FUCKING JOB AND KEEPING IT OPEN IN PERPETUITY doesn't make me think she's got the right idea.
Fucking cunt.
He then posts a link to this story:
http://politicalticker.blogs.c.....?hpt=hp_t1
The government shutting down, all Michelle Bachman's fault.
WHY THE FUCK ARE TAX DOLLARS BEING USED TO MAINTAIN MEMORIALS IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE?
WHY DO YOU HATE THE TROOPS? WHY DON'T YOU HATE MICHELLE BACHMAN? ANGRY!
I don't hate the troops. And I'll happily donate a few bucks to maintaining the monuments. But what I can't abide is them paying some asshat $30/hr who works for the NPS to cut the grass...and his goddamn guaranteed raises and retirement after 25 years.
God dammit, this golden opportunity to defund every single non-essential service is being wasted by the BigGov GOP. I hope they rot in hell.
LOUD NOISES.
shhh.
The government shutting down, all Michelle Bachman's fault
I thought it was all the fault of Ayn Rand and Bush?
Ayn Rand and Bush had a daughter; her name was Michelle Bachman
Was it Michelle Bachman who said, "Absolutely, I will not negotiate", and had the authority to prevent funding the government?
Or, was it Obama?
'Cause it seems like it was Obama who said that he refuses to negotiate.
He refuses to negotiate with those teabagging anarchists who want women and children to die in the streets because they don't have health insurance. See, he really cares for the little people, unlike the Teathuglican one percenters.
You don't understand. By refusing to negotiate, Obama is offering a compromise.
It's the Republicans who, by offering to negotiate, are refusing to compromise.
Because compromise means Democrats get everything they want.
They negotiated on the original bill you see. They just had to pass it to see what was in it so they could negotiate.
What authority? He refused to negotiate on the debt ceiling, because that would set an insane precedent.
He's already given away everything he could possibly be asked to give away in a clean CR--which would pass both houses of Congress if John Boehner would let it come up for a vote.
Yes, the Michelle Bachmanns of our government are responsible for the shutdown.
"He's already given away everything he could possibly be asked to give away in a clean CR"
Really? Despite all your talk about how the Democrats are the sane, reasonable people in touch with Americans on this issue, most people are against unconditionally raising the debt ceiling. I'm not saying I've agreed 100% with how the Republicans have approached this. I'm not even commenting on the desirability of raising the debt ceiling, a government shutdown, or saying who is more to blame for the latter. I'm simply saying that perpetually raising the debt ceiling with no conditions is not a mainstream view in the public, and portraying anyone who disagrees with that as a terrorist radical extremist is absurd.
Got news for you, rent-boy. The insanity is continuing to take on debt during a depression when the government is already $ 17 trillion in the hole.
-jcr
DOING HER FUCKING JOB AND KEEPING IT OPEN IN PERPETUITY
That's not really her job. Funny how they want to interpret the 2A as only allowing muskets, but would have a shit conniption fit at the suggestion we return the executive branch bureaucracy back to the functions carried out during Washington's presidency. Hell, they wont even entertain a Clinton era scale back.
How much does it cost to run each year? Start an endowment to keep it open permanently, with no new government funding.
These dickfaces act as if "closing down all non-essential services" is a bad thing. In a perfect world, Congress and the President would be convicted for treason just for proposing non-essential services be paid for with tax dollars.
This.
Impossible. Obama said there was nothing left to cut. Nothing! Therefore, there is no such thing as a non-essential government service. Even calligraphers are essential!
Can you believe that the White House calligraphers make about $90,000 a year? I don't even want to know what their benefits are.
Wouldn't it be ironic if Islamists saved us all by nuking DC?
Libertarian authoritarianism, now with extra nuts!
In China and Vietnam the news about the government shutdown has been a bit distorted. Two of my correspondents in those countries have separately asked me whether Obama is planning to abdicate.
Tell them our absolute monarchs are elected.
If only.
President Biden!
Camaros and mullets for all
Shotgun!
Shotgun Camaro is the name Biden wrestles under.
It's the only truly awesome thing about him.
Biden's pretty awesome for a total shit weasel. Not as mutually exclusive of one another concepts as they should be.
"It's the only truly awesome thing about him."
That, and the bullet holes in all his doors.
Doorknobs are hard, okay?
My experience with internet commenters from other countries is that pretty much none of them know jack about how American government works, but they all love to think they do. I don't know the first damn thing about their countries, either, but I'll admit it!
Can someone please explain why we need government permission to walk around marble monuments on the National Mall? They obviously still have Park Police to prevent vandalism, so why do they close access to the attractions?
Those things are seen. Must close access to them because that's something people see. Those unseen bureaucratic paper pushers are still going to work and getting paid. No point in sending them home. No one will see it. Closing monuments and parks? Heck yeah! People will notice that!
QFT
Someone might leave some trash on the ground or something. Also you have to be made to understand how bad a shutdown is. Just like how the academies could totally fund all their athletic activities through private funds but DoD is ordering them to suspend them anyway.
Can someone please explain why we need government permission to walk around marble monuments on the National Mall?
What? Do you want anarchy?
The Washington Monument is already closed due to the minor earth quake two years ago so to make sure that the tourists know that government shut down they had to close the Washington Mall
I was in DC for the first time back in February and was disappointed that you couldn't get near the Washington Monument. It was surrounded by fences and covered in scaffolding.
And to make matters worse there was a global warming/anti-GMO protest on the fields nearby that I had to walk around.
The monument had been damaged and was purportedly undergoing repairs. Minor earthquake I think.
http://robert.accettura.com/wp.....forget.jpg
Might have people showin up and dancing at the Jefferson Memorial if you allow plebes to just visit anytime they like.
Newspeak:
Shutdown: where the spending of money is temporarily restrained, but not really.
Healthcare: a mandate to buy insurance which may or may not give you access to the treatment you need.
Healthcare: a mandate to buy insurance which may or may not give you access to the treatment you need.
Add to that, under the table monies going to Democratic allies, like the SEIU and La Raza, to fund 'navigators', and your Orwellian world is complete.
Can't we just make the shutdown permanent, and leave the debt ceiling law unchanged?
Assuming the FedGov planned to spend 3.6 trillion per year now and takes 3.0 trillion from the productive sector and planned to borrow 0.6 trillion, why not just cut spending back to 3.0 trillion per year? Surely at least 17% of what the government was doing was non-essential. Why ever bring them back?
Because that would literally kill every orphan's grandmother and puppy, while also creating millions more orphans.
From Zero Hedge
hmm... more clever than I thought.
Yeah, for an IRA terrorist; I didn't think he had any smarts in him.
Over at the FluffPo, they are already proclaiming that not one Republican will remain in congress after the 2014 elections, because of this shut down.
It's mass delusion. Rachel Maddow was throwing a bitch fit on the air last night. She said "Elect Republicans and they will burn the house down."
Hey, I like that song...
If only. I might actually vote for a few if they were willing to do that.
No kidding. If they were anything like the Republicans in the fevered paranoiac imagination of proglodytes, I would be greatly more supportive of them.
LET THE MOTHERFUCKER BURN!
Riiiggggghhhhtttt
This always seemed like the obvious solution (from a Rep perspective) to me.
It's only a matter of time before Al Qaeda or the Japs come knocking at our back door now that we have our breeches down.
Was it Executive Decision where a Japanese pilot flew a jet into Congress and killed everyone there?
Are... you saying that's a possibility with the shutdown?
(I just got myself onto an NSA watchlist, didn't I?)
(Wait, what am I talking about, I'm already on it by virtue of being a poster on Reason)
we're all on the list, riding on the train to the reeducation camp.
So you're saying we're on a train right now, and my posting here is only a fevered dream from the chemicals they've been using as part of the reeducation process?
Yes. The trains are considered an essential function.
high-speed rails heading right into our glorious future
I just got a vision:
A long line of Reason posters shuffling into the reeducation camp. A half hour later, the Reasonoids leave the camp, accompanied by every single guard. Guards and prisoners alike are carrying a bag of marijuana in one hand, and a jar of artisanal mayonnaise in the other...
Isn't that one where Segal dies in like the first scene?
Debt of Honor was the novel that indirectly predicted 9/11. Executive Orders was the one that picked up the story immediately after.
Thank you. Been a very long time since I read those books (never saw the movies), so I was confused. Must've been the lack of education caused by the shutdown. It's clouded my mind.
Did they make movies of those? Because the only Clancy novel that Hollywood hasn't managed to make worse is Red October.
No, they didn't make either of these.
I thought that was Citizen Kang.
Debt of Honor. Executive Orders is the aftermath of that.
http://www.nationaljournal.com.....n-20131001
Have some peak Derp from the National Journal. This is the end of Washington. Curz doesn't want to limit government, he is an extremist who refuses to govern. The GOP is totally marginalized and crazy. The country is ungovernable!!
This makes me think the media is starting to think Obama is going to cave and this is hurting the Democrats more than the Republicans. They will never admit the truth. So you have to deduce the truth from their lies. And "America is now ungovernable" usually means "it won't give us what we want" in liberal media derp.
I am shocked at how they are shitting themselves over this. Some of it is just partisan histrionics. But a lot of it seems to be legitimate panic. They are really terrified that the Republicans might actually be standing up to them.
The guy who wrote that certainly seems to be panicking.
It's unclear what this fool is saying here. Maybe he imagines that the Kids These Days will use the Facebooks and the Googles to create some sort of socialist utopia in which Top Men can finally Get Things Done.
For sure. But notice that doesn't involve the current Democratic Party. He is basically admitting that the shutdown is hurting the Dems.
Well yes, but only because they're too chickenshit to finally Get Serious and Do Something about the tea party baby murderers.
I'd love to see what the chatter is on the current Journolist. If this is the toned-down version...
If they lose the midterms and again in 2016, they are going to insane.
"Going to"?
go insane.
insaner
They will finally prove that reaching peak derp is possible.
Ha, I didn't even notice your typo. I think my brain has learned to compensate for your.
LOL
He is basically admitting that the shutdown is hurting the Dems.
Are you serious?
This cowardly act of the teathuglicans, which will see women and children dying in the streets by the millions, combined with the fact that people will start seeing how wonderful the ACA is now that they get to see what's in it, will insure a Democrat majority in both house and the presidency, forever.
That is what I expected. But that is not what he is saying. That I find very interesting.
And is it just me, or does this seem just a step away from advocating violent revolution?
Good thing they don't have any fucking guns. Har Har.
Didn't you hear? They are going to have the government stockpile gunz for them in a very safe and secret place (away from childernz) and when the teabaggers start a civil war to put childernz and wiminz back into chains, the government will call them up and tell them were the secret gunz are stashed.
Two or three weeks ago I noted the increasing use of "anarchists" by Reid and like. It's a very definite strategy and word choice.
They see painting the teathuglicans as anarchists as some kind of negative. Heehaw HaaaaaHaaaaa.
The funniest part of that piece is that the author thinks we should be alarmed.
This is the end of Washington
We can always dream.
hmmm... just saw this:
A new Gallup poll has found that 25 percent of today's uninsured plan to stay that way.
What was the point of the law they had to force through by unusual means even while controlling the executive and Congress again?
Statistics worsened in the important 18 to 29 age bracket. Sixty-nine percent of the youth demographic were unaware they were required to get health insurance by January 1, 2014. This is the age group that Obama is hoping will foot the bill for the rest of America.
This calls for an Obama Infographic!
Cue the insurance rate death spiral.
What is the employment rate for this bracket?
It's been stuck at about 16% for ages.
Last week, the SF Chron assured its readers that the only people who won't sign up are crazy faith healers who pray for cures! No right-thinking person would ever pay the fine instead of doing their civic duty!
I wonder how much that is going to hurt the Progs' cultural supremacy. No one is going to sign up and they are going to look pretty foolish claiming people should. Progs don't respond to ridicule very well.
The GOP needs to make sure the individual mandate stays if they lose this fight because nothing will be more hilarious than watching 47% of the country suddenly get $800 less on their annual tax return check for failing to sign up for Obamacare.
Holy shit that will be amaZing.
No one is going to sign up and they are going to look pretty foolish claiming people should
You need to get edumencated, John. Now get over to HuffPo and learn that there are zillions trying to sign up this very minute!
That doesn't count the people that have catastrophic coverage who are being cut if they don't upgrade to an ObamaPlan.
This comes as no surprise at all. When the law passed, I talked to several college age kids, and all of them were convinced that they were getting free health care. It's not surprising that they still do not know. Of course, the luckier among them won't care anyway if their parents can keep paying for their insurance.
I had a similar experience with a friend's daughter. She said she'd be getting free healthcare and absolutely refused to believe it when I explained to her that instead she'd be paying for someone else's free healthcare.
Free stuff seems to be quite expensive.
They'll familiarize themselves with them right quick after the IRS penaltaxes that refund they were depending on.
The shock and butt hurt this spring is going to be hysterical.
But will it result in the Democrats being hammered in November? I doubt it.
But will it result in the Democrats being hammered in November? I doubt it.
There won't be one Republican left in congress once folks find out how great Obamacare really is. That, and after they killed millions of women and children by shutting down the government.
At least for the first couple of years the Penaltax is way, way below the cost of insurance, and despite what they claim, opting to pay the Penaltax instead of getting insurance is the equivalent of having insurance since one can no longer be turned down for a preexisting condition.
So for most young people getting insurance right now is just throwing money away.
I am 47 and never have had health insurance. I don't hardly ever get sick and have only been to the doctor a few times in my entire life.
Not only am going to incur the Penaltax instead of getting insurance, I don't generally over-pay on my taxes so, for now, they won't be able to collect jack shit.
I owe how much? Take it out of my non-existent tax return.
non-existent tax refund
How does not taking money out of the economy "cost" the economy? Oh, I forgot, our economy is based on entitlements.
Tax collection is "essential" and will continue during the shutdown.
Say, the "shutdown" did do some good. Lane Kiffin got fired. I somehow missed that this weekend. Probably due to the federal government suspending all Internet services or something.
Who would have seen headlines like this coming?
Women, Infants And Children Programs Shutting Down
Here's the first comment:
the undead of the tbag movement are hideous human beings. To achieve NOTHING, THEY STARVE CHILDREN AND BABIES. They all would make wonderful members of Hitlers SS troops, no compassion at all !!
Government shuts down; women hit the hardest
College financial aid. More women than men attend college. The shutdown could cause delays to federal loans and Pell grants because some financial aid officers are being furloughed. The upside is that having less money overall might force college women to skimp on their contraception, and we know how important that is to Republicans.
Head Start. Twenty Head Start programs are expected to be hit right away, and if the shutdown continues, more will suffer. Children benefit from early education, of course, but women who've built their work schedules around the expectation of Head Start will have to scramble to come up with alternative childcare plans or skip work and, perhaps, pay.
The upside is that having less money overall might force college women to skimp on their contraception
First thought I had. Jesus. If only I thought that was tongue in cheek.
I'm sure some of the single, straight guys here would gladly pitch in for that...
College financial aid. More women than men attend college.
The fact that there's a significant achievement gap negatively affecting men doesn't matter.
Remember, women are always the victoms. Doesn't matter what the area is.
You know who else saw headlines like that coming?
Lucy Steigerwald?
Cassandra?
Barack Obama?
He said the state's 60,000 existing clients will continue to receive benefits during the shutdown.
Real hardship there. Can't grow their rolls.
You never go full Godwin right out of the gate. Back in my day trolling was an art, and there were rules...
This isn't 'Nam.
They could only find 800,000 government workers who were not essential?
Somehow, I question that.
On a related note, did the 2 calligraphers at the White House get furloughed or are they still 'hard at work'?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
I think there are around 4.5 million government employees? If that figure is correct, I think we could do without 4.495 million or so of them.
Dang squirrels ate my comment. Try again.
Without the federal regulatory state stifling the economy, those 4.495 million people might actually find productive things to do with their lives!
I predict there would be an uptick in food trucks, novelty t-shirts, and porn.
GTA V online having server issues today. This shutdown is worse than we thought!
Imagine if the GTA and ACA insurance servers got crossed up?
Subsidized hookers?
Of course, they'd be union hookers - "I'm sorry, but you can't have Candi - Bertha here has seniority."
(How often can I use that joke before someone calls me on it?)
They already have those in Europe, where in several countries courts have ordered welfare agencies to provide prostitutes (and in 1 case to fund a trip to another country where prostitution is legal) for welfare recipients who were "too disabled" to attract a mate through normal means.
The taxpayers should at least demand the right to watch the surveillance video.
I wanted to see what Sullivan's shrieks sounded like, and he does not disappoint
Oh god, if only.
It's all a part of the Cult of the Presidency. They honest-to-God think that because Obama was reelected that it's treason to oppose him in this manner.
It doesn't matter that the House has a right, nay, an obligation to check the Senate and the White House. It's flat-out obscene for anyone to get in the way of Obama's 'People's Mandate'.
It's only checks and balances when the Democrats do it. When Republicans do it it's obstructionism.
This is what democracy looks like, bitches.
The butthurt is more glorious and beautiful than I could have ever possibly imagined.
Not exactly the sack of Rome out there today, is it?
From what I'm reading, it's worse.
From what I understand, when Rome fell about all anyone outside the city noticed was that the tax collectors stopped robbing them.
I'm thinking that if the federal government fell, outside DC most people wouldn't notice anything other than a fatter paycheck.
Say, I could use that money.
I got a Rome Total War 2 sack at Pax. Oh, sack OF Rome... never mind.
And that was Visigoths, not Vandals. Suck it Sully.
I regard this development as one of the more insidious and anti-constitutional acts of racist vandalism against the American republic in my adult lifetime.
If Barry had only been white, we wouldn't be having these issues. HE FOUND US OUT. EVERYBODY RUN FOR THE EXITS!
The did do the same thing to Bill Clinton and he was the first black President.
Maybe the routine operation of the American government should be to spend less than it takes in.
Whatever happened to that Balanced Budget Amendment?
All of the serious and grownup people assure me that it was a bad idea.
That's racist.
Of course no one but progs and Libertarians looking to laugh reads the hard core prog media. But I really wonder how all of the insane over reaction to this is playing with Mr. and Mrs. Low interest voter. To anyone who is not a partisan, people like Sullivan have to look pretty foolish.
Depends if the low interest voter (low interest-- that's unintentionally funny, John) is on the tit or not, and which tit they're on.
If the low-interest voter is walking around DC today, and they see all the extra employees trying to barricade off all the open-air monuments, they'll be horrified.
Google's icon today is the 123rd anniversary of Yosemite. Unfortunately, due to the shutdown, Yosemite has returned to its pre-government state of flat, uninteresting desert. All the wildlife is starving, and the rivers have run dry.
Is this the first time Google has marked that anniversary?
Google will often pick a famous person's birthday or a famous event and celebrate it regardless of how odd the number is.
They recently did Leon Focult's 194th birthday.
It's hard not to suspect they're using the classic national park moment to emphasize SHUTDOWN OF DEATH! REPUBLICANS. . .OH, THE HUMANITY!
google != government
That doesn't mean they don't engage in cheerleading. I mean, the media isn't government, either.
I think it's a coincidence.
I don't know about anyone else but I'm about fucking sick of Republican morons embarrassing my country time and time again.
I don't know about anyone else but I'm about fucking sick of Tony.
Hint: he's not real.
Is any of us real?
Well, I dunno about you, but I'm all your nightmares made flesh. So...yes.
It is embarrassing that they always cave on the debt ceiling.
Why is Elbonia embarrassed by what the Republicans are doing?
Cause all of his European friends make fun of him.
A very dear friend of mine who supported Obama in the elections basically admitted to me that that is why she wanted Democrats to be elected. Because all the Eurofags were mean about Bush and would be just as bad about McCain and/or Romney. Very silly, but refreshingly honest.
The shutdown could cost the economy about $1 billion a week.
Which is less then how badly the current debt IS harming the economy. Which costs the economy at least 110 billion a year.
Having a debt above 90% GDP slows economic growth from 1 to 2 percent...and right now we are well above 100% GDP.
Needless to say the shutdown will probably only last a couple of weeks at most...the debt we have had for years and it looks like we will have it for years to come.