Working for (small) change
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Hello good people and welcome to the Tuesday early edition of Caucus 99 % open thread. The world may be going to hell in a hand basket, but nothing says we can't have fun with words and ideas.
There are invariably other discussions going on in the online community at this site, some probably started in the wee hours or leftovers from yesterday. Plenty of good content to feed the mind. And now something upbeat for your listening pleasure.
The title of this essay has a double meaning. To do good in this world we work for changing things for the better. It seems the results are small as compared to the multitude of maladies we face. Any little good is better than no good at all.
Another take might be the rewards we realize from working so hard is small change in the larger accounting of life. Little left to take to the bank. Although the effort expended has value. Then there is the character Tom Waits lamented in his "Small Change (got rained on with his own .38)". Might be too early to post that one here.
Well, let's see which way the winds of change are blowing today. Comments are open. Peace!
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Comments
Variable winds.
Good morning,
Our FB page has changed direction again and outreach is growing again. Zuckerberg must have burped. Really appreciate all the work done by the members here and having a place to go that isn't your run of the mill blog.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Yea! Good for the home team.
Hey, good morning, everybody. Thanks for the OT, QMS.
I suspect that today will be sufficiently "more of the same" for me to ignore the outside world and work on my enormous to do list. I did already see where Syria has asked the US to leave (I thought they did that long ago already). Nothing will come of it, so tht counts as nada. That brings me to this line from the original post:
I know the spirit in which it was penned, that it is not support for either "incrementalism" or "pragmatism" (as that word is currently being abused). It is instead recognition that enormous effort often brings forth but small gains (let us not talk about my garden, please) and that, in retrospect, such gains asre still gains, and hence a plus. With that in mind
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Why is so warm in here?
And what am I doing in this handbasket?
I continue to ponder the Roy Moore issue. More Republicans are willing to throw him under the bus. They are actually mentioning expelling him if he is elected. I don't remember that ever happening, much less as soon as he arrives. They REALLY don't want him.
I'm postulating that it's all about tax cuts, which is their only real agenda. Luther Strange would have been a safe vote for tax cuts. I'm assuming that Doug Jones would join the Democrats in voting against it (just an assumption). What is Moore's position? He's a culture warrior, not a business or war guy. That makes him a waste of a seat IF he isn't a safe "yes" vote for the neoliberal/neoconservative agenda.
They are going so far as to propose a write in campaign for Strange. This can only split the vote and deliver victory for Jones, so there has to be more to it.
I'm thinking they set up a write-in campaign for Strange, sit down with Moore and explain that he can't win, staying in hands the race to Jones, and tell him in no uncertain terms to drop out.
Failing that (and it will fail, Moore is a fanatic), Moore should make a point of avoiding small aircraft and the roofs of tall buildings.
With Moore out of the picture, the Republican vote would not be split and Strange MIGHT be able to pull off a victory against Jones.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
Moore just might still win
CNN had a clip with some fanatical evangelical lady saying something to the effect that 'gawd forgives the sinner so we should too'. These evangelicals are f'n whackjobs. Someone forgot to explain to them that you get forgiven at the entrance to the Pearly Gates. Here on earth you have to pay for molesting children. You can't just pray it away.
The all important Alabama 'Pedos And Child Abusers' voting block might just be energized enough to come out of their caves and vote.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
Exactly
Moore still has the evangelical vote, as well as the tribal vote (someone in our tribe is threatened by those dirty commie liberals). Yet the Republican establishment after some initial reluctance is now closing ranks opposing Moore. I'm looking for an explanation. I have to believe that the donors said to dump him, and that can only mean tax cuts are threatened.
It looks like the establishment wants Strange, can live with Jones, and Moore is dead (hopefully a metaphor) last. Sure the Republican voters want their culture warrior, but who cares about them and their silly votes?
Other than that the only thing I can think of is that Moore will threaten the general Republican brand going into the midterms. I just think their concerns are over the next 12 months rather than that far ahead.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
Yup. The Repub Owners think he's Too Nutty
Too Nutty even for the whackjob Repub party. And that party has become so freaking whacked. I'm starting to see how Hitler rose to power.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
How's this for an idea?
52 votes.
Once McCain can't make it to the floor any more they are down to 51 votes. They have NO margin for error. Every Senator can be a prima donna and make any crazy demands they want in exchange for their vote.
Nobody is going to be a bigger prima donna than Moore.
What is Moore going to want in exchange? Maybe a Constitutional amendment for heterosexual marriage? Or reversing Roe v. Wade?
Moore by himself could derail the Republican agenda, not because he won't cut taxes but because of the price he will demand. What would be merely an embarrassing annoyance with 54 votes becomes a disaster at 51 votes. They are hoping to pick up seats in 2018, but in light of last week's election results that is looking less likely.
So Moore is actually worse for them than another Democrat.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
Morning QMS
Regarding the EL comment on Syria asking the US to leave, I found this yesterday on Strategic Culture;
"Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump agreed in a joint statement on Syria on November 10 that said they saw no military solution to the conflict and a political one was needed to handle the crisis. The leaders informally met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort of Danang."
Apparently guns and bombs aren't effective. Something called "diplomacy" has been suggested.
There's a little bit of good.
Thanks for the OT.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Wow, that is good.
It's fascinating to see how some of the "news" agencies report
#1 from google news is stereotypical:
Trump, Putin issue joint statement on fighting ISIS in Syria
-- CNN
I love that framing since the US hasn't been fighting ISIS in Syria for quite some time (if forever). They are are allies the last I counted. Also, lots of ought talk on "Bringing Assad to the table". Given that we all known both Assad and Isis are smokescreens I have to assume Trump just agreed to give up on the pipeline.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
Afternoon, QMS,
Started to write this around 8:45 am Eastern and the phone hasn't stopped, one of those days.
Thanks for today's insight, it's good. And a little does go a long way.
Had a beautiful woman in our little community growing up, a youth leader, she told us to try something when we walked down the street. She said to smile at a stranger, it would spread, she said.
Enjoying her memory.
Thanks for this OT and have a great afternoon and evening.
$25 billion in Medicare cuts in tax bill in 2018...
The GOP tax bill could trigger automatic cuts worth $136 billion from mandatory spending in 2018, including $25 billion in Medicare cuts, if Congress doesn’t find another way to offset its deficit increases, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The tax bill would add an estimated $1.5 trillion to the deficit over a decade. Congressional “pay-as-you-go” rules, called pay-go, require that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) automatically cut mandatory spending if legislation increases the deficit beyond a certain point.
“Without enacting subsequent legislation to either offset that deficit increase, waive the recordation of the bill’s impact on the scorecard, or otherwise mitigate or eliminate the requirements of the [pay-go] law, OMB would be required to issue a sequestration order within 15 days of the end of the session of Congress to reduce spending in fiscal year 2018 by the resultant total of $136 billion,” CBO wrote on Tuesday.
Medicare can only be cut by a maximum of 4 percent through the pay-go rules, however, which amounts to $25 billion in cuts.
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/budget/360300-tax-bill-could-spur-25-b...