What, the gruesome duo didn’t throw in tort reform? Right on, let’s enliven employment prospects by giving heirs of those who died with a lot of money another way to keep more of it. Ironically, the original intent of the estate tax was to open the way for innovators, by taking taxes from amassed fortunes rather than taking that part of the tax burden off startup business.

Hey, pickles are great with PB&J. I usually take mine on the side, though.

Another in a series of bipartisan moments brought to you by the DLC and GOP

Few issues make me more furious than this one. Every time I hear it, I can only think of Paris Hilton and the overall uselessness of her life. If I were fortunate enough to have amassed a multi million or billion $ estate, I would expect my heirs to make other people’s live a little more tolerable.

Politicians want us to believe this affects average Americans, when in fact it only affects estates worth at least several milion $$. No fucking wonder the Senate has an approval rating in the teens. Baucus should just switch parties and be done withit.

BI Partisan only works for negatives, not for positives. Two assholes can get together to kill a bill but trying to find two intelligent players to do something positive to advance a bill…. not possible. This could be because there are way more assholes in congress than there are intelligent humans or it could be that it easier to buy assholes than intelligent humans either way only a strong leader can stand up and deal with such foolishness and strong leaders we do not have in this country which is why, of course, that the coup has succeeded.

Baucus should just switch parties and be done withit.

And why not, he has already switched partners, ditching his wife for the amorous antics of a young staffer.

I’m noticing that since they got shut down on their gift to the insurance industry, the corprocrats of both parties seem to have gone into full ‘throw shit at the wall’ frenzy mode. They want desperately to distract us while they salvage their treasonous bill. Full Metal Kabuki.

Baucus should just switch parties and be done with it.

It’s more advantageous to have big business – monied interests in both parties. That way important committees can be guided with more than a partisan majority.

I think the insurance companies will struggle through

Anthem Blue Cross [announces] controversial rate increases of as much as 39% for individual policies, hikes that have triggered widespread criticism from subscribers and brokers — and now from the federal government.

One profoundly sick institution. I wonder what the Master of the Senate would have done with twits like Grassley and Baucus.

By both parties do you mean the InsurPharma party and the MIC party. I can see conflicts coming between the two very soon as InsurPharma want domestic spending and the MIC needs wars for profit. Of course which party gets the majority of the monies will be rendered moot unless thy can get Goldman Sachs to open the safe.

Bipartisanship is a concept that appeals only to Blue Dogs. This makes Obama Chicago Blue Dog No. 1.

People here just love LBJ don’t they? God what a fucking pig he was.

Or find the money domestically by cutting social programs.

Sometimes LBJ is judged by who followed him not by what he was responsible for…a pig indeed.

Not I. It’d be nice to have a Senate Majority Leader who could do something, though.

Yea and for the trains to run on time too huh?

What trains? Mass transit is another of those “useful for the people” therefor not going to happen items.

Take it easy, Raven. No one’s deifying Johnson here. Just suggesting the Senate needs a Majority Leader who can get Senators to work together as a majority. Ol’ Lyndon Baines would have found a way to keep Baucus in line. The way of pain. And Landslide would have enjoyed it.

Thanks for the reminder, I’d forgotten that.

Maybe the sweet young thing will give his leathery old ticker such a workout that we’ll be rid of this ass licking corporatist, millionaire coddling, war machine loving old fuck soon.

I’m cool. When LBJ, Webb and others that I have a personal problem with I point it out. Nuthin to do with you.

I cut my milk teeth hatin’ on LBJ.

Good morning, pups. It’s [sigh] Bobo, Cohen and Krugman today. Bobo, newly energized by the Republicans’ 41-vote Senate majority, has all sorts of ideas. Which, as well all know, is a very bad thing. In “What’s Next, Mr. President?” he tells us that President Obama has failed to bring the third Democratic wave. He needs to redefine what his administration hopes to achieve. Bobo, STFU and eat this plate of shit sammiches. Thank you. Mr. Cohen, in “Hard Mideast Truths,” says if here are not two states, there will be one state, and very soon there will be more Palestinian Arabs in it than Jews. Prof. Krugman addresses “Republicans and Medicare,” and says even as Republicans denounce modest proposals to rein in Medicare’s rising costs, they are seeking to dismantle the whole program.

Here they are.

The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready, and I’ve got waffles with warm maple syrup this morning. They’re busy on the radio this morning telling us that tomorrow our temps will maybe dip to the low 20s and we might have [gasp] SNOW. By this they seem to mean that it may flurry at night and be gone when the sun comes up. The last measurable snow here was over Christmas in 1989 when we got about 5 inches. Hilarity ensued. Have a great day.

I suspect that this actually was a reference to standard praise for Hitler, that he made the trains run on time.

Me too, bout the time I shipped out!

We have a winner! I’m bettin my pal in beantown knew that.

Thanks, Marion. Krugman falls just short of scolding his media fellows for reporting lies as if they were facts, at least he’s seeing and regretting the effects, that our public discourse is just a fantasy world.

There are some advantages to being older than dirt.

Incidentally, tho I doubt you’ll hear it on your news, in N.TX. what was supposed to be snow flurries continued on and is still falling, here we have more than ten inches, and roads have been closed several times. It’s also below freezing. No day to go out for catfood.

Actually it was Mussolini that was claimed to have at least the trains running on time….my attempts at humour are rather pathetic in the morning. sorry

I think it was Mussolini.

When are you getting the snow drones?

thanks, also to crosstimbers, it was a different story that I heard then … but works for me, generally, as the excuse for Nazism on the part of the citizenry.

After it melts entirely, no doubt.

I was just suggesting that you’re not really as old as dirt, where as I am. :)

And we’ll have fun, fun, fun ’till our children take the T-Bird away.

Amazingly, giving away “newspapers” at hotels is no longer a sustainable business model.

Of course, if there were any justice in this world, this would be happening at the Post.

Dirt is much relieved.

StonyPillow… heh.

Mine gave me a gently used new laptop, they’re good for something, but I suspect it was to keep me off the roads.

In my case, just a dark green exterior, light green interior Olds Cutlass.

“News” businesses that exist to run expensive ads from large corporations are doomed to failure. Because 1/They have eschewed investigative/informative news as a part of the business plan and 2/With merger mania there are fewer competing business to buy ads…why buy an ad for a grocery store when there is only one grocery store in town? 3/People have less time to read the paper, and it hard to do when commuting in a car for two hours a day. 4/People that are really interested in real reporting do not read newspapers because real reporters are a dying breed.

Speaking of another newspaper that’s badly in need of involuntary furlough’s,
the God-awful story in the NYT about Reid pulling the plug on the Baucus-Grassley lovefest makes no mention of the estate tax. Only Orrin Hatch’s hurt feelings.

I thought it was Mussolini and the trains.

Oops. Took me so long to login that I now owe you a beverageN crosstimbers.

See all you good folks later, time for me to get ready to go take pictures of our surprise 10 inches of snow.

Good morning all.

Per the late John Kenneth Galbraith:

Yeah, well how about my bloody drink too. In fact crosstimbers owes me a drink…I’ll take a good shot of JD /g

Hmm. Hope this means something good for HCR:
Tauzin out as head of PhRMA ( http://mobile.latimes.com/inf/infomo;jsessionid=97AE42B6B867C8B6F80B.5176?view=webarticle&feed:a=latimes_1min&feed:c=nationnews&feed:i=52175642 )M

Yup, you too. Top o’ the morning!

Snow in N Texas?
See I told you global warming was a hoax , ya shoulda listened to Rush !

Swim is up…

Dude, peanut butter an jelly is harder than it looks

do it wrong, ya end up with the peanut butter side on top

that’s bad

when the peanut butter side is on top, it sticks to the roof of your mouth

many innocent lunches were tossed by a lack of this knowledge

so sad …

(duckin & runnin)

Maybe they should try a peanut butter and hard salami sandwich. The mixture of sweet and salty is quite excellent.

After Rare Bipartisan Deal, Reid Slashes Jobs Bill

Faced with criticism that the Democratic-sponsored jobs bill would not primarily create new jobs, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid abruptly announced Thursday that he had drastically slimmed down the bill from $85 billion to just $15 billion, tossing out key priorities of both Republicans and Democrats.

They don’t have to create jobs anymore in this political world. Just say that last month ___ number of jobs were saved!!! And they don’t even have to attempt to prove it. Just saying it, makes it the truth.

To actually think that these two boobs could be writing a jobs bill is enough to make one puke.

Ofcourse knowing the fact that some Americans voted these two into office also could make one puke.

Oh WEll! The whole Government is enough to make one puke, so they are just more of the same.