I’m still down and hoping to be back up soon.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:31 (average 5:02). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: Under the federal Medicaid statute, states must seek reimbursement for medical expenses if the beneficiary also receives money from an insurance company or another third party. This week, the Supreme Court correctly slapped down a North Carolina law that could squeeze far more from beneficiaries than they actually owe.
By a 6-to-3 vote, the court ruled that the Medicaid law pre-empts a North Carolina law that, in effect, puts a lien on a beneficiary’s property by automatically seizing one-third of an insurance settlement even though it includes payment for pain and suffering. Under Medicaid law, the state can only claim reimbursement for actual care.
Isn’t it just like the Republican Party to reach into the pockets of poor people to steal their settlements for pain and suffering? Injustices Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas sided with the Republican crooks.
From Think Progress: The final document isn’t even complete yet, but one Republican Senator is already attempting to slip language into vital legislation denouncing the United States’ accession to a new treaty regulating the sale of arms between countries.
Representatives from around the world are meeting in New York over the next two weeks to hammer out a final agreement on how to best regulate the $70 billion arms trade between countries. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate is attempting finalize passage of a budget for Fiscal Year 2014. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), a noted skeptic of international organizations and the United Nations in particular, filed an amendment Thursday afternoon that brings the two efforts together:
The Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the Senate may revise the allocations of a committee or committees, aggregates, and other appropriate levels in this resolution for one or more bills, joint resolutions, amendments, motions, or conference reports that relate to upholding Second Amendment rights, which shall include preventing the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT),by the amounts provided in such legislation for these purposes, provided that such legislation would not increase the deficit or revenues over either the period of the total of fiscal years 2013 through 2018 or the period of the total of fiscal years 2013 through 2023.
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To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a Senator, and I use the term very loosely, has attempted to block a treaty that did not yet exist. Wayne LaPierre and the gun industry must be deathly afraid that their profits from worldwide conflicts will be cut, regardless of the lives that such a treaty might help save.
From Raw Story: On her show Thursday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow lampooned Republicans for having a flip-flopping problem, saying it appeared they did not seem to believe what they were actually supposed to believe.
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Dang! Little Lord Willard’s sketch etching had become so contagious that it is now a party-wide epidemic!
Cartoon:
I imagine Republicans would support its reinstatement, so Bubba the Bagger could own more than one.
8 Responses to “Open Thread–3/22/2013”
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3:31 Tom, you & I are both poling our gondolas at the same pace.
Will we be crunched or stomped into the canal?
3:19 I see you and TomCat in the gondola behind me.
3:19 Jerry, do you mind if we share the gondola and split the cost?
The front gondola is blurry, but I am sure you are in there with me. I think TomCat and Patty should pick up the tab. Winning should have its benefits.
I hate to tell you bud, but those gondolas are going in different directions! The clear one must be us coming back from the race up the canal, while TC and Patty are in the blurry one still trying to get up the canal. The Chianti has made them slower and blurry. Si?
I'll just sit back here and enjoy my Chianti.
Puzzle — 3:19 Jerry, do you mind if we share the gondola and split the cost?
NY Times — Well it seems to the minority court that greed trumps people. Compassion is something of which this court has no knowledge.
Is this just another attempt to balance the budget on the back of a family already reeling from a tragic birth?
Think Progress — The ATT does NOT abrogate 2nd amendment rights in any way, shape or form. This is purely a financial ploy by the NRA dressed up as American constitutional rights. What is even worse is that Wayne LaPierre and the NRA are also backing Quebec gun dealer Steve Torino, President of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association and co-chair of the government's firearms advisory committee, who is representing Canada at the UN meetings. Harper and his harlots, particularly John Baird, are buying this crap and think that the cancellation of the Canadian long gun registration programme is their justification. Have a read of the piece that came in my e-mail this morning. http://sgnews.ca/2013/03/22/nra-linked-appointee-to-block-global-arms-pact/
Is this enough to rot your socks or what?!!
Raw Story — The Simon and Garfunkel song title "Slip slidin' away" comes to mind when talking about Republican/Teabaggers and their 'lapses of memory'. Damn, the dementia wards are going to be full of Republican/Teabaggers!
Cartoon — I am not for polygamy because having just one relationship is hard enough to do it justice. But it seems to me that it is a little lopsided. What about one woman and two or more husbands? That might have to be the case for Republican/Teabaggers since there are probably more men than women on the conservative side.
This continues with Tea-Bag (Medicare Thief) Rick Scott Governor of Florida…