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October 13, 2010 03:47 PM UTC

Wednesday Open Thread

  • 189 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“A wise man who stands firm is a statesman, a foolish man who stands firm is a catastrophe.”

–Adlai Stevenson

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189 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

  1. Remember when we were promised you could keep your current coverage, that the law would bend the cost curve down (seemingly without regard to the world of supply and demand)and that it would save money and reduce the deficit?  The Boston Globe, not exactly a conservative paper in a conservative town, had an interesting op/ed article today.  You might keep this in mind as the Dems in the Colorado delegation prepare themselves for meeting their maker in a few weeks.


    Insurers are not responding to the new law and its expensive new mandates solely by raising premiums. Some are dropping out of insurance markets altogether.

    Late last month, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care announced that it will stop providing Medicare Advantage insurance policies at the end of the year, forcing 22,000 senior citizens in New England to find some other way to pay for health benefits those policies covered. Harvard Pilgrim’s hand was forced, a company spokesman said, by the “cuts in Medicare . . . being used to fund national health care reform.”

    Another insurer pulling the plug is the Principal Financial Group, an Iowa-based company that currently insures 840,000 customers. “The company’s decision reflected its assessment of its ability to compete in the environment created by the new law,” reported the New York Times. “More insurers are likely to follow Principal’s lead.”

    Principal is a relatively small insurer, but even insurance giants are walking away from some segments of the business. UnitedHealth, Wellpoint, and Humana will no longer write individual child-only insurance policies, thanks to the new law’s requirement that such plans must also cover children who are seriously ill. Insurance companies are not charitable foundations; they cannot stay in business by insuring the health of people who are at a 100 percent risk of getting sick. As The Washington Post explained, “the pool of children insured by child-only plans would rapidly skew toward those with expensive medical bills, either bankrupting the plans or forcing insurers to make up their losses by substantially increasing premiums for all customers.”

    Meanwhile, 30 major corporations are still able to offer low-cost health insurance to their employees only because they have received one-year waivers of the new rules from the Department of Health and Human Services. What happens when those waivers expire is anybody’s guess. But this much is clear: If the law with its expensive mandates remains on the books, millions of Americans are going to lose the health care plans they have now – plans the president repeatedly promised they could keep. Which is why just about the only Democrats campaigning on ObamaCare today are the ones who voted against it.

    http://www.boston.com/bostongl…

    If any of the local Dem congressional appologists think the problem is one of message, think again.  

    1. …so, Shill-Man, we’re still waiting for the official line from Ken Buck on why he doesn’t understand the Medicare “donut hole.”

      After all, something so fundamental to his “I HATE OBAMACARE!” he should have some info on this subject?

      Oh, wait – that would involve him having a position on something that was written down. My mistake…

      1. You’ve supported, led and strongly participated in some of the most successful job killing public policy in a century.

        I have you, Bennet, Perlmutter, Markey, etc…. to thank because our family has less coverage, pays more and there is much more stress in our lives as we head into insurance enrollment time. Oh yeah, enrollment time … I expect a 10-15% hike + new fees.

        See you at the polls you dumb bastard.

          1. Hey we all have feelings and assumptions about others that act, love or look different then ourselves. Your’s came out in the written word, yet you denied it. That’s the sad part about you .. you’re in denial.

            Now back to Omabacare … this policy you’ve promoted is one that has cheated many Americans. Its a job killer and resulted in healthcare rationing

            Next time you see that family huddled on the street looking homeless think … 1st they may not be homeless, but if they are they have you to thank in part.

            1. I do have to wonder, as a Conservative Republican, if you’re the one so deep in the closet that you can see Narnia.

              Now back to your last paragraph – HUH?

              Even for you, that’s not even a cohesive paragraph. I thought that Tax Increases were job killers. (Even thought taxes are the lowest they’ve been since 1950.) Or is it regulations? Or Something else?

              You’re like the monkey at the zoo flinging your own shit at the passers-by. You hope that some of it sticks to prove your point, but everyone knows you’re just the crazy monkey who throws your own shit.

                1. and according to you that 18% functional unemployment is all because we can’t kick kids off of health insurance anymore…

                  you stupid dick.

                  1. Libertard is another greedy, selfish, Corporate defending, Insurance company dick sucking, arrogant, Hateful, douche.

                    Add to that Libertad and republicans in general. Care nothing of the plight of fellow countrymen. That sort of attitude used to be called traitorous.

          1. You’ll recall that for the last 6 years the Democrats in Colorado (led by Romanoff, McGihon, et. al.) have promoted a series of healthcare mandates that assured the insurance companies new revenue streams and cost me more.

            The policy failures though were to hike the cost of an employee in Colorado … they wrongly drove more unemployment up. As a result the insurance carriers had less heads to insure, thus reducing the risk pool.

            On top of that the greater unemployed sector resulted in the healthcare industry laying off costs for the uninsured onto those carriers I could choose from

            This created a grossly immoral cycle that diverted more private capital to the public sector to support greater funding for failed programs.

            facts: under Democrats, Colorado has grow those dependant on the state for healthcare by 40%. Under Democrats last year 4 million children entered the ranks of those living at or below poverty.

            Where is the change you all promised?? … what you have delivered is near complete series of domestic policy failures that have economists saying the long-term functional unemployment rate will be 18%.

            18% unemployment works against you in growing government services … you do understand that basic economic fact, don’t you?

    2. Medicare Advantage was a taxpayer subsidy to insurance companies; the health care reform bill removed the subsidy portion of the program, and some insurers were bound to drop out now that their government teat dried up.  Supplying health care is apparently Hard Work when the profit margin isn’t huge.

      We’ve already discussed the mini-health plans offered by a number of large corporations who mostly pay their employees a very low wage; I won’t re-hash that now…

    3. 1. Good case for single payer; s/b widely publicized so that everyone can understand the utter folly of giving private insurers any role whatsoever in financing health care.

      2. Where oh where do we hear about the absurd COSTS of health care? About 15% of GNP, twice what it is in Europe. Do we get better results? Even by excluding those denied coverage? No.

    4. I just love it when Republicans fall all over themselves because the market works.  Wow, what ever happened to the free market guys.  Bad insurance companies go out of the business all the time.  There is no way to blame this on the bill.  Remember, the economy sucks too.  America is in a time of consolidation of business.  The small businesses are getting gobbled up by the bigger ones.  These are small anecdotal stories that in themselves mean nothing and were expected.  How many kids do you know that have their own stand-alone policies.  Where’s that number in the story???  Harvard Medical stops providing senior advantage programs.  Again, this has been happening for years.  The problem is low doctor reimbursements. Republicans have blocked increases for years, including this year.  Principal, well, again, another small provided.  Just makes for a bigger monolopy for whoever is also in those markets.

      Let’s look at Colorado.  Any bad news?  Gee, for some anecdotal evidence let’s look at Kaiser Permanente Health Plan.  Largest in Colorado.  Rated No. 1 in Colorado.  Rated No. 9 nationwide.  Lowering premiums (ask the University Health Sciences Center which had reductions in the millions).  Refunding money!!!!! (Ask University Health Sciences Center again).  Already covered kids in school until they were 25.  Wow, seems like the bill is working pretty good here.

    5. The market can’t kill them because for the market to function requires information that is adequately reflected in the price.  Not likely with most insurance and almost impossible with Medicare Advantage plans.

      Other countries have solved this dilemma with singl payer or regulating the health insurance industry like a regulated utility.   Which are you advocating?

      I know Buck wants a “market solution” but without more explanation it’s hard to see how that’s any different from the don’t get sick or if you do, die quickly Rgument that was made a year ago.

  2. From the Wall Street Journal

    At least 72 aides on both sides of the aisle traded shares of companies that their bosses help oversee, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of more than 3,000 disclosure forms covering trading activity by Capitol Hill staffers for 2008 and 2009.

    The information these Congressional employees are using would be called insider trading if you or I were to take advantage of it.  But because they work for Congress, it’s perfectly legal, because Congress exempted itself from those laws.  

    Yeah, they have only our best interests at heart, and should be given as much power as possible over us.

      1.  Like “those who fail to learn and learn from History are doomed to repeat it.”

        Like bj he does not know accurate History. thus he Advocates repeating the Mistakes of the past. Our predecessors dealt with the mistake of Electing republicans. AND learned from that mistake. (We also have a recent glaring example in W. Bush)

        It is up to US to not make those same Mistakes.

  4. Bill Clinton will be in Denver next week. Michelle Obama will be in Denver this week.  President Obama, may or may not come to Colorado, but is campaigning in several states.

    So, where’s W?  

    What?  You mean Repugs want to “repudiate” him?  They don’t like Obama, but they also don’t like their own immediate predecessor, either?  Well, then, who do they like?  Dan Maes?  (oops.)  Ken Buck?  Isn’t he a Republican?  And, what would he have done differently than W?

    Let’s start a game called “Where’s W?”

      1. In addition – W Bush abides by a very ‘traditionalist’ approach, in terms of post-election life, which is that past Presidents shouldn’t engage in partisan politics

        Bill Clinton is actively excused from such tradition though, considering that his wife is serving an important duty

              1. …and 53 of them were our declared ally when W left, arresting Al-Quaida members and/or giving us security on them, all because W lifted sanctions against them and opened economic relationships

                That’s over 90% of the Muslim World

                I’d say… pretty darn good, considering the circumstances…

                1. But to your point: Bush was a mixed bag on Muslims–despite your devout thought to the contrary–he may have done a good job with rhetoric (which I agree is sorely missed in regards to today’s jingoistic, crazy, xenophobic Tea Party Republicans) but his policies helped inflame many of the problems he was trying to fix. The invasion of Iraq did more harm to West-Islam relations than his rhetoric could ever salvage on that front.

                    1. If he had acted and voted in line

                      When was he in a position to vote… except as a private citizen?

                      And exactly what did he say that he didn’t act on?

                      I think that we are maybe lucky that he didn’t act on everything that some of the crazies in his admin were talking about.  For example… Bolton etc.

                    2. First off I should have said vetoed rather than voted.

                      Every SOTU address he said he would not leave debt for our children.

                      He repeatedly said that we need to reach out to others, not force our ways on them.

                      He repeatedly said that we should not get in to nation building.

                      He said we should go to Mars.

                      Lots more.

                2. Yes, W declared most Muslim nations our “allies” — but don’t you think American policy from 2003-08 increased animosity toward America among middle eastern/central-south Asian Muslims?  I’m sure it’s a mix of those who loved the liberation of Iraq and those who hated the devastation of Iraq and the Guantanamo stories… but my sense was that the Obama Presidency was so welcomed there was animosity toward Bush Middle Eastern policies.

                  1. Raymond – good question

                    However, Terror Free Tomorrow, a polling group out of Wash DC, has many polls throughout Bush’s 8 years that show that American popularity in the Muslim World was greatly ascending as Bush’s Presidency went on, while Osama’s was heavily declining –

                    http://www.terrorfreetomorrow….

                    Bush doesn’t get enough credit for how well his opening of free trade went over, his aid (he sent aid to Palestine, for example), lifting sanctions, and sending billions during times of humanitarian crisis (Indonesia, Pakistan, and billions to Africa to fight AIDS)

                    Bush didn’t do perfect, but no President did more for the Muslim World than W Bush and the polling from Terror Free Tomorrow (between 2001 and 2008 – check their archives) proves it

                    1. Thanks for the info; I hadn’t seen that polling. Glad to see we’re not as unpopular in the Muslim world as I thought! And I’ll give W credit for disaster humanitarian aid that seems to be what turned things around:

                      In the first poll in Pakistan since the earthquake of October 8, 2005, Pakistanis now hold a more favorable opinion of the United States than at any time since 9/11, while support for Al Qaeda in its home base has dropped to its lowest level since then. The direct cause for this dramatic shift in Muslim opinion is clear: American humanitarian assistance for Pakistani earthquake victims.

                      Still, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, started in 2003 and 2001 respectively, did not have positive effects, as shown by the following pre-disaster aid data:

                      Support for Osama Bin Laden has declined significantly (51% favorable in May 2005 to just 33% in November) [following the 2005 disaster aid]

                      and

                      While opinion of the United States itself improved significantly, this did not translate into increased support for US-led efforts to fight terrorism.  Tellingly, those who oppose US efforts against terrorism grew, from 52% in May to 64% now.

                      And I say all this as a support of the start, and the present continuation, of the Afghanistan War; I just question whether making Iraq a second Muslim country we occupied (a) was worth the dollar and human cost, especially since it (b) had nothing to do with 9/11, and (c) furthered the impression we’re attacking the Muslim world one by one.

        2. Nice try.  If W had even a sliver of popularity, the GOP would trot him out.  I wouldn’t believe anything from you if you denied that.

          But, BlueCat is correct.  Tea Partiers don’t like Obama, don’t like Bush, wouldn’t like Reagan, etc.  I can’t tnink of anyone who has had a political leadership position that would meet their approval.  They even turned on Palin when she didn’t stop to give them autographs when her “book” was released.  The Tea Baggers are the true reflection of America’s decline.

            2. …then Gore wins in a landslide in 2000. And Bill left the country in great shape economically, with the respect of the rest of the world.

              Dubya? Well, he did use one thing with his MBA – he initiated the Presidential Management Agenda, which guaranteed that the US Govt would use PowerPoint for the 8 years….

    2. Where’s Cheney?

      Where’s Bush Sr?

      Where’s any big name R from 2-20 years ago?

      Neither Dole, no Dukemajian, no Big Jim Thompson, No Tommy Thompson, no Rumsfeld,

      Hell, where’s Joe the Plumber Contractor guy.

      It’s Beck and Palin and Demint.  

        1. You might want to check with Mitch McConnell and John Boehner on that one, beej. You and the other tea partiers are getting played, just like you always do. It’s kind of cute how you believe this time they’ll treat you as anything other than foot soldiers.

                    2. You stating an opinion as a fact is not what makes something a fact.

                      Fact

                      It’s darker later in the morning now than it was a few weeks ago.

                      Opinion stated as fact

                      People don’t like the later darkness and we should blame the President for it somehow.

    3. Since W never gave a shit about anyone who’s last name wasn’t Bush, it’s really no surprise that he’s not campaigning.

      That, and the fact that even a dumb jerk like him couldn’t be so stupid as to not realize how abysmal a President he was.

      But to answer your question:  Not here, thank God.  

  5. …imagine if a disabled Vet who was an Emmy-winning producer decided to writer some spots about the Buckpedaler, so a Veteran Advocacy group could run them the last two weeks before the election…

    VETERANS LAUNCH NEARLY $1 MILLION IN ADS IN PENNSYLVANIA,

    CRITICAL OF TOOMEY, FITZPATRICK ON FAILURE TO SUPPORT TROOPS AND VETS

    VoteVets.org, a national veterans organization, is today launching nearly $1 million in hard-hitting broadcast and cable ads in Pennsylvania, critical of the veterans’ record of Senate candidate Pat Toomey and Eighth House District candidate Mike Fitzpatrick.  Each of the ads features veterans from the state.

    The Toomey ad can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

    The Fitzpatrick ad can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

    http://www.votevets.org/news?i…

  6. from Newsweek

    Gorman met privately with the principals and made them an offer he hoped they wouldn’t refuse: what he billed as the “opportunity” to turn around one of the district’s failing schools. As part of the three-year deal, they’d receive a 10 percent raise and more freedom from district rules. They would also get the chance to pick an eight-person transformation team-each of whom would get a raise, too. The winning principals could also “transfer out” up to five teachers from their new school, including obstructionists, underperformers, and leaders of what principals call “the toxic lunchroom.” In exchange, Gorman said, “we expected them to transform the culture of the school to one in which high academic achievement is expected and achieved.”

    …

    Among the most effective was principal Suzanne Gimenez. After two years at high-poverty Devonshire Elementary, she has boosted the reading score of her Hispanic students by 30 points and her school’s math score by 33 points. Her secrets? Posting a chart to track the performance of every student, plus instilling more accountability and discipline.

    2. Michelle Rhee has stepped down as chancellor of public schools. Rhee said she didn’t believe she could continue to effectively work as chancellor under Vincent Gray who beat Mayor Fenty in a primary in September.  

      1. I suppose now we’ll get to hear what a great job she could have done if only she hadn’t been “forced out.”

        Am I allowed to observe that teachers are expected to perform excellently under all circumstances, but administrators like Rhee can’t seem to perform if even one thing goes wrong for her?

          1. but the one mentioned here is “working for someone who doesn’t fully support you.” These are conditions that many teachers have to work under. I’d be happy to hear what other difficulties she’s labored under.

            I suppose if I had the explicit endorsement of the President as well as a cover photo in Time magazine and editorial writers all over the country telling me what a great job I’m doing as a teacher, I wouldn’t really have to complain about the fact that my immediate supervisor wants a say in how I teach. But I guess we all have different burdens to bear at the workplace.

      1. bombarded with cialis/viagra commercials. Or the imo way too crude KY commercials. We should be sheltering our kids from television NOT from the arts.

        The whole point of art is to encourage discussion and thought. This play, unedited, could have encouraged parents to have frank and open discussions about sex with their kids rather than letting them learn about it through 30 second lube or broken-penis commercials.

    4. From the article:

      A new principal with no experience seems an odd choice to turn around a long-failing school. But that’s exactly whom most superintendents around the country end up hiring-largely because no one else applies for what seems like a thankless job. It’s no surprise that most don’t succeed.

      …

      For years, districts have tried to fix their worst schools by pouring more money into them, hiring self-styled turnaround specialists, or “reconstituting” schools by firing the entire staff and starting over. But the results have been more miss than hit.

      Hey, what do you know? Firing people by itself has been tried and hasn’t worked? Bringing people in from the corporate world with no education experience hasn’t really accomplished anything? Nobody could have predicted!

      And people respond to positive encouragement much better than to negative threats? A positive attitude from everyone is better than a culture of fear? Who’d have imagined?

      You zero in on the transfer of teachers because you’re a nasty little shit with a lot of contempt for people who work harder than you. But you ignore all the aspects of this story that are the exact opposite of what you’ve been advocating (such as the fact that teacher transfers were seemingly based more on personality conflicts and attitude than on test scores).

      All that said, I’d rather hear about how the other schools are doing. It’s nice to know that the most-improved school has improved a lot, but I’m curious to know the effects elsewhere. The article briefly mentions that scores rose in all schools, but doesn’t say by how much.  

      1. you’re a nasty little shit

        First off I posted the article because it shows a route to success. Unlike some I keep an open mind.

        Second, there were three main things used. One was:

        The winning principals could also “transfer out” up to five teachers from their new school, including obstructionists, underperformers, and leaders of what principals call “the toxic lunchroom.”

        1. It sounds like they got good results by being able to transfer teachers out, but they seemed to base the decision on transferring on the culture of the school. You can’t know whether someone is an obstructionist unless you get to know the teachers. I have no problem with doing this if it works. The only thing I’ve had a problem with is using some number to rank all the teachers and fire a fixed number of them based on that number (which is your plan). There’s no indication that would work.

          I’m not for job security above everything else. I’m for what seems to work. Firing teachers doesn’t work (based on the Newsweek article). On the other hand, reassigning teachers based on trying to build a positive atmosphere works. So yeah, let’s do that. If no contrary evidence arises about this experiment, I’m happy with that.

          Notice that the article gives no indication as to whether any teachers were actually transferred out. The case study they use describes using a totally different method (which relies on student accountability, something I am strongly in favor of).

          But we’ve been through this before. The fact that the article does not support your proposed solution will have NO IMPACT WHATSOEVER on how often you keep proposing it. Next week you’ll still be saying “fire 5% of teachers whose students do the worst on a standardized test,” and you’ll think this article backs you up (in spite of the fact that it has nothing at all in common with your plan).

          Because ultimately you don’t actually care about what improves student performance. You care about firing teachers. This is why I have concluded

          you’re a nasty little shit

          1. What I want is schools that educate our children. In my years of serving on various advisory boards at BVSD the number 1 complaint I have heard from principals off the record is they cannot get rid of their problem teachers. So I think firing problem teachers is part of any solution.

            I don’t think it’s the full solution. I think there is a lot more involved. I just think teachers need to join the situation virtually anyone else is in, where they can be fired for not doing a good enough job.

            Keep in mind the purpose of schools is not to provide secure middle class jobs to teachers, it’s to educate the children.

            1. Your ability to completely miss the point truly knows no bounds. I endorse this proposal until I see any contrary evidence. I’m not for job security above all else. I’m for educating kids. You’re for firing teachers above all else, because you think that’s the only way to change things (in spite of the fact that the article you quote clearly emphasizes firing teachers wasn’t the most important factor in school improvement).

              This is why you are and will remain

              a nasty little shit.

              Because if a school district found a way to improve morale and student performance and test scores and college admittance rates without firing a single teacher, you’d think there was something wrong. We both know this about you, but I’m the only one who will admit it.

              1. Although if what you say is true, why did I post the above article?

                And…

                Because if a school district found a way to improve morale and student performance and test scores and college admittance rates without firing a single teacher, you’d think there was something wrong.

                If a school district “improve morale and student performance and test scores and college admittance rates” I would trumpet that success and ask loudly what were other districts doing to copy their approach so we could get the same result.

                I have opinions, based on both research and a lot of involvement in BVSD, about what we should try. But my sole goal is a quality education for all of our children. Whatever makes that happen has my support. And if it’s accomplished while retaining ironclad job security for teachers – great.

                1. As in your response to Libertad 2.0, where you clearly think teacher-firing is of primary importance, despite the article quite clearly stating the opposite.

                  It’s almost like you read any article, pick out the one thing that supports your preconceived world-view (even if your interpretation contradicts the rest of the article), then trumpet your misunderstanding on the blog repeatedly and without addressing or taking seriously anyone’s disagreement. No wonder you’re so impressed with Libertad.

  7. from Newsweek

    In Connecticut, for example, corporate tax breaks have expanded to $350 million a year, up from $3 million in 1990. But they’ve had “no meaningful impact” on jobs because they haven’t improved the area’s productive capacity the way new roads and skills would. Each additional $1 million invested in infrastructure, by contrast, could create about 12 jobs, according to the study; vocational training could raise the average worker’s earnings $100 a month. For a politician, however, “vocational training” may not bring in the laurels.

    So apparently for Republicans in our legislature, laurels are more important than jobs and increased pay…

    1. With an 18% functional unemployment level under Pelosi-Obama it seems very dire in America today. But we need to remember its not a total disaster we are facing.

      As an example Card Check … Bennet is now seating hungry diners at his flip-flop pancake house.

      Buck, meanwhile, ripped Bennet for failing to take a concrete position, even though it seemed as if he had. “His constituency group is clearly the unions, and yet he doesn’t want to make the business people mad, he doesn’t want to make the newspapers mad, and so he’s trying to have it both ways,” Buck said. “He can’t have it both ways. He can very easily say, ‘I’m opposed to card check, I don’t like taking away the workers’ right to a secret ballot’. But he won’t say that.”

      http://www.kwgn.com/news/kdvr-…

      Examples 2 – n…. that Bennet supports

      Obamacare: raising costs and crippling choices

      He Spends-You Pay: name the Democrat bill and this tax and spend concept is a fundamental component

      DPS Exotic Financing: $400 million in the whole, Bennet signed DPS up for exotic derivatives-like financings of its pension funds. His real motive … free up money to play with.

      Why won’t Bennet defend his policies and stances?

      1. When I attacked Bennet (For Romanoff)  with he DPS allegation I knew it was a LIE. now you take up that same BS.

        then the refusal of you to acknowledge the repayments and potential profits that will be made for the taxpayer by Obama and Bennets Reinvestment in America. AKA = Stimulus.

        Boy-O-Boy and you call US dumb Bastards. (eyes rolling)

  10. LTC “Lex Luthor” Larkin goes before a military Court Martial today on multiple charges of failing to follow lawful orders and missing movement.

    At his Article 32 hearing earlier this year, the military judge demolished all of his defense pleadings over his belief that the President is not his lawful commander, and that all orders and actions he receives from the date President Obama assumed officer are also not lawful.

    (Well, except his military pay, allowances and benefits. Those were just fine.)

    Any smart non-delusional military officer would’ve seen the jig was up, and take any deal the military prosecutor would have offered. (Which the prosecutor didn’t do, thanks to LTC Larkin’s counsel’s abrasive maneuvering and comments. Payback is a bitch, after all…)

    So, LTC Larkin is still expected to plead not guilty today, and because of that, the Judge will probably open the entire can of UCMJ whoop-ass on this assclown when he’s found guilty.

    Will he spend a long time in the Disciplinary Barracks breaking big rocks into small ones? I doubt he’ll serve more than 3 years, if that. Unless of course, his Commanding Officer speaks to the Judge at sentencing (his right,) in which case I suspect that he’ll get the book thrown at him because he IS an officer, is expected to set the example in all things, and conduct himself in a professional and competent manner in discharging his duties.  

    And as a final note, pissing off the youngest Medal Of Honor recipient who happens to be your Commanding Officer is not usually a career-enhancing move.

    Enjoy your bust to PV1, your bad-conduct discharge, and the idea that the only benefits you’ll manage to get for all your years of service is maybe some aspirin from the VA pharmacy.

      1. It’s a lie.  I’m a Kaiser member.  It you go to the pharmacy and the cost is less than the co-pay, you pay only the cost.  And lots of times at Kaiser, that’s less than Walgreens.  Please don’t tell such easily disproved lies.  You’re full of it.

        1. I do know that if I get aspirin or equivalent simple pain meds at the VA, i get to pay the co-pay for them.

          If I go across the st to Walgreen’s and buy the store brand, I get more aspirin for less $.

      1. The Article 32 hearing is basically a procedure in which all the evidence that’s going to be heard at the full Court Martial is presented, at which time the military judge rules if there’s enough evidence to go forward with the Court martial. If a discovery request is viewed as valid, it goes forward and whatever is found is sent to the prosecution.

        Once that Art 32 hearing is done, no new evidence can be presented at court martial. Well, it can be introduced, but it’s pretty rare.

        LTC Asshat’s original defense was nuked down to the ground during the Art 32 hearing. The judge ruled that the only thing to consider is that he got the orders to deploy, and they were legal. The burden is on the SM to prove they’re not. Since LTC Asshat wanted to go on a birth certificate fishing expedition, he had nothing.

        Unlike all the previous birther cases, this one isn’t civil. It’s the equivalent of a Federal criminal case, and once it’s decided, no other Military person can try this crap.  

    3. Somehow, that Benedict Arnold precedent — I get to choose the sovereign I serve — doesn’t fly very well with the American military.  The difference between Benedict Arnold and Pvt e-1 Larkin is that, before his treason, Arnold was a genuine hero (see Freeman’s farm and his invasion of Canada) .

      1. prior to this fundamental lack of judgement.

        I’ve seen his DA photo, and he has my complete respect for his Expert Field Medical Badge, which is probably harder to earn than the Expert Infantry Badge. He’s got a decent amount of medals, and most of all, he put together soldiers chopped up by war.

        Mad Profs for that.

        But, you’re an Officer. You set the example in all things. If you’ve got a beef with the political process, GET OUT and work on it.

        Hooting and shrieking conspiracy theories just makes you look like a dumbass, and it casts doubt on your ability to lead. Disobeying orders based on a hunch is stupid and criminal, and he’s going to pay dearly for it.  

        1. That’s all the proof you need that they shouldn’t be in any sort of leadership position. It is a true shame that a genuine hero like Lakin torpedoed his stellar career and reputation.

          This is a perfect example of the danger of drinking the kool-aid and letting it ruin your life.

        2. between soon to be ex LTC Lakin and Benedict Arnold sting.  Had he not turned traitor, Arnold, the real hero of the campaign that ended with Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga, would have ranked behind only Geo Washington as our greatest revolutionary hero.  — or at least as an equal to Nathanael Greene.  

          Of those to whom much has been give, much is expected.

             

      1. … who disobeys orders directly related to the battlefield simply because he chooses to believe a crackpot political theory about the President being born in Kenya, not Hawaii as the birth certificate vouched for by the Republican Governor of the state?  Way to take a shot so cheap it just shows your inability to grasp any nuance in life; i.e., you can “respect vets” while still having incredible disrespect for a soldier who defies battlefield orders.

      2. How’d that desertion thing work out for Eddie Slovik, Beej?

        *Slovik was the sole American soldier executed for desertion under fire during World War II.  

      3. ..I’ve said far worse things to my stupid 2LT when I was a squad leader/acting platoon sgt. As much as I would like to call him LTC Asshat for throwing away a good career for the likes of the Birther movement, I’m still giving him respect for the rank he (for the moment) still holds.

        But disobeying a lawful order AND shirking important duty as a flight surgeon in a combat zone deserves far more scorn and insult than I can heap on this website.

        Luckily, his ass is in front of a Court Martial, and very soon they will render their justice in the cruel and unusual way that only the UCMJ can.

        The military is a different society, on top of anything else. YOU don’t understand JACK about it.

        Go back to your auto body class…

            1. Still, if he were to STFU about everything he had not understanding of, he wouldn’t have anything to post here at all . . . Oh, what a happy, happy day?

          2. This isn’t about vets, and respect.  It’s about an Army officer who has refused to obey orders and is being called on it by the military.  LTC Larkin has every right to believe whatever he wants about the President.  But he does not have the right to disobey orders when he chooses to remain in the Army under that same President.

  11. I’d do another diary about what I think the Bennet campaign should be doing to turn this around, except based on the last time I don’t think they’re open to suggestions.

    I really hope Patty Murray pulls it out (I’m donating to her). She votes progressive and stands proudly behind her record.

    1. +2.6R  (Kos has been doing a daily update for the Senate outlook; yesterday is the first time in a week that the outlook has been better for Dems than 50-50), and one of the reasons was some rosier-looking new polling for Bennet in Colorado.

    2. +2.6R  (Kos has been doing a daily update for the Senate outlook; yesterday is the first time in a week that the outlook has been better for Dems than 50-50), and one of the reasons was some rosier-looking new polling for Bennet in Colorado.

      1. those guys have no liberty or freedom.

        That is cool.  And while it wouldn’t be that hard to fake the video – it would be easier to just do what they did.

        So NY gets space camera dad.  We get balloon boy.

  13. from HuffPo

    As doubts about the legality of foreclosure proceedings continue to grow, Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said a nationwide foreclosure freeze would do more harm than good, Bloomberg reports.

    …

    Ritholtz points to the case of the Florida man whose home did not have a mortgage and yet was foreclosed upon anyway by Bank of America, which has since frozen its foreclosures nationally.

    What exactly was the change we were going to get with Obama again? Yes, I know Obama is much better than McCain, but I wanted it to change to putting the people first.

    1. and I’m amazed to see our very own AG on this list as well! I guess the Home Mortgage Industry better start rolling out those donations, so they can get Colorado off their backs!

      Officials in 49 states launch foreclosure probe

      Officials in 49 states and the District of Columbia have launched a joint investigation into allegations that mortgage companies mishandled documents and broke laws in foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

      The states’ attorneys general and bank regulators will examine whether mortgage company employees made false statements or prepared documents improperly.

      Alabama was the only state not to join the investigation.

      Attorneys general have taken the lead in responding to a nationwide scandal that’s called into question the accuracy and legitimacy of documents that lenders relied on to evict people from the homes. Employees of four large lenders have acknowledged in depositions that they signed off on foreclosure documents without reading them.

      http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/201…

    2. According to a discussion on CNBC this morning, the “wet ink” rule in real estate law requires paper documentation to prove title in foreclosure cases. Much of the paperwork appears to have been lost.

      As mortgages were electronically traded by slicing and dicing and selling them in tranches  http://www.docloan.com/loans/l… around the world, the magnitude of the problem becomes clear.

      To make matters worse, investors are demanding clarity from the lenders and have launched a series of lawsuits.

      Will we find some interesting missteps as the “ownership” documents are hunted down?

      1. the fact that Hick is running unopposed, for all practical purposes, might have been a factor in their decision.  And there is still the issue of Bennet’s day job keeping him in Washington.

              1. I think you have vastly overrated their influence.  I doubt that the difference you cited would change a single vote.  Indeed, almost the only effect of a Gazette endorsement would be if it went to Buck: the “Gee, even the right-wing Gazette found Buck too far to the right factor” might have had some shock value.  An editorial board meeting takes an hour.  And travel time, and you have two hours, even if you’re in the springs on other business.  Assuming you do any specific preparation, it’s hours more of your own and staff time.  I think the time is better spent

                in Get Out the Vote efforts.  Or even just having a beer and getting a little snuggle time in with Susan.

                Endorsements in the high profile races have the least impact.  In legislative and other low profile races, they have a lot of impact.  This one would only make a difference if the Gazette endorsed Bennet and that was never going to happen.

  15. This Market/Watch article tells it like it is:

    http://finance.yahoo.com/famil…

    “And according to an analysis by the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. has one of the most unequal income distributions in the world. In this field, most of the developed world is pretty much in line — Japan, Italy, Australia, Canada, Norway, Great Britain. Some are more unequal than others, but all are comparable. In each case, of course, the rich make more than the middle class, sometimes a lot more. But they generally occupy the same economy.

    The U.S.? Our income distribution is more in line with Zimbabwe, Argentina, and El Salvador. We think of Russia as the land of oligarchs, but America’s inequality is actually slightly greater than Russia’s.”

          1. In Mesa County, some Republicans would FIGHT to spend the money to put up a billboard like that.  I know several, but I’m not mentioning names.

            Ellie, want to chime in with your experience?

          2. … declare it a “hoax” perpetrated by Powerful Forces conspiring against Home-Schooled Fundamentalists (HOSFS) who just know the truth regardless of what the evidence shows because, you know, Mommy — aka the Home-School Principal, Science Teacher, and Theology Teacher — said so.

              3. “I feel sorry for you”, and “if we could just have a beer together” or “You need a big hug” or somesuch bullshit. You ARE taking lessons from LB!

  17. Climate Gate was a smoking gun. This is a smoking cannon:

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/n…

    Who would dare write such GW sacrilege? None other than


    Harold Lewis[,] Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, former Chairman; Former member Defense Science Board, chmn of Technology panel; Chairman DSB study on Nuclear Winter; Former member Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Former member, President’s Nuclear Safety Oversight Committee; Chairman APS study on Nuclear Reactor Safety; Chairman Risk Assessment Review Group; Co-founder and former Chairman of JASON; Former member USAF Scientific Advisory Board

    1. (whose specialty is not, BTW, climate science), who makes at least one inaccurate claim in his rebuttal to the APS that would seem to indicate his lack of a deep knowledge of climate science.

      Dr. Lewis writes of the conflict of interest of the APS in the supposed millions of dollars its board and panel members get from continuing this supposed fraud, but he does NOT note his recent job change to being a member of an anti-AGW advocacy group.

    2. When the GWPF’s website was launched in November 2009, a graph used in the logo  graphic on each page of the website of ’21st Century global mean temperatures’ showed a slow decline over the selected period from 2001-2008. It was found to contain an error for 2003 by Hannah Devlin of The Times, who also pointed out that if the period from 2000-2009 had been chosen, then a rise in temperature would have been shown rather than a fall.[10] The error was also commented on by Bob Ward of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, who said the graph was contrary to the true measurements, and that by leaving out the temperature trend during the 20th century the graph obscured the fact that 8 of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred this century. The GWPF blamed a “small error by our graphic designer” for the mistake which would now be changed, but said that starting the graph earlier would be equally arbitrary

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G…

      So a 90-year-old Emeritus professor is mad because the APS won’t give him what he wants.

      Yawn.

      1. Every scientific society, from around the world, that has taken a position concurs with the conclusion that humans are having a discernible impact on global climate.

        Not a single professional scientific society rejects this conclusion. Not even the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

        This whining old cold warrior is merely blowing smoke. Maybe it’s out of a cannon? More likely it’s out his ass.

            2. The Beej knows more about climate change than all the active publishing scientists in all the world.

              And this is because The Beej is supported by a great socialist social enterprise so that he can study the errors that come out of his posterior.

    4. who thinks Buck is a fucking moron who has no place in government.  She’s only one person, but actually qualified to make that determination.

      So will you be voting D, G, abstaining???  I’m pins and needles over here.

        2. … so apparently you get to teach law even if (a) you’re the most hilariously incompetent bureaucrat ever (Brown), and (b) you’re such an unethical prosecutor that you get run out of town from your plum US Attorney gig (Buck). I’m happy to concede that Buck and Brown belong in the same group of bizarre DU profs, tho.

  18. …well, not the first time.

    Texan ballot papers sent out with flag of Chile

    For several years officials in Atascosa County, south of San Antonio, had sent out the insert containing what they thought was their state flag on it to absentee voters.

    The mistake went unnoticed until a Ph.D student living in Japan alerted the authorities.

    Troy Knudson said:”Apparently the insert has been used for some time without anyone (voters and staff) noticing.

    “I guess it’s funny in some way, but my initial reaction was more disbelief that no one had noticed.”

    He said election officials congratulated him “for preventing future Atascosa voters from seeing the flag mistake.”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new…

    Based on this, are we really sure any vote cast in this country was properly counted?

  19. Sixty one years old, long term marriage, never left the community.

    But ya know, tutoring math at CSU is hazardous duty, isn’t it? (That’s a sarcastic snark for you Beejster, if you can’t figure that out.)

    Thank you, Horace.  And my classmate, David Paul W., friend and name mirror image of mine, Paul David.

    And my ex-roomie of years and best friend Stan brain shattered with PTSD and secrets of horror I can’t reveal.

    And those other 58,000 peers.

    Beejster, Shut The Fuck Up. You are a goddamned Chicken Turd.  

      2. In the scale of humanity, you are not even at the shit end of where my friends and peers are as polar opposites.

        If you have a moral problem with the military or the current wars, I have no problem with that.  I did back in the VN era.  I was prepared to go to prison to stand by my ethics. I’m not saying my decision was on the scale of my peers that went over there, whether by belief or draft.  But we each made decisions and were willing to pay the consequences.

        OTOH, you and the Romney boys think that politicking is the equivalent of sacrifice.

        Sacrifice.  Hmmmmm……rememember what Jesus did about that?  If Jesus was a candle, you aren’t even darkness.  

        2. I guess I should start expecting the frequency of nonsensical profanity-laced posts towards me to continue. Just shows exactly why we don’t need Democrats running things.

          2. … but seriously, you do know you CAN be a Christian, even a really devout one, without fantasizing that you’re a close second to Jesus himself as “most persecuted hombre ever,” right? Or was that not part of the home school curriculum?

          3. The sub-thread is about your mental masturbation that teaching is equivalent to putting your life on the line.

            But you believe we are hammering on your hypocrisy because Dems are going to lose a lot of races.

            See, there’s no connection.  That’s a non sequitur. A classic, “Huh?”

            This is also a good example of another failing of intelligence: moronism.

             

  20. I said here’s a success story and posted the key paragraph in full. I did not call anything out, I did not bold anything. I was just presenting an approach that seems to improve things.

    And my take from that is the school districts here would be well served to look at what they did and see if they could replicate that level of success here.

    Yes transferring out 5 teachers was one of the three key pieces. You’re the one that focused on that. My point was here’s something that should be considered.

  21. My parents got their ballots today, while I got the postcard telling me my precinct. Now, can my parents only vote by mail in or can they opt to vote at the precinct?

    Thanks.

    1. If you requested a mail ballot and go to the polls, you’ll be given a provisional ballot and asked to sign a waiver saying you won’t fill out your mail-in ballot.

      The provisional ballot will be counted after regular ballots, and after it is confirmed that you didn’t vote by mail-in.  (And do provisional ballots not have the full set of questions, or did they fix that?)

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