The prez is no longer content with formenting racial tension indirectly don’tcha know, he’s charged the Justice Department with making it a higher priority. I present you … Trayvongate
Fomenting. Just sayin’…
Yes, definitely, thank you to the Republicans. The Stupid that keeps on Stupiding. Or, something.
It was called Midnight’s Children, based on a novel by Salman Rushdie (he produced and wrote the the screenplay). Being an uneducated, uncultured ass, it was my first exposure to Rushdie’s work. I only knew him as a name, a guy who had to go underground and hide because of a fatwa. It was…odd. And interesting. Kinda epic, a bit silly, a lot sad. I’m glad I saw it, even if it did make me miss 10,000.
Thanks Onomatopoeia. I will no longer attempt to foment ridicule and disbelief with forment… 
Read the book. You won’t be disappointed.
But any Rushdie post Moor’s Last Sigh I’d recommend against.
That was supposed to be my Golden Paper Towel Tube Award, dammit!
But you need to take into account that insurance companies can negotiate with providers on price in a way that individuals can not.
Anecdote: There was a lab that for a while was trying to bill us $500 directly for some blood tests they were giving my wife. After repeated follow up calls we finally got them to bill our insurance company. End Result was the insurance paid them $130, and we had an $8 co-pay. After seeing this it was very clear to me why they didn’t want to go through our insurance.
Exactly. And that is also the reason why you can’t find out how much a procedure is going to cost you. The insurance companies don’t want providers to be able to compare payments, so they include non-disclosure clauses in their contracts.
What would be much more effective in allowing comparison shopping would be to require insurance companies and providers to provide allowable and copay information upon request.
That would cover not only office visits, but the much more expensive procedures. And would help consumers compare providers and policies by actual out-of-pocket expenses rather than guesses.
I wonder why there are no Republicans pushing that idea?
House Republicans pass a farm bill with absolutely no food stamp funding.
I consider the food stamp program worthy on its own terms, but its political existence has been sort of a quid pro quo with rural lawmakers in exchange for ag subsidies. But now Republicans, being such responsible stewards of the public purse, hate the SNAP program, presumably because Cadillac-driving welfare queens and strapping young bucks are buying lobster and caviar with their benefits, instead of just going out and getting a median income job, which is SO EASY to do nowadays. And yet, shoveling government subsidies towards ADM and Cargill, and lining the pockets of members of Congress? Totally fine!
As someone who works in a grocery store, I can say with authority that if the food stamp program ceased to exist tomorrow, that our chain, and most other chains, would either go out of business or be forced to jack up prices to a point that would completely negate any possible tax savings (and then some).
Meanwhile, in the Alabama of the North (i.e. Pennsylvania), one Republican Congressman now wants to prosecute Obama for delaying the business mandate in the PPACA.
I, for one, am amused to death by the fact that the GOP’s policy of kneejerk opposition to everything Obama says and does has now forced them into complaining that he isn’t implementing his radical socialist Muslim Marxist anti-American dictatorial agenda fast enough.
Pure posturing. I would be willing to bet that food assistance programs will largely remain intact, precisely for the reasons outlined above. Cargill, ADM, General Foods and other major contributors have gotten their agribusiness gravy, and are now free to pretend to give a shit about people. By a happy coincidence, their civic virtue enhances their bottom line.
There will be minor afflictions enacted to prevent the undeserving poor from spending their food assistance on hookers and blow, but it will pass.
It’s about the only reason Republicans pass any legislation anymore.
Mine is.
sigh All right, rapid reminder : government, federal, municipal or misc. benefits *you *get ? Necessary network of social safety net, pride of the nation, safeguards against tyranny and hobbling poverty ; good ideas all. Hence why even Megyn Kelly the vitriolic Fox bimbo gets all uppity when one of her arch-conservative guests (among oh so many) starts to talk shit about maternity leave.
Money which someone else receives and neither you, your significant other, nor your children can claim ? ENTITLEMENTS ! SOSHULISM ! The Specter of Dependency ! Burn them ! Burn them all !
Are we clear on this ?
If it’s not for you or people in your extended social circle, then it’s pork.
With one exception, of course : if the people in your extended social circle are estranged to you, then their specific shit is porker. Maybe even porkest, depending on how ornery you might be.
With the contentious anti-abortion bill coming to the floor for a vote, the Republican-controlled Texas State Senate took measures to protect the Senators.
Specifically, banning tampon possession in the Senate gallery.
Concealed-carry handguns, of course, are still allowed with the appropriate permit.
Tweets on the Texas Tribune Twitter account (alliteration fail) now state that dangerous tampons are once again allowed in the purses of women attempting to participate in the process of democracy in the Texas Capitol.
Texas twats tweet on Twitter, tottering on a terrible twist of twaddle.