Who'd have thought they'd lead ya/back here where we need ya?
 

Coltrane aka Young Sebby comes back, and you people are acting like it's no big deal? For shame!

So, Coltrane, you must be almost at the Swinging Free in the Hickey Freeman stage of development - how's that going? Do you like peaty single malt Scotch (excuse me, "Scots") yet? Catching the eye of the hot clerk at the Hyatt reception desk?

(Seriously, welcome back! Now we need Spanky to come by and talk about the Plantonic Ideal of Free trade.)

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Come on... We do not have anything close to fiscal moderation. Both parties spend like drunks. Medicare part d, defense budget, subsidies for ACA, countless administrative agencies... It's a fuckshow in terms of govt breadth and expenditure.

And we're not moderate. Half of this country is absolutely clinging to its backward religious nonsense. The fantastic thinking of these people is still infecting policy.

The silent majority is never given a good choice.

Re: Who'd have thought they'd lead ya/back here where we need ya?
 

I went with Italian stuff years ago. The Hickeys don't drape well. Suits for fat Americans.

Still spread collars, however. And no underwear or visible socks (unless wearing a suit in summer, when boots can't be worn.)

But really, who the fuck wears a suit more than once a week, if that, anymore?

One other quirk: Peak lapels. Much nicer looking. But hard as fuck to find.

You're best bet's a true baby blue Continental,
 

Of course you're doing Brioni now. But we're talking about Coltrane. If he ever catches up to you, I think that means you die. So keep growing and evolving.

PS - you know I love you like the nephew who stole my Scritti Politti t-shirt, but a Hickey suit paired with Allen Edmunds shoes is what America is all about. What are you talking about? Italian suits? What's next? Skinny ties and Mastroianni movies? Jesus Christ, man.

Free and easy in my Giusuppe, bay-bee! Just be careful of hitting the gents with anything other than navy or charcoal.

The Not Bobster, although even the old guys are starting to mock me. Fuck them. If I wanted to wear khakis and a cardigan, I'd be a professor or run a B&B in New England.

You could really be a Beau Brummel, baby, if you just gave it half a chance.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

DJT already has other people handling his relationship with the Kremlin, so Huntsman is just for show. Contrast the sort of person he sent to Israel.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Serious question. Why am I wrong here?

The ACA was doomed the moment it added so many people with their conditions and costs without adequately adding premium and without reducing costs. The costs would have been reduced by limiting wasteful expenditures on end-of-life care. So called "death panels" would have decided - on behalf of taxpayer, not private money, - that paying millions for machines that go ping for a few weeks was asinine and cost ineffective.

But the Republicans in their fervor to be all things anti-Obama defeated the most fiscally responsible part of the Bill. Thus, it beacame a half assed project doomed to failure. We spend close to 20% of our GDP on health care, and over 75% of that on the last year of someone's life, i.e. the machine that goes ping when your grandparent is dying but may only add days to their life, but we added millions of sick patients without the ability to limit their care.

Do the math. Trump is right here about it expoding. Obama and Congress gave the doctors and insurance companies carte blanche to raise rates (or quit) 25% this year without recourse. And next year, etc. I may be wrong, but nothing I have read from either side - other than single payer - has proposed anything realistic on the cost side, so costs coninue to rise without equivalent revenues. Well, duh, Trump is right that that is unsustainable.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Sad reality and what I have said again and again:

Single payer countries do away with end of life expenditures. As you know, I deal with this on a daily basis. In Canada, UK, no chemo, surgeries for 65+ people. They say "sorry", give you pain meds, and say "call us when it is . . . time."

Re: You're best bet's a true baby blue Continental,
 

Were I could stock the closet with regular price Brionis...

Allen Edmonds? There's a layer of dust on my lace ups. Yes... I break the loafers-with-a-suit rule. But never with buckle or tassel-free loafers. Only with those old school tassel jobs (Alden). And you have to discover the joy of boots. One never has to match his hidden socks to anything.

My wife also had me get the suit pants more tightly tailored. Not Sticky Fingers tight, but a bit more fashion-forward. Is terribly constricting on those random half-erections, but cuts a nice silhouette.

There's a special ring in hell for people who put that song in other peoples' heads, you know that?

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I believe the descriptive you're seeking are, "opened the flood gates," "foot in the door," or more cynically, "Trojan horse." The end game was always single payer.

It was a long term transfer of care dollars from the last-years-of-life demographic to the too-poor-to-pay-for-insurance demographic. In that regard, on an exclusively economic basis, it's quite defensible. From the perspective of an old person who paid into the system her whole life, however, it's a rotten bargain. Perhaps even a bait and switch.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

His daughter is seriously fucking hot. How did I not know of this person before?

Shame she doesn't drink, and a google image search for her nude is pointless...

Religion. It Ruins Everything.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

Well, we now are getting a better answer as to where we'll be fighting our next wars. We dropped more bombs on Yemen last week than in the previous two years.

In other news, ground troops were greenlighted for Raqqa.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

The principal cost reduction measures in ACA are just starting to take effect, including a move to outcome based payments. Most of the cost control efforts are nerdy and incremental, but cumulatively can have some significant impact. The rate of increase of healthcare costs has been steadily declining throughout the Obamacare period.

This is not to say something is not out of whack. A quick comparison of us to any other developed country says we aren't getting our money's worth as a society. But the Trump / Ryan solution is to make us less like countries that are getting more bang for their buck. Ah, yeh, sure, why not.

And what's your source for 75% being spent in the last year of life. The often-debunked statistic I'm used to seeing is one-third of healthcare costs being spent in the last year of life, a number that depends on some studies of the Medicare only population and so excludes that large group of working age folks covered by private insurance. There are other studies that look at ranges in the 12-20% range based on type of payor. 75%? Really? Seems like an alt-fact.

It would be a lot easier to fix healthcare expenses if the problem was so simple.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I still maintain that that keeping the 21-26 year olds out of the exchanges did the ACA no favors. Fuckers are adults. Throw them to the wolves.

Re: Who'd have thought they'd lead ya/back here where we need ya?
 

Hey NB! I'm drinking good tequila and mescal. So smooth and neither seems to affect me the next day.

If you have a Steinmart you can get HF ties for $25.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Should we look at recent poll numbers for this?

Women are not the extreme left nor are they playing into Bannon's hands. That's dumb.


The majority shares a political view and yet they can't win elections? Do you ever let evidence break into your world view?

The majority isn't paying attention and doesn't give a damn. Minority that consistently vote have various motivations, including lots of things that are not tolerant (opposition to gay marriage for example) that matter more to them than fiscal responsibility. The game of politics is finding the right package of those motivations to turn out more voters than the other guy.

And we just learned that hating Muslims and immigrants is a big winner there.

Actually, we knew that but we'd been relying on the character of individual GOP candidates to restrain themselves.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Oddly, this fear is receding in my view, as his evidence of his corruption and incompetence is mounting.

I also think evidence of a real movement is fading too. The Chan troll culture isn't going to stay with him as he actually has to do more than bloviate.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

You're assuming we see our interests as lower taxes.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

You're arguing with a man who didn't know who Abby Huntsman is. He pays no attention.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

16 years of Clinton & Obama and you still say this crap? Facts do not enter your thoughts.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I don't know who Abby Huntsman is.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

No I'm not. There's no dispute that under Trump's proposed tax plan, high earners will see a financial benefit. But maybe your interests are purely altruistic. If so, welcome back Jesus.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

It's not altruism, it's thinking past the next tax bill.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Costs were rising before the ACA was passed, and it has slowed the rate of increase. If you compare what we spend on healthcare to other countries, it definitely seems like we pay too much. If you compare what we spend to what we used to spend, it also seems like we pay too much -- but in some ways we get better care than we used to, and there is no doubt that what we spend money on changes over time.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

Typical son-of-God modesty. Don't worry, JC, your secret is safe with us!

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

There's no reason we can't kick this can down the road in perpetuity.

Although for the son of God, perpetuity probably isn't nearly as long as it is for us humans.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

If I were to guess which one of us was secretly Jesus, I totally would have gone with Sebastian. Like he was sent here to test us or something. Adder would have been pretty far down the list. But I guess that is part of the Mystery and the Wonder of the Almighty!

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

On the subject of the Divine, it's time for the Daily Dose. But first, it's been a while since I've seen a good old fashioned Pitchfork Hit Job. Thank you, Ed Sheeran!

"Ed Sheeran sells trite innocence by the pound. He uses bland wisdom and unimaginative music to ponder the basic good and bad in people around him, without once looking inward."

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22960-divide/

Now, here is some crazy old funk that sounds like some sort of oompah band got loaded on whiskey and stanky green. It's The Pazant Brothers with "Skunk Juice":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0ba5d4feDw

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

I prefer days when I don't have to deal with people with guns.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

I think that person killed the board with his gun.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

Drama past. But we corporate lawyers lead exciting lives, what with arguing over MAC clauses, defining the scope of licenses, and dealing with firing someone who is mental and carries.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

We did that four or five years ago. We did it in the crazy's office. My one partner was standing over him as he begged and cried for 2 hours. Later I asked why he stood there and he said he wanted to be ready in case the guy went for a gun. We later found two in his desk.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

The day before he started shooting people on the LIRR, Colin Ferguson came to my FIL's office, looking for him. He choose not to go out to reception, and Ferguson went away.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

And instead killed 6 innocent people on the LIRR. And your father in law shares that with people? What. A. Guy.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

Well, Ty shares it with people. Maybe Ty and his FIL don't get along?

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

My FIL doesn't talk about it.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

Listen, I'm not in the job of having evidence, but here is some advice. When you are standing shirtless in front of the microwave heating up some Hormel chili, cover that shit up. That is not a pretty picture.

Some real early Kool & the Gang for the Daily Dose today. "N. T. Part 1"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-83Zkvt6vsM

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

Come on, man -- Ty's FIL couldn't predict that his daughter would end up marrying Ty.* Are you really going to blame him for not realizing that Mr. Ferguson was going to leave his office to go calmly shoot a bunch of people on a train?

*No offense, Ty.

Re: Let me just add my echo to the chamber
 

Aren't people commuting on the LIRR basically dead already?




too soon?

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I don't know Rachel Maddow's work, but that seemed an embarrassing moment? I mean the secret is he did pay taxes even though he said he didn't?

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

That was vintage Maddow. Her show is usually at least 2/3 hype. Once upon a time she did smart interviews on substantive issues, but then her ratings went up and now she does chatty snark on whatever dominates twitter that day.

She got great ratings and it was a huge success. Thanks to that, she'll top O'Reilly two weeks in a row.