They are baack. With the debt ceiling hike due in a matter of weeks, the Republican caucus is not firmly in the sway of the most batshit crazy component of their base. With Obamacare exchanges going to go online next week, they have been desperately trying to defund the law. Of course, other than high risk pools (which are chronically underfunded and have proved meaningless so far) and (you guessed) tax cuts it the Republicans have not yet delivered any meaningful healthcare plan.
Now with the Obamacare strategy in tatters, the weeping orange sitting in the Speaker’s chair has capitulated to his base to prepare a ransom note in exchange for not destroying the economy. Steve Benen diagrams just how insane it is:
Basically the Republicans want President Obama to implement the economic plan of Mitt Romney, the man he beat handily last November in an election that saw the Democrats hold on to the Senate and win the popular vote in elections to the House of Representatives.
This of course is in the backdrop of a reality where the deficit has significantly dropped and where the country needs to get unemployment lower instead of triggering another recession.
The biggest mistake President Obama made was negotiating with these fanatics in 2011 to begin with. Back then he was delusionally pursuing his asinine grand bargain with a party whose idea of compromise is for the other party to capitulate.
Alex Seitz-Wald on twitter came up with the ideal Democratic counter-proposal for this lunacy. See below:
My modest proposal for how Dems should respond to GOP's debt ceiling bill. Demand: pic.twitter.com/D3NK4T3PB7
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) September 26, 2013
Of course if the Democrats do this they would be rightly pilloried as insane. Yet establishment hacks like Candy Crowley still wonder why the Democrats will not negotiate with terrorists.
The debt ceiling does not increase spending. It is a mechanism to pay for bills already incurred. If push comes to shove, I hope the President declares that the 14th amendment gives him the authority to prevent a default of the national debt or just mints a trillion dollar platinum coin giving these wingnuts the middle finger. The Republican party is playing Russian Roulette with the economy. When will they finally be held accountable for their reckless insanity?
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 18:32
Final takeaway from the game…Saban has still not figured out how to stop the hurry up Offense. Ole Piss, Aubie take heart. A&M had 630 yards of offense, 464 thru the air. And this offense is still not playing all the blue chips heading into College Station.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 18:23
Two big differences from last year. First, last year A&M had veterans Spencer Nealy, DeMontre Moore and Sean Porter and they did very well against the Bama run game. Also last year A&M had no turnovers and won the turnover battle. Here they had two costly ones. One in the red zone and one returned for a TD. Bama is too good a team to lose the turnover battle against. That was basically the ball game. Bama leaves College Station with a 49-42 win.
I can live with a close loss…A blowout would have been costly. But A&M’s offense cannot be counted out as Ole Miss found out last year. Still 9 more games to go…and this Bama team has shown some vulnerabilities. Oregon is likely looking forward to a chance at Bama. Oregon fans were calling for Bama when they blew out Tennessee earlier today.
All for today…signing out.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 18:18
42 points allowed the most allowed by a Saban Alabama team.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 18:17
Bama recovers the onside kick…that will be the ball game.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 18:13
Wow…Manziel avoids a sack for a deep ball down inside the five. 22 seconds left.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 18:13
A&M dinking and dunking down the field but game is essentially over.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 18:01
Bama at the 10 under 3 minutes..clock a factor
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:58
Crap…deep pass over the middle. Bama in scoring position.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:56
Bama trying to pound the ball…A&M defense needs to show up.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:53
Pleas just give Mike Evans the Biletnikoff Award
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:51
We may lose today, but this game may get Johnny Manziel the heisman again.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:50
WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOO
Manziel to Evans for a 95 yard TD 7 point game
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:45
WOW!!! Yeldon fumbled the ball AGAIN this year. Do I dare believe…A&M forces a turnover on the goal line
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:42
Bama gets a free 15 yards from a bull shit rule about a defensive player having to stop after losing his helmet.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:40
Dammit A&M…if you crowd the line you have to stop the run. Yeldon runs for a 1st down.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:31
A&M starts on offense…and a horsecollar by Bama gives them free 15 yards.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:29
Fourth quarter coming up….Here is the gif of the Eli Manning like play by Manziel before he threw his first pick
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:15
And TD Bama…the wretched crew of the last few years is back in full force
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:09
Could the commentators please stop calling a QB who plays A&M defense “clutch”
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:04
TD A&M Manziel to Kennedy..35-21. Defense still has to show up.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:04
Well…A&M is back in the redzone…lets see f they capitalize. They seem to have remembered they have running backs.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:50
Now should I be a masochist and continue blogging or say f*** it?
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:48
Double crap…tipped ball returned for a TD. Game over
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:46
Maybe not…McCarron misses an open WR and three and out.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:44
Third and long coming up…Bama has A&M right where it wants it.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:44
Bama back on offense..another TD drive coming up.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:37
That game started perfectly…but A&M has not come close to stopping the Bammers since the first drive. Now the floodgates are open and my worst fears are opening up. Could be a long half.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:20
Should be 35-14 Bammers soon unless A&M locates a defense at half time. Brenham is only 30 minutes away…surely Blinn’s defense will not be this bad.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:12
The questionable Bama OL is dominating the A&M DL..Bama gets the ball back after the half so this could be a 3 TD hole before A&M gets on the field on offense. TD Bama
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:09
Third down coming up..not that it has mattered since the first drive.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:05
Bama now running the ball down the throat…Snyder needs to adjust.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:02
Bama has started to close off the A&M passing game…have a chance to flip the script and go two TDs up.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:58
Targeting call overturned, but A&M still gets a free 15 yards.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:56
Wow…another bullshit targeting call for they year. Even if it is on a bammer, that should not be targeting. The defender was going for the ball rather than the targeting.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:50
Honeycutt continues his season of sucking misses a tackle and A&M is torched fore a long TD 21-14 Bama
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:40
Oh my goodness what the frack was that…Wow!! Manziel gets away from a sure sack…then gets a jumpball down the field for a 45 yard pass to get a 12 yard gain
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:35
Aggies need to answer. Start with a run to Malena and a pass to former walk-on Labhart…flag on Bama should get another first down.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:31
DeShazor Everett is being torched by Bama this game
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:30
The A&M blitz packages are simply not working. A&M gets torched on a flea flicker 14-14 Bammers.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:23
Wide open..and you guessed it on the right..First down
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:22
Two bad passes by McCarron, though A&M has no pressure on him so far.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:20
First A&M punt of the game from midfield…Bammers start at the 20.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:19
A pass interference call on Evans has A&M backed up at 3rd and 26..
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:14
Great play by Evans to come back on 3rd and 2 big play by A&M to get to mid field
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:12
Gah..Brandon Williams bobbles it out at the two on the kickoff. Manziel starts backed up.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:10
Bama had some thing going on the right side of the field…Will be interesting to see if A&M adjusts
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:08
TD Bama..14-7 on the right sideline…Satan back in business
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:07
Bammers have something going here…4 straight first downs…in FG range
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:06
Bama slowly passing the ball down the sidelines…trying to calm the offense down
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:03
So far there has been no Ricky Seal Jones in the game..that will be a deadly mismatch
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:03
Bama was oddly conservative in the last drive…I expect they will throw downfield more this time. Last year they had an INT on the second drive.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:01
Malena for a TD Aggies strike again…WHOOOP!!!! Bertolet gets another XP 14-0 Aggies
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:59
A&M starts with good field position.two quick runs by Johnny and another quick pass to Evans…A&M at the goal line
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:54
Bama goes 3 and out like last year…very oddly conservative set of playcalls
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:53
The Bama OL with two false starts in a row…Kyle Field is rocking
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:51
Now moment of truth for the Aggie defense. Good special teams tackle to bring down Christian Jones.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:48
A&M starts with a Johnny run and a deep pass to Evans…..and back with another jumball to Evans..Aggies exploiting height advantage…and Johnny with a TD to Cam Clear in the first Aggie reception for the Juco TE…WHOOOOPPPPP!!! Aggies 7-0
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:43
And we are off…Johnny Football on the field.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:39
A&M wins the toss….and to receive…butterflys rising fast.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:36
Aha…a live feed on the internet. We may be in business.
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:35
Dammit…CBS in Baltimore still showing Pitt-NMSU….Grrrrr….
Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:27
The A&M-Bama rematch is finally here…nervous butterflies are setting in. Nick Satan has an impressive record in revenge matches. Texas A&M in the last 20 years has a painful record of wilting in the spotlight. Time will tell whether Coach Sumlin and Johnny Football have changed the legacy of underachievement in College Station. A&M’s defense is finally at full strength with all the suspended players back. Bama’s offense was lousy against Virginia Tech’s stout defense.
CBS is still showing the Pitt blowout, hopefully they will move the game over when it is time.
Time for some football.
Jon Stewart returned from his sabbatical and gave his unique take on Syria. Helps that I agree with him, but his take on the discredited neo-con warmongerers starting around 4:20 was hilarious. Enjoy the clip below:
Barack Obama surprised observers yesterday by electing to get Congressional approval for Syria. He also appeared to go out of his way to assure the American people that this would not be an open ended military involvement. The climbdown was clearly in response to the growing opposition to war in yet another Middle East quagmire, punctuated by the shocking rebuff to British Prime Minister David Cameron by the House of Commons this week.
Fans of constitutional governance should rejoice. The decision also forces Congress to declare where they stand on the issue, instead of waiting to see what they could criticize the President for. Of cours fans of the imperial Presidency are not delighted at the decision. Warmongerers are unhappy that Obama is not going all in on regime change – still no suggestions from them on what the new regime would look like.
Senator Grumpy lashed out at the thought of the limited war. His war loving amigo Senator Lumpy agreed. Former Senator (and still war loving mega douche) Droopy was horrified that the President thought he had to go to Congress before bombing someone in the Middle East.
Left unsaid in all of this is what happens if the initial bombing does not change Assad’s behavior (which is likely). What happens then?
Barack Obama backed himself into this conflict by drawing his imaginary red lines. He has wisely toned down the rhetoric after gauging the opposition, but this was a stupid red line that should never have been drawn. Once again I cannot help but wonder what happens when these lines are crossed by the other Middle East country Grumpy, Lumpy and Droopy want to bomb – Iran.