Motley Moose – Archive

As 2013 draws to a close, I am reminded of how much I dislike end of year retrospectives. Charlie Pierce calls them “lazy journalism” … I call them boooooring. I saw all that 2013 stuff and I am ready to look Forward to 2014 which I think will be a very good year for Democrats.

But I will not begrudge the White House pointing to the accomplishments of the Obama Administration in 2013 and, being an O-Bot, I will willingly link to their website.

White House Year in Review

In 2013, our economy grew, and our deficit shrunk. For the first time in almost two decades, we said that we’re producing more oil at home than we buy from the rest of the world. We honored our heroes. We bounced back from national tragedies and natural disasters. We strengthened our relationships with allies around the world and took action to promote the American dream at home. Take a look at our 2013 year in review.

But what is more exciting to me, a Twitter-aholic, is the White House list of Top @WhiteHouse Tweets of 2013. Because history, 140 characters at a time, is worth preserving.

The Inauguration …

President Obama takes the oath of office during the Inaugural swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol #inaug2013 pic.twitter.com/nJiQVk7Y

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 21, 2013

The Senate filibuster of the commonsense Gun Safety bill …

RT if you agree: It's shameful that Washington voted to protect special interests instead of our kids. pic.twitter.com/8xvyPFV4zF

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 18, 2013

A reminder …

It's. The. Law. #ObamaCareInThreeWords, pic.twitter.com/yCHSmuxkKj

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 16, 2013

The Supreme Court rules on DOMA and Prop 8 …

RT if you agree: We're all created equal-and the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. pic.twitter.com/MYrCnEPiFI

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 26, 2013

Who we are, what we fight for …

RT if you agree: Washington needs to focus on making this country work for every American family. pic.twitter.com/nKgsiVQbgP

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 25, 2013

The issue for 2014 …

RT if you agree: It's time to raise the minimum wage because nobody who works full-time should live in poverty. pic.twitter.com/BVYiN26Eoi

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 1, 2013

PUPPY!!!!

There's a new puppy at the White House… http://t.co/QRDoYqAekL #MeetSunny, pic.twitter.com/poen5pP7Cv

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 19, 2013

The Affordable Care Act will endure longer than Republican intransigence …

RT if you agree: It's time to help our fellow Americans #GetCovered-not deny health care to millions. #Obamacare, pic.twitter.com/7TVL6cgEDV

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 26, 2013

Diplomacy, not bomb bomb Iran …

Historic phone call in the Oval Office: President Obama speaks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. pic.twitter.com/qghFAUCIA7

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 27, 2013

Our First Family …

Happy Thanksgiving! pic.twitter.com/R8RYLDN16i

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 28, 2013

~

p.s. Vote for Democrats in 2014 because Elections Matter. When we vote, we win … and when we win, the American people win. Let’s give President Obama a congressional majority so that we can get back to enacting his agenda which is our agenda.  

  Make sure you let your peeps

  know where to find you!  

The morning check-in is an open thread posted to give you a place to visit with the meeses. Feel free to chat about your weather, share a bit of your life, grump (if you must), rave (if you can). The diarist du jour sometimes posts and runs, other times sticks around for a bit, often returns throughout the day and always cares that meeses are happy … or at least contented.

For those new to the Moose, Kysen left a Moose Welcome Mat (Part Deux) so, please, wipe your feet before you walk in the front door start posting.

The important stuff to get you started:

– Comments do not Auto-refresh. Click the refresh/reload on your tab to see new ones. Only click Post once for comments. When a diary’s comment threads grow, the page takes longer to refresh and the comment may not display right away.

– To check for replies to your comments, click the “My Comments” link in the right-hand column (or go to “My Moose”). Comments will be listed and a link to Recent Replies will be shown. (Note: Tending comments builds community)

– Ratings: Fierce means Thumbs Up, Fail means Thumbs Down, Meh means one of three things: I am unFailing you but I can’t Fierce you, I am unFiercing after a mistaken Fierce, … or Meh. Just Meh. (p.s. Ratings don’t bestow mojo, online behaviour does).

– The Recommended list has a prominent place on the Front Page because it reflects the interests of the Moose. When people drive-by, we want them to see what we are talking about: news, politics, science, history, personal stories, culture. The list is based on number of recs and days on the list. Per Kysen: “The best way to control Rec List content is to ONLY rec diaries you WANT to see ON the list.”

– Finally, the posting rules for a new diary: “Be excellent to each other… or else”

(Some other commenting/posting/tending notes for newbies can be found in this past check-in and, of course, consult Meese Mehta for all your questions on meesely decorum.)

You can follow the daily moosetrails here: Motley Moose Recent Comments.

~

Let the greetings begin!

~

  Good morning Motley Meese! Hope your weekend was lovely. Congratulations! We’ve almost survived 2013.

The check-in is an open thread and general social hour. Come back when time allows through the day – the conversation continues.

It’s traditional but not obligatory to give us a weather check where you are and let us know what’s new, interesting, challenging or even routine in your life lately. Nothing is particularly obligatory here except:

Always remember the Moose Golden (Purple?) Rule:

Be kind to each other… or else.

What could be simpler than that, right?

  Make sure you let your peeps

  know where to find you!  

The morning check-in is an open thread posted to give you a place to visit with the meeses. Feel free to chat about your weather, share a bit of your life, grump (if you must), rave (if you can). The diarist du jour sometimes posts and runs, other times sticks around for a bit, often returns throughout the day and always cares that meeses are happy … or at least contented.

On weekends (and holidays), you may find the check-in thread earlier or later than normal because … it is the weekend! Moosies need their beauty rest:

For those new to the Moose, Kysen left a Moose Welcome Mat (Part Deux) so, please, wipe your feet before you walk in the front door start posting.

The important stuff to get you started:

– Comments do not Auto-refresh. Click the refresh/reload on your tab to see new ones. Only click Post once for comments. When a diary’s comment threads grow, the page takes longer to refresh and the comment may not display right away.

– To check for replies to your comments, click the “My Comments” link in the right-hand column (or go to “My Moose”). Comments will be listed and a link to Recent Replies will be shown. (Note: Tending comments builds community)

– Ratings: Fierce means Thumbs Up, Fail means Thumbs Down, Meh means one of three things: I am unFailing you but I can’t Fierce you, I am unFiercing after a mistaken Fierce … or Meh. Just Meh. (p.s. Ratings don’t bestow mojo, online behaviour does).

– The Recommended list has a prominent place on the Front Page because it reflects the interests of the Moose. When people drive-by, we want them to see what we are talking about: news, politics, science, history, personal stories, culture. The list is based on number of recs and days on the list. Per Kysen: “The best way to control Rec List content is to ONLY rec diaries you WANT to see ON the list.”

– Finally, the posting rules for a new diary: “Be excellent to each other… or else”

(Some other commenting/posting/tending notes for newbies can be found in this past check-in and, of course, consult Meese Mehta for all your questions on meesely decorum.)

You can follow the daily moosetrails here: Motley Moose Recent Comments.

~

Let the greetings begin!

~

Republicans are congratulating themselves over extracting concessions in the recent 2-year budget deal that left the extension of unemployment benefits to 1.3 million Americans on the cutting room floor.

Those benefits are from the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Act passed in 2008 and extended 11 times, usually as a hostage held by the Republican Party to force President Obama and the Democrats to give in to their demands. At the end of 2010, Republicans in Congress used the threat of real harm to millions of Americans, from the expiration of EUC benefits, to extend the Bush tax cuts (a compromise for which the president took a lot of heat from his “base”).

What is EUC?

Extended Benefits are available to workers who have exhausted regular unemployment insurance benefits during periods of high unemployment. The basic Extended Benefits program provides up to 13 additional weeks of benefits when a State is experiencing high unemployment. Some States have also enacted a voluntary program to pay up to 7 additional weeks (20 weeks maximum) of Extended Benefits during periods of extremely high unemployment.

Before the expiration:

After the expiration:

Here are some facts from the State of Wisconsin, where I live:

– The maximum length of unemployment insurance benefits will immediately drop to the 26 weeks of state benefits, which is slightly less than half the current limit in Wisconsin of 54 weeks of combined state and federal benefits.  (That has already been reduced from a maximum of 99 weeks during the worst of the recession.)

– There are 1.3 million long-term unemployed workers across the country who will lose this lifeline next week, including about 23,700 jobless workers in Wisconsin.

– Over the course of 2014, the program’s termination is expected to adversely affect 99,000 long-term unemployed workers in Wisconsin and their households, as well as 2.2 million jobless workers across the U.S.

– The average weekly EUC benefit in Wisconsin over the past year was about $240.

Note that $240 per week is less than $1,000 a month or about $12,000 per year. This is not “living large” or as Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) puts it “transform[ing] our social safety net into a hammock”. It will probably barely keep people from being homeless, might help them make a car payment (or pay for bus fare), or could put a small amount of food on the table. In Wisconsin, the unemployed who will be left without a hammock safety net are in every county.

The cut impacts every state, red and blue, from Alabama, where 11,500 people will lose benefits to Washington state, where 25,000 will be left without this basic support.

Lots has been written about how the unemployment benefits are good for the economy and that macro view shows statistics on how the loss of those benefits will be a setback for the recovery:

Michael Feroli, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase, said ending the extended benefits will lower the unemployment rate by half a percentage point as the long-term unemployed leave the labor force. While that statistical change may look good on the surface, Feroli cautioned the drop could be accompanied by a similar decrease in consumer spending. That would also hurt clothing retailers, car dealers and other Main Street businesses.

Extending the program, on the other hand, would boost GDP growth by some 0.2 percent and increase full-time employment by 200,000 next year, the Congressional Budget Office estimated.

But on the micro level, it is stories like this one that we all need to hear:

[Michelle} Marshall, 56, has been out of work for a year, since she lost an administrative assistant job that paid her $44,000 per year.

She started collecting $624 each week in New Jersey unemployment benefits, but the state benefits ran out after 26 weeks. When federal benefits kicked in, she collected $521. […]

Even the cut from the larger state check to the federal benefits was hard for Marshall. She had to consolidate her $12,000 worth of credit card debt and enroll in a mortgage assistance program.

When the benefits stop entirely, she doesn’t know what she’ll do.

“I imagine I will go apply for food stamps,” she said. “Depending how long this goes on, I might lose my car, which will impact my ability to get a job. I won’t be able to drive to interviews.”

Those who are set to lose benefits, like Marshall, haven’t lost hope, but they are urging Congress to do something.

“Give us a little more time to try and make some plans,” she said. “I can’t give up. I have no one to take care of me.”

Ms. Marshall is not alone. As a share of population, New Jersey will take one of the biggest hits: 90,000 people will lose benefits, about 1% of the state’s population.

So why are we even arguing over this?

The argument for letting the benefits expire is that the job market shows clear signs of improvement, and the program adds to federal deficits.

It will cost about $25-26 billion dollars to extend the program, about what the Republicans cost the economy by shutting down the government it a fit of pique in October.

Oh, and there is a second reason. To “help” the unemployed to avoid the “stigma” of unemployment. From Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), noted Concerned Person, about the lesson to be learned:

   There was a study that came out a few months ago, and it said, if you have a worker that’s been unemployed for four weeks and on unemployment insurance and one that’s on 99 weeks, which would you hire? Every employer, nearly 100 percent, said they will always hire the person who’s been out of work four weeks.

   When you allow people to be on unemployment insurance for 99 weeks, you’re causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group in our economy. And it really — while it seems good, it actually does a disservice to the people you’re trying to help.

And in Oklahoma, it will get 4,900 folks off the “gravy train”:

[Jonathan Willner, Professor of economics at OCU] says to the individuals losing these benefits, the impact will be significant, but the economic impact to our state as a whole will be minimal.

“Almost nothing. It’s just not that many people nor that much money on the scale of the overall economy,” he said.

In fact, it may have a positive impact. For those who are capable of getting a job and just didn’t, this may be a nudge in the right direction.

“This is sort of an end to the gravy train and they’ll go ahead and take the job they would have taken six months ago, but for the extended benefits,” said Willner.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are now almost 3 unemployed workers for every job opening so the job prospects for the long term unemployed is grim.

Ezra Klein goes to the point:

The problem for the long-term unemployed isn’t that their lavish government checks keep them from wanting jobs. It’s that they can’t get jobs — in part because they’re unemployed. And that makes them even less likely to get jobs in the future. The long-term unemployed are slowly becoming unemployable.

The lesson we should all learn (right after “Do NOT move to Oklahoma!!”), is that caring for the least among us is not a Republican Party principle. When Republican policies put our country into depressions and recessions, Democratic Party policies are needed to get us out and to keep people afloat until the economy can be turned around. Time and time again, the party of “I’ve got mine, screw you” has shown a willingness to let people fend for themselves when they are in desperate straits.

“I have no one to take care of me.”

Yes, you do, Ms. Marshall. The government is there to help those who can’t take care of themselves, whether they are elderly or infirm or jobless or homeless or hungry … whether the cause of their current situation is from a natural disaster or from a man-made disaster like the Bush Recession.

Let’s remind Congress about what makes our country great. President Barack Obama, made it clear when he replied to the Ryan Republican Party’s Budget in 2011:

From our first days as a nation, we have put our faith in free markets and free enterprise as the engine of America’s wealth and prosperity. More than citizens of any other country, we are rugged individualists, a self-reliant people with a healthy skepticism of too much government.

But there has always been another thread running throughout our history – a belief that we are all connected; and that there are some things we can only do together, as a nation. We believe, in the words of our first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, that through government, we should do together what we cannot do as well for ourselves. […]

Part of this American belief that we are all connected also expresses itself in a conviction that each one of us deserves some basic measure of security. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, hard times or bad luck, a crippling illness or a layoff, may strike any one of us. “There but for the grace of God go I,” we say to ourselves, and so we contribute to programs like Medicare and Social Security, which guarantee us health care and a measure of basic income after a lifetime of hard work; unemployment insurance, which protects us against unexpected job loss; and Medicaid, which provides care for millions of seniors in nursing homes, poor children, and those with disabilities. We are a better country because of these commitments. I’ll go further – we would not be a great country without those commitments.

Tell Congress to act to honor our commitments to those who need the government’s help. Let’s be the country that President Obama believes we are, a people connected to each other, picking each other up when one of us is down.

  Make sure you let your peeps

  know where to find you!  

The morning check-in is an open thread posted to give you a place to visit with the meeses. Feel free to chat about your weather, share a bit of your life, grump (if you must), rave (if you can). The diarist du jour sometimes posts and runs, other times sticks around for a bit, often returns throughout the day and always cares that meeses are happy … or at least contented.

On weekends (and holidays), you may find the check-in thread earlier or later than normal because … it is the weekend! Moosies need their beauty rest:

For those new to the Moose, Kysen left a Moose Welcome Mat (Part Deux) so, please, wipe your feet before you walk in the front door start posting.

The important stuff to get you started:

– Comments do not Auto-refresh. Click the refresh/reload on your tab to see new ones. Only click Post once for comments. When a diary’s comment threads grow, the page takes longer to refresh and the comment may not display right away.

– To check for replies to your comments, click the “My Comments” link in the right-hand column (or go to “My Moose”). Comments will be listed and a link to Recent Replies will be shown. (Note: Tending comments builds community)

– Ratings: Fierce means Thumbs Up, Fail means Thumbs Down, Meh means one of three things: I am unFailing you but I can’t Fierce you, I am unFiercing after a mistaken Fierce, or Meh. Just Meh. (p.s. Ratings don’t bestow mojo, online behaviour does).

– The Recommended list has a prominent place on the Front Page because it reflects the interests of the Moose. When people drive-by, we want them to see what we are talking about: news, politics, science, history, personal stories, culture. The list is based on number of recs and days on the list. Per Kysen: “The best way to control Rec List content is to ONLY rec diaries you WANT to see ON the list.”

– Finally, the posting rules for a new diary: “Be excellent to each other… or else”

(Some other commenting/posting/tending notes for newbies can be found in this past check-in and, of course, consult Meese Mehta for all your questions on meesely decorum.)

You can follow the daily moosetrails here: Motley Moose Recent Comments.

~

Let the greetings begin!

~

Interrogatories

Do you watch, attend, or participate in any kind of pet shows? Have you ever? How about the 4H club?

What subject did you dislike in school but like now?

Do you prefer solitude, or do you like to have lots of people around?

The Twitter Emitter

It's the most STFU time of the year.

— Andrew Figgy Gatto (@AndrewGatto) December 26, 2013

These republican men are such obstructionists, I'll bet they wake up with morning wouldn't.

— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) December 26, 2013

Palin:"I haven't read Phil Robertson's interview, but I know he's the victim. I haven't met Manti Te'o's girlfriend, but I know she's nice."

— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) December 26, 2013

My marriage increases in value every time some one new recognizes that marriage is a universal human right #utpol

— Gen JC Xtian patriot (@JC_Christian) December 26, 2013

If you mashed up Deliverance with The Hills Have Eyes, and put it on a boat, you'd get the upcoming Duck Dynasty cruise.

— TBogg (@tbogg) December 26, 2013

Hey Rick Perry and Greg Abbot! Once Wendy Davis makes you unemployed she'll make sure you get benefits

— Peter Flom (@peterflom) December 27, 2013

No gift receipt with this myrrh. Fucking great.

— Jesus Christ (@Jesus_M_Christ) December 27, 2013

Can we get President Obama to end the national nightmare of Michael Bolton by signing the Honda Accords?

— CrutnackerNutcracker (@Crutnacker) December 27, 2013

Amid dismal ratings, reports are surfacing that RNC may replace David Gregory as host of Meet the Press #MTP

— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) December 27, 2013

On This Day

in 1871, the world’s first official cat show was held at the Crystal Palace in London.

In 1927, Show Boat, by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern, premiered on Broadway.

In 1978, after 40 years of dictatorship, Spain became a democracy.

In 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, opening a few cans o’worms.

In 2001, China was granted normal trade relations with the U.S.

In 2007, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.

Born on This Day

1571 – Johannes Kepler, German astronomer (d. 1630)

1654 – Jacob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1705)

1802 – Thomas Fearnley, Norwegian landscape painter (d. 1842)

1822 – Louis Pasteur, French scientist (d. 1895)

1859 – Vicente March y Marco, Spanish painter (d. 1914)

1864 – René Georges Hermann-Paul, French illustrator (d. 1940)

1879 – Sydney Greenstreet, English actor (d. 1954)

1901 – Marlene Dietrich, German actress and singer (d. 1992)

1915 – Mary Kornman, American actress (d. 1973)

1923 – Bruno Bobak, Polish-Canadian painter (d. 2012)

1931 – Scotty Moore, American guitarist

1941 – Michael Pinder, British musician (Moody Blues)

1943 – Cokie Roberts, American “journalist” who wasn’t paying attention when Hawaii became a state.

1946 – Lenny Kaye, American guitarist

1947 – Tracy Nelson, American singer

1948 – Gérard Depardieu, French actor

1952 – David Knopfler, British musician (co-founder of Dire Straits)

1969 – Sarah Vowell, American author and journalist

Died on This Day

1631 – Jan Pynas, Dutch painter (b. ca. 1583)

1743 – Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter (b. 1659)

1745 – Johan Anton Richter, Swedish painter (b. 1675)

1802 – Jens Juel, Danish painter (b. 1745)

1805 – Jean-Baptiste-Charles Claudot, French painter (b. 1733)

1849 – Jacques-Laurent Agasse, Swiss landscape painter (b. 1767)

1899 – Henri Evenepoel, Belgian painter (b. 1872)

1936 – Leon Wyczólkowski, Polish painter (b. 1852)

1940 – Louis Hayet, French painter (b. 1864)

1950 – Max Beckmann, German painter (b. 1884)

1978 – Chris Bell American musician (b. 1951)

1987 – Priscilla Dean, actress (b. 1896)

2003 – Alan Bates, English actor (b. 1934)

2008 – Delaney Bramlett, American musician (b. 1939)

Today is

National Fruit Cake Day

Make Cut out Snowflakes Day (?)