elections have consequences

House Democrats in 2015 suddenly worried about tax hike that they refused to stop in 2014.

Three senior House members [Sander Levin (Michigan), Jim McDermott (Washington), and Lloyd Doggett (Texas)] told The Associated Press that they plan to strongly urge the administration to grant a special sign-up opportunity for uninsured taxpayers who will be facing fines under the law for the first time this year.

Chaser:

In light of the heavy burden being imposed by the health law on people struggling in a weak economy, it’s worth remembering that less than a year ago, the House of Representatives voted on legislation to defer these penalties… The vote was 250-160 in favor of a delay, with the vast majority of House Democrats voting to impose these penalties rather than defer them. And the three House leaders who are now concerned that the process is unfair – Representatives Doggett, Levin, and McDermott – all voted against putting the penalties off for one year.

Continue reading House Democrats in 2015 suddenly worried about tax hike that they refused to stop in 2014.

QotD, Elections Have Consequences, OBAMA Supporters edition.

Unlike Legal Insurrection, I am pretty sure I know where I stand on the question How does one react to the news that moderate Obama supp0rters are unhappy with the news that they’re now signed up for an endless progressive offensive?

It’s hard to know whether to cheer their disappointment or commiserate.

I’m neither: I’m simply… indifferent. This is what happens when you don’t think your vote through, first. There was every opportunity for Obama supporters to grasp exactly what their vote entailed; and I’m sure that a non-trivial percentage of them are just fine with the looming slug-fest. Which is fine; it’s the ones that eagerly allowed themselves to be lied to by progressives that are the issue here, and when it comes to them I’m afraid my sympathies are at best muted. How did that Bob Heinlein quote go, again?

Ah, yes: “Tell your troubles to Jesus; the chaplain’s gone over the hill.”

Moe Lane

PS: Not my problem, sorry: *I* voted for the other guy.

Barack Obama ‘thinking’ of backing off of no-corporate-money for Inauguration.

Hey, guess what? Barack Obama’s not running for anything any more! Which means that he officially no longer has to care about progressive sensibilities.

President Barack Obama’s fundraising advisers have urged the White House to accept corporate donations for his January 2013 inaugural celebration rather than rely exclusively on weary donors who underwrote his $1 billion re-election effort.

People involved in his re-election campaign said White House staff and campaign advisers have been debating whether to accept corporate money to stage the events but haven’t made a final decision.

Continue reading Barack Obama ‘thinking’ of backing off of no-corporate-money for Inauguration.

Virginia Senate control hangs by thread.

The Washington Post sums it up: at least six seats lost by the Democrats (including their House Minority Leader) in the House of Delegates and either one (Bill Stanley over Roscoe Reynolds) or two (Bryce Reeves leads Edd Houck by 86 votes) in the state Senate. If it’s one, the Democrats retain control of the state Senate; if it’s two, then the Senate is tied and the Lieutenant Governor breaks all ties. The Democrats are in that kind of jubilant despair that you get when things aren’t quite as bad as you thought that they were going to be; public relief aside, losing your House Minority Leader* isn’t good news. Particularly since (as Larry Sabato noted last night) Virginia’s Senate redistricting process was in the hands of the Democrats and they still lost at least one seat. That’s not good news for Democrats on the national level. Continue reading Virginia Senate control hangs by thread.

WI Senate to fast-track Voter ID bill?

Hey, maybe we’ve got this all wrong. Maybe all those Democratic state senators should stay in hiding for a couple of days longer; it’ll let the adults get some business done.

…Republicans plan to move ahead with regular Senate business. In addition to tomorrow’s calendar, that could mean public hearings on other legislation, and possibly a floor vote on a voter ID bill that Democrats don’t like.

Background on the Voter ID bill here: essentially, it’s the usual commonsense notion that people who vote should have to go through the same kind of hoops to establish identity that we expect from people who, say, buy beer. The Democrats hate the very idea, of course – it’s not that they personally indulge in election fraud, but it’s a weakness of some of their dearest companions – so they’ve been fighting it tooth and nail in Wisconsin for years. Continue reading WI Senate to fast-track Voter ID bill?

Unions starting to cave in Wisconsin.

The report is that the unions will agree to “the financial aspects of [Gov. Scott] Walker’s budget-repair bill” (which is nice, because they don’t have the votes to stop them) in exchange for the removal of the collective bargaining provisions (which is – oddly enough! – also something that they don’t have the votes to stop). Walker’s response? Get back to work:

As thousands of protesters marched and chanted, Gov. Scott Walker on Saturday rejected an overture from a Democratic state senator that public employee unions had agreed to make financial sacrifices contained in the budget-repair bill in return for the right to bargain collectively.

Cullen Werwie, Walker’s spokesman, said in a statement that State Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) “should come to work and debate the bill while doing his job in Madison.

Continue reading Unions starting to cave in Wisconsin.

Gov. Pat Quinn (D, IL) about to destroy IL Amazon affliliates?

It’s certainly looking that way: the Democrat-run (Democrat-dominated) state legislature has just passed a bill to tax online purchases (via Points and Figures, via Instapundit): the bill is just waiting for Governor Pat Quinn’s (D) signature, which is almost certainly inevitable. In fact, the state of Illinois is going to raise taxes across the board – because that’s what Democrats do. Business is good; raise taxes. Business is bad; raise taxes. Business is in a surreal zone where it’s actually a peanut butter sandwich; raise taxes on jelly and mandate jelly’s inclusion in all corporate endeavors.

And, just as inevitable as the sunrise, comes the first report that Amazon.com will end their Illinois Amazon Affiliate program in response. That first link is generally grim reading for Illinois residents: not only does it indicate that the big online retailers are apparently still perfectly willing to drop their affiliate programs in large states, but the smaller online retailers that depend on companies like Overstock and Amazon for their business are well aware that they can do their business in, say, Ohio. Translation: Illinois Democrats are about to damage their business tax base in the course of (unsuccessfully) trying to raise its business tax revenue.

“Business” as usual, in other words. Continue reading Gov. Pat Quinn (D, IL) about to destroy IL Amazon affliliates?

Paul Ryan given power to bind and to loose.

Mostly ‘bind.‘

Elections.
Have.
Consequences.

And here’s one coming up, now: the incoming House majority will be establishing a rule that will give the House Budget chair the ability to set the spending ceiling for any 2011 budget. This rule is currently causing House Democrats to freak out like koalas deprived of their eucalyptus leaves/junkies deprived of their heroin/hipsters deprived of their iPhones, for two reasons:

The Democrats never passed a budget in 2010, so this is going to affect spending for this fiscal year. A lot.
Who is going to be the House Budget chair? Why, Rep. Paul “Embrace the sweet pain that comes from cutting entitlements” Ryan.

And when I say “freak out,” I mean freak out: the Democrats are so upset about this that they’ve lost all control of their higher brain functions and have reverted to babbling about Social Security privatization. And unilateralism! We haven’t heard that one in a while. Continue reading Paul Ryan given power to bind and to loose.

#rsrh Elections have consequences, Glenn Greenwald.

It’s neither AoSHQ’s nor my fault that you and yours spent ever so much time in monomaniacal attacks on all things Republican, conservative, and (particularly) Bushian; so the fact that you’re now upset that the current administration rewards sycophancy with favorable media coverage doesn’t really move my heart to sympathy. They did this during the campaign too, Sparky. You just didn’t care then, because you wanted the grown-ups out of the White House. Well, you got your wish – so you get to have a White House that does everything that you said that the Bush White House did, only now it’s all true.

Karma. It’s what’s for dinner.

Moe Lane

So. Over/under on the next wave of bombings in Israel?

I’m going to say some time in mid-May. It’s going to take about that long for Palestinian terrorists – to the extent that they can be distinguished from either Palestinian ‘government’ – to internalize this new ‘weak horse’ stance of the United States:

…Mr Obama was less inclined to be so conciliatory. He immediately presented Mr Netanyahu with a list of 13 demands designed both to the end the feud with his administration and to build Palestinian confidence ahead of the resumption of peace talks. Key among those demands was a previously-made call to halt all new settlement construction in east Jerusalem.

When the Israeli prime minister stalled, Mr Obama rose from his seat declaring: “I’m going to the residential wing to have dinner with Michelle and the girls.”

As he left, Mr Netanyahu was told to consider the error of his ways. “I’m still around,” Mr Obama is quoted by Israel’s Yediot Ahronot newspaper as having said. “Let me know if there is anything new.”

Continue reading So. Over/under on the next wave of bombings in Israel?