Excitable Dick Durbin Worried Obamacare Could Be Killed By Adding ACB To Supreme Court

Here’s a thought: write a better bill next time, not one that can challenged and lose in court. Don’t forget to add severability into the bill, meaning that one wrong thing can take down an entire giant law. And, when did health insurance for which a lot of people cannot afford to use it because the deductibles are so high be “health care”?

Sen. Durbin: Americans need to be aware of what’s at stake with Trump’s SCOTUS nomination

We are just weeks away from two important dates: Election Day, on November 3, and November 10, the day the Supreme Court will take up the case that will decide whether the Affordable Care Act will survive.

(lots of whining about Republicans allowing hearings and votes this time when they didn’t do so in 2016)

President Trump has made clear he wants to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act. That is the position the Trump administration has taken before the Supreme Court in a case that will be argued on November 10, exactly one week after Election Day.

President Trump has also made clear what he’s looking for in a Supreme Court justice when it comes to the Affordable Care Act.

Just this week, President Trump tweeted, “Obamacare will be replaced with a MUCH better, and FAR cheaper, alternative if it is terminated in the Supreme Court. Would be a big WIN for the USA!”

Let me be clear on two points. First, this effort to rip away health care would not “be a big WIN for the USA.” If Republicans are successful, an estimated 600,000 people in my state of Illinois alone could lose health care coverage, and millions more in my state — even those with employer-sponsored insurance — would lose protections for pre-existing conditions.

It should disturb citizens how embedded the federal government is with their “health care coverage”. The wouldn’t actually lose it, as companies are providing the insurance via Obamacare, mostly what they would lose would be the government subsidies. Most states have requirements for pre-existing conditions coverage, which is the way it is supposed to be, at the state level. That’s where most mandates and requirements resided pre-Ocare. And nothing says that the Congress couldn’t come up with a better plan that would reduce costs while providing better coverage, considering how few providers actually participate in the Ocare exchanges.

At the time of writing, we have nearly 300,000 Illinoisans who have contracted Covid-19 and joined those with asthma, diabetes and heart disease in having a pre-existing condition. As many as 133 million Americans have pre-existing conditions, according to a 2017 Department of Health report. In the middle of a pandemic, who thinks it is a good idea to return to the days when insurance companies could deny coverage, charge women more than men or impose arbitrary caps on benefits?

It’s like they don’t think Congress could come up with a better law. Seriously, it would be as simple as passing a law that says “all insurance providers must cover pre-existing conditions”. Of course, what might be better is having a law that says “people cannot be dropped for having pre-existing conditions.”

Republicans were never able to repeal the Affordable Care Act on the Senate floor, thanks to the late Sen. John McCain, an American hero, joining every Democrat in opposing repeal. So Republicans are trying to accomplish in the courts what they could not accomplish in Congress.

Add super squishy McCain to the list of Republicans who are Not Helpful, like Chief Justice John Roberts

If President Trump and Sen. McConnell go through with their plan to jam through a Supreme Court nominee this year, the Affordable Care Act and its protections for pre-existing conditions will almost certainly be struck down.

Write a better law next time. Perhaps read what’s in it before voting next time. Don’t jam it through using parliamentary tricks. Dick also fails to mention that this is lawsuit by 18 states and 2 individuals, with the backing of the Trump administration. You can read about it here.

Democrats are pretty much at the point of attempting to just scare people into stopping ACB from being confirmed. It’s all they have.

Read: Excitable Dick Durbin Worried Obamacare Could Be Killed By Adding ACB To Supreme Court »

Say, Is It Time To Ditch Economic Growth Due To Climate Crisis (scam) Or Something?

Say, who’s getting the feeling that this whole thing has little to nothing to do with actual science?

Climate Crisis: Is It Time to Ditch Economic Growth?

It was only in the mid-20th century, in the wake of the shattering impact of World Wars and when capitalism and communism were competing for global dominance, that we began to measure the success of an economy in terms of gross national product, or GDP.

The faster GDP was rising, the better an economy could be said to be performing. But something happens as all that economic activity expands. The amount of energy and resources we use also increase.

Ever since the industrial revolution, fossil fuels have set us on a course of furiously expanding production, which has also meant more waste and more pollution. Historically, greenhouse gas emissions have risen alongside GDP. As economies have grown richer, nature has paid the price.

And as the climate crisis has become ever-harder to ignore, more people are questioning whether infinite economic growth is possible on a planet of finite resources.

Who wants to bet that Eco Watch is continuously attempting to grow their brand and earn more capital?

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in their Fifth Assessment, have 116 mitigation scenarios with a chance of staying below the 2 degree Celsius threshold. All of those scenarios assume 2-3% GDP growth rates,” says Jon Erickson, an ecological economist at the Gund Institute for Environment in Vermont, adding that this implies doubling the global economy by somewhere around 2050.

These scenarios rely not just on switching to renewables, but also on the large-scale extraction of massive volumes of carbon from the atmosphere using as-yet unproven technology, which Erickson describes as “wildly unrealistic.”

“None of those models and the IPCC community even bother simulating a scenario where the global economy contracts, stabilizes and maybe even degrows,” Erickson says. “Yet that’s probably the one realistic scenario that would significantly affect greenhouse gas emissions.”

In other words, they know that economies need to be destroyed to achieve the Cult’s mission. They rarely mention the devastation this would cause people’s lives. Anyhow, lots of excuses are made as to why we need degrowth, ending with

But degrowthers argue that we do have to tighten our belts — and it doesn’t have to be painful. If we could reverse the central logic of economic systems that prioritize growth over human and ecological wellbeing, they don’t believe we would miss the furious activity that’s keeping a minority of the human population in must-have products and ever-more material wealth.

Yet, most of these same people refuse to give up their own modern lives and money. Weird, eh? Seriously, why can’t they just be honest and say they want governmental control over economies and full Modern Socialism?

Read: Say, Is It Time To Ditch Economic Growth Due To Climate Crisis (scam) Or Something? »

If All You See…

…is a wonderful city ful of fellow climate Believers, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Green Jihad, with a post on Michigan’s supreme court striking down Gretchen Whitmer’s lockdown power.

That’s Sam Schoers and Renae Wauhop from season 1 of The Amazing Race Australia.

Doubleshot under the fold, so check out Real Climate Science, with a post on alterations to the US temperature record.

Read More »

Read: If All You See… »

Anonymous Sources Say Hope Hicks Was Frustrated Over “Cavalier Approach To Coronavirus” Or Something

Funny how the same media which says they only use anonymous sources rarely mostly only seem to use them in practice, eh?

Hope Hicks “frustrated with Trump” over “cavalier approach to the virus” after positive test: report

In the wake of President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump testing positive for coronavirus, Gabriel Sherman reports for Vanity Fair that “Trumpworld is gripped by fear and panic” as the news settles in.

Sherman cites a New York Times report that says Trump is exhibiting “coldlike symptoms,” adding that he’s spoken to two sources inside the White House who say Trump is experiencing a cough and a fever. Melania is reportedly asymptomatic.

“‘They are worried about the president because of his age,’ one of the sources said. Sources said Trump will likely want to be seen in public as soon as possible to blunt the narrative that he is sidelined by the virus he’s spent the last six months downplaying. ‘He’s going to want to get out there a lot sooner than people think,’ the former official said. ‘But it will be hard to hide if he’s sick. Also, who will want to be in a room with him?'” Sherman writes, adding that the White House didn’t respond to his request for comment. (snip)

Trump confidant Hope Hicks tested positive before Trump and the first lady and is reportedly experiencing symptoms. Two sources speaking to Sherman said she has had a high fever and a cough and has lost her sense of smell.

“Hicks is said to be frustrated with Trump for taking such a cavalier approach to the virus. She was one of the few West Wing staffers to wear a mask in meetings, which her colleagues chided her for,” Sherman writes, adding that she was “made fun of because she wore a mask,” according to a friend.

“Sources told me Hicks is also upset that news coverage has made it appear that she gave Trump the virus, when in fact no one knows where he got it,” Sherman reports.

Not one source is named, and we’re just supposed to take the word of the mostly Democrat voting media after years of attempting to destroy Trump? They have zero credibility.

BTW, from that NY Times article

Senate Democrats also demanded that Republicans slow the confirmation process for Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, charging that “an already illegitimate process will become a dangerous one.”

Leading Republicans pledged to go “full steam ahead” to confirm Judge Barrett before Election Day. Judge Barrett, who met with Mr. Trump at the White House last weekend, tested negative on Friday.

Well, we’ll see if Senate Republicans get squishy, which is always something to be concerned with.

Read: Anonymous Sources Say Hope Hicks Was Frustrated Over “Cavalier Approach To Coronavirus” Or Something »

Another Quiet Reason We Need ACB On The Supreme Court: Crazy Climate Lawsuits

Certain issues get all the press when it comes to the Supreme Court: abortion, voting rights, gun rights, a few others, right? But, you shouldn’t forget about other things that can have huge implications on all our lives, like climate cultists attempting to sue to get their way

US Supreme Court to Hear Appeal in Climate Damages Lawsuit Against Fossil Fuel Cos.

The city of Baltimore filed suit against ExxonMobil and other fossil fuel companies for climate change related damages two years ago. To date, multiple federal circuit courts have returned this and other climate damages and fraud cases to the state courts where they were filed. The Supreme Court decided today to take up an appeal on a narrow procedural issue, allowing the defendants to further delay proceedings on the issue of severe and rapidly accelerating climate impacts raised in the case.

Below is a statement by Kathy Mulvey, accountability campaign director in the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“Today, the U.S. Supreme Court took up a procedural motion related to a lawsuit brought by the city of Baltimore seeking to hold oil and gas companies accountable for the climate change harms their products have caused. As early as the 1960s, companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron knew their products were destructive yet knowingly deceived the public to inflate their profits and keep us hooked on fossil fuels. We’re hopeful that the Supreme Court will reject this transparent attempt by Big Oil to delay the inevitable: justice for communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis in a court of law.”

So, a press release from the Union of Concerned Scientists (who are not concerned enough to forgo their own use of fossil fuels and make their lives carbon neutral. A lot wouldn’t be able to do their jobs without fossil fuels), hoping that SCOTUS will do something to bone Big Oil, which could end up hurting the people in Baltimore, if those companies decide to no longer operate in the city. But, hey, they have their “justice for communities on the front lines” talking points down, right?

(Reuters) The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal by energy companies including BP PLC, Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell PLC contesting a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore seeking damages for the impact of global climate change.

The justices will weigh whether the lawsuit must be heard in state court as the city would prefer or in federal court, which corporate defendants generally view as a more favorable venue. The suit targets 21 U.S. and foreign energy companies that extract, produce, distribute or sell fossil fuels.

The outcome could affect around a dozen similar lawsuits by U.S. states, cities and counties including Rhode Island and New York City seeking to hold such companies liable for the impact of climate change. (snip)

The Supreme Court in 2019 declined the companies’ emergency request to put the Baltimore litigation on hold after a federal judge ruled that the case should be heard in state court. In March, the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judge’s decision.

The question is a good one: does the suit belong in federal court, as some of these companies are international, and the others are nationwide, or state court? Regardless, if the liberals control the Supreme Court they will rule in favor of all these crazy climate lawsuits, creating legislation from the bench. And one can never trust John Roberts, hence, having Amy Coney Barrett confirmed quickly is important, as the Warmists are increasing their use of lawfare.

Read: Another Quiet Reason We Need ACB On The Supreme Court: Crazy Climate Lawsuits »

Washington Post Goes Conspiracy Theory, Demands To Know Trump’s Condition

Well, it’s not as much a horrible take as many on the left and in the media are trying for (in fairness, some are good, some are ok), but, this smacks of attempting to say Team Trump is hiding his sickness from us

The nation needs the truth on President Trump’s illness

PRESIDENT TRUMP has joined the ranks of millions of Americans who tested positive for the coronavirus. On Friday, he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he is expected to remain for several days. We wish a speedy and uneventful recovery to him, first lady Melania Trump, White House adviser Hope Hicks and anyone else around them who contracted the virus.

Whether his recuperation is speedy or slow, however, the president’s state of health will be a matter of urgent public concern. Americans must know whether Mr. Trump is well enough to make decisions of vast importance, including those regarding the nation’s security. Experts must dispassionately trace the source of the outbreak to discern who else must take precautions. The public must be reassured that senior staff across the White House, federal agencies and Congress will be tested regularly, watched and, when necessary, isolated to contain any spread among the country’s senior leadership. That also includes Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and others who attended Tuesday’s debate in Cleveland; though the former vice president tested negative on Friday, the incubation period for the coronavirus can extend to 14 days. (snip)

The looming election may supercharge Mr. Trump’s instinct to hide or twist the truth. The record is already discouraging. The White House learned that Ms. Hicks had tested positive before Mr. Trump flew to an indoor roundtable fundraiser on Thursday. Yet the president still held the fundraiser, without wearing a mask, as though nothing were amiss. It was not the White House but a Bloomberg News report that eventually informed the public that a close presidential aide was sick with an extremely contagious virus.

This piece by the WP editorial board was published Friday at 542pm. It hadn’t even really been 24 hours since we found out Trump had Bat Soup Virus, and they’re already going moonbat.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows assured the country on Friday that Mr. Trump was experiencing “mild symptoms.” But such reports from political aides are not adequate. Mr. Trump was being examined late Friday by doctors at Walter Reed, where presidents go for checkups and treatments. The results should be fully disclosed by those doctors, who should answer reporters’ questions at news conferences.

Late Friday. So this loony piece was published Demanding information before there was even a chance to find out. BTW, HIPA laws, anyone? Yeah, though, we should find out, no doubt, but, the WPEB sounds like this is all some big conspiracy.

Then there’s this bit of Crazy

Read: Washington Post Goes Conspiracy Theory, Demands To Know Trump’s Condition »

First Time Climate Cultist Voters Are Super Mad (but still won’t actually vote)

If they’re so angry and want things done, why aren’t they changing their own lives? Why do they always want to force their beliefs on Other People with no consequences in their own lives?

‘It makes me so angry’: First-time voters want leaders to act now on climate change

Anna Mohr-Almeida was only 8 years old when she first experienced a feeling of existential dread. By the time she was 10, the phrase “climate change” had become a regular part of her vocabulary. By 14, she had started an environmental nonprofit, marched at climate rallies across Phoenix and beyond, and testified at an Environmental Protection Agency hearing.

Sounds like her parents and teachers should be investigated for child abuse, making this child a mental mess

Today’s young people are coming of age during a global pandemic, renewed uprisings against systemic racism and one of the most polarized political moments in American history.

One in ten eligible voters in the 2020 electorate will be part of this new generation of Americans, known as Generation Z. Members of Gen Z are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation. They have never known a world without smartphones.

They’re also the first generation who can be realistically unsure about how much of the Earth will be habitable in the latter half of their lives. They will live to see which of many climate projections play out.

Thirty years from now, when the youngest Gen Zers are in their mid-50s, human-propelled climate change could displace over 1 billion people and ruin ecosystems.

Yet, they still won’t show up in any sort of numbers, if history is any indicator.

These young voters believe the climate crisis should bring the country together, not pull it further apart. Americans are often politically divided about the causes and seriousness of climate change, but there is strong public support across party lines for a variety of climate and renewable energy policies.

Hey, we’re all for higher taxes and losing our freedom, liberty, and choice, right? Those should bring us all together, right? Them first.

Read: First Time Climate Cultist Voters Are Super Mad (but still won’t actually vote) »

If All You See…

…is a horrible muddy area caused by carbon pollution extreme rain, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Knuckledraggin My Life Away, with a post on pottymouth parrots.

That’s Dana Alexa, who won season 26 of The Amazing Race, along with Matt Steffanina.

Read: If All You See… »

Adding ACB To Supreme Court Will Mean Stripping Of Rights Or Something

It’s always some kind of fear and Doom with these people, eh?

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett will help conservatives strip away rights

What difference will it make in the law and in people’s lives to replace liberal United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with someone from the opposite end of the political spectrum, Judge Amy Coney Barrett?

The overall effect in the short-term will be less than it might seem. That’s because there already are five conservative justices on the Supreme Court. But there are some areas where her presence will make an enormous difference. In the long-term, Barrett, who is 48, likely will keep this seat in conservative hands for decades to come. (snip)

In the overwhelming majority of cases, these five justices vote together and Barrett’s presence will mean that the decisions will be 6-3 rather than 5-4. Last term, there were 14 5-4 decisions. In 10 of them, the majority was Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. In just two of them was the majority Roberts, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan.

But there are occasional, important cases where Roberts has sided with the liberals, and these would come out differently with Barrett rather than Ginsburg on the bench. Last term, for example, Roberts joined with the liberals to strike down a Louisiana law that required doctors performing an abortion to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. (snip)

More generally, with Barrett on the court, Roberts no longer will be the swing justice. In some areas, this is going to matter enormously. There is no doubt that there will be five votes to overrule Roe v. Wade. No one questions that Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are ready, willing, and eager to do so. Now there is a sure fifth vote.

Surprise? Nah, not really. You knew this had to be primarily about abortion, right?

Read More »

Read: Adding ACB To Supreme Court Will Mean Stripping Of Rights Or Something »

The Climate Crisis (scam) Is The Story Of The Century Or Something

Has anyone let the climate cultists know that there is no UN IPCC climate conference this year? They usually start with the super-scary stuff around this time of year as we head towards the normal early December big meeting. It was cancelled due to Bat Soup Virus, which might be a slightly bigger story

The climate crisis is the story of the century

The annual Western wildfire apocalypse rained ash from clouds of charcoal, lightning and white-hot heat waves set half the continent ablaze. Another late summer in the Gulf swirled with record torrential hurricanes — Laura recorded some of the highest winds on record and Sally took first place for being the slowest moving storm in recent history. A severe derecho sent pounding hail, spawned tornadoes and flattened the Midwest.

ZOMG, weather happened! There’s really no point in explaining to climate cultists that there is nothing unusual, and there have been plenty of hurricanes just as strong if not stronger when the CO2 levels were below the “safe” level of 350ppm.

Our world is growing hostile and uninhabitable and it’s only going to get worse. In the next 50 years, one in three people will live in cities and towns too hot for human life. The climate crisis is one of the most dramatic stories in our 200,000 year human history.

But, see, cable news has failed you

Fox, MSNBC and CNN do not give enough airtime to the crisis. Only 13 percent of their coverage connected the Western wildfires to climate change. A shameful fact, but unsurprising, when major news outlets allotted less than four hours of airtime to the climate crisis in the year 2019. This is largely because cable news is driven by clicks and ratings, not necessarily what the public needs to be informed about. As Chris Hayes put it in 2018, “it’s been a palpable ratings killer. So the incentives are not great.”

People watch what they care about

Cable news also does not give airtime to Biden’s climate plan. Americans are still waiting to hear about Trump’s plan. The mainstream media doesn’t need to just to ask the candidates about their plan, but make them answer with committed specifics. Climate is a top issue among Democratic voters, and it’s the issue that defines our lifetimes. The mainstream media has a duty in this moment to get to the bottom of their climate plans. The American people need to know.

If Democrats care about it so much, why do so few Dem run news outlets focus on it? Because few care in practice.

It’s why the right to a free press is enshrined in the Constitution. The job of that press is to carry out a vital service to our democracy: to hold the United States government accountable, expose corruption and report truth, and educate and inform the public about the most urgent issues of our time.

It sure sounds like the Cult of Climastrology wants to force the free press to cover their cult in a positive way, eh?

The crisis is not just a threat to future generations — it’s a threat to those alive and reading this now. I will be 73 in 2050. My brother will be 61. We have already lived through the hottest decade and record California wildfires. At our current rate, 2050 will not be a livable world.

Nikayla Jefferson is an organizer for Sunrise Movement San Diego and a Public Voices fellow of The OpEd Project and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Follow her at @kayla_nikayla.

So, another parasite playing at being a cult leader.

Read: The Climate Crisis (scam) Is The Story Of The Century Or Something »

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