Wednesday Open Thread [11.28.12]

Filed in Open Thread by on November 28, 2012

A new Quinnipiac poll in New Jersey finds voters overwhelmingly favor Gov. Chris Christie (R) for re-election, 67% to 25%. 95% of voters think Gov. Chris Christie (R) did an “excellent” or “good” job responding to Hurricane Sandy, and Christie now holds a sky high 72% to 21% approval rating. The strongest possible Democratic challenger, Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D), trails Christie by 18 points, 53% to 35%. I bet you that Booker abstains from the 2013 Gubernatorial race and runs to replace Frank Lautenberg in 2014 in the Senate. Christie is frankly unbeatable in New Jersey right now. Hell, even I think he deserves a second term. There is no reason for Booker to be the sacrificial lamb.

In the other 2013 race, Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) is going to drop out of the race, leaving only far right radical Ken Cuccinelli (R) in the Republican Primary. Senator Mark Warner (D) has also demurred, so that leaves only former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe on the Dem side. I gotta say, if I lived in Virginia, I would hate these choices. One is crazy, the other is slimy. Virginia needs to rethink its “one term only” rule.

Meanwhile, this painting was painted in the 1990’s, so it doesn’t include Obama, but I always thought it was pretty awesome:

The picture includes all of the Democratic Presidents of the 20th Century, plus the President Andrew Jackson, who is considered the populist founder of the modern Democratic Party. I guess Presidents Van Buren, Polk, Pierce, Buchanan, and Cleveland were not good enough to get in the painting.

Happy 10 year Anniversary to the Delaware indoor smoking ban!!

The best thing RAM ever did.

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  1. jason330 says:

    I’ve seen a version in Rehoboth that includes BHO.

  2. bamboozer says:

    Love the painting. But hey, give Christie a chance. He’s got plenty more obnoxious and arrogant left to go.

  3. puck says:

    In the year after the smoking ban, we went to more restaurants than we did in the previous five years.

  4. socialistic ben says:

    Yay Jackson, Yay Genocide! I’d like to swap him for TR… who was probably the most porgressive president we’ve ever had.

  5. V says:

    I’ve seen it too! Not going to lie, I sort of want it.

  6. Another Mike says:

    In an underwhelming and fairly corrupt tenure, this is one thing RAM got right. (That and the SEED program, which has been a blessing for many families.) She should still be in jail.

  7. cassandra_m says:

    The biggest problem for Booker is that I think he really loves governing hands-on. That goes away quite utterly in the Senate and it becomes tougher to maintain that high profile of his. And I think he is genuinely good at governing — Newark has made alot of changes to the better and he has been a great role model there.

  8. puck says:

    I’m beginning to despise the word “comprehensive.”

    comprehensive health care reform
    comprehensive immigration reform

    and now, comprehensive tax reform:

    Plouffe added that while the White House wants to engage in comprehensive tax reform, they know they must also “carefully” address the “chief drivers of our deficit”: Medicare and Medicaid.

    I’m starting to think comprehensive means “Add a big steaming shovelful of Republican.”

  9. Geezer says:

    Anyone who thought Tom Gordon learned from his mistakes will have to explain the appointment of Elmer Setting as “acting” police chief. He’s “acting” chief because he’s only halfway to the college degree that’s supposed to be a basic qualification for the job.

    Setting is also neck-deep in the Gordonberry mess, specifically the Lisa Dean Moseley part.

  10. kavips says:

    Gosh Geez… that is so long ago I need a refresher. I think others might too… I wish I could remember back that long ago….

    Didn’t that occur during the Middle Earth time frame?

    Joking aside, a refresher might be worthwhile from someone who remembers and has no axe to grind (or hide)…

  11. Geezer says:

    The history isn’t as important as the rule-breaking. That began Monday, with the appointment of an unqualified applicant to the job.

    But I understand your point about how long ago it was and how memory fades. That, along with the dreadfulness of the incumbent, is how Gordon got elected again.

  12. Dave says:

    “I’m beginning to despise the word “comprehensive.”

    Welcome to the club. The result of comprehensive anything is always a comprehensive mess. One can create a comprehensive strategy and plan but one cannot comprehensively implement.

    Implementation is always incremental for three reasons. First is that you cannot do everything at once because of resource and time constraints. The second reason is that the system must continue to operate unless one were to reboot which would require downtime. Lastly, comprehensive implementation of anything needs to accomodate the law of unintended consequences, not just the known/unknowns but the unknown/unknowns (and before anyone knee jerks about the term, it was in use in the R&D and scientific community 30 years before Rumsfield appropriated it and caused it be held in disrepute).

    While incrementalism seems too slow it can be accomplished with a great deal of stability.

  13. puck says:

    In the current political situation, cutting Medicaid and Medicare in exchange for tax increases THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN PASSED is the ultimate in emptily snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Somebody ought to take Plouffe to the woodshed – but I fear he is foreshadowing Obama’s actual end game.

  14. meatball says:

    It is so odd and annoying to dine out in a state that allows smoking in bars and restaurants. That said, my employer has announced they will no longer hire anyone who tests positive for nicotine. A bit too far?

  15. puck says:

    Not too far as long as they are paying for your health care. They can’t raise your employee contribution enough to cover future emphysema or cancer, especially now with no more lifetime cost caps. With national health care, maybe the calculus would be different.

  16. meatball says:

    Oh, I completely understand the rationale but why not add alcohol, obesity, risky sexual behavior and (despite current anti-discimination laws) age.

  17. meatball says:

    Tattoos, motorcyling, sunbathing, caffine abuse, red meat, grizzly bear wrestling, seat belt disuse…. any of these ok to disqualify an applicant? I guess an argument can be made about poor choices, but in this case, the policy is only focusing on one poor choice. I think I would prefer an incentivised approach to curb risky behavior, but it is not my call.

  18. Mark H says:

    meatball, I’m seeing that in a few jobs that I’m looking at out in Arizona. The company says they will blood test all employees before they start work. I think it’s a bit much myself

  19. Paula says:

    Another good reason to decouple(?) employment and health insurance. If that’s the reason. Could it be that the employer doesn’t want people who smell like smoke in the office?

  20. Rustydils says:

    President Obama has asked Mitt Romney to meet with him tomorrow at the White House to discuss some of Romneys Ideas that the President heard and liked during the campaign. I am sure it will be a short meeting, word on the street is that Romney is going to tell the President to pull a costanza, just do the opposite of everything he is thinking

  21. puck says:

    Hell Rusty, I don’t even know what the President is thinking. We won’t know until days before the vote.

  22. Tom McKenney says:

    Since the antecedent on the word he is unclear, I’m going to assume the president should do the opposite of what Romney is thinking. By the way my favorite oxymoron is conservative thinker.

  23. Rustydils says:

    Tom, as Jerry used to always say to George, and you miss interpret this how?
    Romney will tell Obama to do the opposite of what he(President Obama ) is thinking, But, President Obama will actually do the opposite of what Romney tells him. Hence, the short meeting. The socialiast is not going to take advice from the capitalist. He might say he is, but he will not

  24. Bilbo says:

    Geezer, see the NJ article today about how they are reversing the smoking ban too-these neanderthals are determined to make the county a laughingstock again. Cronies want to smoke? Let’s change the rules ! Wonder how much all smoking breaks cost the taxpayers?

  25. puck says:

    Here’s another one of those inexplicable articles about Evan Q. written as though they had never heard of him before: DE group calls for job creation, tax equity to avoid fiscal cliff

    Here’s Evan being a good soldier in the GOP Truthiness Squad:

    With the precipice of the fiscal cliff drawing ever closer, a Delaware group says the answer lies, not in more taxes on the wealthy, but on a tax it calls flatter and fairer.

    Evan Queitsch with the group Founders Values says if the goal to avoid the cliff is more revenue, it’s best brought in through job creation and the taxes that come as a result.

  26. geezer says:

    Bilbo: I actually don’t mind reversing the rule, because outdoors is outdoors — it’s not as if others are exposed to second-hand smoke in a closed room.

    But of course the attitude of entitlement is just what I would have expected.

  27. Dave says:

    “A bit too far?”

    Yes it is a bit too far. There is certainly a rationale for testing for functional impairment, such as would be caused by drug use. But once testing intrudes on lifestyle, culture,etc. where those choices do not create a functional impairment, it becomes invasive. Especially when one considers other behaviors which may create an equal danger. Or what if one enjoys an occasional cigar or pipe (does anyone smoke a pipe anymore – besides a bong).

    On the other hand, no one if forced to work for the company either. If I knew the name of the company I would not do business with them much less work for them.

  28. puck says:

    Republican bagman vows to lead the GOP schism

    Brent Bozell, a prominent conservative activist and fundraiser, is threatening to steer donors away from the Republican Party if GOP lawmakers sign a deal to raise taxes.

    Bozell sent a letter to Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus on Wednesday pledging to make it his mission to counsel conservative donors to shun the party if its leaders in Congress agree to raise taxes.

  29. Jason330 says:

    Well, the good news for the GOP is that they don’t have to agree a tax increase – they just have to let the clock strike midnight.

    It’s a win/win. I just hope that the President doesn’t try to save Republicans from themselves.

  30. puck says:

    Uh-oh – the Democratic containment field around the backroom deals on entitlement earned benefit cuts is beginning to fail. From Politico:

    Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told “Morning Joe” on Tuesday that he could see $400 billion in entitlement cuts. That’s the floor, according to Democratic aides, and it could go higher in the final give and take. The vast majority of the savings, and perhaps all of it, will come from Medicare, through a combination of means-testing, raising the retirement age and other “efficiencies” to be named later.

    Means-testing is fine but raising the retirement age?

    There is only one way to make the medicine of tax hikes go down easier for Republicans: specific cuts to entitlement spending. Democrats involved in the process said the chest-pounding by liberals is just that — they know they will ultimately cave and trim entitlements to get a deal done.

    Uh, since when do Democrats need to make tax hikes go down easier for Republicans? I say jam ’em down sideways.

    Call Carper/Coons/Carney/Obama now. I just got a live call from SEIU this morning asking me to call Coons, so I guess he is the weakest link.

    The biggest question is why are they trading Medicare cuts for tax increases that are ALREADY HAPPENING ANYWAY? What the hell kind of a Grand Deal is that? I like the version where the tax cuts expire and we keep our Medicare.

  31. Mark H says:

    Agreed Dave, I have made a point not to submit any resumes to Scottsdale Health (the company in question)as I wouldn’t pass the blood screening 🙂