Oh shit, what are we gonna do now?

[Thad]

And isn't today like their first day back on the job from Christmas vacation?

It's the 115th Congress's first day period.

[Yoji]

It's the 115th Congress's first day period.

Oh yeah, forgot about that part. I'm having trouble following the news on account of it being depressing to the verge of tears every single day.

Well, here's hoping for a good and producpffffff nope, can't say it with a straight face.

[Thad]

Republicans already jittery about quick Obamacare repeal

Unsurprisingly, the "repeal and replace" crowd has somehow not gotten around to figuring out the "replace" part in the past seven years.

They only need a simple majority to repeal; for procedural reasons, the repeal can't be filibustered. (In fact it's already been passed once, and vetoed by Obama.)

But the Republicans are now trapped in the position of not wanting to be the party that took away millions of people's healthcare or the party that said they would for seven years and then didn't.

Likeliest scenario: they pass a plan that will repeal it at some future date, and swear they'll have a resolution by the time that deadline rolls around. (Because that worked out so well with sequestration.)

Schumer and Pelosi have both said that they won't participate in any crafting of new healthcare legislation, which is a canny political move. My guess is that -- if the expiration rolls around and the Dems are still in the minority (keep in mind that the expiration will most likely be after 2018, and maybe even after 2020) -- they won't filibuster it (because in a game of chicken it'll always be the Democrats who blink, because they're not insane; they'll allow the Republican plan to pass as better-than-nothing) but won't vote for it either. (Voting to break a filibuster is, for all practical purposes, the same thing as voting in favor of a thing, but you get to say you voted against it. Politics, everybody.)

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein told CNN on Tuesday that she is in the process of crafting counter-messaging on Obamacare, along the lines of: "Look at what this is going to do to people."

"That's the important thing," she said. "How many people are going to lose their healthcare?"

Hey, good idea; it's 2017, maybe the Democrats should think about crafting some kind of message touting the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.

...sorry if I'm being glib. This is a legitimately fucked up situation, and it's going to hurt a hell of a lot of people. As usual, sarcasm helps me cope with the underlying horror.

McCain's making his usual skeptical noises. I think he'll probably fall in line like he usually does, but maybe I'll call his office anyway. He doesn't care about reelection, which cuts both ways; he might not care what his constituents have to say, but he sure doesn't care what his party leadership has to say either. And "Don't repeal until you've got an actual plan in place for replacement; remember what happened with sequestration" is a simple and logical enough message.

Course, then all they have to do is come up with some bullshit, call it a replacement plan, and schedule the expiration for right after the next election. They can spend the next two years bluffing about how great their new plan is, and it's not like their supporters are going to care when experts explain all the ways it won't work.

[Mongrel]

Talking Point Memo: Dipshit GOP introduces bill to ban SCOTUS from citing it's own Obamacare cases

lolololol good luck with that, brah

This is one of those things, where, the more you think about it, the funnier it gets.

[Brantly B.]

So the Executive Branch's plan is to alienate the Legislative Branch on its first day in the job, the Legislative Branch's plan is to alienate the Judicial Branch on its second day on the job, and you know whoever Trump confirms is just going to bite his hand the moment she or he has tenure.

I still wish the GOP would just go away, but if it somehow manages to obstruct itself for the entire next four years, that'd be pretty good too.

[Grath]

So the Executive Branch's plan is to alienate the Legislative Branch on its first day in the job, the Legislative Branch's plan is to alienate the Judicial Branch on its second day on the job, and you know whoever Trump confirms is just going to bite his hand the moment she or he has tenure.

I still wish the GOP would just go away, but if it somehow manages to obstruct itself for the entire next four years, that'd be pretty good too.

This lets me regain slight amounts of hope in the "A large enough handful of GOP people have realized that Trump is fucking insane and will prevent him from most dangerous idiocy" theory. But only slight.

[Mongrel]

[Thad]

That's, uh, pretty unambiguous there.

I'm still worried he's going to cave, or that he'll defect but won't be able to convince two other Republicans to vote with him, or that he will but enough Democrats will defect to get to 50 plus Pence, but Tillerson does seem like the most vulnerable cabinet pick. The old-timers have spent most of their lives with Russia as the Big Enemy (and the Cuban-Americans are likelier than the average guy to take an aggressive stance against commies and former commies), and the latest news out of Russia has stirred that up. There are clearly some Republicans who are pretty nervous about putting a guy that friendly to Russia in charge of State; on the other hand, there are clearly some Republicans who don't give a fuck as long as they're in power, who are either too young to have a stake in Cold War rivalries or who never actually cared about Russia as a legitimate threat, only as a talking point in campaign speeches.

[Bal]

I'm really hoping that McCain goes full on no fucks left to give, cranky old school McCain on this whole fucking thing. Live up to his old renegade moniker 100%. I don't think that's going to save the world or anything, but I'd still love to see him do it.

[Büge]

I think you mean "maverick."

[François]

Eh, I can hear the gist of the response already. "Shut the fuck up, McCain. Trump won where you lost, and he was his own god-damned Sarah Palin."

[Mongrel]

[Bal]

https://twitter.com/TheBillyWest/status ... 0937707520

[Büge]

Trump dismisses head of National Nuclear Security Administration with no replacement

“There are scores more appointees within the department,” our source told us. “Secretarial and administration appointments that don’t require Senate confirmation, mostly performing policy, liaison, and strategic advisory capacities in support of the agency they’re at. They serve at the will of the head of their agency. Those people are, theoretically, also out on inauguration day unless otherwise directed, which hasn’t happened yet to my knowledge.”

The source later added, “I’m more and more coming around to the idea that we’re so very very fucked.”

[Grath]

Trump dismisses head of National Nuclear Security Administration with no replacement

“There are scores more appointees within the department,” our source told us. “Secretarial and administration appointments that don’t require Senate confirmation, mostly performing policy, liaison, and strategic advisory capacities in support of the agency they’re at. They serve at the will of the head of their agency. Those people are, theoretically, also out on inauguration day unless otherwise directed, which hasn’t happened yet to my knowledge.”

The source later added, “I’m more and more coming around to the idea that we’re so very very fucked.”

So first they want to "upgrade our nukes for cyber" by networking, then they're getting rid of the people who are in charge of securing said soon-to-be-networked nukes? ... I should invest in a Fallout vault.

[Yoji]

I should invest in a Fallout vault.

Not to stray off topic, but I remember reading somewhere that those Vault-Tec shelters didn't even work all that well as bomb shelters. Play it safe and find a good salt mine.

[Grath]

I should invest in a Fallout vault.

Not to stray off topic, but I remember reading somewhere that those Vault-Tec shelters didn't even work all that well as bomb shelters. Play it safe and find a good salt mine.

Alright, I'll go hide out in a Twitch stream chat.

[Brantly B.]

Or... anywhere and everywhere, these days.

The winners and the losers of the world are in a fierce competition for who can act the more butthurt.

[Mongrel]

Ineffective, but amusing and to the point.

[Grath]

Ineffective, but amusing and to the point.

Normally I don't like Chuck, and I didn't vote for him in November, but well played.